#Half life blue shift story series

I'm going to put this plain and simple: this game is a Half-Life map pack. The plot can be summarized as the following: Barney Calhoun goes to work, shit hits the fan, and he escapes with three scientists. Remember how I said that Half-Life's story was bad? Well this one - despite having actual character names - is actually worse. Why? Because * SPOILER ALERT* literally everyone else dies. This is about as deep as the story gets in Blue Shift. Only one of these characters will reappear in the series, and none of them hold any particular significance to the Half-Life universe as a whole. Aside from Calhoun, other characters introduced through this game include several scientists by the names of: Rosenberg, Bennet, and Simmons. Half-Life: Blue Shift actually names characters.

In fact, I would argue that it's much better. In fact, Barney's train is the one that stops Gordon's train from moving forward temporarily at the start of the game. That said, Gordon's presence in the game is limited to only several instances, and that is a fairly gracious estimate as I may have missed him on several others.Īs for Barney's story - or should I say 'Calhoun' as everyone so obnoxiously calls him throughout the game - it's a bit more flushed out than the original Half-Life's. Those who have played through the original Half-Life will notice right away that this is Gordon Freeman, and we are looking at him looking at us: that sad security guard that couldn't get in the door during the introduction.

#Half life blue shift story series

The reason I say this is quite straightforward: you are literally taking the place of another character during the same series of events. In fact, it wouldn't be much of an argument to say that the intro for Half-Life: Blue Shift is nothing more than a simple change in perspective.

The game starts out much like the original Half-Life did, or rather - dare I say - identical to it. Now let's get our badge on and buy Barney Calhoun a beer in Half-Life: Blue Shift for the PC! The Story No nostalgia glasses, no excuses, no rationalizing hardware limitations, and no sparing myself from angry fans and readers. Nothing will excuse the game from anything that we - as modern gamers - would expect to see in the genre today. As with all Rewind Reviews, Half-Life: Blue Shift will undergo a review process through the eyes of a modern critic.