Half-Life

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Half-Life
System(s): Sega Dreamcast
Publisher: Sierra On-Line
Developer: Valve Coropration Gearbox Software
Genre: Shoot-'em-Up
Number of players: 1

Half-Life is a first person shooter developed by Valve Corporation. At the time of its release on PCs it was seen as groundbreaking, and still ranks as one of the highest rated PC games of all time.

The game was due to be ported to the Sega Dreamcast by Gearbox Software in a move that was much anticpated by Sega fans. However, a last minute decision saw the game be cancelled, despite playable (and finished) builds being showcased at trade shows and in magazine publications. Half-Life was set to be one of the biggest Dreamcast games of the year 2000 holiday season, ancitipated for a release in North America and Europe during September 2000 (a date it missed - DC-UK later claimed it would arrive in Europe in November of that year, priced at the usual £39.99 in the UK).

History

Half-Life was demonstrated at the European Computer Trade Show in 2000, being praised by the press and featuring as a cover story in many gaming magazines of the era and even in a television advertisement. Rather than being a straight port of the game, the Dreamcast version featured higher polygon models than its PC counterpart (allegedly twice as many polygons overall) and would have included an exclusive side-story titled Half-Life: Blue Shift. The Dreamcast version would not make an official playable public appearance until the first annual Gearbox Community Day 2011 which featured the last completed build as part of their legacy showcase.

Cancellation

All of the models in the game were updated to take advantage of the Dreamcast hardware.

Half-Life was unexpectedly delayed to mid-2001, and within just weeks of release, Sierra On-Line, the game's publisher, pulled the plug on the Dreamcast version due to "changing market conditions". By this point it was the middle of June 2001, and like many publishers around tihs time, Sierra chose not to support the Dreamcast console further. By this point Blue Shift had been released as a PC expansion pack (alongside the "High Definition Pack", upgrading all the in-game models), and much of the re-worked assets were being used in an upcoming PlayStation 2 version of the game, which launched in November 2001.

Leaked Build

Inevitably the full version of the Dreamcast game was leaked onto the internet, showing a near-complete product. Though the game is fully playable, the frame rate is inconsistent, and load times are often fairly lengthy. Saving is also an issue - the further the player gets through the current level, the more VMU blocks are demanded for saving. Once a level is completed, the number decreases again. In addition, each chapter is split with a password system to save progress alternatively with a three word system.

Some of the features found in the Dreamcast versions of Half-Life and Blue Shift were never brought forward into later copies of the game, although this mainly just includes some new NPC models, slightly altered level layouts and in-game Dreamcast references. In early 2012 a mod for the PC version was released on Steam to address this.

VMU Features

Due to varying large VMU file sizes, a password system can be used instead to save progress.

Half-Life is able to save progress anywhere in the game, however the further along in a chapter, the larger the file can get. Alternatively the game allows progress to be saved via a password system.

Half-Life Save Data

Name	File Name	Comment	File Size	Icon
Half Life	HALFLIFE.###	HALF_LIFE_GAME	30-200

Promotional Material

• HalfLife DC US PrintAdvert.jpg

  US print advert

• HalfLife DC FR PrintAdvert.jpg

  FR print advert

Sega Retro Average
Publication Score Source DC-UK (UK) 90 №16, p58/59/60/61/62/63

	90
Based on 1 review

Sega Retro Average
Publication Version Score Computer & Video Games (UK) 100 Dreamcast Monthly (UK) PAL 90 DC-UK (UK) 90 Dreamcast Magazine (UK) PAL 81 GamePro (US) NTSC-U 98 SuperGamePower (BR) 98

	93
Based on 6 reviews

Half-Life