Black Mesa Inbound
"Good morning, and welcome to the Black Mesa transit system. This automated train is provided for the security and convenience of the Black Mesa Research Facility personnel."
The game begins with a black screen with small white text spelling out the title "Half-Life" in the center of the screen. The scene fades in to reveal a first-person perspective inside a tram as an automated, mechanized voice speaks the quote above. You are already able to look around, move, jump, and otherwise explore anything you want within the boundaries of the tram. The subtle echoes of "Vague Voices," a music track by composer Kelly Bailey, hum quietly in the background, conveying a sense of wide open, reverberating spaces as the tram starts up and begins its journey through the large complex.
Black Mesa Inbound, which if you reduce it is really just a tram ride through the Black Mesa facility on Gordon's way to work, is today loathed by many, mostly because it's impossible to skip. However, it's imperative to recognize that this is not only an iconic scene from Half-Life, but a ground-breaking one at that. Whereas other 90's FPS's threw you in immediately in some kind of weird or otherworldly location to shoot things, usually starting you off with a weapon in hand, or with a pre-rendered cutscene usually with a bunch of explosions or spaceships, Half-Life dared to begin on a basic day to work. It's a mundane beginning, sure, but its ambience and mood are instantly recognizable.
Already with Black Mesa Inbound, we see core elements of Valve's design philosophy at work. Half-Life dared to break the mold by never taking control away from the player. The story is experienced entirely through the eyes and control of the player. Whatever you want to look at, you can look at. You can't leave the tram (without glitching or cheating), but you're left entirely to your own devices. Nothing is pre-rendered here. The Half-Life series is known, if for nothing else, for never having cutscenes, telling the story entirely through the player's perspective. This isn't quite 100% accurate, as Half-Life 2: Episode 2 actually begins with a cutscene recap of Episode 1, to the detriment of the episode, but that's just a minor footnote.
From a gameply perspective, the tram ride is a great way that Valve introduces very rudimentary concepts to the player. Aside from the Hazard Course (which may be considered non-canon, if you like), Half-Life never has button prompts that say "Use the mouse to look around," or "Use W, S, A, and D to move," etc. Starting the player in a limited space, with things to look at on either side already compel the player to move the mouse from side to side. This may seem extraordinarily basic from this time, but it's important to recall that even games like Doom and Doom 2 used the arrow keys to look around. Half-Life was one of the few games where the default controls had the player move with the W, A, S, D keys.
In addition to conveying basic controls here, where the player is free to around, jump, duck, move and look around, Black Mesa Inbound has a more important role, that of introducing the Black Mesa Research Facility. Black Mesa itself is iconic and the most highly developed "character" of Half-Life. It is the place where we spend the majority of time, only leaving it for the last quarter of the game. It is unlike any other facility, probably in existence. The BMRF was a decommissioned ICBM factory from the 1950's that was purchased and repurposed for cutting-edge science research, including bio-technology and, as we'll eventually learn, inter-dimensional teleportation. This first chapter has to introduce us to Black Mesa, convey the sense of scope in how big and cutting edge it is, while also hinting to us that things aren't right.
We start off by the Level 3 Dormitories and we pass by some familiar-looking office rooms and a cafeteria. Soon after, the tram passes by a security officer (a "barney," by the game's own terminology) carrying a flashlight, banging on a door. This is our first glimpse that this might not be the well-oiled machine that the company wants us to believe it is. The tram bends around a corner to reveal some construction workers and we get our first glimpse of some heavy machinery moving boxes automatically. The next room has large, rusted walls. A worker drives a forklift near what appears to be a rocket, or perhaps a missile. In either case, these rooms immediately show us that we're not in an ordinary office building. By the way, it's notable how many scripted events there are here in the base game already, and there's still plenty more to come.
The tram seems to reach a dead-end before descending a large drop, and we get our first glimpse of the outside. It's clearly morning, as the tram's announcement system has indicated ("The time is 8:47 AM. Current top-side temperature is 93 degrees, with an estimated high of 105.") We see that the facility is built into cavern formations as sunlight streams through a couple of holes in the wall, lighting up the desert ground. We pass through what appears to be an underground mineshaft, maintained with planks of wood and lit with a clearly older set of lights. These minor details are brilliant touches by Valve. We are entirely shown the various conditions of the Black Mesa facility. We learn through this imagery that we're somewhere in the desert and that there are various periods of construction of the facility that haven't been updated. Those who are paying attention their first time will glean much about these inconsistencies with Black Mesa that contribute to bringing about its own downfall. Even if you're not paying attention to it, you'll learn all about the decommissioned parts later, as well as how Black Mesa tends to ignore its outdated parts, which, at least or the narrative, becomes essential to Gordon's frequent evasion of surveillance.
