Half-Life: Blue Shift
BANGER · Shooter · 2001
Steam Deck PlayableThe verdict
BUY IT.
A BANGER at $4.99. Typically $1.24 in seasonal sales. The Winter Sale opens Dec 17.
- Cost per hour▼
- $1.61/hr
- ReviewsS
- 93% of 21,429
- Critics
- 71 players 22 higher
- Genre rank
- Top 3% Shooter
Watch this gameOne alert when it goes on sale.
Time and effort
- Main story
- 3.1h
- To 100%
- 3.6h 1.2x the story
Price and sales
- Sales
- 54 on record
- Typical cut
- 80% off
- Steam low
- $0.49 June 2019
- Sale every
- 91d last October 2026
Players and genre
- Online
- 41 now
- Recent reviews
- 92% 30 days
- Cheaper than
- 72% of its genre
- Better reviewed
- 91% of its genre
Price and player charts
The value story
The value story
Across all 54 discounts in the 14 years tracked, the median cut is 80 percent, about 13 weeks apart. Today it is at full price, and its last discount ended about 4 weeks ago.
Its score puts it in the top 3 percent of the games it competes with. It is cheaper than 72 percent of its genre, and better reviewed than 91 percent. Among the games that feel like it, Half-Life: Opposing Force ($4.99, scores 93) beats it on value, while it beats Half-Life: Source ($9.99, scores 25).
More about Half-Life: Blue Shift
71 from critics against 93 percent from players, and the player number comes from people who own the game.
8 of the 800 Steam-purchase reviews sampled here come from buyers who refunded the game, sampled from reviews written July 2023 to August 2026. Inside the two-hour refund window, 84 percent of the 2,674 reviews written there were positive, against 93 percent overall, and those are 14 percent of everything written about it.
Buy now or wait
Buy now or wait
Next discount: likely in the Winter Sale, Dec 17 to Jan 4, at about $0.99 (80% off). Predictions like this were right 92% of the time when tested on 70 past weeks.
Discounted in each of its last 8 seasonal sales. Last discount ended 31 days ago.
Sources: IsThereAnyDeal, Valve.
What drives the score
Grades: S best, D weakest
S is the best grade and D the weakest, judged as a buyer. ▲ raises the score, ▼ lowers it, ? is an input we do not have, • is a fact this genre's score does not use. How the grades work
What players say
While being shorter compared to its predecessors it is still amazing, good ending, loved the xen chapter, introduced a companion system. Overall an amazing game. Definetly worth playing
2 more reviews
Half-Life: Blue Shift is one of three expansion packs made by Gearbox for the original Half-Life and whilst this one isn't the best it's still somewhat good and pretty fun. The story is short with seven chapters (minus the tram ride at the start of the game) so you will beat it in max 3 hours. The best part about this game was Dr. Rosenberg because he is voiced by the one and only John St. John (if his name dosen't...
Yo Calhoun, isn't your shift ended yet? Yes Dr. Rosenberg, but it is a blue shift today. I will have to wait for the opposing force finish the decaying progress until I can go to my home and have an episode or two of my favorite show.
Steam reviews, mixed to its ratio and rotated daily. Opinions are theirs.
About the game
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.
Minimum specs
Runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
No data upstream: achievement curve (Steam global achievements).
Cite this score
Half-Life: Blue Shift scores 87/100 on the BANG Score (a BANGER) as of Nov 8, 2026. The BANG Score rates what a game is worth for the money. Via Steam BANGERS. https://steambangers.com/game/130/half-life-blue-shiftReviews set the ceiling, and price against real length moves the BANG Score inside it. How it works, and where it is weak → Steam reviews as of Oct 31, price as of Nov 7. A number here look wrong? Tell me and I will check the inputs.