Half-Life: Blue Shift

Game: Half-Life: Blue Shift
Developer: Valve
Platform: PC
Release Year: 2001
Stephen's Rating: 6/10

Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for Half-Life which follows the character Barney (a security guard) through the same events which occurred in the original game.

Basic Plot

The story is in parallel with the original game and focuses around the events at Black Mesa which cause the "resonance cascade" which opens up a portal to another universe, letting aliens into the Black Mesa complex and ultimately letting the Combine invade Earth.

Whereas in the original game you play the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist involved with the experiments, this time you play the role of Barney Calhoun, a security guard at Black Mesa.

The story revolves around Barney trying to find a way out of Black Mesa with the help of Dr. Rosenburg. Barney encounters hostile alien life as well as US military forces who are trying to seal Black Mesa and destroy everything inside it.

Gameplay

Half-Life: Blue Shift is a first person shooter with elements of puzzle solving and in-game cinematics.

The gameplay is almost identical to the original Half-Life but with a different story and some different characters. The plot items included in Blue Shift extend upon the original story and help build-up the backstory of the game world.

The character models in Blue Shift were re-worked and contained twice the polygon count of the original game.

Positives

Great story, a worthy addition to the original story and one that extends upon rather than cashing in on the original's success.

Negatives

Lacking in new gameplay features, something which I believe was done better in Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Memorable Moments

I remember I heard about this game through my brother, and enjoyed playing both it and Opposing Force.