Half-Life: Blue Shift

Pretty good but harder than half life for some reason? idk, Good game overall.

Half-Life: Blue Shift Review

Summary:

Storyline:

Combat & Gameplay:

Characters:

Boss Fights:

Still Salty about Rosenberg leaving us last to leave the portal LOL ;)

every single time i load in the game barney just starts uncontrollably unloading his magazine and shoots at walls and other shit made me kill 3 scientists by accident

thank god i only bought this when it was a dollar during the anniversary r

I like the story in this one better than Opposing Force. Seeing black mesa from the perspective of the security guards and scientists is nice.

It is the weakest of the expansions tho, no new weapons and levels are boring, not too much action but when it is there its quite fun. The puzzles and escort section really drag this down. I like the atmosphere of the levels, they lean into horror in some parts.

For a 3 hour experience its fine, albeit slightly disappointing.

A good DLC for a great game, adds a lot of life to its universe and shows you more of Xen. I really enjoyed it but wouldn't say its better than HL1 by itself. But yes, i would always recommend it.

Blue Shift is one of the expansions of the original HL and here you play as a security guard who finds himself caught up in the same chaos as Freeman. Same as in Opposing Force, the game retells some of the original HL events, but from the perspective of an ordinary Black Mesa worker. If you enjoyed the first game, I highly recommend playing this expansion, along with Opposing Force, as it expands the main story and won't take much of your time to beat it. The story is worth it.

Nice story Add-On, but a bit too short and an unspectacular final, not even an endboss. Hope the remake will fix that.

Enjoyable, but definitely worse than Half-Life and Opposing Force.

So I am on a mission to play all of the Half-Life games for the first time. This game falls right in line with my review of Half-Life, which is that it's just a game. It's nothing crazy, and while it's fun, it's nothing to write home about. I think the tech is impressive for 1998/2001, but the gameplay and story is pretty basic.

That being said, I know many people suggest skipping Half-Life: Blue Shift, but I would highly recommend playing it as well as Opposing Force, as they show the Half-Life story from the guard and military perspective respectively.

I will say that Opposing Force has a lot more connection with Half-Life than this game does, but this game is only 2 hours long, so it's easy to run through it to ensure you get the full story.

Great 10/10
Story was cool, helped flesh out Zen, the Zen levels in this being so open really made it feel like an other world.
Also, the ending was Epic!

The shorter of the two Half Life expansions but its a good bite size meal if you enjoyed the gameplay of Half Life 1 and just want more of it. It does not feature any of the weapons or enemies of Opposing forces though despite coming out after. You can tell it was made just to give fans something while they waited for Half Life 2. 5 dollars is a fair price but a sale is good too. Game is a little under 3 hours assuming you're decent at the game and can solve the puzzles quickly.

Pretty great and short expansion pack, I liked it, Calhoun Is a good character, but I wish otis returned In later half life games, we wont see him anytime soon though, probably never

In addition to the first Half Life game and Opposing Force, Blue Shift offers the best perspective as to how Officer Barney Calhoun came to be in the story of Half Life. The fact that he knew Freeman since the beginning in Black Mesa is confirmed in this game. Like Opposing Force, Uplink, and Decay, I remember this game fondly as well from back then since release day. Very bada**. Total nostalgia!

Half life without any of the stuff I find interesting about half life. But, the last few levels redeem the expansion for me by introducing a few new mechanics, even if those are short lived.

A short DLC experience that doesn't expand much from the original HL1, but it's short enough and fun enough if you enjoy HL1 to be worth playing

I love how the two expansions to Half-Life give you a different perspective to the events that took place. Barney's perspective was one of aid to others and escape. Doing his best as a guard. What a bad ass. You hear and see references to the protagonists of the other two games, which creates a sense of connection between perspectives. I found this expansion fun, but less exploration into wild concepts like Opposing Force. If you are a fan of Half-life style games. Pick this one up

!!! SPOILERS !!!
I dont know what it is with Half-Life and Portal for me but I'm LOVING the HL series. ALMOST as good as portal.. So far. Haven't played HL2 yet.. plauyed HL1, then Opposing Force, and now this. REALLY ENJOYING IT SO FAR! Even tho I have 37 mins of playtime (on Duty Calls). Will update as I play. Thanks gearbox and valve. Awesome job! And.. as always.... love you valve <33 (1/7/25)

kept the game open afk for like 40 mins so SUBTRACT THAT FROM MY FINAL PLAYTIME LOL -1/8/25

A quick but enjoyable expansion to the original Half-Life. Opposing Force offers more content but this game keeps it simple and it has some charm because of that.

