Customer Reviews

Half-Life Expansion Pack: Opposing Force

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I purchased Half-Life shortly after it's release in 1998 and built a system just to play this one title...I was not disappointed. More recently, my anticipation had been building over the past several months as I watched and waited for Opposing Force to be released. I bought it, loaded it, played it and conquered it...all too quickly. Valve presented the gaming world with some pretty big shoes to fill, and it seems as though Gearbox has made the add-on to the 1998 Game of the Year less difficult to complete. I thrive on the complex puzzles that level designers create (i.e., System Shock II). And, while the alien AI has been enhanced, the overall game play (when compared to it's parent product) doesn't live up to my level of anticipation or the hype that normally surrounds a Sierra product. Also, I know that it is only 40% the size of the original game, but I paid as much for this as I did Half-Life. I have to admit, though, that the multiplayer aspect and additional maps are right on the money. Some of the best death-matching you can buy is right here (until Q III is released). And, overall, the visuals were excellent throughout the Black Mesa compound. I am disappointed, though, that I only caught 1 glimpse of Gordon Freeman. Bottom line: buy it and enjoy: blowing things up, cracking skulls and playing with exotic weapons...or your collection of Half-life maps and mods will go unfinished...until 2001 (Half-Life 2! ).

Ahh....Half-Life. The best game ever created. So when I purchased the "Game of the Year's" expansion pack, I was excited for more of the same excitement. What I found was that I was not let down. Of course, there were a few flaws.

Oh, there are so many good things about this that I will only name the most impressive. Since you play one of the Marines sent in to "silence" the Black Mesa Staff, you get to see the game from a whole new perspective. So of the new areas are absolutely amazing, especially the Zoology and Aquatics Areas. Some of the new areas aren't so new, but you'll have a smile on you face when you recognize them from the original (of course, from a different perspective). The enemies surely got beefed up, as well, A whole new alien race was introduced, making your life as Cor. Adrian Shepherd even more of a living hell. And with your rank comes the ability to order around a bunch of new butt-kicking military types, in the form of a medic, engineer, and soldier. I was stunned when the engineer I was with used his torch to cut open a locked door, boot it down and blast away at the alien on the other side. The new weapons are also excellent too, with out being overly flashy and all with a drawback of some sort to balance them out. Finally, There are a ton of new multiplayer maps for both Half Life and Team Fortress Classic, with the majority of them in top form.

There are a few cons with this mission pack, though. Opposing Force is close to 40% of the size of the original. The episodes are slightly shorter, with longer (and often annoying) loading times. Though it sure is fun ordering your fellow Marines around in combat, their AI is less than perfect. Sometimes they charge into the thick of combat and end up getting cut down, no matter how many times you tell them to stay where they are. The Marines also tend to mindlessly go places they shouldn't, or to the same extent, don't follow you. The plot gets a little sketchy, too. Even though your character technically agreed to aid the folks of Black Mesa, you are never really sure as to what side you are on. And you will spend quite a lot of time trying to figure out what you're trying to accomplish. Thought the plot is advanced via fellow soldiers and radios that you can use, you are never really told WHY you are doing something (why do back into Black Mesa if I just left it?). Finally, one of the biggest flaws is the fact that there is a lot more "filler" than you would expect. A lot of the areas just don't seem right, and some of the puzzles get repetitive.

All in all, though, Half-Life: Opposing Force is excellent. I have never witnessed an expansion pack so well done, and despite it's flaws, you'll be glad you bought it.

This expansion pack is awesome, it lets you play as the Army against the original character, Gordan Freeman. In the original game remember the soldiers regrouping and calling for backup? Now you can do that to! There are many new characters to interact with, and now you can finally blow away thoes stupid rent-a-cops and scientists away for fun! Not to mention the Internet play is awesome, tons of new characters, weapons, and more! The only reason I gave this game a 4 star is because of its price. A little spendy for a add-on, considering that I have seen Half-Life for only $9.99

Ok, so you jsut got done beating the final boss of Half-Life, and your thirsty for more?Well, how about returning to Black Mesa as one of the Military Bad Guys sent to kill Freeman? This game was incredible, it had the graphics of HL, new monsters, a great plot, and much more!You're now Adrian Shephard, colonel of the army that has been sent to black mesa. you get to control a squad of highly advanced recruits.they are the medic, engineer and soldier. In OpFor you get stranded in the facility and have to get out.Im not going to say anything more, but go buy this game!Its great!

