Half-Life: Blue Shift

Half-Life: Blue Shift is currently available on Steam. Launch it now* or buy it from Steam (via browser or Steam client).
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Steam Deck support status: Unknown - More info on ProtonDB

Blue Shift is the second official expansion produced for Half-Life. Much like Half-Life and Opposing Force, it takes place predominantly in the Black Mesa Research Facility and Xen. The player assumes the role of Barney Calhoun, a low ranking security guard for Area 3 Security and friend of Dr. Gordon Freeman. However, disaster inevitably strikes, and Barney is forced to fight to escape the facility with a team of scientists.

History

Blue Shift was originally a game developed by Gearbox Software, exclusively for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life. It also included a high definition pack of higher detail models and improved sounds to accomodate for the general increase in hardware power since Half-Life's initial release. However, for one reason or another, the game was never released on Dreamcast. The left-over content was bundled with Opposing Force and migrated to the  PC. As a result, Blue Shift is a shorter game than both Half-Life and Opposing Force.

Name

In keeping with the scientific motif of Half-Life,  blue shift is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when an object is moving towards the observer and the resulting energy shifts towards the blue side of the electromagnetic spectrum. Like Opposing Force, the name also has a second meaning, referring to the fact that Black Mesa security guards wore blue uniforms.