Half-Life: Blue Shift

Last updated

Half-Life: Blue Shift
Half-Life Blue Shift box.jpg
Cover art, depicting the game's protagonist, Barney Calhoun
Developer(s) Gearbox Software
Publisher(s)
Director(s) Randy Pitchford
Producer(s) Randy Pitchford
Designer(s) Rob Heironimus
Programmer(s)
  • Sean Cavanaugh
  • Patrick Deupree
Artist(s) Brian Martel
Writer(s)
  • Rob Heironimus
  • David Mertz
  • Randall S. Pitchford II
Composer(s)
  • Stephen Bahl
  • Chris Jensen
Series Half-Life
Engine GoldSrc
Platform(s) Windows, OS X, Linux
ReleaseWindows
  • NA: June 12, 2001
  • EU: June 15, 2001
OS X, Linux
  • WW: July 31, 2013
Genre(s) First-person shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack for the first-person shooter video game Half-Life (1998). It was developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sierra On-Line. Blue Shift was the second expansion for Half-Life, originally intended as part of a Dreamcast port of Half-Life. Although the Dreamcast port was cancelled, the Windows version was released as a standalone product on June 12, 2001, for Windows. It was released on Steam on August 24, 2005.

Contents

As with Gearbox's previous expansion pack, Opposing Force (1999), Blue Shift returns to the setting and events of Half-Life, but portrays the story through the eyes of another character. Players control security guard Barney Calhoun, employed by the Black Mesa Research Facility, who must fight his way to safety during an alien invasion. Blue Shift also includes a graphics pack that upgrades the Half-Life models and textures.

Blue Shift received mixed reviews. Many reviewers were critical of the short length and lack of new content, although the new graphics were praised.

Gameplay

Blue Shift is the first Half-Life game to feature consistent interaction with a single non-player character, Dr. Rosenberg. Half-Life Blue Shift screenshot.jpg
Blue Shift is the first Half-Life game to feature consistent interaction with a single non-player character, Dr. Rosenberg.

As an expansion pack for Half-Life, Blue Shift is a first-person shooter. The overall gameplay of Blue Shift does not significantly differ from that of Half-Life: players are required to navigate through the game's levels, fight hostile non-player characters and solve a variety of puzzles to advance. [1] The game continues Half-Life's methods of an unbroken narrative. The player sees everything through the first-person perspective of the protagonist, and remains in control of the player character for almost all the game. Story events are conveyed through the use of scripted sequences rather than cut scenes. Progress through the game's world is continuous; although the game is divided up into chapters, the only significant pauses are when the game needs to load the next part of an environment. [1]

The player battles through the game alone, but is occasionally assisted by friendly non-player characters. Security guards and scientists will occasionally help the player in reaching new areas and convey relevant plot information. Blue Shift also includes a substantial section dedicated to keeping a major character in the story safe from enemy characters, and escorting him to a specific location. [2] A selection of enemies from Half-Life populate the game, including alien creatures such as headcrabs and Vortigaunts. The player also encounters human opponents in the form of a detachment of US Marines who have been sent to eliminate the alien threat and silence any witnesses. [3] Blue Shift does not elaborate on the storyline in Opposing Force , the preceding expansion pack, and no enemy characters or weapons introduced in it appear in the game. The player is instead given access to a limited selection of Half-Life's original weaponry. [2]

Synopsis

Setting

Blue Shift is set in the same location and time frame as that of Half-Life, taking place at a remote New Mexico laboratory called the Black Mesa Research Facility. In Half-Life, the player takes on the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist involved in an accident that opens an interdimensional portal to the borderworld of Xen, allowing the alien creatures of Xen to attack the facility. The player guides Freeman in an attempt to escape the facility and close the portal, ultimately traveling to Xen to do so. [4] As in Opposing Force, Blue Shift shows the events of Half-Life from the perspective of a different protagonist. The player assumes the role of Barney Calhoun, a security guard working near the labs where the accident takes place. Calhoun is responsible for the preservation of equipment and materials and the welfare of research personnel, and after the accident turns Black Mesa into a warzone, he must work with Dr. Rosenberg, a high-ranking scientist involved in the experiment, to evacuate the facility. [5]

Plot

Blue Shift begins similarly to Half-Life, as Barney Calhoun rides a train through the Black Mesa research facility to reach his place of work. After reporting for duty, Calhoun is instructed to assist in maintenance on a malfunctioning elevator. [6] As Calhoun finishes repairs, however, Freeman's experiment takes place and results in a "resonance cascade", causing massive damage to the facility and teleporting alien creatures into the base. The elevator is badly damaged and fails, sending Calhoun plummeting into the depths of Black Mesa.

