dpk325's Full Review: Half-Life: Opposing Force (Add on) for Windows
Half-Life had a great, engrossing story. Why were the scientists messing with interdimensional aliens? Why was the government trying so hard to cover up what happened? And who the heck were the men in black? Opposing Force helps answer a few more of the questions as you approach the story of Half-life from a different angle.
Now you play the role of the Grunts, the camouflage-clad government gunmen whom you punched full of holes in the original Half-Life. You have new weapons, new goals, and new parts of the facility to explore, parts that Gordon never saw or even knew existed. First your goal is to stop Freeman, but things go haywire, and escape is your sole desire. You will get to mess around with heavy machineguns, alien weaponry, and biological weapons.
Don't play this game expecting a revolutionary experience. It is mostly more of the same (which is a GOOD thing). If you want to learn more of the Half-Life mystery (while blasting aliens, of course), then this game is for you. One thing I disliked about this game was that, since you are the grunts, you don't get to fight against them. This was a sheer joy in Half-Life, as the AI of the grunts was simply incredible. This time you are fighting aliens and aliens alone. If you liked that in the first game, however, then you will love it here. Some fun touches are added...instead of just commandeering machineguns, you will have the chance to take over mortar launcher emplacements, lasers emplacements, etc. This was one of my favorite parts of Half-Life, and apparently Sierra received a lot of positive feedback, because this feature is back and better than ever.
There is one point of the game that is extremely difficult. About 2/3rds through the game, you will have to navigate the dark smelly bowels of a tunnel-like area. Unfortunately, this area is pitch black, and filled with enormous aliens with one-hit-kill capability. You have night vision goggles, but they aren't perfect. You will die and die often. But this is simply one part of the game, and once you get through it, you have nothing but fun to look forward to.
A final thing I enjoyed especially was the ability to work with comrades. Throughout the game, you will meet up with small groups of two or three grunts who will update you on their situation and take up arms beside you. You will meet medics who heal you, engineers who blast open shortcuts, and machinegunners who...well...machinegun. I enjoyed having the company of friends at my side while decimating the alien ranks. Half-Life got a little lonely at times, and this incorporation was welcome to me.
A final disappointment was the last boss. He was extremely easy, or at least he should have been, if the polygon mapping had been correct. Instead, some of my grenades would pass directly through him. This got a little annoying, but wasn't a serious concern, as the boss didn't present an enormous challenge anyway.
The game is a bit short, but it is hard to screw up a Half-Life game. If you can find it for around $20, and you enjoyed the original, then get it. If you haven't played Half-Life, then buy it first. It is better in every way, and, quite simply, is the best FPS of all time, hands down.
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