The internet archive can be fun, especially when looking back at the years of GamePen's height, from 1998-2002, roughly. Some of my best reviews were penned there, when I still had enthusiasm for the medium, instead of the soul-crushing depression the industry gives me now.
Without further ado, here is my review of Half-Life: Blue Shift from June 22, 2001.
Half-Life: Blue Shift Review
by Jonah Falcon
Four Stars (out of 5)
What's to like:
Great action, tricky puzzles, brings Half-Life graphics to 2001 level, includes Opposing Force and OpFor: Online, standalone, $10 rebate for OpFor owners
What's not to like:
Some may feel Blue Shift is too short
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Blue Shift Special
It's tough being a security guard, especially in Half-Life. They all seem to have a Texan accent, become victims of headcrabs, and are subjected to every other indignity. Heck, some unscrupulous players view them only as sources of ammunition.
Half-Life: Blue Shift, however, puts you in the role. In fact, you're the security guard that Gordon Freeman first saw in Half-Life, pounding on a door early on the infamous Tram Ride. You're referred to only as "B. Calhoun", though you can guess what the "B" stands for. Unlike Freeman or Shepherd, the scientists have a total lack of respect for you, saying sarcastically, "Don't you have a donut and coffee to guard somewhere?" Most of the time, all you have is your crappy little pistol, and don't get the M5 machine gun til much later.
The game begins the same way Half-Life does - on the tram, going to work, going to the lockers, and doing your job, essentially. After checking the video survelliance monitors (isn't it that Freeman guy pushing some strange rock down the hall?), you get a report of some power problems in the particle acceleration room. You report to help, boarding an elevator, and that's when everything, on cue, goes wrong.
Gearbox, who did Opposing Force, knows Half-Life better than anyone save Valve itself. They've refined it to a high degree, and Blue Shift represents the pinnacle. The scripted events are very cunningly done, from the first moment aboard the elevator, watching the chaos erupt around you, to watching soldiers dumping fellow security guards down a hole, disposing of them, to the final, tense moments in a battle against time as you try to escape while soldiers are attempting to break into the room.
Much has been made of the graphic upgrade of the characters, and it is evident. The number of polygons in character models has been increased, and the areas, with highest resolution, look fantastic.
However, the best improvement is best exemplified by Rosenberg, one of the scientists you rescue. More than any character in Half-Life, he is the most active. Unlike most scientists, Rosenberg is aggressive and energetic. He takes a more active role, telling you what to do, running around working on computers, and so forth. He's a welcome change from the quivering scientists who did nothing but open secure doors for you in previous editions.
Am I blue...
The other virtue of Blue Shift are the cunning puzzles. Some of them are subtle, like shooting wooden blocks to allow giant spools to roll away, allowing you to open a train car. Most of them require you to use your brain, like how to complete a circuit between a detonation charge and the plunger. The answers are logical, and require some thinkin'.
It's also enjoyable to see "famous moments" in Half-Life. You see Gordon, as stated before, at the beginning of his Tram ride. You also see him being dragged unconscious before he's tossed in the trash compactor, as well. One of the funnier, and more poignant, parts of Blue-Shift is the way Rosenberg discusses the "other scientists" who are using Freeman. Rosenberg dismisses their efforts, and has better ideas on escape. (One of the more ironic parts is that using older technology and using a lowly security guard, Rosenberg might have the right idea.)
The biggest complaint of Blue Shift, of course, is the brevity of the game. However, unless someone uses a walkthrough, the game will take around ten hours.
The other, subtler problem with Blue Shift is actually a problem of Half-Life's, and that is that the gameplay in some areas is a little dated. Specifically, you can't pick up objects. Near the end, you have to push a battery into a charger, then push it to a transport device, rather than just picking it up. There's nothing truly wrong, but after playing games like Deus Ex, it just seems inelegant.
Justifying the $29.99 price is the fact that it comes with Opposing Force (and the multiplayer version), which, like Blue Shift, is completely standalone, so people who don't own Half-Life can enjoy both. Moreover, people who already own Opposing Force get a $10 rebate til March 2002.
The other huge addition is the Half-Life High Definition Pack which updates Half-Life's graphics to 2001 levels. The scenery remains more or less the same, but the character models look superb, doubling the polygon count of both the characters and the weapon models.
All in all, Blue Shift is a great return to Half-Life, even if it's just a short shift. Hopefully, the next time we return to Black Mesa (or the hole where it used to be, if you remember the ending of Opposing Force), it will be for Half-Life 2.
Publisher: Sierra Studios
Minimum System Requirements: Windows 95/98/ME/2000/NT (w/ service pack 4), Pentium 233, 32MB RAM, 400MB HD space, 2x CD-ROM, SVGA. Win-compatible sound card
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