Calhoun regains consciousness at the bottom of the shaft and begins to fight his way to the surface to escape. Emerging near Black Mesa's classification yards, Calhoun learns that Dr. Rosenberg and his colleagues plan to escape the facility using teleportation technology. [7] After freeing Rosenberg from the captivity of the US Marines detachment sent to silence the facility, Calhoun escorts him to a decommissioned prototype teleportation laboratory, where several Black Mesa employees have already gathered. Rosenberg then teleports Calhoun to the Xen borderworld to calibrate research equipment needed to pinpoint a teleport destination outside of Black Mesa. [8] Upon his return, Rosenberg informs Calhoun that the teleporter's battery power has been exhausted, and contact has been lost with a team sent to acquire a new power cell.

Calhoun travels to the power generators on a lower level to find a fresh power cell while firefights rage between the Marines and the forces of Xen. After returning with a new power cell, Calhoun assists Rosenberg in evacuating the few surviving personnel through the teleporter. Calhoun is the last to enter the portal and as he does so, Marines breach the laboratory and fire on him, causing the teleporter to explode. As a result of the teleporter's destruction, Calhoun enters a "harmonic reflux", causing him to be rapidly teleported to a variety of locations in Xen and Black Mesa. At one location, he witnesses Freeman's capture by Marines midway through Half-Life, before eventually stabilizing at the intended teleport location with Rosenberg at the outskirts of Black Mesa, where they then escape the facility in a company SUV. [9]

Development

The High Definition pack placed higher quality models in the game, doubling the number of polygons used in the original models. High Definition Half-Life comparison.jpg
The High Definition pack placed higher quality models in the game, doubling the number of polygons used in the original models.

Blue Shift was announced in the second quarter of 2000 as part of an upcoming Dreamcast port of Half-Life. [10] While the port was developed by Captivation Digital Laboratories, Blue Shift was developed by Gearbox Software, who also developed the first Half-Life expansion, Opposing Force . [11] The game had the working title Half-Life: Guard Duty; publisher Sierra Entertainment announced the name Blue Shift on August 30, 2000. As with Opposing Force, the title has a double meaning, referring to both the blue shift light phenomenon and the name of Barney's shift. [12] The Dreamcast port would include higher detail models and textures [13] that were double the polygon count of Valve's original Half-Life models. [14]

At the European Computer Trade Show in September 2000, information about Blue Shift's story and development direction was revealed, along with a release date of November 1, 2000, for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life. [14] The port was delayed by Sierra to ensure the "high expectations of consumers" were met, anticipating release by the end of the year. [15]

On March 29, 2001, Sierra announced that Blue Shift would also be released for Windows [16] as a standalone game that would not require the original Half-Life to run. [17] The new models developed for the Dreamcast version would also be included in the PC version as the Half-Life High Definition pack, and could be applied to Half-Life and Opposing Force. [18] At the E3 2001, Gearbox announced that Blue Shift was complete [19] and exhibited a playable version. [20] It was released on June 12, 2001, in North America, [21] [22] and on June 15 in Europe. [23] [24] On June 16, 2001, Sierra canceled the Dreamcast port of Half-Life, citing "changing market conditions". [25] A late build of the Dreamcast version eventually leaked online, featuring complete versions of Half-Life and Blue Shift. [26]

Blue Shift and the High Definition pack were initially absent from the launch of Valve's content delivery system Steam in September 2003, despite the presence of both Half-Life and Opposing Force on the system. [27] The game was released on Steam on August 29, 2005, along with the High Definition Pack. [28] Blue Shift was also published as part of Sierra's Half-Life: Generation compilation in 2002, [29] and as part of Valve and Electronic Arts' Half Life 1: Anthology on September 26, 2005. [30]

Reception

The PC version received above-average reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic. [31]

