Half Life 3?

[Aegis]

Oh yes that is what I was thinking of, i played that when it came out and it was missing the final Xen levels. Or maybe there was a HL1 source also? Been years since I looked back at these so it's a blur.

Half-Life: Source was/is a thing too but it was just the original HL assets ported into the Source engine. Black Mesa (a complete reimagining of HL1 to bring it up to HL2's standards) did indeed originally launch without Xen but they've since added it to the game (and by all accounts it's much more impressive than Valve's original Xen):

 

[Paracelsus]

I love that description on the Black Mesa page, just 'Relive Half-Life.', lol.
It really was a spectacular, groundbreaking game. I used to be mad about the HL3 situation but it's been that long I just got over it. It's interesting to read the comments in this thread about what it's like at Valve, though, it explains a lot. I have often wondered how they're spending, or not spending, the endless cash they must print.

Somewhat related, I really don't like the new Steam UI. It's laggier in the way that modern software built upon too many layers of abstraction often feels like. I'm disappointed that Valve of all companies seems to have gone down that route as one use of their resources...

 

[Gerard]

(and by all accounts it's much more impressive than Valve's original Xen):

I should think so being 20 odd years later and on a newer engine.

 

[champ222]

Black mesa is awesome. I played it when it first arrived, and played it again once zen was released. I think the zen level was longer that it was originally. I got a bit frustrated with it as killing the spider thing took a lot longer than i remembered.

Opposing force and even blue shift were pretty good, so maybe valve should let someone else have a crack at it, if they cant be bothered.

 

[lovelyhead]

Black mesa is awesome. I played it when it first arrived, and played it again once zen was released. I think the zen level was longer that it was originally. I got a bit frustrated with it as killing the spider thing took a lot longer than i remembered.

Opposing force and even blue shift were pretty good, so maybe valve should let someone else have a crack at it, if they cant be bothered.

Black Mesa is the best Half Life game in my opinion.