I was surprised how much I actually liked Blue Shift. To be honest I liked it better than it's parent game, but I think that may have been the more human element to it. You do not get a shiny new HEV suit to make you super human, you are just a security guard with some body armor and a side arm or two. Of course the game does not put you in such extreme situations that Gordon Freeman was put in, that needed such a suit either, for the most part.

Regardless, I think what I liked the most about the game was the extra areas that you could not see in the original. Basically the inner workings of Black Mesa. Also the length, at least for me, was pretty short, only a fraction of the original. Some may complain about it's briefness, but it keeps the pace and flows nicely, with some brain teasers and extra side stories that made HL1 better to understand. There were not many times I was wishing the darn thing would end, as it's parent game had, which seemed to drag on and on at times...

Also when originally released in disc format, I believe it added better looking textures. This of course does not do anything now in the digital age, as everything is updated automatically, but I am sure it was a big deal back then, since it updated the textures for the original HL1 and I believe at least also in Opposing Force as well.

I highly recommend this for any HL1 fan who may have missed it, either never installing the disc back in the day or bought the original on Steam without thinking of giving this a try. Me being rather cheap, I do recommend buying it on a Summer Sale (as it is now at the time of this writing) or a Winter one, due to it's quick play time. For 99 cents you can not go wrong regardless of the length. In fact I am about to go into hard mode and see just how fast I can actually beat it! ^_^

I was surprised how much I actually liked Blue Shift. To be honest I liked it better than it's parent game, but I think that may have been the more human element to it. You do not get a shiny new HEV suit to make you super human, you are just a security guard with some body armor and a side arm or two. Of course the game does not put you in such extreme situations that Gordon Freeman was put in, that needed such a suit either, for the most part. Regardless, I think what I liked the most about the game was the extra areas that you could not see in the original. Basically the inner workings of Black Mesa. Also the length, at least for me, was pretty short, only a fraction of the original. Some may complain about it's briefness, but it keeps the pace and flows nicely, with some brain teasers and extra side stories that made HL1 better to understand. There were not many times I was wishing the darn thing would end, as it's parent game had, which seemed to drag on and on at times... Also when originally released in disc format, I believe it added better looking textures. This of course does not do anything now in the digital age, as everything is updated automatically, but I am sure it was a big deal back then, since it updated the textures for the original HL1 and I believe at least also in Opposing Force as well. I highly recommend this for any HL1 fan who may have missed it, either never installing the disc back in the day or bought the original on Steam without thinking of giving this a try. Me being rather cheap, I do recommend buying it on a Summer Sale (as it is now at the time of this writing) or a Winter one, due to it's quick play time. For 99 cents you can not go wrong regardless of the length. In fact I am about to go into hard mode and see just how fast I can actually beat it! ^_^