IGN: Can we expect to intersect many of the areas in the Black Mesa Research Facility that we're familiar with from Half-Life and Opposing Force? What about running into Gordon Freeman or Adrian Shepard? Randy Pitchford: There are several cool cross-overs between Blue Shift, Opposing Force and Half-Life. In Blue Shift, important named partners will work with you over the course of several levels and objectives in order to overcome the hazards of the plot. Up until Blue Shift, Half-Life characters were repeating, expendable entities. How will Barney interact and control NPCs in Blue Shift? Randy Pitchford: Barney interacts with other characters in a manner consistent with the Half-Life design, but the strength of the interactions in Blue Shift is the depth of the new characters. IGN: In Opposing Force, you played as corporal Adrian Shephard and you had influence over the soldier NPCs and could give them simple commands. It's very dense in quality and content and was designed to deliver the best entertainment in a compact package that gives the player a great reward of conclusion. IGN: How many levels are going to be included in Blue Shift? How long do you expect the average gamer to be able to finish the entire Blue Shift experience? Randy Pitchford: There are 37 levels in the Blue Shift mission. If you¿re successful, Blue Shift has what many have called the most satisfying Half-Life ending yet.
It requires wits and might ¿ the kinds of puzzles and combat that made Half-Life so great. IGN: What about new bad guys? Will you be going up against both aliens and government soldiers who want to keep the whole Black Mesa incident "quiet?" Randy Pitchford: Calhoun must work with the civilians of Black Mesa to survive the alien invasion and the government cover-up. The other weapons have been enhanced with detail as well. Another new weapon is the Assault Rifle with Grenade Launcher. IGN: What new weapons can we expect in Barney's arsenal? Randy Pitchford: In Blue Shift, Calhoun is equipped with a 9mm pistol. There are also weapons, creatures and other objects and things that enhance the complete Half-Life experience. The HD Pack includes characters enhanced with higher resolution textures, significantly increased polygonal detail and more animation articulation.
So, the Half-Life High Definition Pack provides users with high-end systems with an upgrade to all of the Half-Life content that takes advantage of their hardware. IGN: What were the major graphical breakthroughs that allowed for such an increase in character and weapon detail? What other enhancements can we expect in Blue Shift? Randy Pitchford: Since the release of Half-Life, new advances in 3d acceleration and CPU power have enabled most users to seriously exceed the minimum system requirements of the original game.
Also, there are some different secrets between the DC and PC versions of the game.
However, the PC version (being a stand alone title) offers a security guard training course that wasn¿t necessary in the Dreamcast version. IGN: Is the PC version of Blue Shift basically the same as the Dreamcast version? Are there any noticeable differences? Randy Pitchford: From a narrative perspective, Blue Shift for the PC and Blue Shift for the Dreamcast are very similar. Rule 1: shoot anything that has a red glowing head. Ultimately, you¿ll work with some of the key scientists at Black Mesa to formulate a plan to survive the horrors that unfold around you. As the protector of the civilians, it¿s your job to make sure they survive the invasions. IGN: What will you be doing in Blue Shift? Without giving too much away, could you tell us about some specific mission objectives and goals? Randy Pitchford: In Blue Shift, there is a lot of interaction with other characters that populate the facility. The Blue Shift narrative occurs simultaneously to the plot of the original Half-Life, so you¿re job is to protect the civilians of Black Mesa against the aliens and assassins that assault the facility. In Blue Shift, you¿re that security guard. There¿s a security guard on a platform banging on a door holding a flashlight. If you remember, in the original Half-Life, when Gordon starts his day at work, he rides a tram into the Black Mesa. We know that you play as the security guard Barney, but what is his role in the whole Black Mesa fiasco? Randy Pitchford: In Blue Shift, you play as the Barney Calhoun. IGN: Take us through the plot premise a bit.