In today's episode of "No one wants to read this but Mouse still won't shut up about Black Mesa," we'll start with a bunch of funny things scientists will say to you when you ask them to follow you:

That's fine, you're literally only useful for opening doors with retinal scanners.

Dude, you could just say you don't want to follow me.

Wouldn't be asking otherwise!

A couple of science similes!

Excuse me, Gordon graduated from MIT with a PhD in theoretical physics he is just as smart as you are mister hides in a corner until someone more capable arrives to protect you

Like I said, I just need you to open a door.

It's. It's the thought that counts.

Fun fact, though, this particular scientist is actually completely optional. You can walk right by his hiding spot without ever knowing he's there. But if you do find him, he'll tell you where a security station is and unlock the door for you, where you can get

Your first gun! Of course, if you miss him, there's another gun a bit later on you can grab off a dead security guard.

But while we're on the topic of guns and npcs, another small detail I really like about Black Mesa is

Most of the time, Gordon will hold whatever weapon is equipped out in front of him, ready to use it. But whenever you look at a friendly npc...

He lowers the gun to the side, so he's not aiming at the npc! Be like Gordon Freeman, kids, and practice firearm safety- never point a gun at someone you don't want to shoot!

(I'm pretty sure you CAN still shoot them, of course, but I don't know why you'd want to...)

That's an excellent hiding spot, but aren't you going to get yourself dirty in there...?

Aw, you were so close, too!

And you three! You guys just aren't having good luck today.

I mean, granted, pretty much no one at the BMRF is having good luck today, but it takes special bad luck to die right next to a first aid station.

See, this is that storage crates suspended over a thousand foot drop room I was talking about. No catwalks across, and all the doors you can reach are locked, so what does Gordon decide to do...? Parkour across the crates. That does not sound like something someone in their right mind would do, but I still don't think Gordon is in his right mind.

But anyway, it's time for the next chapter,

Office Complex

From a story perspective, I love the "Office Complex" chapter. It's where Gordon starts to realize just how bad things are, where it starts to sink in that this is real, and it's so much bigger than a blown up lab. It's dark and cramped, there are bodies everywhere, zombies lurk around every corner, and you can feel the visceral terror everywhere you go. It's such a great bit of environmental storytelling.

But from a gameplay perspective, I hate "Office Complex." The Half-Life series can be best described as action games with horror elements, and this chapter is the horror element part. Black Mesa doesn't really do a whole lot in the way of jumpscares, and the like, but what it does do, it does in "Office Complex"- and I Do Not Like jumpscares. I hate hearing a noise behind me and turning to find a zombie in my face, already mid attack, I hate stepping through a doorway to have three vortigaunts spawn in around me, I hate the ceiling caving in above me to have a mass of headcrabs drop down on top of me. But I guess, if anything, it just aids the feel for the chapter.

I think another of those simultaneous most and least favorite parts of "Office Complex" would be this-

This fake emergency alert broadcast on this radio. Every time I get to this part, when I hear the signin tone, it makes me freeze up just a little, and makes my throat get all tight.

I suppose, though, this is more of a personal fear trigger, and I guess not many other people would have this response. See, when I was younger, I was absolutely terrified of some sort of natural disaster occurring, and all those things are normally announced via the radio like this. So when I heard that sound, and the automated voice that follows, it always just about made my heart stop- even if it was just a test of the system. I also always sleep with a radio on, and while by now it's just habit, it was originally so that if something happened in the night, I would hear the emergency alert, and wake up. (Nothing ever has happened like that though lol)

So coming across the radio broadcast like this, in the office complex, in the red emergency lighting, with the constant background noise of muffled cries of pain and gurgling breaths from all the zombies around... it still triggers a pretty intense fear in me. XP

But, anyway.

One good thing about "Office Complex" is this is the chapter where you can have the most companions following you around- up to five: three security guards and two scientists!

... If you can keep them alive long enough to get them all, that is. The first guy you find almost walks backwards directly into a zombie, and if you're not prepared to start shooting immediately, he will die before you can save him.

This is another thing I love about the guards. Almost every time you have to leave one behind (curse npcs' inability to climb ladders/ride trams/jump in general) they always try to play it off like it's no big deal. "I'll be fine. Just keep going 'til you get outta here."
(And you can actually come back for him through a different route, just so you know! like I said, you can get a grand total of five npcs to the end of "Office Complex!" There are a few npcs who outright refuse to follow you, but that's different than leaving someone behind because they can't make it any farther forward.)

Aaaand once again, I've reached my twenty picture limit, but rest assured, I'll be back soon enough to keep talking about this.