[UPDATE 2: Chris “StormSeeker” Horn, also on the Black Mesa team, says we “might be surprised at just how short” of a time we’ll have to wait for Black Mesa. Still think nothing’s going on?]

[UPDATE: Anthony “OnboardError” Stone, currently doing level design for Black Mesa… says the mod is coming “very soon”, in an e-mail exchange not even one day old, courtesy of Reddit. Interesting, to say the least.]

Black Mesa (or Black Mesa: Source, if you’re old-fashioned) is a mod that needs no introduction. But we’re going to give it one anyway. It’s a complete remake/reimagining of the original Half-Life, in the modern Source engine. Best of all? It’s a completely free Source modification. It’s been in development since late 2004, and it’s only ever had one projected release date: “2009”. As we all know, they missed that date, and since then, they’ve “submerged” with regards to their PR practices, and they have reverted to the classic “When it’s Done” release date.

Last year, back in 2011, Black Mesa’s composer and sound designer, Joel Nielsen, announced that the Black Mesa soundtrack had gone gold. This meant that work on it had been completely finished, but it didn’t mean that the soundtrack was to be released any time soon. Instead, it was stated by the developers that the soundtrack would eventually be released prior to the mod’s release, and that the mod itself would be released exactly 2 weeks after the soundtrack is released. Obviously, 2011 came and went, and while the Black Mesa devteam is still active on their forums and their Wiki, the soundtrack has, obviously, not been released. However, turns out the soundtrack’s release, and the mod’s release… might not be too far now!

June 2009 was expected to bring a Half-Life 2: Episode Three reveal by many. Instead, it brought… the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2. Outraged, numerous fans joined the now-infamous L4D2 Boycott group. And in one month, the Boycott group had rallied nearly 37,000 members, although most of them would later go on to… buy the game. As we know now, the Boycott didn’t work out… at all, although many thought it would never work out, from the start.

Now, the slumbering Half-Life fanbase has awoken. And it’s been one month since the “A Call for Communication” movement moved outside of the Steam Forums, and got its own Steam Group. Unlike the Boycott, this is a peaceful, polite, and intelligent way of doing things. And it might just work. Well, let’s see how many members they’ve got, shall we?

Ever since 2010, Gaming Heads has been teaming up with Valve, to deliver an array of terrific replica statuettes, based off all sorts of beloved characters from the Valve multiverse. They’ve had a TF2 line (probably their most popular), featuring the Soldier and the Heavy; a L4D line, featuring the Tank; and a Half-Life line, with none other than the beloved Headcrab Zombie. Or you can call him the Mawman, if you’re old-fashioned. They don’t, though.

But their TF2 line is about to get a new piece – the Medic!