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Fun, but too short and thus it's overpriced.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 17 / 17
Date: September 02, 2001
Author: Amazon User

First off: only buy Blue Shift now if you don't own Half-Life: Opposing Force. Now, Blue Shift is, of course, Half-Life, so many of us die-hard fans will want to (and should) own it. Unfortunately, the price tag on this just isn't worth it. The game can be beat in just 2-4 hours, making this one of the shortest expansion packs in the history of gaming. Yes, they did add in Opposing Force, but that's just because they realized that the title game was just too short, and it's not worth it if you already own OpFor, as most of us Half-Life fans do. There's a High Definition pack added, which "upgrades" the looks of the weapons, enemies and friendly characters, but how it looks isn't that important. The original game still looks good, so this wasn't needed. If anything, it just makes the sinister "G-Man" character look less intimidating. As it stands, the game isn't quite worth a [price]price tag; wait until they drop it to a more sensible ... price and buy it then.

Barney Blueshift, rules or sucks?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 34 / 56
Date: May 01, 2001
Author: Amazon User

HL blueshifts makes your HL collection last a few more years longer till the release of Half-Life 2: Wrath of the Yindor. it places you in the role of the world's most loved sidekick: Barney Jones, as a security guard in the black mesa research facility it's up to you and your scientist buddies to survive, including an improved engine and the High Definition pack which replaces the models / skins of some of the best HL addon packs (like Gunman chronicles, Opposing force and of course HL itself)

As i said before the release of this addon and the HD will make the HL generation last a little longer, more official addons are coming like the mysterious: Project 4th force (also known as Separation: Soul Survivor) an addon that will put you deeper into the storyline of HL with extensive cinematic scenes and revealing the truth.

Half-Life 2: Wrath of the Yindor, will also go deeper into the Separation storyline, but not as Gordon, Walter, Adrian or Barney this time but as a yet unknown scientist working at the last surviving colony on earth 35 years after the disaster, almost every human being has been killed or converted to the Xen Race and the last survivors escaped to a secret Antarctic Research Facility known as IceWolf, thinking that the fragile Xen lifeforms would freeze in the cold, you, a 30 year old scientist, were wrong, the first adapted lifeforms start to appear near IceWolf and are starting to enter the base perimeter, after a while the power cables have been chewed through by the adapted Xenomes and now they are entering the cold facility... after you and the rest of the survivors. With a XenoFormed home-planet and your last hope destroyed you and your colleagues start the portal once more...

Fun, a bit too short, not quite worth the $$$

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 9
Date: December 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Buying Blue Shift forces one to make a choice:
Do I care enough about the story line of Half-Life to shell out a few bucks for a continuation?

The game itself is good. It is not an improvement of the previous versions (Half-Life, Opposing Force, etc). HOWEVER, it IS a continuation of the story. There are some cute/cool tie-ins from the previous games (like when you see Gordon jumping through the portal to Xen).

There is also the High Definition pack which improves the graphics-look/feel of the weapons.

However, one note of warning: if you play Half-Life in DeathMatches, the HD pack makes it difficult to use the crosshairs... Why? Well, for instance, the tip of the M-16 covers up the crosshairs somewhat when it fires. In the game, this is not an issue, but in HL-DM it can be problemtatic. The solution to this is to change crosshairs to more visible ones...but I digress.

Basically, the game is nice from a story continuity standpoint, but if you don't care about the "Gordon" story, then it is probably not worth buying.

Awesome expansion pack - you know you want it

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 20 / 31
Date: April 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Okay, so the original Half Life is almost 3 years old now, but you still love it don't you? You play the mods on the Internet. The awesome storyline, the interactive scenery, the scientists that babble to each other and get sucked into ventilation shafts. Great wasn't it?

The best thing about this expansion pack is that it upgrades the original game and Opposing Force graphically - better weapons, and more detailed aliens. And you know what that means? You're going to have to play the first 2 games again before starting on this one! It's worth it!

In Blue Shift, you play the security guard which you meet as Gordon Freeman in the first game right at the start. Originally supposed to be a bonus game on the Dreamcast, the developers have made it into a full game.

This should be it for expansion packs, Valve should take this away for a bit and come back with Half Life 2 based on the Doom 3 engine for example, this is probably the last mission pack they can squeeze out of this narrative. Essential.

Disappointing to say the least

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 11 / 13
Date: July 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

This Half-Life spinoff is a waste of time and money. The original Half-Life, released about three years ago, was fantastic. Opposing Forces wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but it could hold its own. Especially with the boot-camp sergeant. :)

Blue Shift is just plain terrible. Compared with Half-Life, the game boasts zero new weapons, zero new enemies, an unimpressive plot, and weak puzzles. Not to ruin the game for those playing it, but if you're looking forward to a showdown with a major-league boss at the end, you'll be disappointed. Even the plotline surrounding the ending is less satisfying than winning a game of "Minesweeper."

