Reviewed: June 25, 2001
Reviewed by: Mark Smith
Publisher
Sierra Studios
Developer
Gearbox Software
Released: June 12, 2001
Genre: FPS
Players: 32
ESRB: Mature
7
7
9
7
7.6
System Requirements
Recommended System
It's a safe assumption that if you are reading this you have a computer, and if you have a computer you have heard of Half Life. Released back in November 1998, Half Life invaded the gaming community and quickly became "Game of the Year" and one of the most popular shooters of all time. Even by 1998 standards the game wasn't graphically impressive. Using a modified version of the Quake engine, the levels were your typical FPS design and the weapons were recreations of real-life firearms.
But what made Half Life stand out above the rest was the level of immersion the game offered. From the opening ride into the Black Mesa research facility to each of the subsequent scripted events, the player is thrust into the adventure and quickly forgets they are even playing a game.
Level design is amazing in the world of Half Life. Traditional levels are gone and you now play in one continuous environment with very slight pauses between areas/chapters. This gives the game a very consistent and fluid feel as you progress through the game. Interaction with other characters also added to the overall immersion in the story, and the AI of both aliens and soldiers was second to none.
When a game wins as many awards as Half Life it is no surprise when a sequel shows up. Sure enough, exactly one year later the gaming community was treated to Half Life: Opposing Force. Opposing Force wasn't a true sequel but rather an expansion pack that expanded upon the original story. The original Half Life had you playing as the scientist involved with the experiment responsible for the "alien invasion", and your subsequent escape from the facility while dodging government troops. Opposing Force put you in the combat boots of one of those Special Ops soldiers sent in to kill that scientist. It was an interesting twist that let you re-explore familiar territory, but with new objectives and a few new surprises. It also introduced some clever puzzles that actually required you to interact with other soldiers to solve them.
Half Life: Opposing Force also introduced Multiplayer content to the Half Life universe. Both the original and the expansion pack were heavily designed for the single player experience, but Gearbox chose to add the standard "Capture the Flag" and other traditional multiplayer fare to address the complaints of those who couldn't play the original game online.
Now, two years later we get yet another expansion pack for this aging franchise. Half Life: Blue Shift is the name of this latest trip through Black Mesa and much like Opposing Force, this trip through the alien infested research facility plays out through the eyes of a third and most unlikely character, Barney Calhoun. Those of you who have played the original will remember Barney as the security guard you interacted with when playing as Gordon Freeman. Strangely enough, that original encounter is not recreated in this adventure, but you will get to take part in some amazing situations that most likely were not part of your security guard handbook.
Half Life: Blue Shift got its start set of bonus mission for the Dreamcast version of Half Life. Whether this was done to give Dreamcast owners bragging rights or entice existing PC Half Life players to buy a second copy of the game, that point is moot as the Dreamcast version has been officially canceled. This recent decision has incurred the wrath of thousands of Dreamcast owners who were anxiously awaiting their trip through Black Mesa and a tour of duty as Barney.
Of course for every angry DC owner there are several happy PC players that can now enjoy Blue Shift on their PC. Sierra chose to cut some of their losses by releasing Blue Shift on the PC. Of course Blue Shift alone does not contain enough substance to warrant a standalone release so it has been bundled with Opposing Force to sweeten the deal. While this is a nice marketing attempt, chances are most Half Life junkies who would want to play Blue Shift already own Opposing Force. Sierra addresses this with a $10 rebate offer for existing Opposing Force owners.
But that's not all. The Blue Shift package also comes with the High Definition Graphics Pack, which upgrades models and textures for characters and weapons for all three games. The improvement is very noticeable and appreciated considering this game is still using a graphics engine that is over five years old. And one last minor feature is that this new combo pack is standalone, so you can dive right into the action even if you don't own the original Half Life.
Blue Shift does a great job of getting new players up to speed and offering refresher courses for Half Life veterans. Barney has his own security guard training area much like the Obstacle and Hazard courses from the previous adventures. Once your training is complete you begin the trademark tram ride into the Black Mesa facility complete with familiar female narrative and minimal text overlays. I was disappointed that many of the cool locations I saw during this tram ride were not available for exploration later in the game. I was especially interested in checking out that multi-level cafeteria.
Scripted events begin the moment you exit the tram and "push" you in the right direction to begin the main adventure. A quick visit to the locker room gets you suited up and ready for action and a side trip to the armory gets you your standard issue handgun and a chance to do some target practice. You can also visit the security command center and check out the view screens that depict various events from the original game.
You will soon be called to fix a malfunctioning elevator and that's when all hell breaks loose. Scientists start exploding and aliens start materializing out of thin air and you begin your mission. Your main goal is simply to escape the facility, but the initial elevator crash has put you deep into the complex with many alien-infested levels between you and daylight.
By teaming up with various scientists and performing a handful of tasks and quests you can help them all to escape including yourself. As Barney you will get to explore places that Gordon and the commandos couldn't in the previous adventures. Most of these places are in the gritty underbelly of the facility and include machine rooms, power plants, and coolant storage tanks.
