shooter

Alot of the negative reviews of this game are justified in that Blue-Shift is a pretty short expansion pack that doesn't offer any new monters or "bosses". However I don't think a lot of the people reviewing the game know Blue-Shift's history.

Originaly Blue-Shift was meant as a little bonus adventure for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life that was being produced by Gear Box. When production of the Sega Dreamcast console was canceled right near the end of production of the Half-Life port Gearbox was left with a nearly completed product which no longer had a home.

On top of all of this the Dreamcast version of Half-Life was going to sport higher detailed versions of the weapons and characters, so that as well was ported over to the PC in the form of the included High Definition pack (there's actualy some extra work put in here as it updates the non-Dreamcast content of Opposing Force).

Again Blue Shift was never meant to be a stand alone expansion pack, this is why there's no new monsters in the game, there probably just wasn't budget for development of new content.

The only real problem with Blue-Shift is that Sierra (the publisher not the developer) knew the value of the Half-Life name and knew they could sell it at the same price as the full blown expansion Opposing Force. So what did they do? They included Opposing Force and slapped the high price tag onto it.

Now a days Blue-Shift is at the price it should of been all along. At just $ it's WELL worth it. It is every bit as well written and executed as both Half-Life and Opposing force. Heck anyone who pays close attention to the plot will realise that the shortness of the campaign is actualy appropriate.

Now you know Blue Shift's history, it's actualy great that Gearbox went ahead and got Blue Shift into the hands of the right audiance (the P.C. players). Now if we can only get Half-Life: Decay ported....

This game places you in the shoes of a Black Mesa security guard Barney Calhoun, during the same time period as the original Half-Life. The biggest changes from Half-Life in Blue Shift are the remodeled weapons and 3D character models. The character models have been reskinned with larger textures, and some of the weapons have been altogether replaced with new ones. Additionally, all the weapon sounds have been redone as well. The shotgun cocking sound, for instance, is now much more pronounced than it was in Half-Life. These upgrades are all part of the High Def Pack, a retroactive feature of Blue Shift that will search your computer for Half-Life and update all the weapon and character models!!!!! Blue Shift Here We come!!!!! ...

Despite what people say, this game is a great value. Opposing Force comes with for free, the HD pack makes everything look better, and the Blue Shift campaign is short and sweet. Buy this game and Half-life and get the best games ever made!