While I didn't enjoy this game as much as HL1 itself, it's absolutely worth playing since it's fairly short and will be fun for anyone who enjoyed HL1.

Gearbox did a solid job with this game, so much so that I wouldn't have guessed Valve didn't make this one if Steam didn't have the Developer listed at the top of the page, lol.

The weakest of the 2 dlc but still a very enjoyable experience, If you do decide to skip any of the original content this is the one I would go with but i still believe its worth a play 8/10

fun little side expansion for the original game but unfortunately it was not given the same benefits as the original with its anniversary update

Fun expansion for Barney. I loved these games as a kid and still do as an adult. This one is far too short though.

Very Good Game.My favorite Part When The Solders Were Pulling A Man In An Orange Suit

Good expansion pack, but its pretty short and there are no new weapons

it's just a bit more old half-life. there's nothing groundbreaking here but it's a lot of fun.

Fun challenging and Barney from half life 2,play as the known black mesa guard Barney Calhoun.Fight with a handgun or a crowbar or even a RPG THIS IS GREAT,but the game is short like its brother opposing force but it is fun and you do get to go to zen before Gorden Freeman ever got the RPG.This game is the best when paired with opposing force and other experiences.

Pretty short, I managed to beat it on hard in about 3 hours, but it was pretty good! Especially compared to the 5 hours of shambled together hell that was Opposing Force. No new weapons, no new enemies, just Barney Calhoun against the US military and a bunch of aliens from Xen.

Not as good of a DLC as opposing force, but if you are hear to learn more about the black mesa incident, than this DLC is for you. The combat for this expansion is nothing out of the ordinary, and there are no new weapons (unlike opposing force), but there is a fun story.

This is nothing more than some more Half-Life - a quick 2-hour campaign not using any new assets but with some good level design that features the best version of classic Xen. Because it's so quick, it doesn't overstay its welcome or bore you, making for something you can enjoy in a single afternoon.
8/10 - a rating given purely to spite Opposing Force fans.

Same old Half-Life, same old immersion. There's nothing new except a few character models and some passive-aggressive scientists. No new weapons or mechanics, but there are a few Gordon Freeman cameos. No hate, the game was still good, but it was terribly short about 1/4 of the length of Half-Life 1.

Barney felt more like a survivor than a fighter. I'd recommend Opposing Force over this one.

Overall 6.5/10

Decent Expansion, not as good as Opposing Force but its still more Half Life 1 and its good. This one has more lore about the Lamba Incident and has a happy ending :). Its worth it. Takes around 4 hours, maybe a bit shorter than Opposing Force as it has no bosses.

Pretty cool game, I like the part where Barney said "Its me Rosenberg, Barney from Black Mesa"

If Braney has 10 million fans, I am one of them
If Barnay has 10 fans, i am one of them them,
if Barney have only one fan, That's me
If Barne has no fans, I am dead.
If World is againts Barney , I'm against the world.
If I am Banrey, that is not me, that's -me

Same as Opposing Force, It's a good game too for Half-Life players for wanting more content.

So an hour ago i reviewed Half Life: Opposing Forces and i said that this game is not my favorite half life game of the series but then i play Blue Shift and i can tell that it isn't better then the opposing force one so yeah this game is still the same game as half life but it feels like a half life game but its too short and theres no new mechanics, no bosses, and yeah thats it i mean ino this is probably my least favorite game from the half life games so i'm giving this rating an 5/10 its not great and its not bad so its kinda mediocre but its a fine game but i will kinda recommend this game to the fans of the franchise.

Even tho its mid at best

It's a pretty good game after all, good story, I do not extremely recommend it like HL:OF but it's worth the money while it's on sale

You are Barney Calhoun. You like Gordon, scientists, black mesa. Kill alien to save scientists, black mesa.

Love the ending! Atleast something has gone on sucessfully!

After Playing this game for myself after playing Half-Life 1 and Opposing Force, Blue Shift feels like the most underwhelming of the three. While it treads on the same feel as Half-Life 1 (Same Weapons, Enemies Etc.) despite the fact you can finish this game within 3 hours, it is still worth a play if not just once.
This game is a companion piece to Half-Life 1 and Opposing Force as you get to play as the reliable Barney Calhoun, security guard at the Black Mesa Research Facility (and a character who is important to the Half-Life Series,)

Never Forget He Still Owns You That Beer.

