Half-Life: Opposing Force

I base this review on the Generation Set release. This is an expansion pack for Half-Life, and with the adventures of Gordon Freeman being completed for the time being, they decided to give you a different perspective on the events of the original. You play one of the soldiers, this time. This continues several traditions of the first, and also brings with it some things. It does a reasonable job of doing justice to the excellence, although it obviously does not add as much "fresh" as it did. It does provide more good play in the familiar universe of that, if less time... this time, it took me about ten hours, like Max Payne 1 and 2. But hey, it's not a full game, plus, I knew where I was going, it may take longer when you don't. In a way pretty similar Yuri's Revenge put mind control all over the place, after it was in Red Alert 2 some, this takes the teleportation we've already seen and expands(albeit nowhere near as aggressively as YR). There's a weapon that utilizes it, for example, and it's not half bad. This has all the ones the first did, and at least half a dozen new ones, including a machine-gun, a sniper rifle, a Desert Eagle with laser-sight and a couple of exotic instruments of bringing swift death to your opponents, such as a grenade launcher-like one, and one of those mouth-aliens that you're familiar with if you've tried one of these. That one can even be used for transportation, by you having it pull you towards specific areas(and it is pretty gnarly to use against someone, if possibly disturbing to some). The arms remain faithful to those of what came before this in being tactical and awesome all at the same time. They do appear to be stronger. Your foes are also still smart, and team up to take you out. Now that your compadres are marines, you also get to engage in squad combat, and in that, too, the AI is quite fantastic and well-done, though the method of giving orders could arguably have used work, if it does get the job done, and seldom has actual problems. The commands are again limited to "stay here" and "come with me", and if they're doing one, merely press the Use key to get them to do the other. Apart from regular troops, there are Medics... self-explanatory, they heal, you, and, if you can get them to do so, the other uniformed guys(however, when you *need* them to, to progress, they will, as far as I have seen), and Engineers, who can blowtorch through certain locked doors. Neither of these are really used all that often, which in itself is not necessarily a big deal(and in this case, it doesn't feel *that* tacked on). Worse is the case with the rope. It isn't used a ton, thankfully, because climbing and swinging them is simply tougher than it ought to be. They got the physics relatively right, and the implementation isn't awful(if repetitive), and they definitely did not do as horribly with them as they could have, but still. You are taught about them in the Boot Camp, the training bit of this, which is harder than the Hazard Course, and, thus, arguably prepares you for the rest of the title better, which is a tad less easy. There are three difficulties, and they are the basis for the re-playability of this. This also gets going somewhat faster, and offers you the means to fight back sooner. The plot is fine, not as compelling as that of what preceded this, with fair progression and pace. The story-telling is as it was, with no actual cinematics, rather, you overhear conversations, dialog is spoken at you, and you witness occurrences. Through all of that, you have some freedom in choosing the angle, as the view never changes from First Person, with 360 degrees of turning it. This doesn't hold up to as close scrutiny... why does every guard and scientist you meet accept you as being on their side? Did someone radio everyone, giving them a basic description of what you look like? The boss battles are well-done and satisfying enough. This has nice references to HL. The humor doesn't take away from the rest of this. The multi-player is fun, nothing has really been altered. It does have 13 arenas. Team Deathmatch and Free For All are still the two modes it allows. This features creatures not seen before, well-done, and this means you have to adjust to them, rejuvenating the experience. There are a couple that are used so many times in what is not a very long time, spammed to the point of you getting tired of them, once or twice in this. The level design, as is something of a theme in this, are a step down, if not a huge one, from the one this follows. The puzzles are well-done. The take on Night Vision in this is decent, at the very least, in my opinion. The graphics are dated today, and if you want them improved, you can consider investing(meanwhile, don't expect it to particularly go up in value, unless copies of it are or become collector's items or something) in Blue Shift, as it holds a High Definition Pack, that upgrades the visuals on NPC's, or Non Player Characters, and your arsenal, alike. The audio is well-done, with voice acting above average in quality, well-composed score and sound effects all fitting. There are bugs in this, possibly less than the one before it, and, whilst it is an issue this time around, too, this may possess greater stability, as well. There is a little language, and the violence and gore are present, if by no means as extensive as other VGs. I recommend this to any fan of this franchise and series, and/or, while it is suggested that you start before this one, those who enjoy FPS's in general. 7/10