Half-Life: Blue Shift
Encyclopedia
Half-Life: Blue Shift is an expansion pack
for Valve Software's
science fiction first-person shooter
video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software
with Valve Corporation
and published by Sierra Entertainment
on June 12, 2001. (It was originally set for release in Spring.) Blue Shift is the second expansion for Half-Life, originally intended as part of a Dreamcast version of the original game. Although the Dreamcast port was later cancelled, the PC version continued development and was released as a standalone product. The game was released on Steam on August 24, 2005.
As with Gearbox's previous expansion pack Opposing Force
, Blue Shift returns to the setting and events of the original game, but portrays the story through the eyes of another person. The protagonist in Blue Shift is a security guard, Barney Calhoun, employed by the Black Mesa Research Facility. After a scientific mishap causes Black Mesa to be invaded by aliens, Calhoun must fight his way to safety. The game received mostly positive reception. Many reviewers were critical of the short length of the game and the lack of new content, although the inclusion of a High Definition pack that upgraded the models and textures in both Blue Shift and the preceding Half-Life games was praised.
As an expansion pack for Half-Life, Blue Shift is a first-person shooter
. The overall gameplay of Blue Shift does not significantly differ from that of Half-Life: players are required to navigate through the game's levels, fight hostile non-player character
s and solve a variety of puzzles to advance. The game continues Half-Lifes methods of an unbroken narrative. The player sees everything through the first person perspective of the protagonist and remains in control of the player character for almost all of the game. Story events are conveyed through the use of scripted sequences rather than cut scenes. Progress through the game's world is continuous; although the game is divided up into chapters, the only significant pauses are when the game needs to load the next part of an environment.
The player battles through the game alone, but is occasionally assisted by friendly non-player characters. Security guards and scientists will occasionally help the player in reaching new areas and convey relevant plot information. Blue Shift also includes a substantial section dedicated to keeping a major character in the story safe from enemy characters, and escorting him to a specific location. A selection of enemies from Half-Life populate the game, including alien creatures such as headcrab
s and Vortigaunt
s. The player also encounters human opponents in the form of a detachment of US Marines who have been sent to eliminate the alien threat and silence any witnesses. Blue Shift does not elaborate on the storyline in Opposing Force
, the preceding expansion pack, and no enemy characters or weapons introduced in it appear in the game. The player is instead given access to a limited selection of Half-Lifes original weaponry.
, a scientist involved in an accident that opens an inter-dimensional portal
to the borderworld of Xen, allowing the alien creatures of Xen to attack the facility. The player guides Freeman in an attempt to escape the facility and close the portal, ultimately traveling to Xen to do so. As in Opposing Force, Blue Shift shows the events of Half-Life from the perspective of a different protagonist. The player assumes the role of Barney Calhoun, a security guard working near the labs where the accident takes place. Calhoun is responsible for the preservation of equipment and materials and the welfare of research personnel, and after the accident plunges Black Mesa into a warzone, he must work with Dr. Rosenberg, a high-ranking scientist involved in the experiment, to evacuate the facility.
Calhoun regains consciousness at the bottom of the shaft and begins to fight his way to the surface to escape. Emerging near Black Mesa's classification yard
s, Calhoun learns that Dr. Rosenberg and his colleagues plan to escape the facility using teleportation technology. After freeing Rosenberg from the captivity of the US Marines detachment sent to silence the facility, Calhoun escorts him to a decommissioned prototype teleportation laboratory, where several Black Mesa employees have already gathered. Rosenberg then teleports Calhoun to the Xen border world to calibrate research equipment needed to pinpoint a teleport destination outside of Black Mesa. Upon his return, Rosenberg informs Calhoun that the teleporter's battery power has been exhausted, and contact has been lost with a team sent to acquire a new power cell.
Calhoun travels to the power generators on a lower level to find a fresh power cell while firefights rage between the Marines and the forces of Xen. After returning with a new power cell, Calhoun assists Rosenberg in evacuating the few surviving personnel through the teleporter. Calhoun is the last to enter the portal and as he does so, Marines breach the laboratory and fire on him, causing the teleporter to explode. As a result of the teleporter's destruction, Calhoun enters a "harmonic reflux", causing him to be rapidly teleported to a variety of locations in Xen and Black Mesa. At one location, he witnesses Freeman's capture by Marines mid-way through Half-Life, before eventually stabilizing at the intended teleport location with Rosenberg at the outskirts of Black Mesa, where they then escape the facility in a company SUV.
