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Half Life: Opposing Force

Score: 90%
ESRB: Mature
Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Gearbox Software
Media: CD/0
Players: 1 - 32
Genre: Miscellaneous

Graphics & Sound:

Let's see - it's an official add-on for Half-Life. Humm... yep, the graphics are GREAT! It boasts the more realistic graphics as opposed to the blocky, cartoony graphics of a Quakish game. The gameplay is smooth and the animations are flawless. I just love the fluid, life-like graphics. Everything from the characters to the weapons is in perfect order here. There aren't many first person shooters that I can say I play over and over again. Half-Life is one of them. Why? A lot of it has to do with the graphics. This expansion pack just adds on more nicely drawn levels, well animated characters, and realistic looking weapons. Opposing Force carries along the torch of excellence that the original started when it won game of the year.

Gameplay:

Well, to play Opposing Force, you have to have Half-Life. If you have Half-Life, you already know how great it is and how it's played. In addition to adding a whole new set of missions, it adds new multiplayer maps and weapon. The premise is cool - you are the marine hunting Morgan Freeman. It's also cool, because you get to start in boot camp. Once you advance through boot camp, you get to go to the compound and kick some alien butt - same gameplay, same great graphics, same story line, just a different angle. What a great concept to complement a great implementation. Same good quality, new stuff to do. In addition to the levels and weapons, there are new features to get used to as well. I especially like the hand to hand combat that was thrown in. The only thing I have to complain about is the length. It's too short. It was still great, but it was just too short.

Difficulty:

I found this add-on to be easier than the original game. I found Half-Life to be extremely hard, yet still enjoyable. Maybe I just got used to the game and found Opposing Force to be easier. Whatever the case may be, the new missions are not as hard as the originals. Not to say that it's not somewhat difficult - just not as difficult. I did like a few of the new multiplayer maps also. I felt that they were complex enough to have a good time, yet simple enough to learn quickly. Over all, I felt it was hard enough to be fun without losing interest.

Game Mechanics:

Same basic game, same great mechanics. If possible, I thing HL:OF handles even better than the original. I noticed that the weapon fire was more responsive. It did seem to run a bit smoother as well. A few more things like a hand to hand attacks add yet another key to the controls, but it's easy enough to map in. All in all, Opposing Force is a must have for any Half-Life fan.

-Storm, GameVortex Communications
AKA Jeremy Kelso

Minimum System Requirements:



Windows 95/98, Pentium 133, 24 MB RAM, 400 MB HD Space, SVGA graphics, 2X CD-ROM, Sound Card, Mouse, Keyboard, Direct X 6.1
 

Test System:



P2 450, Windows 98 SE, 128MB RAM, Diamond Viper V770 Ultra w/32MB RAM, 2 Voodoo 2's SLI, 5x24 DVD-ROM, Monster Sound MX300, Direct X 7.0, Interact Magnum 6 Joystick

Windows FS Design Studio GameBoy Color/Pocket All-Star Baseball 2001

 
Game Vortex :: PSIllustrated