In a review for IGN , critic Tal Blevins noted that Blue Shift's gameplay "is pretty much what we've come to expect out of Half-Life" by blending action and puzzle solving, stating that the latter "were all logical and well done, although some of the jumping puzzles were frustrating". Though IGN praised the game for maintaining the "epic" feel of the original, Blevins was critical of the relatively short length of the game. [1] GameSpot reviewer Greg Kasavin agreed with many of IGN's criticisms, stating that "it's not that the game is easy so much that it's extremely short" and that Blue Shift "doesn't amount to much on its own terms". In addition, Kasavin described the graphical enhancements brought about by the High Definition pack as "helpful", but noted that "they still don't make Half-Life look like a new game—nor are many of the changes themselves very noticeable". [36]

Other reviews echoed complaints about the similarity of Blue Shift to previous games. GameSpy reviewer Jamie Madigan stated that "what really pulls the game down is the 'more of the same' factor". Although writing that the game "feels like just a few more levels for the original game", he noted that this is what Blue Shift was designed to be, given its origins as an add-on for a Dreamcast version of Half-Life. Madigan described the single-player campaign as "decent" and commented that the new graphics made the game "worthy of consideration". [3] Eurogamer echoed criticism on the game's length; reviewer Tom Bramwell commented that "although I'm hard pressed to criticize what you get, the complete absence of everything we've learnt from the likes of Counter-Strike and everything since is frankly bizarre". Bramwell did, however, criticize the game's artificial intelligence and the occasional bug that caused a player to get stuck on a wall. [24]

PC Zone 's Mark Hill was more lenient, praising the game's artificial intelligence as "intelligent as you could hope an AI enemy to be". In addition, Hill praised the game for showing more activity in the base, noting that "a whole world goes on around you, with people eating at a cantina and scientists doing their laundry. The complex is more alive than ever before". Hill also praised the focus "on a greater interaction with scientists as proper people rather than the two or three models that were cloned throughout the facility who kept repeating the same phrases", describing this as Blue Shift's "greatest achievement". PC Zone's review closed by commenting that "as a Dreamcast extra it works perfectly, but as a standalone PC title there's not nearly enough to it." [2] In his negative review of the game, Jim Preston of NextGen recommended that players play the Half-Life mods They Hunger or Day of Defeat instead. [38]

The game sold around 800,000 units at retail, excluding digital sales on Steam. [42]

Related Research Articles

<i>Half-Life</i> (video game) 1998 video game

Half-Life is a 1998 first-person shooter game developed by Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Studios for Windows. It was Valve's debut product and the first game in the Half-Life series. The player assumes the role of Gordon Freeman, a scientist who must escape from the Black Mesa Research Facility after it is overrun by alien creatures following a disastrous scientific experiment. The gameplay consists of combat, exploration and puzzles.

<i>Skies of Arcadia</i> 2000 video game

Skies of Arcadia is a 2000 role-playing video game developed by Overworks and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. Players control Vyse, a young air pirate, and his friends as they attempt to stop the Valuan Empire from reviving ancient weapons with the potential to destroy the world.

<i>Half-Life: Opposing Force</i> 1999 video game

Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for the first-person shooter game Half-Life. It was developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sierra On-Line for Windows on November 19, 1999. Opposing Force was the first expansion for Half-Life and was announced in April 1999. Lead designer Randy Pitchford noted that he believed Gearbox was selected to develop Opposing Force because Valve, the creators of Half-Life, wanted to concentrate on their future projects. Over the course of development, Gearbox brought in a variety of talent from other areas of the video games industry to help bolster various aspects of design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black Mesa Research Facility</span> Fictional laboratory in the Half Life franchise

The Black Mesa Research Facility is a fictional underground laboratory complex that serves as the primary setting for the video game Half-Life and its expansions, as well as its unofficial remake, Black Mesa. It also features in the wider Half-Life universe, including the Portal series. Located in the New Mexico desert in a decommissioned Cold War missile site, it is the former employer of Half-Life's theoretical physicist protagonist, Gordon Freeman, and a competitor of Aperture Science. While the facility ostensibly conducts military-industrial research, its secret experiments into teleportation have caused it to make contact with the alien world of Xen, and its scientists covertly study its life-forms and materials. In a catastrophic event known as the "Black Mesa Incident", an "anti-mass spectrometer" experiment conducted on Xen matter causes a Resonance Cascade disaster that allows aliens to invade Earth, and is the catalyst for the events of the series.

