Special Sub-Topic: Half-Life: Blue Shift Authored by: Bruce007 Sub-topic of: Half-Life

What is the name of the controllable character in the game?

Barney Calhoun. When the game started, it was revealed that it was Barney Calhoun's first day on duty. What fortune he had, as he ended up in the resonance cascade. The resonance cascade released the alien creatures of Xen into the Black Mesa research facility.

When the resonance cascade occurs, whereabouts is the main character?

Elevator. With the electrics of the building in a terrible state, Barney was ordered to get an elevator working in Sector G. With two scientists in the elevator, they were pinned on the maintenance level while the creatures of Xen attacked everyone. Soon afterwards, the elevator's cable snapped, and plummeted the elevator to the basement. Both of the scientists perished in the fall, but Barney Calhoun survived, and it was truly the beginning of his "Blue Shift".

You see Gordon Freeman, the hero of "Half Life" in the game.

True. You see him three times total as Barney Calhoun. The first time is when you get off of the tram and are waiting for a door to open, the second is when you look through a security camera, and the third and final time is when you are sent through a portal and see him being dragged along by two United States military grunts.

What is the name of the scientist who the main character has to save in "Blue Shift"?

Dr. Rosenberg. Dr. Rosenberg is encountered in a late stage of the game. Near the end, Barney learns that the marines are gathering up some people and putting them into the train-yard. Calhoun finds Rosenberg in a train car, but upon entering, he is locked in by the marines. With a helping hand from Rosenberg, Barney escapes through the top, takes out the marines, and rescues Rosenberg.

Late in the game, the scientist and the main character go to an old area of the Black Mesa Facility and use an old teleporter to send the main character to the alien planet. What is the name of the planet?

Xen. Xen is the planet where all the aliens come from. That includes the headcrabs and the Vortigaunts. Barney Calhoun was sent there through the teleporter and he was forced to fight the many creatures to meet an objective bestowed upon him.

When he was sent to the alien planet, what was it that the main character had to accomplish?

Activate the secondary power source of the teleporter. The reason that the secondary power source was to be activated, was so that Barney Calhoun could return to Earth, as well as allow the teleporter machine to transport things to chosen locations, as opposed to random geographical areas. After activating the machine, several creatures show up to slow down Calhoun's progress. Instead of wasting his time, he escapes through a portal, back to Earth.

After the main character has been beamed back to Earth, a problem occurred with the teleportation device. What was this problem?

The battery had been depleted. To get new batteries, Calhoun had to take a service elevator down to the basement. There he encountered several alien creatures, as well as several military men. He had to find a new battery and send it up to the teleporter room, so Dr. Rosenberg could install it and get the teleporter to function.

After the teleporter had been fixed, the main character was forced to push some buttons to get it to work. Which button did he not press?

Off. The procedure that Dr. Rosenberg gave Barney Calhoun first involved turning on the machine with the 'on' button. An unforeseen malfunction in the coolant unit forced Calhoun to turn the 'Coolant Control' switch, so the temperature would not cause a meltdown. After that was taken care of, Barney Calhoun was forced to turn on the energy, and allow the transportation process to begin. He never had to press the 'off' button, because once he left, the room detonated, and the teleporter was destroyed along with it.

After getting through the teleporter, an interesting event occurred to the protagonist. He beamed out but ended up in another area of the Black Mesa Facility. What did he see in this area?

Gordon Freeman being dragged away by the marines. Some resonance discharge apparently caused a spontaneous teleportation to a random area of Black Mesa. The effects of it were very temporary and only involved a quick teleportation and a temporary green glow. After the effects wore off, he escaped with three fellow scientists.

Barney escapes from the Black Mesa research facility alive, and in one piece.

True. To escape, Barney had to hold off the U.S. Marines while Dr. Rosenberg was activating the teleporter to the outside. After Rosenberg made it through the teleporter, Barney had less than one minute to make it to the teleporter, but the military held him up. After he got through them, Barney escaped and then he and three other surviving scientists escaped the facility in a pick-up truck. The G-Man labeled him unworthy of surveillance, and should be allowed to escape. He is later encountered in "Half-Life 2", as an ally to Gordon Freeman.