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| {{Short description|Fictional laboratory in the Half Life franchise}} | |||
| {{articleissues | |||
| {{Infobox fictional location | |||
| |notability=May 2008 | |||
| | name = Black Mesa Research Facility | |||
| |in-universe=May 2008 | |||
| | first = '']'' | |||
| |refimprove=May 2008}} | |||
| | creator = ] | |||
| | image = File:Black Mesa logo.svg | |||
| | caption = Logo of Black Mesa | |||
| | last = '']'' | |||
| | image_size = 150px | |||
| | type = ] | |||
| | genre = ] | |||
| | located_in = ], ] | |||
| | characters = ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ], ] | |||
| }} | |||
| The '''Black Mesa Research Facility''' (also simply called '''Black Mesa''') is a fictional underground ] complex that serves as the primary setting for the ] '']'' and its ], as well as its unofficial remake, '']''. It also features in the wider '']'' universe, including the '']'' series. Located in the ] desert in a decommissioned ] missile site, it is the former employer of ''Half-Life''<nowiki/>'s ] protagonist, ], and a competitor of ]. While the facility ostensibly conducts ] research, its secret experiments into ] have caused it to make contact with the ] of ], and its scientists covertly study its ] and materials. In a catastrophic event known as the "Black Mesa Incident", an "anti-]" experiment conducted on Xen matter causes a Resonance Cascade disaster that allows aliens to invade ], and is the catalyst for the events of the series. | |||
| : ''For the Half-Life 2 modification, see ]'' | |||
| ''Half-Life'' was critically acclaimed for its storytelling and level design. At the time, the integration of ] in the form of interactive ]s and ] was considered groundbreaking for a ]. | |||
| ] silhouette against the sky]] | |||
| The '''Black Mesa Research Facility''' (or simply '''Black Mesa''') is a ] complex and the setting for most of the events of the ] '']'' and its expansions. Introduced in the game's opening sequence, it is located in the deserts of ], ]<ref></ref> and has been praised for its dark realism.<ref></ref> | |||
| == |
== Level content == | ||
| The Black Mesa facility is built over several decommissioned ] complexes constructed during the 1950s, which have been converted into a vast civilian institute for the research of scientific disciplines. Much of the work undertaken at the facility involves fairly practical scientific research, such as ], ], ], ]s, experimental ], ]s, ], ], ], ] and a very wide spectrum of theoretical research into ] and all manner of ] research. The facility also serves as a base for decommissioning ]. In addition to this legitimate research, several secret projects are also carried out at Black Mesa, which are deliberately left vague, an aspect praised for its suspense.<ref></ref> A large amount of ] research is carried out, including the development of high-tech weapons and defense systems, research into extra-]al travel, ], and the study of ] (an extradimensional domain). During the ] ride that opens ''Half-Life'', an announcement on the public address system states that the facility is seeking employees with backgrounds in ], ], and various other high-tech scientific disciplines. It also notes that jobs in low-clearance security and materials handling are available. Black Mesa, as the same announcement states, is an ] employer. | |||
| === ''Half-Life'' === | |||
| The opening sequences of '']'' and its expansions (''Blue Shift'' and ''Opposing Force'') reveal much about the facility. Apart from hinting at the large size of Black Mesa, it is revealed that the facility is very secure, as each employee is required to undergo a series of rigorous security checks as they travel around the complex. Black Mesa is dominated by laboratories, test areas, and administration offices. These, along with storage facilities, take up most of the underground areas of the complex. Despite being located in the middle of a desert, the underground and indoor sectors of Black Mesa are maintained at 68 ] (20 ]) at all times, enabled by Black Mesa's network of ventilation ducts. | |||
| ] | |||
| In "Black Mesa Inbound", the player controls Gordon Freeman as he enters the facility on a ]. After noticing the ] on a different train, Gordon departs and enters the Anomalous Materials Lab. He explores the area, donning his Hazardous Environment Suit, and then enters the test chamber. After the Anti-Mass Spectrometer power is turned up to 105%, the Resonance Cascade disaster occurs, and Freeman must escape the destroyed chamber. In "Unforeseen Consequences", Freeman returns to the Anomalous Materials Lab, fighting his way through the aliens that have started appearing from warps in space. He then makes his way through an office complex.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Bell |first=Joseph |title=Half-Life for Dreamcast: Prima's Official Strategy Guide |date=2000 |publisher=Prima Games |isbn=0-7615-3125-4 |location=Roseville, CA |pages=30–120 |oclc=46733872}}</ref> | |||
| In "We've Got Hostiles", Freeman encounters the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU), a ] unit of the ] sent to cover up the disaster by killing all of the surviving Black Mesa personnel. He travels through a series of Cold War-era storage rooms to reach the surface. Escaping an ] helicopter, he goes back underground in a different location. In "Blast Pit", he must destroy an alien tentacle that has appeared from beneath a nuclear silo. After successfully destroying the tentacle with a ], in "Power Up", Freeman must kill a Gargantua alien by baiting it into a room with giant ]s. He then navigates a series of underground rail tunnels in "On a Rail", culminating in the rocket launch of a satellite that can determine the scope of the disaster.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| ] | |||
