Just finished Opposing Force, right after the base game Half Life 1 itself! (my thoughts on Half Life)

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In 1999, nearly a year after Half Life, Opposing Force released as an expansion. Although you could... this game is certainly something I wouldn't want to live without.

What OF did well, or even better than Half Life:

It wasn't only extended gameplay, extra levels...but rather quite unique ones

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Things OF did well

- I liked the notable weapon choices.

You had your traditional, even the exact same, weapons from HL. Then you also had weapons that were similar to special weapons in HL, but there was some sort of spin to it or different variant I'd say. And along with that, there were even completely new weapons that were frankly super fun to use. Some of them were even familiar to the older Counter Strike games, I liked recognizing them.

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Things OF did BETTER than Half Life

- Original enemies stayed, but a quite of new variety (good variety) were added creatively.

This ensured the enemies in the game weren't the same old, I was kept interested seeing what the game would put me up against next. Note that I only like the alien/monster enemies, not the soldiers in THIS game.

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Although I loved the big bosses in Half Life, Opposing Force emphasized more in unique common enemies. I think OF may have even less "big bosses", and it definitely made them easier. However, the only memorable ones were stationary and required finishing some puzzle to beat, and I found that more fun. The bosses in original HL contrasted by have bosses that moved, sometimes rather quickly and dangerously, and you had to shoot them to death. I do wish there was more a mix in both games.

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- Story-telling

Sounds wrong to say but I feel like OF did better story-telling than HL. (note, I don't mean story, I mean story-telling. Difference). There were more moments that were set up and exhibited some kind of scenes during the gameplay. That's what I loved in HF, and OP definitely expanded on that.

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- Characters and dialogue

Contrasting to HF, where you would try to interact with someone but all they would say is either "I'll follow you" or "I'll stay here"... the things characters would say in OF was MUCH more entertaining. Often times in HF, a guard or doctor (who always had the same character model) who stand in place until you ask them to follow you. But in OF, many character models were different and showcased actions with personality. It really made the game feel more lively.

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I lost it when I tried to get a fat security guard, who was rummaging through a broken vending machine, to follow me!

"I don't want to die a virgin!" he said.

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Said to myself holy shit, am I imagining things? I was so used to the bland dialogue in the original game.

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- Cameos/References/Easter Eggs

I LOVED it when scenes connected to HL, or when you would even be in the background witnessing the Gordon Freeman himself.

Things OF really sucked at, or simply did worse than HF

- Immediately something I could pick off were the bugs that made the game unplayable at times. These bugs were evident in every playthrough. Literally, there were several bugs that prevented you from progressing the game. Things like simply getting stuck in a certain vent, or not being able to move when every time an elevator stops.

Every time an elevator would stop, you would need to make sure you are in the air beforehand by jumping. Otherwise you would glitch and stay frozen with the elevator.

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One of the most vital weapons is your revolver. Don't attempt to shoot it underwater or else it will be jammed for a good duration during your game. It will no longer shoot, even after dropping it and picking it up, or using a new revolver. You will have to wait until it magically just works again, which will take awhile (who knows when).

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- The enemy soldiers. Note how earlier I mentioned I only loved the alien enemies. Unlike Half Life, where you are Gordon Freeman facing off the aliens and regular army soldiers...in OF you are an army soldier yourself facing aliens and elite soldiers known as "Black Ops". Unlike regular army soldiers, who are tactical (they take cover, make smart decisions depending on what the player does), was a fun challenge to deal with, preferred other aliens, and were satisfying to kill even.

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The Black Ops however, which had some appearances in HL as well, were frequent in OF and this game made me dread them. They are very random in movement, sporadic, too quick, and most importantly not even fun. Although it makes sense to the story to why I am fighting them, but they felt like an unnecessary challenge in terms of the gameplay.

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- The rope

There was a new mechanic introduced, the rope. Horribly created in my opinion. Felt the very opposite of functional to me. Often times it would be very hard to climb these. I'm probably doing this wrong. Though, it did make puzzles more interesting.

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- Just a small warning. I don't mind old graphics at all but...

like HL, playing with 16:9 ratio monitor with high frame rate can make you feel nausea and physically ill. I felt this A LOT with HL until I changed my default fov to 90 and recommend you do the same. Originally I think it was somewhere 60-75 on default. I wouldn't feel sick anymore.

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Starting OF, I immediately changed the fov. But now the problem was I started to feel sick playing because most of the colors were brown, tan, greenish colors in this game. Could be a personal problem. I made sure to take breaks whenever I felt this.

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Conclusion

tl;dr

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I loved it!

Absolutely get this game if you want to experience the Half-Life franchise at its fullest :) I'd say you shouldn't miss out on Opposing Force.

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I am now onto Half-Life: Blue Shift

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Thank you for reading! :)