So who else hated the Xen chapters in BM?

[DukeH4mm3r]

Finally finished BM this evening and I must say - the "new" Xen chapters have made me basically hate the game. And it's all because they were so frustratingly boring and repetitive. I enjoyed BM so much more on my first playthrough before Xen had been released. They've left a very bitter taste in my mouth haha

[Papoon]

Xen sucks

I am a long-time, casual gamer and have really enjoyed Black Mesa up until Xen. I use a keyboard and don't play 24/7 and have to say the first Gonarch battle is too hard and has taken the fun out of the game. I'd turn the difficulty to "easy" but don't seem to have that option. The three settings are: normal, Black Mesa (whatever that means), and difficult. Please fix.

[tim.doherty]

watch a video of the original Xen to see how much of an improvement the current levels are in comparison. Also back then Xen compared to Earth was such a massive change and let down to many. Perhaps the chapter select would be good to change. You could try watching a walkthrough briefly to get tips about what to do

[Rig]

Come on, just because it's hard, doesn't mean it's bad.

[Papoon]

Just my opinion. If I can't beat a boss after 10-20 tries and have no option to change the difficulty to easy then frustration sets in.

[Aaron]

Have to agree on the Gonarch. It's not hard in a fair way, it's hard in a bullcrap way. The long jump module doesn't propel you enough sideways to avoid her enough. Then it runs out of charge. You're always getting stuck on rocks. If she hits you she yeets you into oblivion, if gordon had some more responsive in-air controls that wouldn't be so bad. Oh yeah and on hard she has a ridiculous amount of health. The baby head crabs can go to hell. And finally "oh you want to heal? I'll just bombard you with mini nuke bombs repeatedly until you give up trying to heal"

I did actually beat her on hard but I wasn't having fun. It was just frustrating.

[Soko]

Gonarch is always hard for me, as was in the original HL1, and is the one part I find myself dreading on any playthrough. I would consider them to be that one boss.

[Osiris]

Try to avoid getting hit by the ball sack...

[clickmeimorganic]

its really not that hard. just jump around it, and blow it to hell. i did it second try.

[AtomHeartDragon]

Gonarch battles would have worked much better if you didn't collide with all the minor geometry all the time.

[Vassago Rain]

The first part is really easy, except for the source rocks (tm). The physics things it throws at you are all located on the ground and visible, and you can bullfight the gonarch into running into walls and objects fairly easily. Once it drops low, it starts doing the more determined rushes, but by then, you should have a grasp on how the side dashing and long jumping in general works to avoid it.

Also note that there's a healing pool out on a nearby island with a capsule of 16~ missiles, and you can hide there from a single green slime blast if you crouch and use common sense, but only one.

If you're not already, switch to the missile launcher and other explosives. Bullets don't really cut it.

[MR.SUPERIOR]

well the door is opened you can go !

[Wapplino]

..You realize you can just press F6 to quicksave in battle, right? There's literally no consequence for failing unless you're too lazy or forgetful to press a single key. Also, an infinite health pool island you can retreat to where Gonarch can't even melee you.

But seriously though. F6. It's stupid easy if you just remember how to quicksave.
Also, are you seriously saying the entirety of Xen sucks because you can't get through one difficult boss fight? Talk about an overreaction lol

[nobleberry]

Originally posted by Papoon:

I am a long-time, casual gamer and have really enjoyed Black Mesa up until Xen. I use a keyboard and don't play 24/7 and have to say the first Gonarch battle is too hard and has taken the fun out of the game. I'd turn the difficulty to "easy" but don't seem to have that option. The three settings are: normal, Black Mesa (whatever that means), and difficult. Please fix.

It is time to add a mouse to your keyboard, perhaps.

[~Neon Doom~]

so Xen Sucks because its not easy? lol Xen in HL1 was so boring because it was so annoying but easy ....the platforming just got annoying... Many people(playing Black mesa) have said the Xen levels riding the belt before the final boss are totally unfair and make no sense many people having to turn on GodMode.,,,


---So a new company (crowbar collective) makes a remake of HL1 and makes Xen harder then the original and your complaining ? just turn on GodMode...

[bwop]

If you truly think that the first part is hard? What about the final part ? Were you don't have an infinite health pool and all you have are only rockets in an enclosed room. Now I do agree that you should be able to jump (as in using the long jump module) left and right to better dodge her attacks, and that when it hits you it launches you upwards it isn't fair but it's not that hard (on Normal) and truly even if the Gonarch lair is the worst chapter (That's up to you) it doesn't mean that Xen sucks. How can I explain it to you I guess just "git gud" All you have to do is just shoot your rockets and try to dodge it by double jumping backwards and it doesn't take a PhD in Theoretical Physics to find out that bullets don't do a thing to it.