| In "Apprehension", Freeman fights through flooded rooms filled with aquatic aliens called Icthyosaurs. However, he is caught by the HECU Marines and dumped in a ]. He escapes, and infiltrates a waste processing facility. In "Questionable Ethics", Freeman stumbles upon a secret part of Black Mesa that studies aliens. In "Surface Tension", Freeman crosses a ], evading a ]. In "Forget About Freeman!", Freeman makes his way past a battle between aliens and the military to reach the Lambda Complex. In "Lambda Core", Gordon floods the facility's ] with coolant, fighting off aliens along the way. Navigating through a maze of teleporters in a ] lab, he is finally allowed by scientists into a giant teleportation chamber that sends him to Xen, ending the Black Mesa portion of the game.<ref name=":2" /> | |||
| As employees are required to live in the complex itself, Black Mesa contains personnel facilities including laundromats, recreation and sports areas such as lounges, basketball courts, swimming pools, restaurants, a video rental outlet (as seen in ''Blue Shift''), fast food outlets, food courts, cafeterias, and at least one bar serving ]s. As Dr. Eli Vance reveals in '']'', his wife also worked in the facility and ], Alyx, lived there with them, so it can be inferred that employees' family members are allowed to reside in the dormitory complexes as well in certain cases. The complex may also have its own ], ''The Mesa Times'', although this may be an outside publication. | |||
| ==== ''Opposing Force'' ==== | |||
| The duty rotation of ] (the protagonist in ''Blue Shift'') is printed in ], suggesting that the facility has a recruitment process with international scope. Included in Calhoun's papers are several pages describing exotic animals, claiming that the facility houses strange specimens from across the globe (they are, in fact, creatures from ]). A point of interest is that the same pages describe how, in the event of an emergency, security officers are required to co-operate with military personnel from the ], suggesting that Black Mesa has experienced problems with escaped specimens in the past. Black Mesa contains many automated machine-gun turrets disguised as large fire sprinkler heads, which, when activated, will emerge from armoured cupolas and fire upon any moving object in their line of sight. | |||
| It is revealed in "Friendly Fire" that government ] have been sent into the facility to not only kill any Black Mesa personnel and HECU Marines remaining, but also to detonate a ] inside the facility, thereby destroying the entire base and everyone in it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Venter |first=Jason |last2=IGN-Cheats |last3=CosmicVelvet |display-authors=etal |date=2014-04-11 |title=Friendly Fire - Half-Life Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/half-life/Friendly_Fire |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref> Corporal Shephard (whom the player controls), then defuses the weapon after a ] with a few black operators. The warhead is later reactivated by the ], and it ] at the end of the game, destroying a significant portion of the facility and any survivors still trapped inside.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Half-Life: Opposing Force (Video Game) |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=TV Tropes}}</ref> | |||
| == Development == | |||
| It is revealed in '']'' and in ''Half-Life 2: Episode Two'' that Black Mesa is in direct competition with ], as evidenced by ]-like presentations in meeting facilities, visible in the latter half of the game, and by a passing mention in the song playing over the credits, "Still Alive". This rivalry is largely related to the fact that both organizations were striving to produce portal technology for the ]. The presentation also gives some extra insight into Black Mesa, such as its USDoD contracts and freedom from the ]. | |||
| Series writer ] initially conceived of Black Mesa, and brainstormed numerous potential names before arriving on the final one, including "Black Butte Missile Base", "Diablo Plains", and "Diablo Mesa". In '']'', he professed that he was glad his final choice was Black Mesa Research Facility, rather than "Black Butte". Black Mesa's themes of science and horror were partially inspired by "]", an episode of '']'' that focused on a team of scientists who manipulated ]s to enter the fourth dimension.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hogdson |first=David |title=Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar |date=2004 |publisher=Prima Games |others=Valve Corp |isbn=0-7615-4364-3 |location=Roseville, Calif. |pages=33, 37 |oclc=57189955}}</ref> | |||
| The monorail sequence that introduces the player to the Black Mesa facility was initially intended as a ]. Laidlaw stated that when a programmer implemented a new type of game object called "func_tracktrain", which allowed trains to branch onto different tracks, as well as bank and pivot into turns, he decided to incorporate a train into the game's story. The path of the monorail itself is made up of six different map files without individual loading screens, adding hallways as transition areas to give the illusion of ].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yang |first=Robert |date=2018-11-19 |title=Half-Life is 20: why everything you liked about Valve's classic was a secret train |language=en |work=PC Gamer |url=https://www.pcgamer.com/half-life-is-20-why-everything-you-liked-about-valves-classic-was-a-secret-train/ |access-date=2022-03-22}}</ref> | |||
| Black Mesa's motto, as seen in the ''Blue Shift'' manual, is: ''Working to build a better tomorrow for all mankind.'' | |||
| The disaster sequence in the test chamber was created in a single weekend by developers John Guthrie and Kelly Bailey, who worked for 48 hours straight without sleep, ultimately exciting everyone in the office when they discovered and played it the following Monday.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hogdson |first=David |title=Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar |date=2004 |publisher=Prima Games |others=Valve Corp |isbn=0-7615-4364-3 |location=Roseville, Calif. |page=39 |oclc=57189955}}</ref> | |||
| === Size === | |||
| ] | |||