A second Half-Life expansion pack
, revolving around a security guard in the facility, was first announced in the second quarter of 2000 as part of an upcoming Dreamcast version of Half-Life. Although the main Dreamcast port was to be developed by Captivation Digital Laboratories, the new expansion was to be developed by Gearbox Software
, the same studio who developed Opposing Force
. Publisher Sierra Entertainment
later officially announced the expansion on August 30, 2000, revealing the name as Blue Shift. As with Opposing Force, the name Blue Shift has a double meaning, referring to both the blue shift
light phenomenon, and the name of the shift
that the protagonist is assigned to. The Dreamcast version of the game was set to include higher detail models and textures that were double the polygon count
of Valve Software's
original Half-Life models. At the European Computer Trade Show
in September 2000, information about Blue Shifts story and development direction was revealed, along with a release date of November 1, 2000, for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life. The game was delayed by Sierra to ensure the "high expectations of consumers" were met, anticipating release by the end of the year. Further media, gameplay and story information was released in the following weeks and months. Despite this, the Dreamcast version of Half-Life still did not emerge, and speculation in May 2001 suggested the game would be cancelled. On June 16, 2001, Sierra terminated development on the Dreamcast version of Half-Life, citing "changing market conditions" in a press release.
Although the Dreamcast version of Half-Life was cancelled, Blue Shift persevered. Prior to the cancellation of the Dreamcast version, Sierra announced on March 29, 2001, that Blue Shift would be released for PC as well. The game would be released as a standalone expansion pack, a product that does not require the original Half-Life to run. The new models developed for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life would also be included in the PC version as the Half-Life High Definition pack. In addition, Gearbox announced that the High Definition pack would not be exclusive for Blue Shift, but could be applied to both Half-Life and Opposing Force as well. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2001, Gearbox announced that development of Blue Shift had been completed, and exhibited a playable version of the end product. The game was released on June 12, 2001.
Blue Shift and the High Definition pack were initially absent from the launch of Valve's content delivery system Steam in September 2003, despite the presence of both Half-Life and Opposing Force on the system. The game was released on Steam on August 29, 2005 along with the High Definition Pack. Blue Shift was also published as part of Sierra's Half-Life: Generation compilation in 2002, and as part of Valve Software and Electronic Arts
' Half Life 1: Anthology on September 26, 2005.
, respectively, and has sold around 800,000 copies at retail; this figure does not include later sales on Steam. In a review for IGN
, critic Tal Blevins noted that Blue Shifts gameplay "is pretty much what we've come to expect out of Half-Life" by blending action and puzzle solving, stating that the latter "were all logical and well done, although some of the jumping puzzles were frustrating". Though IGN praised the game for maintaining the "epic" feel of the original, Blevins was critical of the relatively short length of the game. GameSpot
reviewer Greg Kasavin agreed with many of IGN's criticisms, stating that "it's not that the game is easy so much that it's extremely short" and that Blue Shift "doesn't amount to much on its own terms". In addition, Kasavin described the graphical enhancements brought about by the High Definition pack as "helpful", but noted that "they still don't make Half-Life look like a new game—nor are many of the changes themselves very noticeable".
Other reviews echoed complaints about the similarity of Blue Shift to previous games. GameSpy
's reviewer Jamie Madigan stated that "what really pulls the game down is the 'more of the same' factor". Although writing that the game "feels like just a few more levels for the original game", he noted that this is what Blue Shift was designed to be, given its origins as an add-on for a Dreamcast version of Half-Life. Madigan described the single-player campaign as "decent" and commented that the High Definition pack made the game "worthy of consideration". Eurogamer
echoed criticism on the game's length; reviewer Tom Bradwell commented that "although I'm hard pressed to criticize what you get, the complete absence of everything we've learnt from the likes of Counter-Strike
and everything since is frankly bizarre". Bradwell did, however, criticize the game's artificial intelligence and the occasional bug that caused a player to get stuck on a wall. PC Zones
Mark Hill was more lenient in his comments, praising the game's artificial intelligence as "intelligent as you could hope an AI enemy to be". In addition, Hill praised the game for showing more activity in the base, noting that "a whole world goes on around you, with people eating at a canteen and scientists doing their laundry. The complex is more alive than ever before". Hill also praised the focus "on a greater interaction with scientists as proper people rather than the two or three models that were cloned throughout the facility who kept repeating the same phrases", describing this as Blue Shifts "greatest achievement". PC Zones review closed by commenting that "as a Dreamcast extra it works perfectly, but as a standalone PC title there's not nearly enough to it."
