"Half-Life: Opposing Force is an exceptional expansion pack to an exceptional game."
User Rating: 8.8 | Half-Life: Opposing Force PC
Half-Life revolutionised FPS gaming with one of the best single-player experiences ever and amazing multiplayer components due to a solid mod community. Its expansion pack only reinforces Half-Life’s style of storytelling as immersive and therefore does not disappoint. Opposing Force puts the player in the role of an elite commando pursuing Gordon Freeman, hence the title: Opposing Force. From a narrative perspective, this retells the events from the first game through the eyes of someone completely different – and does so outstandingly. Various hints throughout the game provide the player a point of reference vis-à-vis the original game adding to both context and excitement. Only could a game with the quality of Half-Life have its story told twice and still be as thrilling as the first time. Some key additions include night-vision, and some new weapons. The most interesting new weapon is the teleportation gun that lets one cross over to Xen for some much needed healing. Other than that, the technical aspects such as graphics and sound are of good quality. Half-Life’s first expansion pack does not feel like a mission pack – in fact, its story and length are comparative to some current FPS games as modern shooters have seemed to adopt an average gameplay length of about 6-10 hours. Its level design varies just enough to keep the player interested and one noticeable improvement over Half-Life is the exclusion of a Xen-like jumping puzzle. Furthermore, it includes some interesting boss levels that mix up the pace of the game much like the original. Half-Life: Opposing Force is an exceptional expansion pack to an exceptional game.
