Half-Life: Blue Shift ships

Sierra On-Line today announced that Half-Life: Blue Shift has shipped to stores. The stand-alone expansion adds a new single-player episode to Sierra's popular first-person shooter Half-Life. In the new episode, players assume the role of a Black Mesa security guard, and they can explore areas of the Black Mesa research facility that were inaccessible in the original game.

Half-Life: Blue Shift also includes the Half-Life HD Pack, which upgrades the weapons and characters of all the games in the Half-Life series with high-resolution texture maps and more detailed models. In addition, the expansion will include the full version of the mission pack Half-Life: Opposing Force.

Half-Life: Blue Shift was developed by Dallas-based Gearbox Software, and it will soon be available in stores for an approximate retail price of $34.99. For more information, read our in-depth review of the game.