Black Mesa: Definitive Edition - 16 - Gonarch's Lair [Hard]

The first thing that struck me when I played this chapter back in the day was the lighting and atmosphere of the first map, and how different it was from the last chapter. The sky is tinged a blood red, smog from the distant Tower obscures much of the area, and the numerous mutilated corpses of Houndeyes and Bullsquids, along with the creepy ambience and mysterious rumbling of the ground gives off a feeling of hostility that wasn't very present when Gordon first got to Xen. Once the Gonarch emerges from the ground, this all makes sense - if Xen was thematically a chapter about the beauty of the borderworld, then Gonarch's Lair is Gordon's descent into Hell and all its trials and tribulations as he gets closer to the Tower.

Black Mesa's Gonarch's Lair transforms the titular boss from HL1 into an intelligent, aggressive and powerful enemy. Where before she was only limited to a slow ranged mortar attack and short-ranged melee, she can now punt logs, spray acidic spit in quick succession, close large distances by charging, and knock Freeman clean off the map if he is foolish enough to get close to her. Where players can easily cheese the original boss fight by shooting from places she cannot traverse, she now punishes this by shelling the player from afar. And where HL1's fight is a quick series of arenas interconnected by short corridors, Black Mesa extends the length of the chapter, forcing players into intense chase sequences and situations that emphasize the fact that you are trespassing in the domain of a deadly, relentless enemy.

The above is very effective because, over the course of these three maps, it allows players to develop a relationship (albeit a hostile one) with the Gonarch. Gordon isn't simply unloading his arsenal into the beast all the time; encounters such as the pit filled with baby headcrabs and the mad dashes in the crystal caverns with her right on your heels help accentuate the Gonarch beyond just another bullet-sponge enemy - this one is actively adapting to its environment to try to kill you, much like how Gordon must in turn adapt to defend himself and come out on top.

The buildup of this worthy adversary has a grand payoff in the final arena, but Black Mesa also does a great job in giving character to the Gonarch, and hammering home the point that she is merely protecting her territory, just like countless animals on Earth. I always felt that this is reflected in the soundtrack that bookends the final arena (Internal Conflict), as the vocals seem to imply a twinge of sadness and compliment the limping Gonarch in the last phase of the battle very well. Both her and Gordon are much alike in this regard - both are simply trying to survive to see the next day in a hostile environment.

Hello, I am making a video on this particular fight in Black mesa. I am focusing on the atmosphere and the fight itself because it is one of those gaming moments that stuck with me. Something that left an impression on me, with the music and the chase and the final climax. Can I use your footage for my video, because unfortunately my PC specs are not high and cannot record my own footage on maximum settings. I will credit you of course!

I hate this chapter out of them all and one of the weakest for sure.

Exellent Movement, i was struggeling often uff :o)

Who is the 'who' that was in the vents Barney and the other guy mentioned in that audio recording?

That was SO much better than the fight in the original game

Its so cinematic. Brilliant!

Just perfect. Thank you.

Im confused, when I play this at the final layer he jumps on the tree and starts feeding, he then gets stuck there and I have to reload the game!

i find it funny how the gonarch took me so many attempts to complete, same for the lobby battle in chapter 11(?), yet i managed to kill the nihilanth on my first try

cool that they remaked this fight based on the guardian chapter in hl2 ep2

This level feels more like doom.

Just Completed i got my pc5 on

I'm stuck at the part when the spider is stabbing me from top and sending the small spiders to attack me untill the tnt detonator drop, the first time I died then restart, after that the spider didn't attack me at all!

the fact that this boss battle doesn't leave you with satisfaction, but with a sense of blame, knowing that you killed a mother who was just desperately trying to protect her nest and children. once you kill gonarch you understand, that since you entered xen, you became the alien, the monster, the intruder in charge of destroying their world

While its kinda cheap i like to dump all my satchels at the first teleporter site. When gonarch comes and breaks everything shes right on top of them and takes the damage of like 6 rockets at once

from a boring boss fight to a cat and mouse with a pretty good ending and action
this remake is dope just like your roleplay in it

Haven't seen anyone point out the stargate Easter egg alongside the Barney secret yet.