Remember the bee-shooting hulks in the original Half-Life? In Blue Shift, those are the most damage-resistant creatures you'll encounter, and I don't think you'll see more than two or three of them in the whole game. Not only that, remember the armoured techno-suits you had to recharge in HL and OF? Well, you're stuck with helmets and bulletproof vests. The rechargers are useless.

On the plus side, the game appears bug-free, and the graphics quality has been improved slightly with higher-polygon models. Nice, but it doesn't save the game by a long shot.

Half-Life is over three years old. It was designed to run fluidly on a P-200 with a Voodoo1 card. End the lame add-ons, and impress us with an all-new Half Life 2.

Another Classic! HL : Blue Shift comes to town!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 19
Date: April 06, 2001
Author: Amazon User

HALF-LIFE: BLUE SHIFT

As security in this top-secret government facility, you must scramble to keep the scientists and yourself alive, as you extinguish the many hostiles attempting to take you out. It's going to be quite a day...

Besides getting Blue Shift you also get HL: Opposing Force, and the Half-life High Definition Pack!! The HDP Upgrades all your HL games to now a day graphics! all your Character models,Enemy Models get updated to better and realer looking ones and your firepower also gets updated! Like the old MP5 weapon with Grenade Launcher is now a Assault Rifle with Grenade Launcher! also you Get Opposing Force Capture the Flag and you get the same AWESOME Online Multi-Play you got in the other games...

Over all this is one to get! And if you want to see it in action get the Official HL: Blue Shift Trailer at the Sierra Studios its a 17MB Download but well worth the wait for 56k modem users! as for DSL or Cable modem users... YOUR LUCKY! :-)

Blue Shift gives me the Blues

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: July 15, 2001
Author: Amazon User

Blue Shift, I knew Half-Life and let me tell you, you are no Half-life!"

Disclaimer. I loved Half-life. So it is reasonable that any game that might be compared to it would fall short. Even acknowledging that fact Blue Shift was an extreme disappointment.

Length: It took me roughly 2 hours to get through Blue Shift- roughly the length of a good demo. Half-life, of course, took weeks of seemingly never ending fun. Opposing Forces, although not as exciting as Half-life, was very respectable in length.

Innovativeness: There are no new weapons. There are no new opponents. Worse, the very few irritating things, which were found in Half-life and Opposing Forces, are EMPHASIZED in Blue Shield. For example, those irritating crabs that periodically would attack from vents in Half-life and Opposing Forces appear around every corner in Blue Shield. Not interesting, only a nuisance which detracts from the game. Remember the great music found in Half-life and Opposing Forces, which would set the mood and accompany significant events and the change of locations. For example when you successfully launched the satellite. Don't look for it in Blue Shield, because it isn't there. Unlike Half-life (and to a lesser extent Opposing forces) I did not find myself saying "Wow, What great detail." or "I can't believe they thought of that." The incredible lack of innovativenessng was notable.

Plot: Same plot as Half-life but from a security guard perspective. I liked the way the plot interconnected with Half-life and Opposing Forces. For example, periodically you might see Freeman or the Administrator. Unfortunately, these connections were very infrequent.

Overall Rating. Poor. Blue Shift has none of the wit of Half-life.

Worth the money? Nope, Sorry, I can't recommend (as much as I want to) its purchase.

Great Chapter in the Half-Life Saga!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 14
Date: June 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

You played the hero. You played the villain. Now, you play the Barney. Okay, it may not be as long or intense as the original Half-Life, but you have to give "Blue Shifts" marks in many other areas. The new graphic and weapon designs are amazing, greatly improving the playing experience. The price is worth it simply for the updated graphics, since going back through Half-Life and Opposing Force with the new graphics is like playing a completely different game. For those of you who hated the Xen levels in Half-Life, you'll be happy to know that only one level in Blue Shift sports you on the alien world. In my opinion, the Xen level in Blue Shift is the best in the entire series, so even you avid Xen haters might find yourselves gaping at one or two turns along the road. I also approve of how the programmers added a different character from the other scientists and barneys you meet along the journey in the character of Dr. Rosenberg. If anything was missing from the original Half-Life it would have been a main character other than Freeman and the G-man. Blue Shift fills this void excellently. You really feel like you have scientists around you who can actually help instead of hinder your progress, something you never felt in either Op Force or Half-Life. Of course, in Blue Shift you get to explore all new areas of the incredibly huge Black Mesa Research Facility. Perhaps the most interesting locales you see are during your tram ride into work: a dry cleaners with a Barney and scientist playing a street fighter like game; a futuristic food court with pizza and ham burger restaurants; a really cool looking science lab with glass floors and computers galore, among many other things. At the end you also get to see one of the very first teleportation machines the scientists at Black Mesa invented. Remember the machine Gordon Freeman used in Half-Life? It's similar, only older looking and a bit smaller.

