Half-Life: Blue Shift

The Good
The second expansion for Half-Life was intended to be for the Dreamcast version, however when that was canned, PC owners got it with an added bonus the HD pack which upgrades the graphics significantly, it also includes Opposing Force.

In Half-Life: Blue Shift, you are Barney Calhoun, the security guard from Half-Life’s opening. He like Gordon is having a bad day. And it is about to get worse. Experience the Black Mesa incident from Calhoun’s perceptive. There are no dumb new monsters, there is not even a final boss. Blue Shift is a short romp through Black Mesa gunning your way out with the help of Dr. Rosenberg. Like Gordon you just have to survive. Blue Shift is better than Opposing Force in all the ways that count. It is more like the original game, it’s difficulty does not spike, and you still get to kill Marines.

With the HD pack which works with all versions of Half-Life, the graphics are awesome! The sub-machine gun is now a full sized M5. And all the weapons, aliens, and characters look better than ever. I would recommend picking this up just to install the HD pack.

The Sound and Music is mixed. The sound effects are still solid, but the music pales in comparison to that of the original. Furthermore this game has little music to begin with.

The Gameplay is a mix of action with moments of horror. Although Blue Shift is more action than horror, at least it does not abandon the horror like Opposing Force did. The game itself is quite short but that is not a bad thing in this case, as how long could it be before getting tedious?

The Bad
On the negative side, this game should have been on the Dreamcast not the Playstation 2. There could have been more music, and horror moments.

The Bottom Line
This unlike Opposing Force is actually worth playing. And you have to play these games with the HD pack.