Faltó buena banda sonora que tenía el Half life 1 del 1998

Is gordon Freeman Jump too far away than Gonarch while she is running like a sonic.

I love that the developers gave you a way to actually not kill her if you read the clues.

I like the little headshake you did after the Barney voicemail, as if Gordon, from all the way in Xen, likely a month or even a year from then, was confirming that no, Barney did not in fact beat Gordon. :)

When I play: thing is ALWAYS right in my face and can't be dodged.

One thing i loved about this chapter was how much development the Gonarch has, it is arguably one of the strongest and most resistant beings in Xen, launching dozens of explosives at it will not even scratch her at first, but as gordon progresses and manages to deal more and more damage to her, you can see that she just starts to go more desperate and annoyed (you can see that she's already very hurt and damaged at the end of the final battle), just using literally everything she has to eliminate this intruder that somehow managed to survive her attacks. Honestly, just seeing her going berserk and launching multiple mortar attacks while barely even being able to stand anymore, and Gordon just launching more and more explosives into her, made me feel a bit bad for her. She was just a mother trying to protect her numerous children and get rid of the intruder that was just trying to get out of her way and continue his path through this borderworld. Just shows how much of an awesome reimagine of this scene the developers did compared to the "souless" original one, fantastic!

I love how the Gonarch acts like an actual animal here, she (prob a she right?) starts with little attacks trying to make you go away, throwing stuff at you and rushing like a animal trying to scare you, and then after your hurt her she becomes the one hunted and escapes from you multiple times, and then after a while she straight up just wants to murder you, trying to crawl through tight spaces JUST to get to you and kill you, fantastic imo

What’s the difference between normal and definitive edition in this chapter?

What I love about this is that the level title card doesn't show up until you enter the cave gonarch retreats into. You are hunting it down into it's own lair.

Done... What have you done...

I'm in my late 50's. That first open arena battle with the Gonarch gave me a couple of PVC's. That shit was awesome.

Being 100% serious. The first 7 minutes of this video, during my time playing through BM blind, were some of the most enthralling minutes of any video game I've ever experienced. Joel Nielsen is one of the biggest reasons why. The score having no beat and no percussion was such a massive risk because he had to put his faith in the devs to ensure the encounter made the player feel the impending doom and existential dread that the soundtrack crafts. No breakbeats or stuttered beats are needed, no heavy pounding drums to force you to feel what is going on--just you, the Alien, facing off against a force of otherworldly nature that wants to take revenge upon you for slaughtering 100s, if not 1,000s of its children. You are the real monster.

This is epic! Especially the last fight. I came here after I played the chapter today for the first time (also on hard), to see how others have managed to take her down. Awesome show man, Respect! This is for me truely one if the most epic chapter, boss fight and music in my long gaming career. What a joy! Respect to the devs!

I'm scared to death even by watching this recording!

It's crazy how, despite how much larger it is, Black Mesa's version of this chapter still has the same number of maps as the original (3). I also love how the first and final arena are modeled after the originals too.

Regarding what I said about the areas that correspond to the second map from the original: the Resonance Cascade flashback is the entry tunnel with the Xen Trees, the webbing room to the Houndeye section is the bounce pad pit, the crystal cavern is the bottomless pit in the center.

Alternate title:Theoretical physisist fights giant crab with a jetpack and a rocket launcher

Oh boy I love fighting big armored crabs with big sacs!


I wonder if the Nihlanth sees Gonarch as a small headcrab, just like a regular headcrab.

hah
the ti calculator has a black mesa logo

That achiement achieved by delivering the killing blow to the gonarch with the crowbar is probably harder then the rarest specimen