GRINDING GEARS
An enormous caterpillar has taken up residence in the waste disposal sector of Black Mesa. Unlike many of its peers from the planet Xen, the monstrous pit worm cannot be dislodged with machine-gun fire or experimental weapons. Instead, like the toxic materials that used to occupy this space, it must be flushed: first by turning the main pressure valve, then by hitting the emergency override button on the primary pump’s gearbox. Valve and Gearbox.
It’s Gearbox Software’s Hideo Kojima moment; an early effort to establish its own authorial voice, and to list its name among the greats. For a few years after , the studio’s name would continue to. But even then, a distinct identity was beginning to form.
