Blue Shift is the latest commercial
release for Half-Life, and thankfully it is
single player. It was only recently announced,
and it's hit the shelves quite quickly. So it
may be an addon that was not in the making for
very long. Unfortunately, it shows.
What is here is very good,
but what's missing is the problem. Basically
it's Half-Life again, the same Black Mesa facility,
but this time playing a different role. Security
guard is your job, and it starts off just a
normal day at the job, although there have been
a few electronic problems throughout the facility.
Then the big disaster kicks in as your going
down a lift. The lift stops and overlooks a
huge room and the chaos below. A particularly
well done incident was a security guard unable
to stop his transport, explodes through a barrier
narrowly missing another guard, and smashes
into a wall.
Then the lift your in suddenly
starts descending - very fast! Memories of Mexx10
were brought back. A while later you awake from
being knocked out as the lift slammed to the
ground killing the two scientists also in the
lift with you. Your mission begins.
After that particularly well
done sequence, there isn't too much scripting
or story-telling throughout the game until a
large chunk nearing the end. Black Mesa looks
the same as in Half-Life. Well designed, a few
nice set-pieces but nothing to leave you inspired
and amazed. It is a fair bit better than most
custom map releases, just not unique.
You then move on to Xen! I
never really minded Xen in Half-Life. Maybe
because I'm able to accurately press the jump
key and navigate my way onto a platform, something
which for whatever reason, most Half-Life players
had great difficulties with and proceeding to
constantly moan about afterwards. There are
more jumping puzzles, but they really shouldn't
be a problem for the average player. The Xen
section was just as good looking as Valve's,
the rockery was crafted very well. Also used
was a fair bit of water, one particular scene
had some fantastic looking waterfalls coming
out of cliffs.
When you return to the Black
Mesa facility it's basically the end, with just
a short finale as you escape in the slipgate.
Great story telling and scripted sequences were
carried out throughout the game. Your mission
is to find the scientists and teleport out of
the chaos, but with a few objectives along the
way, such as recharging the power generator
and turning on the the slipgate technology located
in the alien world. It is particularly well
done for such a short game.
The gameplay was good. Never
anything overwhelming. There are a number of
great action sequences, but most players won't
have much trouble at all completing Blue Shift.
There were a number of enemies not even used.
For the first half of the game your main fight
is against Grunts, with a few of the weaker
Aliens. Then in Xen the controller is introduced.
No Alien Grunts or Assassins (which is probably
a good thing as I find these enemies very frustrating)
but putting the new Opposing Forces enemies
to use would have made it much better. Despite
being hardly a challenge, it was still good
fun.
Unfortunately it only took
me about three hours (3-6 is the suggested playtime),
which is hardly worth the price. But it certainly
is if you go down to your local game rental
store and grab it for only a few dollars! Afterall,
we've seen free custom maps that are longer.
But getting Opposing Forces with it is a good
bargain if you didn't already have it.
Overall a fun experience, although
not very challenging, with good design throughout
Black Mesa and the alien homeworld, all wrapped
up in a well told story.