| The physical range of the facility from an in-game perspective is large enough that the complex is divided into seven lettered sectors and upwards of nine numbered areas. Most of the facility is located underground, where concrete-lined caverns and decommissioned ] silos are linked by a network of electric trams. Black Mesa is apparently self-sufficient, housing its own ventilation, plumbing, sewage, and power generation systems including a ] dam and multiple types of electrical generators and reactors. The facility is filled with all kinds of laboratories and testing areas, most of which contain very high-tech equipment. The complex also features ]s (complete with Black Mesa four-wheel drive ]), arsenals of nuclear and conventional weapons, a local electric rail materials transport network, laboratories housing the latest equipment for every conceivable high-tech scientific discipline (including a powerful anti-]), and even its own rocket launch site. Black Mesa is kept supplied by a freight rail link to the rest of ]. It can be inferred that the facility is relatively old considering that some areas are described by in-game characters as "old" or "abandoned." Several areas of the complex are badly run-down despite the obvious fact that they are still in use. The surface areas of Black Mesa feature more modern construction. | |||
| == |
== Reception == | ||
| The starting monorail sequence became well known for allowing the player to walk freely around the train and look at whatever they chose, rather than be locked in place.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fox |first=Matt |title=The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and Computer Games, 1962-2012 |date=2013 |publisher=McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers |isbn=978-0-7864-7257-4 |edition=2nd |location=Jefferson, N.C. |oclc=817736712}}</ref> Other scripted events that were notable for allowing the player to retain full control include the Resonance Cascade disaster.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Aubrie |first=Adams |title=100 Greatest Video Game Franchises |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |others=Robert Mejia, Jaime Banks |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4422-7814-1 |location=Lanham, Maryland |page=78 |oclc=972802924}}</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| The Black Mesa Research Facility is populated by two main groups of civilian employees: science personnel and security personnel, along with various other inhabitants including administrative personnel, service personnel and occasionally the employees' families (as stated by Dr. Eli Vance in '']''). The base also keeps a small military presence. | |||
| All facility personnel wear identity badges, and the automated tram announcement at the beginning of ''Half-Life'' reminds staff that they must display their badges at all times, as well as that "regular radiation and biohazard screenings are a requirement of continued employment in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Missing a scheduled ] or radiation check-up is grounds for immediate termination." | |||
| The following are the main types of personnel employed in the facility. | |||
| The design of Black Mesa was characterized by critics as "mundane", and representing "workaday normality", however, its designers also gave its corporate environments "terrifying potential" by making it possible for aliens to spawn even in apparently empty areas. This allows for numerous potential places of ambush. Its visual design was called ]n, featuring large amounts of ] hardware, much of which is malfunctioning or in disrepair even prior to the alien invasion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Atkins |first=Barry |title=More Than a Game: The Computer Game As Fictional Form |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2003 |isbn=1-4175-7805-X |location=Manchester, UK |pages=63–85 |oclc=57756796}}</ref> Scenes in Black Mesa have been described as "industrial disarray" and "bureaucracy run amok",<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Boluk |first=Stephanie |title=] |last2=LeMieux |first2=Patrick |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4529-5416-5}}</ref> while the facility itself was called "an amalgam of every top-secret military-scientific installation ever created or imagined".<ref name=":0" /> | |||
| ===Security personnel=== | |||
| Security personnel are the main component of Black Mesa's support personnel force. At times they assist players, and other times fire on them for their own reasons, usually due to being shot at by the player.<ref></ref> Each guard is granted a different security clearance specific to his duty, with an average clearance of Level 3. The security guard uniform consists of a blue shirt, black tie, dark blue pants, black combat boots, equipment belt, armor vest and helmet. The standard sidearm issued to security staff is the ] pistol in ]; the Glock 18 in ]; or the Beretta, with the ] installed, but it seems that ] shotguns, ] ] revolvers, ] pistols and fragmentation grenades are also available to them. Otis, the ] security guard in ], carries a Desert Eagle pistol. | |||
| The Resonance Cascade in Black Mesa was noted as being a metaphor for how the laboratory destabilizes the difference between "inside" and "outside". Its teleportation experiments caused Black Mesa's features to be reproduced upon "the planet at large".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Milburn |first=Colin |title=Respawn: Gamers, Hackers, and Technogenic Life |date=2018 |isbn=978-1-4780-0278-9 |location=Durham |publisher=Duke University Press |oclc=1026288675}}</ref> | |||
| *'''Security Officer''' - The vast majority of guards work as security officers, tasked with protecting secured areas and information, reporting breaches of authority to their administrative sponsor and helping with general maintenance tasks. In rare cases, security officers will be tasked with capturing escaped research specimens. | |||
| *'''Section Manager''' - The role of section manager is effectively a desk job that consists of directing security officers and assigning tasks. | |||
| *'''Instructor''' - Security officers will often take on additional work instructing new recruits in the Sector A Training Facility. According to the PlayStation 2 game manual, the name of one instructor is "Miller", although Barney Calhoun is also named as a potential substitute for Otis's training. | |||
| == |
== Legacy == | ||
