Action · June 1, 2001

Half-Life: Blue Shift (2001)

local_offer-75% current discountgroup1M–10M ownersrecommend17.3k recommendations
Made by Gearbox Software and originally released in 2001 as an add-on to Half-Life, Blue Shift is a return to the Black Mesa Research Facility in which you play as Barney Calhoun, the security guard sidekick who helped Gordon out of so many sticky situations.

Position in Action

MetricThis titleGenre position
Review volume18.8k Steam reviewsTop 26% in Action
Positive rating92% positiveGenre average: 83% — this title sits in top 28%
Metacritic71/100Genre average 77 — top 80% of Action titles
Engagement hours28 h averageTop 17% for session depth among Action

Community Tag Signals

Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.

  • FPS · 495
  • Action · 309
  • Sci-fi · 240
  • Singleplayer · 218
  • Shooter · 196
  • Aliens · 180
  • Classic · 168
  • First-Person · 162
  • Zombies · 113
  • Adventure · 107
  • 1990's · 101
  • Short · 92
  • Atmospheric · 89
  • Silent Protagonist · 74
  • Story Rich · 64

Peer Action titles

Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.

Reception Metrics

Steam community

92%Very Positive · 18.8k reviews

17.3k positive · 1.5k negative

Metacritic

71/100 critic aggregate

Open Metacritic page

Metacritic user score

8.1/10

Curator recommendations

17.3k

More from Gearbox Software

Gearbox Software has 8 titles indexed — top 6 by review volume below.

Features & Capabilities

Accessibility

  • Adjustable Difficulty
  • Playable without Timed Input

Input & Comfort

  • Custom Volume Controls

Other

  • Single-player
  • Save Anytime
  • Family Sharing

Release & Availability

Release dateJun 1, 2001
DeveloperGearbox Software
PublisherValve
Base price$1.24 -75%
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux
Estimated owners1M–10M
External linksMetacritic page · Support

Engagement Profile

All-time avg

28h

moderate (15–40 hours)

Median

2h

Typical completion time

2-week avg

0h

Current engagement

Content Notes

Half-Life: Blue Shift includes violence throughout the game.

Localization Coverage

Interface / Subtitles (3)

  • English
  • French
  • German

Editions & Packages

  • Buy Half-Life: Blue Shift