Black Mesa: Xen is almost arrived, after years of waiting. In fact, the developers from the Crowbar Collective have just released a Technical Beta now available for everyone to try on Steam. Follow the instructions below to access the beta.
We are excited to release our tech beta! It’s the first 3 maps of the Xen chapter (which has 6 maps total), continuing Gordon’s adventure from the cliffhanger ending of Lambda Core. With the full Xen campaign clocking in at 19 maps, the beta is only a taste of what’s to come.
The purpose of this beta is to collect bugs and feedback on a range of different computers. We have made significant improvements and changes to the Source engine, and we want the game to run as smoothly as possible. If you want to be on the bleeding edge of testing, opt into this beta. If you want the polished, complete Xen experience, you should wait. It won’t be long!
Long Jump
The beta drops you in just after Lambda Core. A big part of the last fight in LC is teaching the player how to use the long jump. If you jump straight into Xen, remember the long jump is triggered by pressing the jump button (space) twice rapidly in ANY direction. You can then use the W, A, S, D to control Gordon in the air.
How to Opt-In
First right click “Black Mesa” in your game library. Go to Properties…
Then click the “BETAS” tab and select “public-beta” from the drop down...
It will download a bunch of stuff, then you will have access to the Xen levels for the beta!
If you have not unlocked all the chapters, you will need to enable the developer console and unlock them. Go to Options, Keyboard, Advanced, Enable Developer Console. Bring up the console and type “sv_unlockedchapters 19”.
From there, simply click “New Game”, then scroll over to the “Xen” chapter (the chapter images were intentionally left black).
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief.
In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews.
Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications.
His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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