Used to identify the game, unaltered. Black Mesa wordmark, trademark of its owner, from the publisher's Steam store listing

Black Mesa

Catalogue entry · not reviewed · store data read 30 August 2026

Relive Half-Life.

First-Person Shooter

Player score

9.5/10

144,554 reviews

Released: 2020
Developer: Crowbar Collective
Platforms: 1 systems
Critics: 84
Steam Deck: playable
Download: 20 GB

We have not written a full review of this game.This is a catalogue entry: everything below comes from a source we can link, checked on a stated date. There is no score and no verdict here, because we only publish those after a reviewer has played the game and written it up properly. Our team may well have played this one. Until someone writes the review, we are not going to imply a verdict we have not put our name to.

What is Black Mesa?

Relive Half-Life.

Description as published by the developer on its own store page, read 30 August 2026. It is marketing copy, not our assessment.

The record

Catalogue facts
First released	6 March 2020
Developer	Crowbar Collective
Publisher	Crowbar Collective
Platforms	PC
Genres	First-Person Shooter
Languages	30 supported

Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q211229, seeded 30 August 2026. Store data from Steam, read 30 August 2026.

How was Black Mesa received?

Players95%positive of 144,554 · Very Positive

Metacritic84critic aggregate, PC

Achievements50on Steam

Method. Player figures are Steam's own totals for the PC version, read 30 August 2026. The Metacritic score is the one Steam publishes on its store page and can lag the site itself. Metacritic page. Neither is our opinion. We have not published a review of this game.

Accessibility

1 declared features

Method. Features the publisher declared on its own store page. A declaration is a floor, not a review.

What does it support?

Technical support
Capability	Support
Controller	partial support
Cloud saves	Yes
Cross-platform play	Yes
Mod support	Steam Workshop
Online play	Yes
In-game purchases	No
Steam Deck	playable
Download size	20 GB
Add-on content	None listed
Age gate	None

Content descriptors

Frequent violence or gore
General mature content

Method. Read from the publisher's Steam listing on 30 August 2026. Describes the PC version. Console versions differ.

What does it cost?

$19.99

Steam price in US dollars, read 30 August 2026. Prices move hourly and vary by region. Check the current price.

Problems players report

We read the 300 most recent negative Steam reviews of Black Mesa on 30 August 2026 and counted what they mention. These are complaints, not confirmed defects: we have not reproduced any of them, and a review describes one person's machine. What the counts tell you is which problems more than one person ran into.

Crashes and freezes56 of 300 (19%)
This game (again, on steam deck) has one of the worst crashing problems I have ever seen.
Steam review, 13 January 2026 · 18 hours played · 47 readers marked it helpful
And just as a final nail to the coffin - on later levels I encountered multiple frame drops and crashes to Windows - problems I have never encountered in both HL and HL2.
Steam review, 5 June 2026 · 15 hours played · 28 readers marked it helpful
Performance and stutter17 of 300 (6%)
Not only that, this section is very unoptimized and is filled with collectible-based achievements, all of which are broken.
Steam review, 3 August 2026 · 71 hours played · 13 readers marked it helpful
I've played plenty of FPS games but the enemy design in this game is a very mixed bag.
Steam review, 6 February 2026 · 32 hours played · 5 readers marked it helpful

A further 13 reviews call the game buggy or broken without saying how, which is why they are counted separately rather than assigned to a theme. Counted by keyword across review text, so a review discussing two problems is counted under both. Read the reviews yourself.

Games like Black Mesa

24 games overlap with Black Mesa on the tags Steam players applied to it, on genre, and on theme. The closest are Half-Life: Source, Half-Life: Alyx and Half-Life 2.

All 24 games like Black Mesa

Common questions about Black Mesa

What platforms is Black Mesa on?

Black Mesa is available on PC. It first released in 2020.

How much does Black Mesa cost?

$19.99 on Steam in the United States, read on 30 August 2026. Prices move often and vary by region, so check the store before buying.

Do players recommend Black Mesa?

95% of 144,554 Steam reviews are positive, which Steam rates Very Positive. That is players rating it, not our review. We have not published a review of this game.

What is the Metacritic score for Black Mesa?

84 out of 100 for the PC version, as published on the game's own Steam store page. Steam can lag Metacritic by a few points.

Does Black Mesa work on Steam Deck?

Valve rates Black Mesa as playable on the Steam Deck, from its own testing.

How big is the Black Mesa download?

20 GB on PC, from the storage requirement on its Steam listing. Console versions differ.