| Black Mesa's design has been credited as inspiring future cinematic shooters, including the '']'' and '']'' franchises, being called a "revolutionary step" for the genre.<ref name=":1" /> | |||
| ], ], and ]]] | |||
| Science Personnel (a.k.a. the Science Team), recruited largely from ] backgrounds, are the overwhelming majority of Black Mesa's population. Each scientist is granted a different security clearance specific to his duty, with an average clearance of Level 5. Like other employees, scientists have an assigned uniform, consisting of a blue shirt, white labcoat, red striped tie and white (or beige) slacks. Some scientists are trained in the use of the MP5 (Or the M4A1 with the High-Definition pack) submachine gun as part of ] training, but those in research and development have little or no knowledge of combat. | |||
| *'''Research and Development''' - The largest portion of the scientists are assigned to research and development positions, where they conduct experiments and create new technologies. The research conducted ranges in focus from particle physics to biological study to space travel. Most research and development scientists have a limited knowledge of first aid, and can heal some wounds. ] and ] were prominent research and development scientists. | |||
| *'''Research Associate''' - Research Associates work alongside research and development scientists, but with a lower status in the employment hierarchy. They are usually required to conduct the more mundane or less desirable portions of a given experiment. ] and ] were notable research associates. | |||
| *'''Hazardous Environment Supervisor''' - Supervisors act in a similar role to research associates in that they assist in experiments, but they are primarily concerned with maintaining a safe work environment. ] worked in this position. | |||
| *'''Instructor''' - Scientists will often take on additional work training employees and conducting simulations in the Sector A Training Facility. | |||
| *'''Survey Team''' - Survey teams were organized soon after the first teleportation labs were constructed in Black Mesa. Their assignment is the most dangerous, as they are tasked with entering Xen to collect samples and conduct experiments. Because of the danger, survey team members are highly trained in the use of the HEV suit and a variety of weapons. | |||
| ===Other personnel=== | |||
| *'''Administration Personnel''' - Serving the Office of the Administrator, administration personnel handle the bureaucracy for the facility, including recruiting civilians and assigning personnel. | |||
| *'''Service Personnel''' - Service Personnel are rarely seen in the ''Half-Life'' games, but can sometimes be spotted driving forklifts. They are also tasked with some more complicated maintenance tasks, such as repairing turrets. From a distance, they appear to be wearing green overalls and yellow helmets. In the beta for the game, they were to be as frequently seen as security personnel, however, they were cut from the final game. | |||
| == "The Black Mesa Incident" == | |||
| ] | |||
| What came later to be known as "The Black Mesa Incident" was triggered by an experiment into teleportation. As part of the Anomalous Materials team in Sector C of the facility, research associate ] introduced a crystalline specimen into the projected beam of an over-charged anti-] in test-chamber C-33/a. This caused a catastrophic resonance cascade, leading to widespread and severe structural damage to the room and eventually the entire facility. Communications with the outside world were cut off. These were side-effects caused by the resonance cascade tearing ] holes between Earth and ], a border-world. Intelligent creatures and wildlife were forcibly and randomly ] into the Black Mesa facility, and ultimately the surrounding area. The confused creatures began attacking the facility's personnel, causing chaos. Black Mesa's inhabitants attempted to hide or flee the facility by any means available. Some- particularly security personnel, tried to fend off their assailants. | |||
| Soon after the resonance cascade occurred, the decision was made that specialized soldiers from the ] (HECU) would be ordered to contain the violent situation, by destroying all evidence of the accident. These orders included the termination of all Xenian aliens and facility civilian personnel alike. No witnesses were to be left alive. While the soldiers were at first successful, their hold over the facility was lost as they were subject to incessant attack by increasing numbers of Xen lifeforms, as well as the Black Mesa Security Force and surviving personnel, including, against all odds, Gordon Freeman. Freeman was aided by Black Mesa's surviving personnel and protected by his ], and was able to fight his way across the facility, encountering and killing many members of the HECU and Xen lifeforms. He also destroyed great amounts of military hardware, worsening the situation for the HECU forces. As the Xen creatures gained ground and inflicted casualties on the small, specialized military, the HECU abandoned containment in favour of a hasty and incomplete evacuation. Other soldiers, referred to as ], were inserted with the objective of planting a nuclear weapon to level the facility. Highly-trained, they executed the remaining survivors of HECU and Black Mesa Personnel. Many of these operatives were killed by Gordon Freeman and others, including ], an HECU soldier who was trapped in the facility but still survived a great deal of fighting. The majority of these Black Ops were ultimately killed by the newly-arrived ] creatures. Having planted their weapon, the Black Ops evacuated the facility. | |||
| Throughout the earlier stages of the incident, several members of Black Mesa's science team, operating out of the remote and therefore relatively undamaged Lambda Complex, attempted to close the dimensional rifts between Black Mesa and Xen by launching a geo-stationary ] into orbit. Dr. Freeman made contact with the fortified Lambda Complex and, after bringing Black Mesa's nuclear reactor online, was teleported to Xen. | |||