Now, as you might imagine, there are some set backs to the game. My number one gripe was the length. If you thought Op Force was short, it'll seem three times as long after playing Blue Shift. In spite of the shortness, however, the game has no boring or repetitive levels which means the replay value is quite high. Another grip is Gordon Freeman. You only get to see him for a quick second at the beginning and end of the game! It would have been a smart move on Vavle's part to add Gordon a little more to your plight. In spite of the setbacks, though, the positives vastly outweigh the negatives. It was very fun coming back to the Half-Life universe again, playing a timid security guard who is caught in right in the middle of the "incident" at Black Mesa. I look forward to Half Life 2, whatever that might bring!

Good idea, but way to short.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: June 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When a game sells 2.5 million copies and is still going strong nearly three years after its initial release, one would think that a sequel would have already found its way to the shelves. However, when the game in question is Half Life, arguably the best selling and best reviewed game in modern computer history, the rules that apply to other titles simply do not apply here. With a endless supply of fan made levels, modifications, dominating hard the world over, and with a mod, Counter Strike, being the most popular online game, one would wonder if Valve is in no rush to release a follow up to the game. The Highly anticipated Team Fortress 2 is over a year and a half past its anticipated release, and has yet to make it onto the release radar for the near future. Half Life 2 is a top secret project that has a tighter lid of security around it than the next Star Wars film and the Colonels secret recipe. So what is a Half Life fan to do with nothing on the horizon save for a few fan mods? Well, the folks at Gearbox have created a follow up to their smash success Half Life Opposing Force and retuned to the Black Mesa Facility with Half Life Blue Shift. The original Half Life cats players in the role of scientist Gordon Freeman as he attempted to escape from the Black Mesa facility following a accident that saw the facility flooded with all manner of deadly creatures, as well as ruthless government troops sent to silence anyone who saw to much. Opposing Force expanded the role by casting players as CPl Sheppard, and Special Forces soldier dispatched to Black Mesa to restore order. In Blue Shift, players get to take on the role of security guard Barney Calhoun. The events in the game take place at the same time as the other two games, as Barney attempts to get out of the Black Mesa facility. Along the way, players will battle monsters, soldiers, solve puzzles, and help stranded scientists along the way. While the game was fun, it was far to short. I was able to complete the entire game in under five hours, and found myself wanting more after I was done. The game does not offer any new weapons and while the graphics engine is updated, and updates the graphics on Half Life and Opposing Force, there really is little here to make it stand out from a fan made mod. There are no new weapons, monsters, or settings in the game, and I was surprised to discover that the game did not feature a boss monster anywhere along the way as the previous games in the series did. A further piece of concern, and yes it is nitpicking, is that the character you play in Blue Shift often interacted with Freeman and Sheppard in the previous games, but Freeman is seen only briefly, and has no real impact on the game. That being said, it is important to know that Blue Shift was originally designed to be a console only game, and it was decided to offer the game for PC users as a bridge to the upcoming Half Life 2. Blue Shift also comes with the full version of Opposing Force, a utility to update the graphic resolution of Half Life and Opposing Force, as well as a rebate for those players who have previously purchased Opposing Forces. The game also does not require any previous version of Half Life to play, though understanding the Half Life Story will greatly fill in the games storyline. In summary, Blue Shift is a nice return to a classic game scenario but is far to short and fails when compared to the previous titles in the series. 7 out of 10 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS P233, 32Mb RAM 300Mb HDD RECOMMENDED SYSTEM PII-300, 64Mb RAM 3D accelerator

Half Life: Blue Shift

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 24
Date: April 19, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I loved Half Life and Opposing Force. I have seen the trailer of Blue Shift. You played a scientist in Half Life, A Commando in Opposing Force and now a security gaurd in Blue Shift. I hope it does not have the same ending as Half Life and Opposing Force, Half life's ending was superb but when Opposing Force had the same climax it was very dissapointing, I hope Blue Shift does not dissapoint us with the same kind of climax.

Finally i have been told that the security gaurd you play in this game has only one weapon as the security gaurds in the black mesa must have only a hand gun according to the orginal game Half Life.

........JUST KIDDING.

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