Blue Shift's highlight is the slower, more explorative Xen moments. It's a lot more indicative of what Valve would do with strange environments in later games as well as of Crowbar Collective's take on Xen.
I've never gotten the hate that Blue-Shift gets for being 'short.' Portal is short too, but for some reason people love it for being 'small, digestible, and not out staying its welcome' and that was for a totally new game concept. What I feel Blue-Shift lacks in length it makes up for in quality, I find the map detail to be much higher than HL or OP4, with lots more scripted events and NPC interaction. What more can you ask for? How different of an experience do you expect someone to have during the BM incident with their only difference being that they're not Gordon Freeman and don't have an HEV suit? It makes sense that Adrian Shepard had new weapons at his disposal because the military brought it with them, Barney has to use the security weapons Black Mesa provided him with.
I wish it was longer because it's fun, but my biggest gripe is the scripted exposition. One big part of HL1 that made it so great was that it was (almost) never meant to hamper player progression. It was entirely up to the player to leave the storytelling to the environment (level continuity, radios, and NPC hearsay dialogue) when passing through. Unfortunately, Blue Shift and HL2 lacked this restraint in several areas, forcing players to wait to proceed (Kleiner's lab and the power plant in HL2 for example). Otherwise, I like Blue Shift.
Blue Shift back in 2001 was sold on the remodels and new weapons. Everyone was agreeing it was a weak campaign. But i guess we got Barney as a character and thatd a plus :)
If you can I would say the fanmade Blueshift Expansion remake for Blackmesa would be fun to see a review on (note it isn't finished as it stops at the end of the Focus Point chapter).
Blue Shift caught a lot of bat rep when it came out. I remember that day and when I talked to people who were also keen to play the next expansion after OpForce, the consensus was pretty clear - a mild disappointment due to not only having no new weapons or enemies, but in fact the player's arsenal was even smaller than it was in the original game, but Valve still charged a relatively steep price for what they were offering. Over the years and after several replays, I finally came around and started to appreciate how well structured most of the levels and combat arenas were. It's kinda' how I felt about H-2 Episode 1 when I think about it. I'm very much looking forward to playing the Black Mesa - Blue Shift final two levels (as of writing this comment, still in development), as I fondly remember the intensity of "Power Struggle" and arguably the most satisfying ending to any H-L game you get after finishing "A Leap of Faith". Half-Life 3 (or at least some continuation of the franchise) is prettty much confirmed by Valve at this point, and meanwhile, Ross Scott's "Freeman's Mind2" is still not even half way through the vanilla! So much to look forward too :)
I don't think Blue Shift is inherently bad, it's definitely the weakest of the two PC expansions, it's just toned down which I expect has to do with it originally being intended as a Dreamcast exclusive. I'm willing to bet that there would be Half-Life fans today bitching that it never got an official PC port had the Dreamcast version happened. People would be trying to make their Blue Shift mods for PC similar what's still going on now with Decay. I thought the new lore was neat and it's interesting that Barney got his own adventure before being in Half-Life 2, but it's nothing to brag about, it's just more Half-Life.
I hate the new models. Changing the guns was totally unnecessary and illogical. A pistol now suddenly shares ammo with an m4? How? Also the updated npc models are just very visually jarring with every thing else.
Not sure about canceled dreamcast version but m4 has separate ammo poll in PS2 version, wish they carried over that to pc with HD pack enabled. Personally, I prefer HD models due to fixes to the fov perspective (f.e revolver no longer looks like blunderbuss) and beefier feeling to animations and sounds. Also fun fact, M4 was also the default grunt weapon in early alphas of og HL.
@@mopeybloke It was how the original models were designed, and it's still present in the anniversary update. It was done as an early circumvention of how the engine handled perspective, and It's even funnier when you check out some first person models of classic Day of Defeat. But eventually, they somehow figured it out with other mods/games like CS and HD pack.
I like the beginning and especially the end where you actually work towards escaping the catastrophe. It was a good feeling to have a proper ending for once. But it's true that the middle part is pretty dull. You just end up shooting dozens upon dozens of Marines and even playing on Hard the last time didn't make it any more interesting. For people looking for more Half Life I would definitely recommend Delta Particles or even Gunman Chronicles (different setting) over Blue Shift.