| It remained unclear whether or not the actions of the Lambda team, in particular their launching of the satellite, actually helped to close the dimensional rifts. After the launch of the satellite it was theorised that forces on the other side of the portals kept them open. The atomic blast that levelled Black Mesa did not stop the alien activity, and this led to a period known as ], where much of the Earth was ravaged by Xen lifeforms, and ultimately the discovery by ]. | |||
| While most of Black Mesa's personnel were killed in the facility itself, either by the initial and subsequent military incursions, the alien lifeforms, or ultimately, the nuclear explosion, several members of the science team and security force managed to escape. | |||
| *], the facility's Administrator, escaped by unknown means and negotiated an end to the ] with the Combine, becoming administrator of Earth. | |||
| *], a member of the Lambda team, escaped as well as ], a high-ranking member of both the Anomalous Materials team and the Lambda team, carrying with him his young daughter ]. The G-Man alludes to an involvement in their escape, namely Alyx'. | |||
| *], a scientist from Black Mesa also escaped by unknown means. | |||
| *Security officer ] escaped relatively early on, along with ], a high-ranking scientist related to the original teleportation project, and two other scientists (Walter Bennett and Simmons) in a Black Mesa SUV. They used an old prototype teleporter to reach the outside, and were well clear of the explosion. | |||
| *], HECU, survived a battle with a number of a large Race X aliens and was subsequently detained for the sake of secrecy by the ambiguously-motivated ]. | |||
| *Another member of the Anomalous Materials team, ], escaped the facility through unknown means, possibly with Dr. Kleiner or Dr. Vance, as revealed in ]. | |||
| ], despite no more than rudimentary training in combat, survived against all odds, even after his transportation to ] by the Lambda team. He did not return to Black Mesa, having been placed in stasis by the ] along with Shephard. He did not reappear until the events of ], many years later, having not aged a day. | |||
| ] control]] | |||
| ==Key locations== | |||
| Black Mesa contains a vast and complicated array of laboratories, storage areas, personnel facilities, and abandoned areas. | |||
| The various facilities in Black Mesa are loosely grouped into seven Sectors: | |||
| ===Black Mesa Central Complex=== | |||
| The Central Command and Communication Centers, and the Mechanized Infantry Repair Bay. This part of the facility also seems to house the large robots used in hazardous environments throughout the facility. | |||
| ===Sector A Training Facility=== | |||
| Encountered in all four of the ''Half-Life 1'' games, Sector A contains the separate '''Hazard Courses''' used for training HEV personnel (as seen in ''Half-Life'') and security officers (as seen in ''Blue Shift''). Demonstrations are provided by trained instructors or pre-recorded ] assistants, while participants are constantly monitored by observing scientists. The two known Hazard Courses are built over old, disused industrial sectors of the facility, and are each divided into an obstacle course and target range. This facility can also be accessed in the ''Opposing Force'' expansion pack by activating the alt-fire on the Displacer in the map the weapon is found in. | |||
| Sector A also contains a '''Satellite Communications Centre''', housing a large satellite uplink dish. This facility is used in ''Decay'' when ] and ] help Dr. Rosenberg to contact the military. | |||
| A schedule in the ''Blue Shift'' manual also places the '''Area 4 Personnel Dormitories''' in this sector. | |||
| ===Sector B Coolant Reserve=== | |||
| The '''Coolant Reserve''' (formerly the '''Section A-17 Prototype Laboratories''') stores the industrial coolant used to maintain Black Mesa's thousands of computers and machines. It is first seen by Barney Calhoun when he escapes from Sector C. | |||
| The section was originally the site of the (now decommissioned) '''Displacement Field Laboratory''' seen in ''Blue Shift'', where Black Mesa's first teleportation experiments took place. It is powered by the Auxiliary Generator Facility. The surface level of Sector B is now a '''Train Yard''' that is used to ship freight in and out of the facility over the New Mexico Railroad Line. The sector also contains the '''Area 2 Administration Offices'''. | |||
| ===Sector C Test Labs and Control Facilities=== | |||
| ] | |||
| Sector C is notable primarily for housing the '''Anomalous Materials Laboratories''' that were Dr. ]'s workplace. This area contains the anti-mass spectrometer (Test Lab C-33/a), which was the initial source of the Black Mesa Incident and the starting point of the ''Half-Life'' series. | |||
| In addition to the Anomalous Materials Laboratories, the sector also contains the '''High-Energy Particle Laboratories''' and '''Supercooled Laser Laboratory'''. | |||
| Sector C is patrolled by guards from the '''Area 3 Security Facilities'''. The facility is adjacent to the High-Energy Particle Labs, and encompasses a central lobby, personnel facilities, video surveillance, and an armoury. | |||
| The sector also contains the '''Level 3 Dormitories''', which feature a Library and an Aquatic Centre with a large pool. This is the area where Gordon Freeman lived while working at Black Mesa. His dormitory (Dorm 309) can be explored in ''Decay'', and indicates that the average dormitory room is furnished with a bed, entertainment centre (with television) and a small bathroom with shower. | |||
| ===Sector D Administration=== | |||
| ] | |||
| Seen early in ''Half-Life'', Sector D is mainly a large underground complex of '''Administration Offices''' where the bureaucratic aspects of Black Mesa's upkeep take place, along with some limited research. | |||
| The Administration Offices are built beneath the surface's '''High Security Storage Facility''', a large semi-subterranean warehouse made of interlocking Storage Areas. The lower levels of Sector D contain the '''Silo D Experimental Propulsion Laboratories''' where rocket engines are tested in one of Black Mesa's many decommissioned missile silos. | |||
| ===Sector E Biodome Complex=== | |||