<i>Half-Life: Decay</i> 2001 video game

Half-Life: Decay is a multiplayer-only expansion pack for Valve's first-person shooter Half-Life. Developed by Gearbox Software and published by Sierra On-Line, Decay was released as part of the PlayStation 2 version of Half-Life in 2001. It is the third expansion pack for Half-Life, and like its predecessors, Decay returns to the setting and timeline of the original story, albeit portraying the story from the viewpoint of a different set of protagonists: two scientists working in the Black Mesa Research Facility. Decay is a cooperative multiplayer game, designed to be played by two people working together to pass through the game's levels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gearbox Software</span> American video game company

Gearbox Software, L.L.C is an American video game development company based in Frisco, Texas. It was established as a limited liability company in February 1999 by five developers formerly of Rebel Boat Rocker. Randy Pitchford, one of the founders, serves as president and chief executive officer. Gearbox initially created expansions for the Valve game Half-Life, then ported that game and others to console platforms. In 2005, Gearbox launched its first independent set of games, Brothers in Arms, on console and mobile devices. It became their flagship franchise and spun off a comic book series, television documentary, books, and action figures. Their second original game series, Borderlands, commenced in 2009, and by 2015 had sold over 26 million copies. The company also owns the intellectual property of Duke Nukem and Homeworld.

<i>Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse</i> 2001 video game

Dark Angel: Vampire Apocalypse is an action role-playing game (ARPG) developed and published by Metro3D for the PlayStation 2 (PS2) home game console.

<i>Sonic Shuffle</i> 2000 video game

Sonic Shuffle is a Sonic the Hedgehog-themed party game developed and published by Sega for the Dreamcast in 2000. The game plays like a board game much in the same vein as Nintendo's Mario Party series, with up to four players moving their characters across a game board filled with a variety of spaces which can trigger different events. Some spaces will launch minigames that pit the players against each other in short competitive events.

<i>Starlancer</i> 2000 video game

Starlancer is a space-based science fiction flight simulator computer game, created by Erin and Chris Roberts, and developed by Warthog Games under the auspices of Digital Anvil.

<i>4x4 Evo</i> 2000 video game

4x4 Evo is a video game developed by Terminal Reality for the Windows, Macintosh, Sega Dreamcast, and PlayStation 2 platforms. It is one of the first console games to have cross-platform online play where Dreamcast, Macintosh, and Windows versions of the game appear online at the same time. The game can use maps created by users to download onto a hard drive as well as a Dreamcast VMU. All versions of the game are similar in quality and gameplay although the online systems feature a mode to customize the players' own truck and use it online. The game is still online-capable on all systems except for PlayStation 2. This was Terminal Reality's only video game to be released for the Dreamcast.

<i>Star Wars: Demolition</i> 2000 video game

Star Wars: Demolition is a 2000 vehicular combat game created by Luxoflux and LucasArts using the Vigilante 8 game engine. It is set in the Star Wars universe, where the Galactic Empire has banned Jabba the Hutt's podraces, so Jabba creates a more life-threatening vehicular combat contest.

<i>Illbleed</i> 2001 video game

Illbleed is a survival horror game developed by Crazy Games and released for the Dreamcast in 2001. It was published by Crazy Games in Japan and Amusement Interface Associate (AIA) in North America. The game follows Eriko Christy, a high school student who explores a horror-themed amusement park to find her missing friends. The player explores six haunted house attractions based on fictional horror films, detecting and neutralizing hidden traps and enemies which can harm or frighten Eriko and her friends.

<i>Ooga Booga</i> 2001 video game

Ooga Booga is an online multiplayer video game for the Dreamcast, focusing on the combat of "Kahunas" using thrown shrunken heads, riding animals, staffs, or using spells. The game received positive reviews from video game critics.

<i>Half-Life</i> (series) Video game series

Half-Life is a series of first-person shooter games created by Valve. The games combine shooting combat, puzzles and storytelling, and are played entirely from the first-person perspective.

<i>NBA Hoopz</i> 2001 video game

NBA Hoopz is a 2001 basketball video game published by Midway. It is the sequel to NBA Hangtime and NBA Showtime: NBA on NBC. Hoopz was the only 3-on-3, arcade-style basketball video game available during the 2000–01 NBA season. Shaquille O'Neal is featured on the game cover.