We're not even half-way done with the tram ride and it must also be noted that at this point, the announcer says "Due to the high toxicity of material routinely handled, no smoking, eating, or drinking are permitted...", which is yet another bit of insight as to the nature of your job. After the "mineshaft," the tram passes by a helicopter on the ground. I have yet to read any explanation of what this chopper is about (is it where the G-man arrived?), but it clearly foreshadows the military presence later, who will use the same type of chopper to try and kill Gordon. I always found it interesting that there's a scientist nearby, scripted to wave his arms at it, as though there's some kind of urgency to this scene. It's an incredibly subtle and easily missed detail that nevertheless shows that Valve were true masters of their craft, in that they often added blink-and-you-miss-it details for their scenes.
We proceed back inside a cavern, where we're treated to an oddly long (for the time) scene where an automatically opening fence and bizarrely loud and advanced hangar doors open and close behind us. Perhaps this indicates to us that this section of the facility is either dangerous or off-limits. This simultaneously intrigues the player and perhaps also makes him feel special, as though he were allowed access to some kind of information or technology to which others aren't privy. This is another notable instance where, without words or explicit instructions, Valve pushes the player to look around, by making nothing happen in front of him for a few seconds, inspiring him to turn around and see how the door closes behind. Once the train starts moving again, we are in a dark, unlit, concrete passage that only starts to lights up as the tram gets further along. This is also the point where overt text is on the screen. We learn that we're in the shoes of Gordon Freeman, a 27-year old Research Associate from M.I.T. with a Ph.D in Theoretical Physics, whose administrative sponsor is classified and whose clearance is level 3. Oddly this never comes into play, but it does some good at teaching us that we have some clearance, but not a lot. We also find out that his position is in the Anomalous Materials lab, which could mean anything at this point, but it probably has to do with experimental research, so that's kind of interesting.
We pass by some weird pulsating machines with electric currents, showing us that we're now in some part of the facility that's more advanced. Further ahead, a four-legged, automated robot carries a crate down the side of a room and we have to wait while a couple of toll-booth arms grant permission for another machine to carry some cargo past us. While we're waiting, the announcer asks if we have a friend or relative who would make a valuable employer to the Black Mesa team, and that there are immediate openings in the field of Theoretical Physics, Bio-Technology, and other high-tech disciplines. This is yet another stroke of genius of world-building, as Valve hides this subtle clue of what the BMRF actually do (bio-technology, as we will eventually learn, may have more to do with research on extra-terrestrial organisms rather than terrestrial ones), well-timed with a lull in the tram ride as well as the image of the four-legged robot that has very clear animalistic movement patterns. Once the small cargo train passes by, the toll-both arms secure our path and we're allowed to continue on. Yet another weird door (this one is different from the previous one, again showing us that parts of the facility were probably built at different times) opens for us.
We reach another false dead end and descend to the last leg of this intro sequence. The announcer starts talking about regular radiation and bio-hazard screening before we actually see the next scene, which is of course the horrible radioactive spill. We can see another robot like the one before, as well as another tram with a scientist and a man in blue, carrying a briefcase. The tram stops to give you time to take a look at this so-called "G-man," who will of course be an incredibly important character later on. Right now, his importance may be easily overlooked. On my first playthrough, I thought he was some kind of lawyer or member of OSHA who was surveying the damage done by the radioactive spill. Alas, his importance is much more broad than that. I find it weird that nobody seems to talk about the actual harm that could have been done to Gordon by his proximity to this radioactive spill. For all we know, this could've made him sterile. It's also clearly timed with the tram announcer's phrase "If you feel you have been exposed to radioactive or other hazardous materials in the course of your duties, contact your radiation safety officer immediately." I wonder if any people with role-playing backgrounds expected to have to find such a radiation officer upon leaving the tram. But I digress.