| The '''Biodome Complex''', a relatively new area of the facility (still under construction at the time of the Black Mesa Incident, as seen in ''Opposing Force''), contains a series of Specimen Observation Areas, where captured Xen aliens are kept and observed in artificial recreations of their natural habitats. Alongside these enclosures are Specimen Containment Rooms where the aliens are studied in closer detail. | |||
| The lowest underground levels of Sector E contain the '''Hydrofauna Studies Laboratory''' where aquatic aliens are kept in older decommissioned areas that have been flooded and converted into makeshift tanks. | |||
| The sector also contains the '''Advanced Biological Research Lab''' seen in ''Half-Life'', a smaller facility where the aliens are tested on and dissected by an automated robotic Surgical Unit, practices which are somewhat questionable ethically. | |||
| The second level of the lab is used as an experimental weapon research lab, testing dangerous weapons such as the Gauss Gun and a large High-Powered Laser. The other surface areas of Sector E form an '''Ordinance Storage Facility''' where vast amounts of munitions and explosives are stored, ranging from small arms to crates of dynamite, even including some nuclear weapons. An area of this facility, '''Storage Unit 04''' (also known as the Level 4 Storage Unit) becomes infested with the creature known as the "]" towards the end of ''Opposing Force''. | |||
| The surface of Sector E contains the bulk of Black Mesa's still-functional military facilities, including at least three '''Helicopter Hangars''', a '''Topside Armory''' and a '''Topside Barracks'''. The nearby '''Silo E High Altitude Launch Center''', a silo converted into a fully-functional satellite delivery rocket lauchpad. was used by the Lambda Team, with the help of Gordon Freeman, to launch the satellite that later helped repair the resonance cascade in ''Decay''. | |||
| Finally, Sector E is the location of Black Mesa's various Waste Processing facilities, including the '''Biological Waste Processing Plant''' seen in ''Half-Life'' and '''Waste Processing Area 3''', seen in both ''Half-Life'' and ''Opposing Force''. | |||
| ] | |||
| These various facilities are linked together, and to the rest of the base, by the (largely decommissioned) Sector E Materials Transport system, a network of dilapidated trams extending deep beneath the facility from '''Sector E Track Control'''. | |||
| ===Sector F Lambda Complex=== | |||
| The heavily fortified '''Lambda Reactor Complex''' is the site of Black Mesa's top secret teleportation labs. The reactor is a huge device consisting of the Lambda Reactor Main Coolant System, and the cylindrical Lambda Reactor Core. The core of the reactor consists of four levels (Levels A-D) that fuel an extremely powerful teleportation portal on Level A, where survey Teams are equipped and sent to Xen. | |||
| The '''Gamma Laboratories''' in Sector F were built later, as a means of capturing Xen specimens without risking casualties. These labs use a Prototype Displacement Beacon, which generates strong displacement fields and opens miniature dimensional rifts between Earth and Xen, for the safe and easy collection of alien life. It was used by ] in ''Half-Life: Decay'' to stop the effects of the resonance cascade and produce a "resonance reversal." | |||
| Sector F is linked to the rest of the base via the '''Secured Access Lambda Sector Transport''' and the '''Central Complex''', which contains Black Mesa's Central Command and Communication Centers and a Mechanized Infantry Repair Bay. | |||
| ] specimens in the Biodome Complex illustrates the facility's already existing interest of Xen]] | |||
| ===Sector G Hydro Electric=== | |||
| Located at the lowest points of the Black Mesa Research Facility, Sector G channels power from Black Mesa's rivers and underground '''Drainage Canal''' system. Its most prominent feature is the '''Topside Hydro Plant''' that consists of a large hydroelectric dam that cuts through the centre of Sector E. | |||
| The dam is heavily damaged by military bombardment during ''Opposing Force''. The dam appears to resemble ]. | |||
| ===Additional and unspecified areas=== | |||
| The following areas are either not linked to a specific sector, or their specific sector is currently unknown. | |||
| *'''Area 7 Recreational Facilities''' - While not seen in the game, a map of Black Mesa's tram routes in ''Blue Shift'' mentions Area 7. As Black Mesa's employees are required to live in the facility itself, it can be assumed that Area 7 contains comforts and diversions such as sporting areas, cafeterias, and other personnel facilities. In ] some swimming facilities and changing facilities can be explored by the players. | |||
| *'''Area 8 Topside Dormitories''' - One of the many topside dormitories on the surface of Black Mesa, featuring a basketball court and a small train platform. ] lived in one of the Area 8 dorms. | |||
| *'''Area 9 Transit Hub''' - The Area 9 Transit Hub acts as one of the many transit security checkpoints throughout the Black Mesa Research Facility. Trams that pass through the Area 9 Transit Hub can be rerouted to both the Sector E and C transit lines. | |||
| *'''Area 10 Silo D ''' - In the original Half-Life, you go through an old rocket test lab that's has been overwhelmed by three worm creatures that had killed the silo D team leaving only some survivors as test machine operators. | |||
| *'''Black Mesa Air-Traffic Control''' - This building is adjacent to a large airstrip, and is used to monitor and direct activity in the airspace above Black Mesa. Special clearance codes must be entered at this building before any rocket launch can take place in other areas. | |||
| *'''Infirmary''' - At the beginning of ''Opposing Force'', ] wakes up in a damaged Black Mesa infirmary, which appears to still be under the control of Black Mesa personnel, who are caring for wounded soldiers and studying ] under the protection of security officers. The infirmary is equipped with ] and ] scanners, which are still functional. Some areas of the infirmary, though, have been abandoned due to ] infestation and biohazard spills, and have been blocked off with furniture and hospital beds. There were also laser-based experiments taking place in the building. | |||
