Half-Life recreated: Black Mesa to be released 14 September

File this under one we thought we'd never see: Black Mesa, formerly Black Mesa: Source, the recreation of Half-Life with updated graphics, sound and more, will be out on 14 September. Mostly.

Hot on the heels of the leaked footage of the near-finished game, the developers of the mod announced the release date on the weekend with a caveat: the final levels are still being worked on, and will be released later.

Lead developer Daniel Junek, otherwise known as "Raminator", said that the final levels are more expanded compared to the original:

Development on xen is already underway, and we hope to have it finished up in a reasonable timeframe. Xen is going to basically be a complete game in its own right, it's not going to be just an epilogue to the game; more of a whole new chapter. It'll be pretty well expanded.

Black Mesa has been eight years in development, and has hit many vapourware lists next to long-time favourite Duke Nukem Forever. Both titles defied expectations and managed a release, although the critical response to the latter wasn't positive.

Purists should be warned: while the original Half-Life informed the overall design, designers and developers have updated the game to fit their own vision, and to make it more suitable for a modern gaming audience. The original game was released in 1998.

The soundtrack is available now from composer Joel Neilsen's site, and users only need the free Source SDK in order to play the mod once released.