The base is a decommissioned ICBM launch complex at an undisclosed New Mexico desert location, which has been converted into a scientific research facility and bears a number of similarities to Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Area 51. The Black Mesa Research Facility (shortened to B.M.R.F) is the primary setting for Half-Life and its three expansions: Opposing Force, Blue Shift, and Decay.