I don't know what it is about the Half-Life series that I find so interesting. I guess, sort of like the G Man, it seems so mysterious. It was the first game of the company that developed it, and it's been basically the software equivalent of Bigfoot afterwards. Occasionally spotted, but always hiding, and we're never sure when it will pop up again. A new Half-Life game is a legitimate wonder, and I wasn't even really aware of Opposing Force until I saw Yahtzee Croshaw play it on the Second Wind stream a few weeks ago. Maybe that's how I got on this Half-Life kick in the first place?

Basically, I liked Opposing Force quite a bit. About as much as the OG Half-Life. I think playing through Half-Life prior really helped me enjoy Opposing Force. I understood better that Half-Life isn't so much a shooter, as it is a survival game where you have lots of weapons. I said in my recent review for Half-Life that the combat is much more interesting to me than the usual "retro shooters" because of the obvious care that is put into "encounter design." That is, this fight is hard because the enemies have cover and line of sight to me, rather than "this fight is hard because there are 50 enemies instead of 40 enemies." I'm looking at you Warhammer 40K Boltgun. I died a lot, though. But then I used some weapons that I never bothered to use much in the original. I think I used proximity bombs about 3 times in Opposing Force which is a 300% improvement from Half-Life!

If I had to think of which I prefer, I think Opposing Force might slightly edge out HL. Mainly because it's a bit tighter. There's no real slog like On a Rail in this game, and the Xen section is very short.

But, like the main game, the final boss sucks. At least it isn't as hard, though.

Half-Life: Opposing Force is a great expansion for the main game. It changes the perspective of the events going on in the Half-Life story and offers a nice piece of extra story.

In this game, you play as Adrian Shephard, a US marine from the HECU force, one of the main enemies from the original Half-Life. You and your buddies are sent to murder everything and everyone that has involvement with the Black Mesa facility. You fly in a helicopter with your squad mates on your way to the Black Mesa facility, but your ride is attacked by flying alien forces and the helicopter crashes, killing a lot of your team mates. You make your way to the extraction point, only to receive the middle finger from G-Man, who forces the extraction craft to leave without you.

You quickly discover that the aliens outnumber you and your fellow soldiers a thousand times to one. To make matters worse, a second alien race hits the scene, called Race X, causing even more trouble and struggles. To top it off, because the battle is going bad against the invaders, a new military force, called Black Operations, is trying to contain the situation by eliminating everyone and everything involved in the Black Mesa project. This also includes the HECU force, which was sent to contain the situation in the first place.

You battle your way through Race X aliens, Black Operations forces and try to disarm the nuclear bomb that the Black Operations are trying to launch to wipe out everything and everyone. You eventually reach the launch device and disable it, but good old G-Man reactivates it again. The final battle is, again, a giant mix between Race X aliens, Black Operations forces and in the end, some unholy abomination that is guarding and blocking off the new portal that spawns the Racer X aliens. You murder the hell out of the beast and are immediately teleported to G-man, who congratulates you, sets of the nuclear device and transports you to “a place safe, where you can tell no one what happened and where he cannot be harmed.

It is as shady as ever and I loved it. You even see a moment where Gordon goes into the original portal to confront the Nihilanth, tying the game and this expansion together. The moral here is also excellent. You are sent to kill everyone that has something to do with the Black Mesa Project but are ultimately kind of forced to team up with the security personnel and scientists to increase your chances of survival against the aliens.

Half-Life: Opposing Force plays in the same style as the original Half-Life. The only exception is that you do not have a fancy suit this time and are left with your good old military wits and weapons. You are aided frequently in the many battles in the game by fellow soldiers, scientists and security personnel, giving you the feeling that you do this together (until they are all killed off). There are new weapons in the game like the sniper rifle and the combat knife, which were a nice addition to the game. I loved the sniper rifle, it felt accurate and brutal to use.

In terms of graphics, sound and controls, it is all just as good as the original Half-Life. After playing Half-Life Source, I needed a moment to adjust again to the blend water detail and the stiffer physics, but I adapted soon enough again.

Besides the excellent new campaign, Half-life: Opposing Force also introduced new multiplayer elements. The new weapons in the expansion are now usable in deathmatch games and there are new maps available. It also features a new game mode, capture the flag and a power up system.

My only “issue” with the game was that it was a little on the short side. This is however not that much of a deal because it is an expansion and not a sequel.

In the end, Half-Life: Opposing Force is an excellent expansion for the main game, and I can only praise it.