In addition to the swarm of alien creatures you will also confront a small army of commandos sent in to "clean" the facility. As you might guess, you are considered part of the "mess" so be prepared to fight off heavily armed and armored soldiers. The good news is that you can upgrade your pistol to some serious military firepower as soon as you kill your first soldier.
Throughout Blue Shift you will visit several locations inside the facility as well as on the surface and even make a trip back to Xen. Before you all start groaning, the trip to the alien universe is quite short and consists of only three jumping puzzles, only one of which is remotely challenging. You will actually spend more time crawling through a maze of small caves as you try to reach your objective.
The game and the level design are quite linear, and while there are a few puzzles scattered about the game, most are easily solved with little thought. In fact there was only one puzzle that even gave me pause, and that only lasted about two minutes.
If you have played any of the other Half Life games or even Quake you will know what to expect from Blue Shift. The graphics are consistently good while remaining simple. This allows for some blistering frame rates at high resolutions. The Half Life/Quake engine supports both Direct3D and Open/GL so you can choose the 3D mode that suits your card best. The game runs grea, even on a modest system.
Lighting and lack of lighting is used to the fullest to create a dark and foreboding atmosphere. The first time the lights go out and you are standing in pitch black darkness with nothing but a small circle of illumination from your flashlight you will "feel the fear". Even scarier is crawling through dark tunnels or vents with nothing but a flashlight to guide you and turning the corner to come face to face with a head crab...AHHHH!!!
Installing the High Definition Graphics Pack increases the quality of the characters and the weapons but sadly not the levels themselves. The new character and weapon models are outstanding but also require a faster computer to enjoy them. You can selectively install the HDGP for Blue Shift or any of the other Half Life games you have on your computer. While I doubt that fancier graphics is reason enough to replay the original game or Opposing Force, those of you who haven't played those games will certainly enjoy the nicer graphics.
Half Life has always been my personal benchmark for audio quality. When the original game debuted I had an A3D Aureal card and was blown away by the amazing 3D surround effects. Today I have a standard issue SoundBlaster Live XGamer and the EAX effects of Blue Shift have never sounded better.
First, you have complete support for surround sound, which is amazing if you have a 4-speaker setup. If someone is talking you can spin Barney around and listen to the sound pan around all the speakers almost making you dizzy. Each room is also accurately modeled to reproduce the subtle sound nuances you would expect. Large barren rooms will echo your every footstep while the hollow echo of dripping water in the sewers or the clunk of sheet metal as you crawl through ventilation shafts will totally immerse you in the adventure.
The positional audio is excellent for locating your target in the dark environments. If you are creeping around a dark warehouse and you hear a head crab scuttle across the floor out of your left-rear speaker you know exactly where to spin around and fire. It's as close to virtual reality as you can get without a headset.
Many of you may have already heard the complaints of how short this game is. Compared to full games this is true. Blue Shift consists of 7 chapters and 13 levels, and my first trip through at medium difficulty took around three hours. Even novice players or people who play on the hardest difficulty can expect no more than six hours out of this game. But it is important to remember that this was never intended as a standalone game, but rather extra missions to be tacked on as a bonus to the original game for the Dreamcast.
The game is budget priced at $29 and considering you get Opposing Force included that is a fair price. If you already have OF then using your $10 rebate brings this cost down to $19 and you get the convenience of having both expansion packs on a single CD. By now many stores are already selling Blue Shift for $19 bringing your cost of admission down to $9 if you want to play as Barney. In fact my last trip to Best Buy revealed that ALL Half Life expansion products were now priced at $19.
Bottom line is that you shouldn't go in expecting an adventure on some epic scale. In the other games you had specific goals that took you throughout the entire research complex and even to alien worlds. In Blue Shift your goal is to keep your head down, stay alive, and escape as quickly as possible.
All the multiplayer goodness of Opposing Force is back with support for up to 32 opponents in a variety of online games and tournaments such as Capture the Flag. The Half Life interface makes it easy for novices and pros alike to get online and locate a server.
Half Life is still immensely popular, so there is never a lack of quality high-speed servers or willing opponents or teammates to choose from. Blue Shift is designed as a solo experience and the multiplayer aspects definitely have a "tacked on" feel. For the ultimate multiplayer online Half Life experience I would definitely recommend the other Half Life expansion/mod, Counterstrike.
Half Life is definitely starting to show its age and I would expect that Blue Shift is the final expansion we will see until we get a full-fledged sequel using a new next-gen graphics engine. Considering that PC gamers were originally going to be deprived of playing as Barney, I'm just happy that I got the chance to play this amazing, albeit short expansion pack.
The story is clever and intertwined with events that Half Life veterans are all familiar with and the scripted sequences are back and better than ever. Even the obligatory trip to Xen isn't as bad this time around.
The Opposing Force bundle and the High Definition Graphics Pack certainly add some value to the package, but this is still one title you will want to shop around to get the best and lowest price. Like all great rides Blue Shift is over way too fast, but it's a blast while it lasts.