History VideoGame / HalfLifeBlueShift

-->--- '''Black Mesa Scientist'''

Compared with its predecessor ''VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce'', ''Blue Shift'' is considerably stripped back in terms of content, lacking many of the weapons and enemies from the original game and unlike ''Opposing Force'' featuring no new enemies or weapons of its own. This is due to the fact that ''Blue Shift'' was intended to be a bonus campaign for the cancelled ''UsefulNotes/SegaDreamcast'' port of ''Half-Life''. ''Blue Shift'' was retooled into an expansion for the PC version. ''Blue Shift'' was the first game in the franchise to have a significant NPC helping the player during the game, and the game came with a free High Definition pack that upgraded the models to the source game. Barney would later go on to become a major supporting character in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Throughout the chapter "Insecurity", there's quite clearly a lot of problems going on with the Black Mesa employees trying to work the machinery of the facility. It really gives you a sense that these people are in for a bad day.

* JustTrainWrong: Besides the typical Black Mesa monorails there are also a few conventional platform cars on standard tracks which are just a flat texture on the ground. Many of the cars are carrying containers but in real life containers are loaded on dedicated cars. Two of the cars are just stuck together with no clearance between them so you can't even see if there's a coupler between them. The cars are hardly wider than the rail gauge except a single platform car carrying a tank which[[note]]the car[[/note]] in turn is too wide to pass through the relatively narrow tunnels. There is a single yard with a turntable but the turntable can hardly contain a single car so it would require at least two switchers on different tracks[[note]]one to push it on to the turntable and another to tug it off[[/note]] but there is only one. Not that it matters much since none of the tracks seem to lead anywhere.

* GasCylinderRocket: Calhoun blows an opening through a locked freight-yard door by shooting the ends off a rack of compressed-oxygen tanks.
* JustTrainWrong: Besides the typical Black Mesa monorails there are also a few conventional platform cars on standard tracks which are just a flat texture on the ground. Many of the cars are carrying containers but in real life containers are loaded on dedicadet cars. Two of the cars are just stuck together with no clearance between them so you can't even see if there's a coupler between them. The cars are hardly wider than the rail gauge except a single platform car carrying a tank which[[note]]the car[[/note]] in turn is too wide to pass through the relatively narrow tunnels. There is a single yard with a turntable but the turntable can hardly contain a single car so it would require at least two switchers on different tracks[[note]]one to push it on to the turntable and another to tug it off[[/note]] but there is only one. Not that it matters much since none of the tracks seem to lead anywhere.

* DevelopersForesight:
** During the ''Captive Freight" level, you come across two scientists in your search for Dr. Rosenberg. If you actually try to backtrack with these two scientists following, you would come to realize that there is an invisible wall that will not allow the scientists to walk any further. That's because if you were able to backtrack far enough, you would come across the breakable wall that you would eventually learn about from Dr. Rosenberg that leads to where his colleagues are creating the portal device to escape Black Mesa. The reason for the invisible wall was so that you couldn't break the story and have two random scientists waiting at the elevator when Dr. Rosenberg leads you to it later on in the story.
** If the player destroys the wall hiding the elevator to the portal chamber ''before'' Dr. Rosenberg leads you back to it, he will have a different line-of-dialogue regarding the fact that Calhoun has already found the hidden elevator instead of the normal dialogue to destroy the wall.

* CreatorCameo: In "Captive Freight" when you're traveling through the tunnels before reaching the train-yard, you will come across an opened box that just so happens to have gear shaped objects spilling onto the floor. Aka, a [[Creator/GearboxSoftware gearbox]].

* DroughtLevelOfDoom: Xen can be this, as there are no armor pickups anywhere (which makes sense, as the HEV-wearing expedition teams would have had no reason to bring any, since there's no reason for a security guard to be on Xen) and ammo is relatively spaced apart and only found on dead expedition team members, who usually only carry about a mag each for your basic weapons. On the plus side, the healing pools provide infinite health regenerate. Going in with full armor and ammo is very helpful.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: In the early spilled acid room of "Duty Calls," there's a locked gate that has to be blown open by climbing up to a vent in order to shoot at the explosive barrels behind said gate to blow it open. It's pretty much impossible to fail as the storage room right before going up into the vent has two pistol magazines, but if you go about wasting all your pistol ammo before the explosive barrels are destroyed, you end up softlocking yourself.