| *'''Level 1 Main Facility Entrance''' - Never physically seen within any of the ''Half-Life'' games, the Level 1 Main Facility Entrance heavily implies that it used as a central entrance checkpoint for all the facility personnel. The facility was only seen written on a transit map near the Sector G Main Access Lift, in ''Half-Life: Blue Shift''. | |||
| ==Fate of Black Mesa== | |||
| <!-- Image with inadequate rationale removed: ] explains his role in saving ] from the ].]] --> | |||
| The fate of Black Mesa is revealed in the end of '']''. The Black Ops are seen setting a nuclear device to detonate. Adrian Shephard defuses the device, but the G-Man is seen rearming it shortly thereafter. Not being able to disarm the device again, Shephard continues through a warehouse area that leads to the deep underground of Black Mesa. At the end of ''Opposing Force'', the G-Man, having captured and restrained Shephard, states that "the embarrassment" that is Black Mesa Facility will "take care of itself", at which point a flash of white light is seen, signaling the nuclear destruction of the research facility. | |||
| The Facility is not seen in '']'' or its Episodes (except in two sequences with the G-Man; the test chamber is seen at the beginning of ''Half-Life 2'' and what is assumed either to be the Sector C Test Lab Reception Area or the Administrator's office in '']''). It is referred to by the characters throughout the games but its fate is never alluded to. | |||
| The Black Mesa logo can be seen during the credits in the game '']''. It was indicated during '']'' that the two Scientific Facilities (Black Mesa and ]) shared a rivalry. It is unknown at what period the plot of ''Portal'' plays in the Half-Life universe, although during the end song ] jokingly refers to getting help from Black Mesa, but then stating "that was a joke, ha, ha, fat chance," possibly indicating that Black Mesa has already been destroyed. The Black Mesa Facility is also seen as a computer slideshow presentation in several inaccessible office scenes in the game. As the room is deserted however, it is unknown how long it had been playing for. | |||
| == References == | == References == | ||
| {{Reflist}}{{Half-Life series}} | |||
| <div class="references-small"> | |||
| <references/> | |||
| *''Half-Life (PC)'', Valve Software, 1998. | |||
| *''Half-Life: Opposing Force (PC)'', Gearbox Software, 1999. | |||
| *''Half-Life: Blue Shift (PC)'', Gearbox Software, 2001. | |||
| *''Half-Life: Decay (PS2)'', Gearbox Software, 2001. | |||
| *''Half-Life 2 (PC)'', Valve Software, 2004. | |||
| *''Half-Life: Blue Shift'' ]. Gearbox Software, 2001. | |||
| *''Portal (PC)'', Valve Software, 2007. | |||
| </div> | |||
| ] | |||
| == External links == | |||
| ] | |||
| * – A composite map of the facility as seen in the original ''Half-Life''. | |||
| {{Half-Life locations and events}} | |||
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Latest revision as of 13:09, 10 December 2024
Fictional laboratory in the Half Life franchise| Black Mesa Research Facility | |
|---|---|
 Logo of Black Mesa | |
| First appearance | Half-Life |
| Last appearance | Half-Life 2: Episode Two |
| Created by | Valve Software |
| Genre | First-person shooter |
| In-universe information | |
| Type | Laboratory |
| Location | New Mexico, United States |
| Characters | Gordon Freeman, Barney Calhoun, Isaac Kleiner, Eli Vance, Wallace Breen, Arne Magnusson, Rosenberg, Gina Cross, Colette Green, Richard Keller |
The Black Mesa Research Facility (also simply called Black Mesa) is a fictional underground laboratory complex that serves as the primary setting for the video game Half-Life and its expansions, as well as its unofficial remake, Black Mesa. It also features in the wider Half-Life universe, including the Portal series. Located in the New Mexico desert in a decommissioned Cold War missile site, it is the former employer of Half-Life's theoretical physicist protagonist, Gordon Freeman, and a competitor of Aperture Science. While the facility ostensibly conducts military-industrial research, its secret experiments into teleportation have caused it to make contact with the alien world of Xen, and its scientists covertly study its life-forms and materials. In a catastrophic event known as the "Black Mesa Incident", an "anti-mass spectrometer" experiment conducted on Xen matter causes a Resonance Cascade disaster that allows aliens to invade Earth, and is the catalyst for the events of the series.
Half-Life was critically acclaimed for its storytelling and level design. At the time, the integration of narrative in the form of interactive cutscenes and NPCs was considered groundbreaking for a first-person shooter.
Level content
Half-Life
In "Black Mesa Inbound", the player controls Gordon Freeman as he enters the facility on a monorail. After noticing the G-Man on a different train, Gordon departs and enters the Anomalous Materials Lab. He explores the area, donning his Hazardous Environment Suit, and then enters the test chamber. After the Anti-Mass Spectrometer power is turned up to 105%, the Resonance Cascade disaster occurs, and Freeman must escape the destroyed chamber. In "Unforeseen Consequences", Freeman returns to the Anomalous Materials Lab, fighting his way through the aliens that have started appearing from warps in space. He then makes his way through an office complex.
In "We've Got Hostiles", Freeman encounters the Hazardous Environment Combat Unit (HECU), a special forces unit of the United States Marine Corps sent to cover up the disaster by killing all of the surviving Black Mesa personnel. He travels through a series of Cold War-era storage rooms to reach the surface. Escaping an Osprey helicopter, he goes back underground in a different location. In "Blast Pit", he must destroy an alien tentacle that has appeared from beneath a nuclear silo. After successfully destroying the tentacle with a rocket engine, in "Power Up", Freeman must kill a Gargantua alien by baiting it into a room with giant Tesla coils. He then navigates a series of underground rail tunnels in "On a Rail", culminating in the rocket launch of a satellite that can determine the scope of the disaster.
