$4.99Half-Life: Opposing Force The Same Disaster, the Other Side
A soldier cut off in Black Mesa fights through new weapons, new aliens and a fresh angle on the Half-Life story.
Is Half-Life: Opposing Force worth it?
Half-Life: Opposing Force is worth it if…
- you finished Half-Life and want more of its world from a different angle
- you like fast, relentless shooter action more than slow puzzle solving
- you enjoy the old-school feel of late 90s shooters, no hand-holding and no cutscenes
- you want a story-driven campaign you can finish in a handful of evenings
Screenshots
The other side of Black Mesa
Half-Life put you in the lab coat of a scientist running for his life. Opposing Force puts you in the boots of one of the soldiers sent to clean up after him. Corporal Adrian Shephard arrives with his unit to eliminate the survivors of the experiment, and the mission falls apart before it starts: the aliens overwhelm the troops, his helicopter is shot down, and he wakes up alone in a facility that is already lost.
The story runs at the same time as the original, so you walk corridors you may remember, but from the invaders' side, and at different moments in the disaster. The G-Man is watching this one too, and he has plans for Shephard. It all unfolds without cutscenes, the way Half-Life always told its stories: you piece it together from what you see and hear as you fight through.
New guns, new aliens, new tricks
This is not a map pack. The campaign brings its own arsenal: an M249 squad automatic weapon that clears a room in one long burst, a sniper rifle for picking off targets at range, and the Displacer Cannon, which teleports enemies away or, with a second fire mode, sends you somewhere else entirely. There is even a barnacle you wear on your hand, a living grappling hook that lets you climb and swing across gaps.
The enemies are new too. Race X, an alien force nobody in the original ever met, arrives mid-catastrophe and gives both the military and the scientists something worse to worry about. Add night vision goggles for dark stretches, rope climbing, squadmates you fight alongside, and two new bosses, and it plays like a full game, not an add-on.
Can you play it without knowing Half-Life?
Do you need to play Half-Life first?
It helps, but it is not required. The story runs alongside the original and explains its own plot as you go. That said, the real pleasure is seeing familiar places and events from the soldiers' side, so the campaign lands hardest if you know what happened in Half-Life. If you are new to the series, start with the original, then come back for this.
Is it hard?
Somewhat, in the old-school way. There are no objective markers or modern conveniences, some fights hit harder than anything in the original, and the game expects you to manage your arsenal and figure out where to go on your own. If you grew up on 90s shooters, that is the appeal. If you want a relaxed evening, this is not it.
Is there anything to do after the story?
The game is moddable, and the community has used that for decades: new campaigns, tweaks and co-op play built on top of it. The base campaign is a singleplayer story, but if you finish it and want more, there is a long history of player-made content to dig into.
