Description
Return to the Black Mesa complex in this additional
Half-Life storyline. In this module, you play Barney Calhoun, a security officer working Blue Shift who is present at Black Mesa at the same time as Gordon Freeman. Your goal is to try to get out of Black Mesa alive as all hell breaks loose and reality is altered around you.
This version can be played stand-alone and also includes the Half-Life High Definition Pack that replaces most of the
Half-Life/Opposing Force/Blue Shift player and weapon models and textures with updated high-res models and textures.
Additionally included in the Blue Shift package (US version only) is the previous expansion is
Half-Life: Opposing Force.
Alternate Titles
- "戰慄時空：關鍵時刻" -- Chinese spelling (traditional)
- "半条命: 蓝色行动" -- Chinese spelling (simplified)
- "HL: BS" -- Informal abbreviation
- "Half-Life: Guard Duty" -- Working title
- "Bantiao Ming: Lanse Xingdong" -- Chinese title
- "ハーフライフ: ブルーシフト" -- Japanese spelling
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| Computer Gaming World (CGW) |
Jul, 2001 |
  |
80 |
| 2404.org PC Gaming |
Oct 06, 2002 |
8 out of 10 |
80 |
| Shooterplanet |
Feb 12, 2005 |
73 out of 100 |
73 |
| Gamezilla |
Jul 09, 2001 |
72 out of 100 |
72 |
| Gamereactor (Sweden) |
Jun 18, 2001 |
7 out of 10 |
70 |
| GameSpot |
Jun 08, 2001 |
7 out of 10 |
70 |
| Game Informer Magazine |
Aug, 2001 |
6.75 out of 10 |
68 |
| Game Revolution |
Jun 01, 2001 |
B- |
67 |
| Peliplaneetta.net |
Jun 29, 2001 |
60 out of 100 |
60 |
| Jeuxvideo.com |
Jun 14, 2001 |
11 out of 20 |
55 |
Forums
There are currently no topics for this game.
Trivia
Advertisement
The advertising on the back of the box is rife with inaccuracies.
- Two new episodes for "the best PC game ever" -- The Half-Life: Opposing Force add-on is not new. In fact, there are some versions of the box with a sticker on the front giving existing owners of Opposing Force a $10 rebate. This rebate, by the way, involves not only cutting up the Blue Shift box but also requires sending in the Opposing Force CD.
- Return to Black Mesa as the security guard who allied with Gordon Freeman in the original, award-winning thriller. -- There were multiple security guards who interacted with Freeman.
- 32-Person Multiplayer. Battle opponents from around the world in Capture the Flag and more Half-Life online games. -- This is misleading. While it is possible to play online Half-Life games with this package because it includes the original engine (not storyline, just the engine), there are no Blue Shift-specific games or features except for some additional levels.
- Includes the Half-Life HD Pack. Automatically upgrade all of your weapons and characters with new high definition content. -- There is nothing technically wrong with this statement, but it leads people to believe that the weapons themselves are upgraded, not just their appearance.
Barney
The name of the main character, Barney Calhoun, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to what most fans of
Half-Life started calling the various security guards around the Black Mesa complex in both
Half-Life and
Opposing Force. The reason the fans started to call the guards "Barneys", is because they were usually slow, dim-witted, and not very helpful, which is very much like the deputy sheriff Barney on the old show
The Andy Griffith Show.
Development
Blue Shift was going to be the killer app added to the
Half Life Dreamcast port, specially since
Sierra promised to take full advantage of the Dreamcast's capabilities to handle the new high definition models. The Dreamcast port of
Half Life had been in development limbo since 1999 and was eagerly awaited by every Dreamcast owner and his sister until Sierra flushed the port following SEGA's decision to flush the console.
Freeware release
On August 24th, 2005, the full expansion was released for free through Valve's electronic distribution platform Steam for anyone that owns the
Half-Life Premier Pack, the
Half-Life 2 Silver package, or the
Half-Life 2 Gold package.
German version
There are a number of changes in some German releases of the game:
- All human enemies were replaced with robots (not when the HD Pack is installed)
- All blood (except blood which is part of the level design) and gore effects were removed
- Killed scientists don't die but sit on the ground and shake their head
- Some cries of fear were toned down
References
In the beginning of the game, there is an arcade cabinet with the game
Prax Wars. This is a little joke by
Randy Pitchford. He had been working on the game
Prax War at
Rebel Boat Rocker for
Electronic Arts, but it was never released. The extra "s" was added because people often mistakenly referred to the company as
Rebel Boat Rockers or to the Gearbox game as
Half-Life: Opposing Forces. Also, they couldn't use the real name as EA still held the rights.
Information also contributed by
NGC 5194,
Sciere and
Zovni.This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by
frin (149) on Jun 24, 2001.