This is a list of characters in the Half-Life video game series, which comprises Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Half-Life: Alyx, and their respective expansion packs and episodes.

<i>Black Mesa</i> (video game) 2020 video game

Black Mesa is a 2020 first-person shooter video game developed and published by Crowbar Collective. It is a fan-made remake of Half-Life (1998) made in the Source game engine. Originally published as a free mod in September 2012, Black Mesa was approved for commercial release by Valve, the developers of Half-Life. The first commercial version was published as an early-access release in May 2015, followed by a full release in March 2020, for Windows and Linux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GoldSrc</span> Video game engine

GoldSrc, sometimes called the Half-Lifeengine, is a proprietary game engine developed by Valve. At its core, GoldSrc is a heavily modified version of id Software's Quake engine. It made its debut in 1998 with Half-Life and powered future games developed by or with oversight from Valve, including Half-Life's expansions, Day of Defeat and games in the Counter-Strike series.

<i>Le Mans 24 Hours</i> (video game) 1999 video game

Le Mans 24 Hours is a video game released for the PlayStation, Game Boy Color, Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. The Dreamcast version was ported and published by Sega in Japan on 15 March 2001, while the PlayStation 2 version was ported and published by the same company on 13 June. Based on the famous 24 hours of Le Mans race in France, the player is invited to race the entire 24-hour endurance course or take part in a simpler arcade mode. The game also featured tracks such as Bugatti Circuit, Brno Circuit, Road Atlanta, Suzuka Circuit, Donington Park and Circuit de Catalunya, as well as a weather and night system.

