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Linux, Windows: Gearbox Software (2001): Rating (Windows) You can buy Half-Life: Blue Shift from Steam. With that in mind its probably best to skip this particular title and move on to the sequel. By then he’s been given a more interesting back-story which, tellingly, doesn’t seem to mention the events in Half-Life: Blue Shift. In addition to this the character of Barney Calhoun lacks depth, seemingly turning from a ordinary security guard to super-hero during the course of his adventures.īarney would return as a supporting character in Half-Life 2. While the levels are set within the Black Mesa facility and Xen for the most part they feel like the stale ‘gun and run’ arenas of Half-Life‘s predecessors. It never really added anything new to the overall Half-Life story. In all Half-Life: Blue Shift seems like a missed opportunity. Apart from a couple of puzzles involving moving barrels and crates there’s nothing really of note in the later section before the whole episode then comes together for a largely underwhelming finale. A new power cell is required, to replace the one used to power his off-world trip, and so he ventures back into the depths of Black Mesa.įrom here on in it’s the familiar routine of of fighting more aliens and marines. So the off-world section turns out to be nothing more than a crawl through a rehashed Xen which only brought me feelings of relief when it ended due its tedious nature.īack on Earth Barney seems completely unaffected by the fact he’s probably the first survivor of an assault on an alien world and so he gladly accepts his next, more mundane, task. He was a security guard at Black Mesa before becoming a key Resistance leader. By now the immersion is broken, as Barney should have to learn this anew, rather than relying on knowledge of a previous game. Barney Calhoun is the tritagonist of the Half-Life series.
Half life blue shift barney how to#
Having already played through Xen, albeit as Gordon Freeman, it offers nothing new as it is already known how to deal with the various enemies and how to negotiate the alien terrain (such as the organic trampolines). This time though it is a noticeably different gaming experience. The alien world looks like that of Xen from Half-Life although it is only ever referred to as a “border world”. He steps through the teleporter without a word of protest and finds himself in the alien world. Barney seems unperturbed by all this, right up to the point where he’s volunteered by Rosenberg to deal with the problem. Teams have been sent to do this, via the teleporter, but all have been lost. However this could change if a relay is set up in an off-world location. Barney encounters a scientist, Dr Rosenberg, who leads him to a long abandoned lab which contains a teleporter which can be used to help the survivors escape from both the alien invasion and the military clean-up.Īs he rushes around the lab containing the teleporter, bringing it on-line, Rosenberg hurriedly explains that it’s never been able to transport anyone to an earthly location.

Soon after Barney begins battling the military the narrative takes a change from that of the original game and begins to finally go off in a direction of its own. Then, like Freeman, he realises the military are not there to save anyone but instead they’ve been tasked with eliminating any survivors and covering up the incident. Barney encounters lesser aliens, such as head crabs and Vortigaunts, before witnessing soldiers disposing of the bodies of his security staff colleagues. The game continues to play out much like a clone of the original game. The lift plummets to the bottom of the shaft, in the midst of teleporting aliens and explosions, and Barney climbs from the wreckage to begin his escape from the facility. The Black Mesa incident, triggered by Freeman, begins. At this point things quickly start to go awry. Then reporting for duty he is given the task of dealing with a failed elevator in Sector G. He starts with a train ride to work, (in which he passes Freeman as he waits for his train), followed by a trip to the locker room to equip himself. Barney Calhoun’s day begins in much the same way as Gordon Freeman’s does.
Half life blue shift barney Pc#
So Blue Shift became a PC only, standalone title.Ĭhronologically the game begins at the same time as the original Half-Life. However “changing market conditions” led to publisher Sierra-On-Line cancelling the Dreamcast version. Developed by Gearbox Software, Blue Shift was originally intended to be released alongside a Sega Dreamcast port of the original Half-Life game. The standalone Half-Life: Blue Shift portrays the experiences of Security Team member Barney Calhoun during the Black Mesa incident.