Blue Shift is my favorite DLC exactly because of all reasons mentioned. I found the premise (of the old teleportation lab) original; the trip to Xen was nice and the rest was also good. Part of the modern HL2 source remake is now available although they went a bit overboard with the Xen levels (just as Black Mesa did).
6:36 Gearbox's B-team must've made this, while their A-team was working on Opposing Force. 🔀 Still, I don't see what the big deal is, this expansion pack added more than most DLC campaigns do these days. 🤔
Great video… I agree Blueshift is the weakest mainstream entry but I still think it has some charm to it. Will you be checking out Decay? There’s a PC single player version that the community has created if you don’t want to play it in co-op.
I did not like the assault rifle smg replacement at all. If they had changed how it shot then it would have been fine, but the bullet spread felt way too high for an AR.
-no new enemies -no new weapons -actually much less weapons than in HL or OpFor (comon, crowbar too? at least make a lead pipe model or something, differentiate from HL!) -campaign is really short -HD pack models are hit and miss... well, at least they're usable in all 3 games Overall, pretty weak entry in the franchise.
![[WORLD RECORD] Half-Life 1 NO DEATHS/NO SAVES Speedrun in 27:21](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/uZEl3c4qJdM/mqdefault.jpg)
Blue Shift's highlight is the slower, more explorative Xen moments. It's a lot more indicative of what Valve would do with strange environments in later games as well as of Crowbar Collective's take on Xen.
Why security guard fix the elevator? That's maintenance job.
I've never gotten the hate that Blue-Shift gets for being 'short.' Portal is short too, but for some reason people love it for being 'small, digestible, and not out staying its welcome' and that was for a totally new game concept. What I feel Blue-Shift lacks in length it makes up for in quality, I find the map detail to be much higher than HL or OP4, with lots more scripted events and NPC interaction. What more can you ask for? How different of an experience do you expect someone to have during the BM incident with their only difference being that they're not Gordon Freeman and don't have an HEV suit? It makes sense that Adrian Shepard had new weapons at his disposal because the military brought it with them, Barney has to use the security weapons Black Mesa provided him with.
I say the same as well
I wish it was longer because it's fun, but my biggest gripe is the scripted exposition. One big part of HL1 that made it so great was that it was (almost) never meant to hamper player progression. It was entirely up to the player to leave the storytelling to the environment (level continuity, radios, and NPC hearsay dialogue) when passing through. Unfortunately, Blue Shift and HL2 lacked this restraint in several areas, forcing players to wait to proceed (Kleiner's lab and the power plant in HL2 for example). Otherwise, I like Blue Shift.
Blue Shift back in 2001 was sold on the remodels and new weapons. Everyone was agreeing it was a weak campaign. But i guess we got Barney as a character and thatd a plus :)
Half Life: Story
Opposing Force: Content
Blue Shift: Xen
And finally Decay. But we won't see Gaming Pastime do that till the whole Solo mission mod is fully release.
Love your videos man i always like how you always mention the developer and published behind the game
If you can I would say the fanmade Blueshift Expansion remake for Blackmesa would be fun to see a review on (note it isn't finished as it stops at the end of the Focus Point chapter).
Of course with Gargantuan in it. It such a mind blowing.
Blue Shift caught a lot of bat rep when it came out. I remember that day and when I talked to people who were also keen to play the next expansion after OpForce, the consensus was pretty clear - a mild disappointment due to not only having no new weapons or enemies, but in fact the player's arsenal was even smaller than it was in the original game, but Valve still charged a relatively steep price for what they were offering.
Over the years and after several replays, I finally came around and started to appreciate how well structured most of the levels and combat arenas were. It's kinda' how I felt about H-2 Episode 1 when I think about it. I'm very much looking forward to playing the Black Mesa - Blue Shift final two levels (as of writing this comment, still in development), as I fondly remember the intensity of "Power Struggle" and arguably the most satisfying ending to any H-L game you get after finishing "A Leap of Faith".