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
for Valve Software's
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
science fiction first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
with Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
and published by Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
on June 12, 2001. (It was originally set for release in Spring.) Blue Shift is the second expansion for Half-Life, originally intended as part of a Dreamcast version of the original game. Although the Dreamcast port was later cancelled, the PC version continued development and was released as a standalone product. The game was released on Steam on August 24, 2005.
As with Gearbox's previous expansion pack Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on November 1, 1999. Opposing Force is the first expansion for...
, Blue Shift returns to the setting and events of the original game, but portrays the story through the eyes of another person. The protagonist in Blue Shift is a security guard, Barney Calhoun, employed by the Black Mesa Research Facility. After a scientific mishap causes Black Mesa to be invaded by aliens, Calhoun must fight his way to safety. The game received mostly positive reception. Many reviewers were critical of the short length of the game and the lack of new content, although the inclusion of a High Definition pack that upgraded the models and textures in both Blue Shift and the preceding Half-Life games was praised.
Gameplay
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
. The overall gameplay of Blue Shift does not significantly differ from that of Half-Life: players are required to navigate through the game's levels, fight hostile non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s and solve a variety of puzzles to advance. The game continues Half-Lifes methods of an unbroken narrative. The player sees everything through the first person perspective of the protagonist and remains in control of the player character for almost all of the game. Story events are conveyed through the use of scripted sequences rather than cut scenes. Progress through the game's world is continuous; although the game is divided up into chapters, the only significant pauses are when the game needs to load the next part of an environment.
The player battles through the game alone, but is occasionally assisted by friendly non-player characters. Security guards and scientists will occasionally help the player in reaching new areas and convey relevant plot information. Blue Shift also includes a substantial section dedicated to keeping a major character in the story safe from enemy characters, and escorting him to a specific location. A selection of enemies from Half-Life populate the game, including alien creatures such as headcrab
Headcrab
A headcrab is a fictional alien parasitoid found in the Half-Life video game series created by Valve Software. They are the most numerous and arguably most iconic aliens in the series.- Overview :...
s and Vortigaunt
Vortigaunt
Vortigaunts are a fictional extra-dimensional species in the Half-Life series by Valve Corporation. In Half-Life and its three expansions, Vortigaunts are frequently encountered by the player as hostile non-player characters...
s. The player also encounters human opponents in the form of a detachment of US Marines who have been sent to eliminate the alien threat and silence any witnesses. Blue Shift does not elaborate on the storyline in Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on November 1, 1999. Opposing Force is the first expansion for...
, the preceding expansion pack, and no enemy characters or weapons introduced in it appear in the game. The player is instead given access to a limited selection of Half-Lifes original weaponry.
Setting
Blue Shift is set in the same location and time frame as that of Half-Life, taking place at a remote New Mexico laboratory called the Black Mesa Research Facility. In Half-Life, the player takes on the role of Gordon FreemanGordon Freeman
Gordon Freeman is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Half-Life video game series. He is a theoretical physicist who finds himself thrust into a battle for survival against both alien and human forces. Throughout the series, Gordon must prevail in hostile situations despite...
, a scientist involved in an accident that opens an inter-dimensional portal
Multiverse
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise all of reality.Multiverse may also refer to:-In fiction:* Multiverse , the fictional multiverse used by DC Comics...
to the borderworld of Xen, allowing the alien creatures of Xen to attack the facility. The player guides Freeman in an attempt to escape the facility and close the portal, ultimately traveling to Xen to do so. As in Opposing Force, Blue Shift shows the events of Half-Life from the perspective of a different protagonist. The player assumes the role of Barney Calhoun, a security guard working near the labs where the accident takes place. Calhoun is responsible for the preservation of equipment and materials and the welfare of research personnel, and after the accident plunges Black Mesa into a warzone, he must work with Dr. Rosenberg, a high-ranking scientist involved in the experiment, to evacuate the facility.
