Blue Shift's weapons may look different, but the difference is only skin-deep. There are no new challenges to be found, it's all over very quickly, and there isn't much point in revisiting the levels. The rest of it consists of a few fairly straightforward firefights, an obligatory jaunt to Xen (Half-Life's perennial parallel universe), and several jumping puzzles that manage to be just clever enough instead of annoying. These, along with a few other in-jokes, make for the most enjoyable parts of Blue Shift. During the course of Blue Shift, you might catch a couple of clever references to both Opposing Force and the original game. In practice, you'll traverse the same sorts of dangerous levels that are found in the original game and Opposing Force. It's suddenly under siege, and as a member of its security force, you're tasked with defending the facility's scientists from aliens and also from government soldiers, who have come to do you in. You start out heading in to work just as you would any other day, but things quickly go awry in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Like Opposing Force, Blue Shift takes place during the same time frame as Half-Life. In Blue Shift, it's too bad, since the main appeal of Half-Life's security guards comes from their numerous, wry one-liners and other banter. In Half-Life, this helps immerse you into the game. Like in Half-Life and Opposing Force, your character never actually says a word during the course of Blue Shift. In Blue Shift, it's a stretch, and the only time you get the sense that you're actually supposed to be a down-to-earth security guard is in an early sequence in which you have to get your sidearm and pick up your security vest and helmet. This makes sense in Half-Life, where you are protected by a state-of-the-art environment suit, as well as in Opposing Force, where you are a highly trained soldier. In the context of the game, none of this really comes across-Barney runs extremely quickly (just like Gordon and Adrian) and can suffer an inordinate amount of damage (just like Gordon and Adrian). Barney Calhoun, your character in Blue Shift, supposedly doesn't have the same academic background as Gordon Freeman, nor does he have the military training of Corporal Adrian Shephard, the protagonist of Opposing Force. You are put in the role of one of Half-Life's stalwart, levelheaded security personnel, whom you'd run into from time to time in the original game, as well as in Opposing Force. It's not that the game is easy so much that it's extremely short-it'll take you between four and 10 hours to see everything in Blue Shift. It takes much more effort to put Half-Life: Blue Shift into proper context with all the preceding Half-Life products than it does to actually finish the game. The high definition pack noticeably enhances some of Half-Life's graphics. The good news is that the revamped graphics and the inclusion of Opposing Force make the retail package a lot more worthwhile. The bad news is that Blue Shift, the actual game, doesn't amount to much on its own terms. For good measure, Blue Shift also includes the Half-Life High Definition pack, which refurbishes some of the graphics throughout Half-Life and makes the entire game look a little newer. In North America, Blue Shift also comes bundled with Opposing Force-and you don't need the original Half-Life to play either of these. Thus, plans for the release of Half-Life for the Dreamcast changed, which is why Blue Shift has now been made available for the PC. Blue Shift itself was originally developed as supplemental content for Half-Life for the Sega Dreamcast, but unfortunately, that console was discontinued earlier this year. Blue Shift was developed by Gearbox Software, the same team that brought you the excellent 1999 Half-Life expansion, Opposing Force, in which you play as one of the commandos sent in to ventilate Gordon Freeman, the protagonist of the original game. It's worth noting that Half-Life's publisher, Sierra Studios, has used the Half-Life brand name on many other products, including refurbished "Platinum" and "Game of the Year" editions of the original game, and has also helped promote (and sell) fan-made Half-Life mods, including last year's Gunman Chronicles and the extremely popular multiplayer mod Counter-Strike. Half-Life: Blue Shift is the second official retail expansion to Valve Software's groundbreaking 1998 first-person shooter.
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