Half-Life: Every Game Ranked Worst To Best
9. Half-Life: Blue Shift
Kicking off the list is Half-Life: Blue Shift. Following up on Opposing Force, the final flourish of the original Half-Life on the PC was once again developed by Gearbox Software.
Before they went on to butcher the likes of Duke Nukem Forever and Aliens: Colonial Marines, Gearbox had a great talent for expanding on original material. However, Blue Shift mostly missed the mark, making for a rather tepid send-off for the original game.
In Blue Shift, you play Barney Calhoun, the Black Mesa security officer who will eventually team up with Gordon Freeman in Half-Life 2.
The focus in the expansion is on escaping as the protaganist mostly keeps his head down with the battle raging above. Eventually it comes down to working with scientists to teleport surviving scientists out of the facility.
When compared to the standout original title and its predecessor Opposing Force, Blue Shift is fairly unremarkable, not adding or enhancing any major gameplay facets. Playing as Barney with his limited selection of tools is novel, but as a whole package, the second Half-Life expansion doesn't offer nearly as much.
The fact that it's a much shorter title didn't bode well with critics and fans, either.