Half-Life: Blue Shift Q&A
Gearbox president Randy Pitchford answers our questions about this upcoming Half-Life shooter.
There's no debating the fact that Half-Life is still one of the most-played first-person shooters today, even nearly three years after it was first released...yes, it has been that long. From Counter-Strike to Day of Defeat, Opposing Force to Firearms, and Team Fortress Classic to They Hunger, Half-Life and its engine continue to inspire designers to create new games and mods and compel gamers to buy and download them. This summer, fans of the classic shooter can look forward to another game based around the Half-Life universe. That game is called Blue Shift, and it was originally a separate scenario that was to be included in the upcoming Dreamcast version of Half-Life. Sierra and developer Gearbox Software, the same team that brought you Opposing Force, have since ported over the Blue Shift scenario onto the PC as a stand-alone product. We recently sat down with Gearbox's president, Randy Pitchford, to discuss Blue Shift for the PC in more detail.
GameSpot: Randy, it looks like you get to play as a security guard in Blue Shift. What can you tell us about this character?
Randy Pitchford: Anyone who has played Half-Life is familiar with Barney the security guard. In Half-Life, Barney was sort of a generic security guard character that was used throughout the game. He was often helpful, but he also sacrificed quite a bit for the good of the original game's main character, Gordon. In Blue Shift, players take on the role of the Barney Calhoun. And it's up to the player to guide him in helping the other civilians of Black Mesa survive the alien invasion and the subsequent military cover-up.
GS: How is the PC version of Half-Life: Blue Shift different from the upcoming Dreamcast version?
RP: Since the PC version is a stand-alone title, Blue Shift for PC includes a security guard hazard course, which is designed to teach new players how the game is played. Half-Life for Dreamcast has different methods of training new players. Also, there are various Easter eggs and hidden rooms, both of which are unique to each of the two versions. It will be interesting to see how the hard-core fans dissect the differences and report on them in their game FAQs. I know of a couple of secret differences that I doubt even the most hard-core will find...
GS: Does Blue Shift take place at the same time as the original Half-Life? Will you run into any of the old characters?
RP: Blue Shift takes place at the same time and place as both Half-Life and Opposing Force--all three games are intertwined in premise and chronology. Therefore, Barney will encounter characters and environments that are somewhat familiar. However, the entire experience involves completely new critical paths, challenges to overcome, and miles and miles of fresh Black Mesa environments that haven't been seen before.
GS: What kinds of environments can players expect to see in Blue Shift?
RP: The location is primarily Black Mesa, but the player will explore lots of unique areas. For example, at one point of the game, the player must sneak into the freight yards to rescue an important character. The soldiers there are rounding the civilians into boxcars and shipping them away to face a grim fate. At another point in the game, the player must actually transition to the alien world--not just to fight monsters in a new setting, but to accomplish a very specific task upon which the civilians of Black Mesa are counting on for their survival. Without giving away too much, I should say that along the way, there's lots of action, plenty of thinking and exploration, and a healthy dose of character development and back-story revelation.
GS: Are there any new characters in the game?
RP: There are a few all-new characters, including a very important scientist whom Barney will be working with for much of the game. There are also many familiar characters and creatures who reveal more about themselves during the game.
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- Sierra Entertainment
- Gearbox Software
- Sci-Fi First-Person...
- Release: Jun 11, 2001
- ESRB: Mature
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