The very end of Black Mesa Inbound has us pull in to Sector C Test Labs and control facility as a security officer opens the door. This is of course another very simple tutorial, which is that NPC's can interact with the world and open things for us, for which we might not have the capability to do so. It's realistic in that sense, but also shows us that our success may depend on NPC's. The barney slowly walks back to his post and opens up the weird yet iconic door with sliding tubes, which leads in to the first proper chapter.
Of course, it's easy for us nowadays to dismiss Black Mesa Inbound as just a tech demo chapter meant to showcase what the Goldsource engine could do. However, it's much more than this. It's tasked with introducing us to the Black Mesa Research Facility and to the main character's background, letting the player get used to the basic controls, foreshadowing different aspects that will show up, all while under the premise of being a cinematic, artistic statement of a video game. The introduction of course starts with the game's title and the opening credits scroll along the chapter, which is obviously a direct reference to the way that credits are featured in the beginnings of movies and television shows. Black Mesa Inbound's length, and entire premise of being the first step of a first-person shooter where you don't shoot anything, was nothing short of high art, standing out from the utter sea of waste that video game shooters in the mid-90s had become, simply banking on the Doom-clone formula. Half-Life stood out as something radically different and worth taking seriously. Black Mesa Inbound is our first glimpse of this.
There are several large themes presented in Black Mesa Inbound. The first is the grandiosity of the facility. The tram takes us between the common areas of Black Mesa (dorms, cafeteria) to a rocket or missile construction zone, experimental technology labs, radioactive containment, and even outdoor areas with a helipad. Kelly Bailey's song "Vague Voices" conveys the large-scale scope of Black Mesa too by having the sounds slowly reverberate and echo, both conveying the cavernous nature of the complex as well as providing a backdrop of premonition for the unforeseen disaster that will come. Another important theme here is automation. So much in this sequence is automated, from the tram announcer's robotic-sounding voice to the machines that move cargo independently, to the automatically opening and closing doors and toll booth arms, to the tram and rails themselves. As a simple passenger, we're left essentially helpless and dependent on the environment to do things for us. For instance, if one of the hangar doors didn't work, we'd be stuck. Just from a practical standpoint, this helps "train" the player to expect doors to open when approached. Since Half-Life doesn't have door handles, this is a good introduction to this mechanic while also maintaining the high-tech look of its doors. While the large and imposing doors are impressive, we see a couple of instances where this might not be the best thing for us, which leads to this chapter's third theme. The third theme is that of things not being all they seem. While it may seem that Black Mesa has great, cutting edge technology, things don't always run as they should. The barney banging on the door in the beginning and the radioactive spill at the end of the tram ride show us that Black Mesa is, in some regards, held together by duct tape. This lack of priority-management shows up consistently throughout the game, and we get our first subtle hints at it here. We'll soon see that whoever's in charge of the facility has decided to upgrade and renovate certain areas, while disregarding other areas that are in total disrepair. The barney banging on a door may even show us that certain areas don't have power, which is a death sentence in places that are completely dependent on automation. It just goes to show that sometimes the simplest methods are overlooked in favor of needlessly complex ones.
Black Mesa Inbound may be, from a gameplay perspective, relatively boring, but at the time, it was ground-breaking. The variety of areas we pass through and the sheer number of scripted events, even ones that surely wouldn't be seen by everybody their first time, was simply not done. Furthermore, it was unheard of to make the main character of a first-person shooter just an average guy going about his day to his job. This isn't any ordinary job though, as Black Mesa Inbound does the majority of world-building of the cryptic, enigmatic, yet cavernous Black Mesa Research Facility here. We learn so much from basically zero exposition, it's all atmosphere and imagery. It's the quintessential design philosophy of "show, don't tell." It's an enthralling chapter, not in terms of what you do, but in terms of what you learn. Black Mesa is, itself, the main character of Half-Life, and nowhere is that clearer than here.
Notable Quirks
I've read that it's possible to glitch out of the tram, and I don't doubt that, I just don't know how to execute it. This isn't so much of a bug as it is a limitation of the game engine, but when the barney inputs the security code to open the door, you can see that he actually mouths the beeps. I think this is because the sound is actually coming from him instead of the tram itself.
- Olde