I think a big thing is.... a game being remade generally means the original versions will never be re-released again in the future. And if that remake makes big changes to the game it basically kills the original experience. Really what we need are remakes that include the original versions as bonus.
I bought it cheap during Early Access, and I'm glad I did. Because it's not only better in all the best ways like graphics, physics, lighting, etc... But they respected the source material, and made something Gabe would be proud to have on Steam. They even added some good humor and easter eggs in there as well. Before the Zen update, I could only get to some rocket Silo, and it was a dead-end fairly quickly, but I was like "Alright... This game is mind-blowing up until this point, so I'll just let them cook." And man, they definitely delivered. If people are looking to enter the Half-Life universe for the first time and want to do a solid run through the first game and 2 with the two episodes, I tell them to start with Black Mesa first, then HL2.
