Black Mesa (originally Black Mesa: Source; stylized as BLλCK MESA) is a third-party total remake of Half-Life, Valve Corporation's critically acclaimed debut title, on Valve's Source engine. The 40-person volunteer development team says they hope to create a more engrossing in-game world with more varied, complex environments; and more challenging, realistic gameplay.[citation needed]
During its eight-year development period, Black Mesa has been featured in several video game publications and received direct attention from Valve. Due to its long development time, the modification became notable for its delays, and dwindling updates on the status of its completion. The delays led to Wired awarding Black Mesa high spots on their "Vaporware Of The Year" lists in 2009 and 2010.
The first part of Black Mesa, which included remakes of chapters "Black Mesa Inbound" to "Lambda Core", was released as a standalone download on September 14, 2012. Valve, through public voting on the Steam Greenlight program, has approved Black Mesa for distribution onSteam.
