Sierra Online is a studio that introduced a generation of PC gamers to adventure games - mostly the type that allowed you to royally screw yourself by getting into an unwinnable situation!

I didn’t really get involved with many Sierra produced games, preferring instead the tone and safety of LucasArts SCUMMy adventure games instead.

However there is one piece of Sierra’s history that will forever be ingrained in my memory, due to their role in getting Half-Life to market.

If you are interested in more of this story, you can hear Ken Williams himself talk about it in a fantastically insightful video from Metal Jesus Rocks

I stumbled across Half-Life at a friends house and was blown away. That tram ride intro followed by the ability to wander around Black Mesa talking to my fellow scientists whilst getting ready for a day at work was a revolution.

After securing my own copy of the game I played through the night to complete it. The inky darkness and eery quietness of the outside world only heightened the emersion I feel exploring the cavernous tunnels of Black Mesa.

However more than playing the game itself, it’s watching the intro videos that send a chill down my spine.

When I see the pinpricks of light across the canvas of black, following by the Sierra logo flying into position, I’m right back there in my childhood bedroom about to be taken on an amazing adventure.