Half-Life fan remake Black Mesa has been doing pretty well for itself. After a seemingly interminal gestation period it released to rave reviews earlier this month and basically crashed the Internet. Just a few days later, we also learned that Black Mesa had been successfully upvoted through Steam Greenlight and it would seeing commercial release through Valve’s distribution service in the near future.
But that’s not the end of it. Fans of Half Life and Black Mesa have now taken the assets from the remake and run with them. Here, machinimator TomahawxX uses game footage and, without the aid of Source Filmmaker, creates an evocative alternative ending for the game. Here’s what the filmmaker has to say in his/her own words:
By deciding that Gordon Freeman remains silent during his adventures, Valve also abandoned the possibility of revealing his thoughts and inner life – with good reason. It allows the player to interpret and react on a situation by himself, supporting the identification of the character. But apart from that the fact that Gordon always stays calm and unfazed may lead to the impression that he is cold-blooded, a highly professional war machine, which surely wasn’t Valve’s intention. So this machinima aims at showing possible feelings and thoughts of the anti-hero, although this alternative ending is not true to the original story.
You can learn more about what went into the stirring little film’s production at its Youtube page.
Thanks, Kotaku.