Plot
Blue Shift begins in a similar manner to Half-Life, as Barney Calhoun rides a tram through the Black Mesa facility to reach his place of work. After reporting for duty, Calhoun is instructed to assist in maintenance on a malfunctioning elevator. As Calhoun finishes repairs, however, Freeman's experiment takes place and results in a "resonance cascade", causing massive damage to the facility and teleporting alien creatures into the base. The elevator is badly damaged and fails, sending Calhoun plummeting into the depths of Black Mesa.Calhoun regains consciousness at the bottom of the shaft and begins to fight his way to the surface to escape. Emerging near Black Mesa's classification yard
Classification yard
A classification yard or marshalling yard is a railroad yard found at some freight train stations, used to separate railroad cars on to one of several tracks. First the cars are taken to a track, sometimes called a lead or a drill...
s, Calhoun learns that Dr. Rosenberg and his colleagues plan to escape the facility using teleportation technology. After freeing Rosenberg from the captivity of the US Marines detachment sent to silence the facility, Calhoun escorts him to a decommissioned prototype teleportation laboratory, where several Black Mesa employees have already gathered. Rosenberg then teleports Calhoun to the Xen border world to calibrate research equipment needed to pinpoint a teleport destination outside of Black Mesa. Upon his return, Rosenberg informs Calhoun that the teleporter's battery power has been exhausted, and contact has been lost with a team sent to acquire a new power cell.
Calhoun travels to the power generators on a lower level to find a fresh power cell while firefights rage between the Marines and the forces of Xen. After returning with a new power cell, Calhoun assists Rosenberg in evacuating the few surviving personnel through the teleporter. Calhoun is the last to enter the portal and as he does so, Marines breach the laboratory and fire on him, causing the teleporter to explode. As a result of the teleporter's destruction, Calhoun enters a "harmonic reflux", causing him to be rapidly teleported to a variety of locations in Xen and Black Mesa. At one location, he witnesses Freeman's capture by Marines mid-way through Half-Life, before eventually stabilizing at the intended teleport location with Rosenberg at the outskirts of Black Mesa, where they then escape the facility in a company SUV.
Development
Expansion pack
An expansion pack, expansion set, or supplement is an addition to an existing role-playing game, tabletop game or video game. These add-ons usually add new game areas, weapons, objects, and/or an extended storyline to a complete and already released game...
, revolving around a security guard in the facility, was first announced in the second quarter of 2000 as part of an upcoming Dreamcast version of Half-Life. Although the main Dreamcast port was to be developed by Captivation Digital Laboratories, the new expansion was to be developed by Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software
Gearbox Software, LLC is an American video game development company based in Plano, Texas.-History:Gearbox Software was founded in January 1999 by five members of the content team from the defunct developer Rebel Boat Rocker: Randy Pitchford, Brian Martel, Stephen Bahl, Landon Montgomery, and Rob...
, the same studio who developed Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Half-Life: Opposing Force is an expansion pack for Valve Software's science fiction first-person shooter video game Half-Life. The game was developed by Gearbox Software and Valve Corporation and published by Sierra Entertainment on November 1, 1999. Opposing Force is the first expansion for...
. Publisher Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment
Sierra Entertainment Inc. was an American video-game developer and publisher founded in 1979 as On-Line Systems by Ken and Roberta Williams...
later officially announced the expansion on August 30, 2000, revealing the name as Blue Shift. As with Opposing Force, the name Blue Shift has a double meaning, referring to both the blue shift
Blue shift
A blueshift is any decrease in wavelength ; the opposite effect is referred to as redshift. In visible light, this shifts the colour from the red end of the spectrum to the blue end...
light phenomenon, and the name of the shift
Shift work
Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of the 24 hours of the clock. The term "shift work" includes both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts....
that the protagonist is assigned to. The Dreamcast version of the game was set to include higher detail models and textures that were double the polygon count
Polygon (computer graphics)
Polygons are used in computer graphics to compose images that are three-dimensional in appearance. Usually triangular, polygons arise when an object's surface is modeled, vertices are selected, and the object is rendered in a wire frame model. This is quicker to display than a shaded model; thus...
of Valve Software's
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
original Half-Life models. At the European Computer Trade Show
European Computer Trade Show
The European Computer Trade Show, commonly known as ECTS, was an annual trade show for the European computer and video game industry, which first ran in 1988, with the last event occurring in 2004....
in September 2000, information about Blue Shifts story and development direction was revealed, along with a release date of November 1, 2000, for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life. The game was delayed by Sierra to ensure the "high expectations of consumers" were met, anticipating release by the end of the year. Further media, gameplay and story information was released in the following weeks and months. Despite this, the Dreamcast version of Half-Life still did not emerge, and speculation in May 2001 suggested the game would be cancelled. On June 16, 2001, Sierra terminated development on the Dreamcast version of Half-Life, citing "changing market conditions" in a press release.