Half-Life 3 (or at least some continuation of the franchise) is prettty much confirmed by Valve at this point, and meanwhile, Ross Scott's "Freeman's Mind2" is still not even half way through the vanilla! So much to look forward too :)
Blue Shift doesn't have a soundtrack, at least the original retail version on CD didn't.
I don't think Blue Shift is inherently bad, it's definitely the weakest of the two PC expansions, it's just toned down which I expect has to do with it originally being intended as a Dreamcast exclusive. I'm willing to bet that there would be Half-Life fans today bitching that it never got an official PC port had the Dreamcast version happened. People would be trying to make their Blue Shift mods for PC similar what's still going on now with Decay. I thought the new lore was neat and it's interesting that Barney got his own adventure before being in Half-Life 2, but it's nothing to brag about, it's just more Half-Life.
I hate the new models. Changing the guns was totally unnecessary and illogical. A pistol now suddenly shares ammo with an m4? How? Also the updated npc models are just very visually jarring with every thing else.
Not sure about canceled dreamcast version but m4 has separate ammo poll in PS2 version, wish they carried over that to pc with HD pack enabled. Personally, I prefer HD models due to fixes to the fov perspective (f.e revolver no longer looks like blunderbuss) and beefier feeling to animations and sounds. Also fun fact, M4 was also the default grunt weapon in early alphas of og HL.
@@d.ryan96 The new Half-life update on Steam should have the game fixed for wide screen FOV. I don't notice any issues with the original models.
The weakest HD Pack hater
@@mopeybloke It was how the original models were designed, and it's still present in the anniversary update. It was done as an early circumvention of how the engine handled perspective, and It's even funnier when you check out some first person models of classic Day of Defeat. But eventually, they somehow figured it out with other mods/games like CS and HD pack.
HD models > Anti air barrel revolver.
I like the beginning and especially the end where you actually work towards escaping the catastrophe. It was a good feeling to have a proper ending for once. But it's true that the middle part is pretty dull. You just end up shooting dozens upon dozens of Marines and even playing on Hard the last time didn't make it any more interesting.
For people looking for more Half Life I would definitely recommend Delta Particles or even Gunman Chronicles (different setting) over Blue Shift.
Blue Shift is my favorite DLC exactly because of all reasons mentioned. I found the premise (of the old teleportation lab) original; the trip to Xen was nice and the rest was also good. Part of the modern HL2 source remake is now available although they went a bit overboard with the Xen levels (just as Black Mesa did).
6:36 Gearbox's B-team must've made this, while their A-team was working on Opposing Force. 🔀
Still, I don't see what the big deal is, this expansion pack added more than most DLC campaigns do these days. 🤔
Funny how Blue Shift is criticized for being short yet it is longer than many FPS games today. Why did no one listen....
Man i haven't played the first game,
Great video… I agree Blueshift is the weakest mainstream entry but I still think it has some charm to it.
Will you be checking out Decay? There’s a PC single player version that the community has created if you don’t want to play it in co-op.
I did not like the assault rifle smg replacement at all. If they had changed how it shot then it would have been fine, but the bullet spread felt way too high for an AR.
And it sounds like you're firing a
.50cal machine gun instead of a 5.56mm rifle. LOL
The only expansion pack that make Xen level better. Other than that, it underwhelming especially without gargantuan in it.
if you want even more half life play the demo. its a pretty fun little mission
The only negatives for me are that it's short and has low weapons variety.
It’s still pretty lame that Blue Swift gets to be canon but not opposing force.
Neat.
-no new enemies
-no new weapons
-actually much less weapons than in HL or OpFor (comon, crowbar too? at least make a lead pipe model or something, differentiate from HL!)
-campaign is really short
-HD pack models are hit and miss... well, at least they're usable in all 3 games
Overall, pretty weak entry in the franchise.
Yeah it felt like a very lazy development. Could have at least had a nightstick instead of a crowbar!
Notification Team!!
Assemble!!!!
Heh! Yes Randy DO BETTER
Never been this early before.