Modders xoxor4d and Beylerbey have released a demo mod for the Half-Life fan remake, Black Mesa. This mod uses RTX Remix to add Path Tracing, which makes the game look amazing. Right now, it only covers the initial parts of the game. Still, this is something that deserves your attention. At least in my opinion.

Going into more details, the mod updates the lighting for the whole tram ride at the start of the game and some parts of the lab. The modders also made five 3D models look better by using higher-quality textures (2K to 4K). They also created 10 brand-new 3D models that were only flat images in the original game. On top of that, they made 40 to 50 high-quality materials from scratch and updated about 100 more using different tools and methods.

To showcase the visual improvements of this mod, xoxor4d released the following video. The video compares the original version of Black Mesa with this new RTX Remix version. And, as you will see, the visual difference can be huge at times.

Black Mesa already looked better than the original Half-Life because it had improved lighting. But now, with RTX Remix and Path Tracing, it looks even greater. This shows how much better games can look with Path Tracing.

The cool thing is that the demo is available for download. So, if you own Black Mesa, you can go ahead and download the mod from this link.

In 2024, we shared a lot of RTX Remix Mods for various games. In January 2023, we shared several RTX Remix Mods that are in the works. As such, you can take a look at screenshots and videos for Tomb Raider 2,  Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Manhunt, and Garfield Kart RTX Remix. Then, in February 2024, we shared videos for Need for Speed: Most Wanted, Unreal, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 and Midnight Club 2. In March 2024, we also shared the first screenshots from the RTX Remix Mod for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. Finally, you can check out some early RTX Remix videos and screenshots for Fallout: New Vegas, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, COD 2, and Half-Life.

Speaking of Path Tracing Mods for older titles, you might also want to check out the following ones. Modders released demos for their Path Tracing Mods for Deus Ex, Tomb Raider, and Call of Duty 4. Do note that the COD4 Mod is a “proof of concept” demo, and it does not look that great. Let’s also not forget the RTX Remix for COD: WoW. And then we have the RTX Remix Mods for Underground 2, Painkiller, and Left 4 Dead 2. Oh, and don’t forget to give a go at this RTX Remix for Unreal Tournament 2004. In September 2024, we also shared a new version of the RTX Remix Mod for Max Payne. Finally, you can download Path Tracing Mods for Doom, Doom 2, Quake, and Serious Sam.

Enjoy and stay tuned for more!

John Papadopoulos

John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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