Half-Life: Decay

Half-Life: Decay is an add-on included in the PlayStation 2 port of the first-person shooter computer game Half-Life, developed by Gearbox Software.

Like Opposing Force and Blue Shift Decay returns to the setting and timeline of the original story, but with different player characters: two female colleagues of Gordon Freeman, Dr. Gina Cross and Dr. Colette Green. Dr. Gina Cross is the model for the Hazard Course hologram, and can be seen at a point in Blue Shift. Dr. Green is a new character invented for Decay.

Like Blue Shift, Decay is not available through Valve's Steam service. It is however being remade by fans for the Half-Life 2 Source engine.

Storyline

Dr. Cross and Dr. Green are members of a different team in Black Mesa than the main protagonist, Gordon Freeman. They are responsible for monitoring the equipment Gordon uses during the experiment, and are in turn monitored by Dr. Rosenberg (who also appears in Blue Shift), and Dr. Keller. After Cross and Green have delivered the test sample to Freeman, the "incident" occurs, and they are forced to fight to survive. Cross and Green help Rosenberg reach the location he is later found in by Barney Calhoun in Blue Shift. The doctors both reach the surface and escape apparently some hours before Calhoun and Rosenberg do, and therefore apparently survive the nuclear explosion that destroys the complex.

Gameplay

Unlike the other Half-Life games, which are single player only, Decay is designed for co-operative play. While it can be played by one person, swapping between the roles of Dr. Cross and Dr. Green, the game is intended to be played by two players in split-screen. Various puzzles and combat situations throughout the game require the co-operation of the two characters.

Decay has a ranking system for all of its nine missions, ranging from F (worst) to A (best), based on time played, number of shots fired, accuracy, number of reloads, and number of enemies killed. If all nine missions are achieved with an A level, a bonus mission can be played as a Vortigaunt (alien slave).

External links

• Decay information including walkthrough (Click on the link titled Decay (Co-Op) Mission Walkthrough)
• Remake of Decay for the Source (HL2) engine