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⭐️ Score

⚖️ Criteria

ℹ️ Information

🧾 Legend

Great classic Half-life:Blue shift. It was fun to play again after 20+ years.

Even though it isn't long as H-L: Opposing Force, the game is awesome and we got to see a good ending unlike in H-L:OF

If Half-Life 1 is the 3-course meal, this game is dessert.

Short, sweet, and fun. It's a short expansion pack that lets you see more of Black Mesa and even Xen. If you're a fan of the first game, I'd recommend it. If you haven't played HL1 yet, do so before buying this
https://store.steampowered.com/app/70/HalfLife/

Go play Opposing Force instead. It has different guns.

I Still enjoyed half-life blue flavor, to say the least.

Very short but fun. Cool to see some of Half-Life 1 from a different perspective. The amount of head crabs is my only complaint. Definitely play if you got it in a bundle or on sale. Keep on shifting.

Wonderful expansion to one of the best games of all time. The animations and scripted scenes are superb for its time. But graphically looks outdated in 2001, and its really short. It doesnt add many things compared to Half Life and Opposing Force. Could have been better, but also a must play for any half life fan.

---{ Graphics }---
☐ You forget what reality is
☐ Beautiful
☐ Good
☑ Decent
☐ Bad
☐ Don‘t look too long at it
☐ MS-DOS

---{ Gameplay }---
☐ Very good
☑ Good
☐ It's just gameplay
☐ Mehh
☐ Watch paint dry instead
☐ Just don't

---{ Audio }---
☐ Eargasm
☐ Very good
☐ Good
☑ Not too bad
☐ Bad
☐ I'm now deaf

---{ Audience }---
☐ Kids
☑ Teens
☑ Adults
☐ Grandma

---{ PC Requirements }---
☐ Check if you can run paint
☑ Potato
☐ Decent
☐ Fast
☐ Rich boi
☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer

---{ Game Size }---
☐ Floppy Disk
☑ Old Fashioned
☐ Workable
☐ Big
☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive
☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it
☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data

---{ Difficulty }---
☐ Just press 'W'
☑ Easy
☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master
☐ Significant brain usage
☐ Difficult
☐ Dark Souls

---{ Grind }---
☑ Nothing to grind
☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks
☐ Isn't necessary to progress
☐ Average grind level
☐ Too much grind
☐ You'll need a second life for grinding

---{ Story }---
☐ No Story
☐ Some lore
☐ Average
☑ Good
☐ Lovely
☐ It'll replace your life

---{ Game Time }---
☑ Long enough for a cup of coffee
☐ Short
☐ Average
☐ Long
☐ To infinity and beyond

---{ Price }---
☐ It's free!
☐ Worth the price
☑ If it's on sale
☐ If u have some spare money left
☐ Not recommended
☐ You could also just burn your money

---{ Bugs }---
☑ Never heard of
☐ Minor bugs
☐ Can get annoying
☐ ARK: Survival Evolved
☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs

---{ ? / 10 }---
☐ 1
☐ 2
☐ 3
☐ 4
☐ 5
☐ 6
☑ 7
☐ 8
☐ 9
☐ 10

Some say, this is the worst Half-Life expansion. I’d argue against, it’s certainly not better than Opposing Force, it’s certainly still a good game, it’s moreso an extra piece of content. BUT OVERALL GOOD GAME!

To be fair I didn't really like this one compared to opposing force and the regular half life 1
it's good but it's just not entertaining enough for me, it gets old fast and not a lot of exciting things happen

There is no choice for mid, so I am going to give it a dislike. This game is really forgettable out of all. And it was way too short. I can tell this was super rushed. But hey at least you can play as Barney!

This game was like sprinkles on a donut, half life is the main course "the donut" but putting the sprinkles "blue shift" on the donut adds more too it. Sure it's just sprinkles but most people would agree that adding sprinkles will enhance the favor of the dount. The security in blue shift certainly would agree, and I do too.

Half-Life: Blue Shift is essentially just a handful of new levels for Half-Life, most of which are pretty good but not as good as the base game's levels. It introduces very little new content otherwise and just doesn't really justify being its own product.