In "Apprehension", Freeman fights through flooded rooms filled with aquatic aliens called Icthyosaurs. However, he is caught by the HECU Marines and dumped in a trash compactor. He escapes, and infiltrates a waste processing facility. In "Questionable Ethics", Freeman stumbles upon a secret part of Black Mesa that studies aliens. In "Surface Tension", Freeman crosses a hydroelectric dam, evading a Boeing AH-64 Apache. In "Forget About Freeman!", Freeman makes his way past a battle between aliens and the military to reach the Lambda Complex. In "Lambda Core", Gordon floods the facility's nuclear reactor with coolant, fighting off aliens along the way. Navigating through a maze of teleporters in a teleportation lab, he is finally allowed by scientists into a giant teleportation chamber that sends him to Xen, ending the Black Mesa portion of the game.
Opposing Force
It is revealed in "Friendly Fire" that government black operators have been sent into the facility to not only kill any Black Mesa personnel and HECU Marines remaining, but also to detonate a thermonuclear weapon inside the facility, thereby destroying the entire base and everyone in it. Corporal Shephard (whom the player controls), then defuses the weapon after a firefight with a few black operators. The warhead is later reactivated by the G-Man, and it detonates at the end of the game, destroying a significant portion of the facility and any survivors still trapped inside.
Development
Series writer Marc Laidlaw initially conceived of Black Mesa, and brainstormed numerous potential names before arriving on the final one, including "Black Butte Missile Base", "Diablo Plains", and "Diablo Mesa". In Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar, he professed that he was glad his final choice was Black Mesa Research Facility, rather than "Black Butte". Black Mesa's themes of science and horror were partially inspired by "The Borderland", an episode of The Outer Limits that focused on a team of scientists who manipulated magnetic fields to enter the fourth dimension.
The monorail sequence that introduces the player to the Black Mesa facility was initially intended as a tech demo. Laidlaw stated that when a programmer implemented a new type of game object called "func_tracktrain", which allowed trains to branch onto different tracks, as well as bank and pivot into turns, he decided to incorporate a train into the game's story. The path of the monorail itself is made up of six different map files without individual loading screens, adding hallways as transition areas to give the illusion of level streaming.
The disaster sequence in the test chamber was created in a single weekend by developers John Guthrie and Kelly Bailey, who worked for 48 hours straight without sleep, ultimately exciting everyone in the office when they discovered and played it the following Monday.
Reception
The starting monorail sequence became well known for allowing the player to walk freely around the train and look at whatever they chose, rather than be locked in place. Other scripted events that were notable for allowing the player to retain full control include the Resonance Cascade disaster.
The design of Black Mesa was characterized by critics as "mundane", and representing "workaday normality", however, its designers also gave its corporate environments "terrifying potential" by making it possible for aliens to spawn even in apparently empty areas. This allows for numerous potential places of ambush. Its visual design was called dystopian, featuring large amounts of solid-state hardware, much of which is malfunctioning or in disrepair even prior to the alien invasion. Scenes in Black Mesa have been described as "industrial disarray" and "bureaucracy run amok", while the facility itself was called "an amalgam of every top-secret military-scientific installation ever created or imagined".
The Resonance Cascade in Black Mesa was noted as being a metaphor for how the laboratory destabilizes the difference between "inside" and "outside". Its teleportation experiments caused Black Mesa's features to be reproduced upon "the planet at large".
Legacy
Black Mesa's design has been credited as inspiring future cinematic shooters, including the Battlefield and Call of Duty franchises, being called a "revolutionary step" for the genre.
References
- ^ Bell, Joseph (2000). Half-Life for Dreamcast: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Roseville, CA: Prima Games. pp. 30–120. ISBN 0-7615-3125-4. OCLC 46733872.
- Venter, Jason; IGN-Cheats; CosmicVelvet; et al. (2014-04-11). "Friendly Fire - Half-Life Guide". IGN. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
- "Half-Life: Opposing Force (Video Game)". TV Tropes. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
- Hogdson, David (2004). Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. Valve Corp. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Games. pp. 33, 37. ISBN 0-7615-4364-3. OCLC 57189955.
- Yang, Robert (2018-11-19). "Half-Life is 20: why everything you liked about Valve's classic was a secret train". PC Gamer. Retrieved 2022-03-22.
- Hogdson, David (2004). Half-Life 2: Raising the Bar. Valve Corp. Roseville, Calif.: Prima Games. p. 39. ISBN 0-7615-4364-3. OCLC 57189955.
- Fox, Matt (2013). The Video Games Guide: 1,000+ Arcade, Console and Computer Games, 1962-2012 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7864-7257-4. OCLC 817736712.
- ^ Aubrie, Adams (2017). 100 Greatest Video Game Franchises. Robert Mejia, Jaime Banks. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 78. ISBN 978-1-4422-7814-1. OCLC 972802924.
- Atkins, Barry (2003). More Than a Game: The Computer Game As Fictional Form. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press. pp. 63–85. ISBN 1-4175-7805-X. OCLC 57756796.
- ^ Boluk, Stephanie; LeMieux, Patrick (2017). Metagaming: Playing, Competing, Spectating, Cheating, Trading, Making, and Breaking Videogames. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978-1-4529-5416-5.
- Milburn, Colin (2018). Respawn: Gamers, Hackers, and Technogenic Life. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 978-1-4780-0278-9. OCLC 1026288675.
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