Although the Dreamcast version of Half-Life was cancelled, Blue Shift persevered. Prior to the cancellation of the Dreamcast version, Sierra announced on March 29, 2001, that Blue Shift would be released for PC as well. The game would be released as a standalone expansion pack, a product that does not require the original Half-Life to run. The new models developed for the Dreamcast version of Half-Life would also be included in the PC version as the Half-Life High Definition pack. In addition, Gearbox announced that the High Definition pack would not be exclusive for Blue Shift, but could be applied to both Half-Life and Opposing Force as well. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2001, Gearbox announced that development of Blue Shift had been completed, and exhibited a playable version of the end product. The game was released on June 12, 2001.
Blue Shift and the High Definition pack were initially absent from the launch of Valve's content delivery system Steam in September 2003, despite the presence of both Half-Life and Opposing Force on the system. The game was released on Steam on August 29, 2005 along with the High Definition Pack. Blue Shift was also published as part of Sierra's Half-Life: Generation compilation in 2002, and as part of Valve Software and Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
' Half Life 1: Anthology on September 26, 2005.
Critical reception
Blue Shift received an overall positive reception from critics. The game holds a 68% score and a 71% score on the review aggregator sites GameRankings and MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, respectively, and has sold around 800,000 copies at retail; this figure does not include later sales on Steam. In a review for IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, critic Tal Blevins noted that Blue Shifts gameplay "is pretty much what we've come to expect out of Half-Life" by blending action and puzzle solving, stating that the latter "were all logical and well done, although some of the jumping puzzles were frustrating". Though IGN praised the game for maintaining the "epic" feel of the original, Blevins was critical of the relatively short length of the game. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
reviewer Greg Kasavin agreed with many of IGN's criticisms, stating that "it's not that the game is easy so much that it's extremely short" and that Blue Shift "doesn't amount to much on its own terms". In addition, Kasavin described the graphical enhancements brought about by the High Definition pack as "helpful", but noted that "they still don't make Half-Life look like a new game—nor are many of the changes themselves very noticeable".
Other reviews echoed complaints about the similarity of Blue Shift to previous games. GameSpy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
's reviewer Jamie Madigan stated that "what really pulls the game down is the 'more of the same' factor". Although writing that the game "feels like just a few more levels for the original game", he noted that this is what Blue Shift was designed to be, given its origins as an add-on for a Dreamcast version of Half-Life. Madigan described the single-player campaign as "decent" and commented that the High Definition pack made the game "worthy of consideration". Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
echoed criticism on the game's length; reviewer Tom Bradwell commented that "although I'm hard pressed to criticize what you get, the complete absence of everything we've learnt from the likes of Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike
Counter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
and everything since is frankly bizarre". Bradwell did, however, criticize the game's artificial intelligence and the occasional bug that caused a player to get stuck on a wall. PC Zones
PC Zone
PC Zone was the first magazine dedicated to games for IBM-compatible personal computers to be published in the United Kingdom. Earlier PC magazines such as PC Leisure, PC Format and PC Plus had covered games but only as part of a wider remit. PC Zone was founded in 1993.The magazine was published...
Mark Hill was more lenient in his comments, praising the game's artificial intelligence as "intelligent as you could hope an AI enemy to be". In addition, Hill praised the game for showing more activity in the base, noting that "a whole world goes on around you, with people eating at a canteen and scientists doing their laundry. The complex is more alive than ever before". Hill also praised the focus "on a greater interaction with scientists as proper people rather than the two or three models that were cloned throughout the facility who kept repeating the same phrases", describing this as Blue Shifts "greatest achievement". PC Zones review closed by commenting that "as a Dreamcast extra it works perfectly, but as a standalone PC title there's not nearly enough to it."