Finally I get to kill all those pesky guards and sciencetists that ticked me off in the original! And best of all new guns to kill them with! Very very cool guns. And you have this little nifty alien device that you can use as a rope/grappling hook tool. This FINALLY tells you who the mysterious G-Man is and answers some of the other questions the original left you hanging to answer. And I love working with the soldier AI against the new smart-ass "Alien Corps" AI in furious battles. Very fun and frightening. But to some the game up in 2 simple words: BUY NOW!

Well, I was very excited about this game before it was released. An add-on to one of the best games ever created, only now played from a juxtapositional viewpoint. So how did the game stack up to it's hype? Very nicely. This game is essentially more Half-Life goodness (and who can complain about that?) with new weapons, a couple AI buddies, and some new gameplay elements. (Rope climbing, etc) In my mind, there were only two let downs in this solid gaming title. First, the final boss was a real neurotic experience. I felt like I was solving a puzzle, not duking it out with a badass alien. Second, and more significantly, I finished this game in 7 hours of off and on gaming. In this day and age of 40+ hour games, that's just way too short. By the way, the training portion of this game is excellent. Inspired by "Full Metal Jacket," it's both functional for newbies and yet still fun for verteran Half-Lifers. Think of this game as a little something to hold you over until Half-Life 2 hits.

For the price, I expected this to be longer. It was very well done, however. Good new weapons, monsters, plot, etc.

Please welcome Half-Life: Opposing Force to the crowded arena of expansion packs. In this follow-up to the sweetest shooter ever made, one plays the enemy Marines and has to join forces with all the annoying soldiers that you strived to kill in the first game. That's the short version, at least. The game is good, though not even half as long as the original. It is also mad easy compared to the first game, and vets will finish this game in a day. Multiplayer is, like the first game, fantastic, and is great fun to play on a LAN. So why did i give it 3 stars? Because, by itself the game is great. But compared to Half-Life: Game of the Year, it pales horribly. One of the big problems with expansion packs is that the developers give the job to another team. Thankfully, Op Force is not a disaster, and is great fun for the day it takes to beat it. But, like other expansions, it can't match the pure excellence of the original game. I can't understand why the creators pass their games off like this. Diablo Hellfire was the perfect example of total junk. The first was superb. The expansion was a rehash. This is the case with Op Force. It's the same game. New stuff, but the same game. This is either good or bad, depending on your opinion, but to me, this game is a novel little target practice session.

Opposing Force was a worthy add-on to Half-Life, but it is way to short. Between homework and having to go to work, I still found time to beat this game in a single weekend. Don't get me wrong, the new millitary perspective is awesome - commanding small groups of soldiers is cool and a nice variation on the Half-Life theme - it's just that it is way to short. I can't even beat the Big Baby at the end of the original Hal-Life, but I beat the monster at the end of Opposing Force in maybe 10 minutes (after I got a system down).

Overall, a nice game worthy of the Half-Life name. Oh, and you guys out there who are familiar with the Black Suit Guy, you're really gonna hate him at the end of the game...

First off I've been playing HL since 4/1/99. And I've played it every single day since then. It's simply the best shooter. But right now there is a rush of good FPS comeing in like q3 and UT... so is it worth it to pay for the HL expansion? Well I was kinda disspointed...I mean the weapons are unbalanced now to many BFG. Which make it a newbie game. And major lag on Won.Net Multiplayer servers...like 300. Some ppl I heard have a 50 mhz p3 1128 RAM TNT2 and DSL connection get up to 250 lag ick. So despite all that Its still a good game if you liked HL you probably like op4.

BTW single player is short =[