* DisconnectedSideArea: When Barney makes it to the surface for the first time, a tunnel labeled "South Exit" is barricaded and its keypad is sabotaged. [[spoiler: At the endgame, Barney and Dr. Rosenberg's team teleport to the other side of this tunnel to finally leave Black Mesa.]]

Compared with its predecessor ''VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce'', ''Blue Shift'' is considerably stripped back in terms of content, lacking many of the weapons and enemies from the original game and unlike ''Opposing Force'' featuring no new enemies or weapons of its own. ''Blue Shift'' was the first game in the franchise to have a significant NPC helping the player during the game, and the game came with a free High Definition pack that upgraded the models to the source game. Barney would later go on to become a major supporting character in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.

In March 2021, ''VideoGame/BlackMesaBlueShift'', a comprehensive FanRemake that aims to recreate the entire expansion pack as a mod for ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', had its first chapter released. As of November 2021, three playable chapters have been published.

* BossBattle: Averted, as this is the only ''Half-Life'' game without any boss fights. The game doesn't even have a FinalBoss, with 2 houndeyes and a 4-man squad of Marines being your only opposition during the final sequence in which you power up the teleporter to escape Black Mesa.

%%* LooseCanon
* PoweredArmor: For once, averted. Unlike the Black Mesa Science Team or the HECU, who are provided the HEV Suit and PCV for use in Hazardous Environments, the members of the Black Mesa Security Team are only provided conventional helmets and body armors. While it does protect its user from gunfire, explosives, and some environmental hazards, it becomes worn out over time and cannot be recharged. Instead, the only way to get armor back is to pick up a new vest and helmet.
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo: Gordon Freeman is first seen boarding and then riding the tram not long after Calhoun makes it to the entrance of the Security Office he's assigned to. Later, during the ending, he witnesses Freeman being captured by the HECU while Calhoun is stuck in a harmonic reflux.

In March 2021, ''VideoGame/BlackMesaBlueShift'', a comprehensive Fan Remake that recreates the entire expansion pack as a mod for ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', had its first chapter released. As of November 2021, three playable chapters have been released so far.

* ScenicTourLevel: Just like the other games, the game opens with Barney making his way to an elevator while passing through security.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: In the early spilled acid room of "Duty Calls," there's a locked gate that has to be blown open by climbing up to a vent in order to shoot at the explosive barrels behind said gate to blow it open. It's pretty much impossible to fail as the storage room right before going up into vent has two pistol magazines, but if you go about wasting all your pistol ammo before the explosive barrels are destroyed, you end up softlocking yourself.

* ActionSurvivor: Barney Calhoun, especially when compared to Gordon. Both men spend a lot of their time trying not to get killed by the aliens and the [=HECU=] forces but where as Gordon becomes an ActionHero, Barney's story is all about getting out of Black Mesa alive and not having to risk his life for extra reasons outside of his control. Calhoun also ultimately faces significantly less opposition than Freeman or Shephard, mostly only facing Xen wildlife, Vortigaunts, and Marines, with only about 4 Alien Grunts and 6 Controllers ever crossing his path. In addition, he doesn't get an HEV suit or HECU equivalent; instead, he has a run-of-the-mill vest. His weaponry is limited, too.

In March 2021, ''VideoGame/BlackMesaBlueShift'', a comprehensive Fan Remake that recreates the entire expansion pack as a mod for ''VideoGame/BlackMesa'', had its first chapter released. As of August 2021, two playable chapters have been released so far.

* JustTrainWrong: Besides the typical Black Mesa monorails there are also a few conventional platform cars on standard tracks which are just a flat texture on the ground. Many of the cars are carrying containers but in real life containers are loaded on dedicadet cars. Two of the cars are just stuck together with no clearance between them so you can't even see if there's a coupler between them. The cars are hardly wider than the rail gauge except a single platform car carrying a tank which[[note]]the car[[/note]] in turn is too wide to pass through the relatively narrow tunnels. There is a single yard with a turntable but the turntable can herdly contain a single car so it would require at least two switchers on different tracks[[note]]one to push it on to the turntable and another to tug it off[[/note]] but there is only one. Not that it matters much since none of the tracks seem to lead anywhere.

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: In the early spilled acid room of "Duty Calls," there's a locked gate that has to be blown open by climbing up to a vent in order to shoot at the explosive barrels behind said gate to blow it open. It's pretty much impossible to do as the storage room right before going up into vent has two pistol magazines, but if you go about wasting all your pistol ammo before the explosive barrels are destroyed, you end up softlocking yourself.