Half-Life is a series of first-person shooter games created and published by Valve. Since the release of the original Half-Life for Windows in 1998, several ports, expansion packs and sequels have been canceled, including projects developed by other studios.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Blevins, Tal (June 12, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". IGN . Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Hill, Mark (August 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". PC Zone . No. 105. Dennis Publishing. pp. 72–74. Archived from the original on March 15, 2009. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Madigan, Jamie (June 15, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". GameSpy . GameSpy Industries. Archived from the original on April 18, 2002. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  4. "Half-Life: The Story so Far". Valve . Archived from the original on July 25, 2008. Retrieved March 24, 2008.
  5. Calhoun, Barney (May 8, 2001). "Half-Life Week, Day 2: The Half-Life Blues Shift". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on December 3, 2021. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  6. Gearbox Software. Half-Life: Blue Shift (Windows). Level/area: Insecurity. Security guard: Uh oh, now what? Looks like some people are having problems with the main access lift in Sector G. Why don't you go over there and see what you can do?
  7. Gearbox Software. Half-Life: Blue Shift (Windows). Level/area: Captive Freight. Harold: The military is rounding up everyone and everything they can find, and either killing them or bringing them up here for questioning. So much for a rescue. A colleague and I came up with our own plan for escape, and we were on our way to one of the old prototype labs when we ran into them. But listen to me: if you still want to get out of here alive your only hope may be to find my friend. If you can get past the soldiers, find Dr. Rosenberg. With him you may have a chance to get out of this place...
  8. Gearbox Software. Half-Life: Blue Shift (Windows). Level/area: Focal Point. Dr. Rosenberg: Some of the more promising research on the matter led to a device that could be attached to the strange crystalline structures we found on this borderworld. Now this device could then be used as a focal point and a relay to aid in the teleportation. Well, in theory that is. We lost contact with the survey group shortly after the device was in place. We later discovered other methods of aiming the field, but all of the equipment in this lab uses the older technology. In order for any of us to get out of here alive, someone will have to go to the border world to activate the device. I'm afraid you're the only one who can do this, seeing as how everyone else is needed to operate the equipment.
  9. Gearbox Software. Half-Life: Blue Shift (Windows). Level/area: A Leap of Faith. Dr. Rosenberg: Thank God you made it! I was worried that a malfunction occurred at the last moment and you might have been caught in an infinite harmonic reflux. If that's the case then you're lucky to be standing here! Then again, we're all lucky. Thanks to you, however, we were actually able to pull off this half-brained idea. We made it Mr. Calhoun, we made it!
  10. Taylor, Martin (September 7, 2000). "Half-Life : Dreamcast". Eurogamer . Gamer Network. Archived from the original on June 30, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  11. Kirchgasler, Chris (July 24, 2000). "Half-Life Preview". GameSpot . Fandom. Archived from the original on March 21, 2005. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  12. Trueman, Doug (August 29, 2000). "DC Half-Life Includes Blue Shift". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 15, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  13. Stahl, Ben (September 5, 2000). "ECTS Half-Life Dreamcast Hands-On". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  14. 1 2 Gantayat, Anoop (August 1, 2000). "ECTS 2000: Hands-On With Half-Life". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  15. Satterfield, Shane (November 8, 2000). "Sierra Explains Half-Life Delay". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 16, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  16. IGN staff (March 29, 2001). "Ready to Jump Back into the Black Mesa Research Facility?". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  17. Walker, Trey (March 30, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift announced". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on June 11, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  18. GameSpot staff (May 10, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift Q&A". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on May 15, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  19. Ajami, Amer (May 18, 2001). "E3 2001: Half-Life: Blue Shift goes gold". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on May 23, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  20. Ajami, Amer (May 18, 2001). "E3 2001 Hands-on Half-Life: Blue Shift". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on October 23, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  21. Walker, Trey (June 13, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift ships". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 7, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  22. Cosner, Kellie (June 13, 2001). "Sierra On-Line Announces Half-Life(r): Blue Shift is Shipping". GameZone. Archived from the original on May 23, 2008. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  23. "UK Release Dates (2001 Releases)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on June 4, 2001. Retrieved March 29, 2024.
  24. 1 2 3 Bramwell, Tom (June 16, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on November 1, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  25. Satterfield, Shane (June 15, 2001). "Half-Life for the Dreamcast officially cancelled". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on December 5, 2004. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  26. "Beta Half-Life: Sega Dreamcast". nextdimension. Archived from the original on July 30, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  27. Bramwell, Tom (August 25, 2005). "Free Half-Life 1 Expansion". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Archived from the original on October 19, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  28. "Steam Client Update Available". Steam . Valve. August 29, 2005. Archived from the original on July 6, 2023. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  29. "Half-Life: Adrenaline Pack". MobyGames . Atari SA. Archived from the original on February 18, 2017. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  30. Adams, David (September 28, 2005). "Half-Life Box, Counter-Strike: Source Ship". IGN . Archived from the original on October 4, 2015. Retrieved August 24, 2024.
  31. 1 2 "Half-Life: Blue Shift". Metacritic . Fandom. Archived from the original on March 22, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  32. Nguyen, Thierry (July 2001). "Blue Shift Special (Half-Life: Blue Shift Review)" (PDF). Computer Gaming World . No. 204. Ziff Davis. p. 84. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 26, 2022. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  33. MacIsaac, Jason (June 18, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". The Electric Playground . Greedy Productions Ltd. Archived from the original on March 4, 2003. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  34. Brogger, Kristian (August 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". Game Informer . No. 100. FuncoLand. Archived from the original on January 11, 2008. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  35. Sparks, Shawn (June 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift Review". GameRevolution . CraveOnline. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  36. 1 2 Kasavin, Greg (June 8, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift Review". GameSpot. Fandom. Archived from the original on July 11, 2001. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  37. Gerbino, Robert (June 28, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on September 30, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  38. 1 2 Preston, Jim (August 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". NextGen . No. 80. Imagine Media. p. 90. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  39. "Half-Life: Blue Shift". PC Gamer . Vol. 8, no. 8. Imagine Media. August 2001.
  40. D'Aprile, Jason (June 29, 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift (PC) Review". Extended Play . TechTV. Archived from the original on January 21, 2002. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  41. Boyce, Ryan (June 2001). "Half-Life: Blue Shift". Maxim . MaximNet, Inc. Archived from the original on January 4, 2002. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  42. Remo, Chris (December 3, 2008). "Analysis: Valve's Lifetime Retail Sales For Half-Life, Counter-Strike Franchises". Game Developer . Informa. Archived from the original on February 19, 2020. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
Listen to this article (16 minutes)
Sound-icon.svg
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 26 May 2019 (2019-05-26), and does not reflect subsequent edits.