Recent reviews by Kersius

--I'd recommend playing Half-Life 1 first in order to gain context for the story. While the plot isn't exactly weak, it wouldn't hold up as well if it were a stand alone game rather than an expansion of Half-Life--
That being said, HL:OF is a great addition to the lore behind the Black Mesa Incident! I can say with confidence after playing Half-Life 1 and Opposing Force back-to-back that experiencing the Incident through the eyes of Shepard rather than Gordon was a delight.
- I really enjoyed all the plot beats where you as the player are able to pinpoint where you would be as Gordon Freeman. Watching yourself Gordon Freeman jump into the portal to Xen is just super cool, what else can I say.
- An aspect that was greatly improved upon from HL1 is G-Man's importance to the plot. With HL1, it's pretty easy to miss him when he appears. And when he does appear, it's either him watching Gordon or him walking around. With Opposing Force, the player is given clearer hints as to what G-Man's intentions are for Shepard. You know he is the only reason Shepard is alive AND the only reason he remains at Black Mesa longer than he was supposed to. G-Man staring at you through the glass as you're left behind was amazing. Another great detail is him reactivating the Black-Ops bomb which pays off in the end for players who are able to catch that moment.
- Valve PLEASE release Adrian from his stasis helicopter, I'm begging you
In terms of gameplay, it's generally the same as HL1 but I feel they improved on many smaller aspects that would go unnoticed to players who only played HL:OF rather than both HL1 and HL:OF.
- I feel the devs realized how the flashlight in HL1 was lackluster due to it not being a fixed point on the screen and mended this by giving Shepard night-vision goggles, which are far superior to the HL1 flashlight.
The weapons are greatly expanded, my only gripe with them being the auto-aim feature. Unless I missed a menu option, there isn't a way to turn it off which is extremely frustrating when some weapons Desert Eagle are virtually unusable due to the auto-aim's random inaccuracy.
- The alien weapons are way more fun than they were in HL1. I used them A LOT more often than I did in HL1, which is probably due to to them feeling less finicky than they did before.
I think the Barnacle grappling hook was a cool idea although navigating exactly where you want is pretty difficult and the concept felt pretty shoehorned in.
- One of my favorite aspects gameplay-wise was the soldier NPCs. While they suffer from not-following-you-quickly-and-efficiently syndrome like every other NPC in this game, this didn't hinder their strengths as much as I expected. Going through certain sections of the game with them tagging along really felt like I was the leader of group. I was concerned with their well-being because they helped in tight firefights and made certain parts less intimidating.
- The game felt more challenging than HL1 the further I went through the game. The new enemy types were great and it was fun seeing all the new Xen creatures and figuring out what they did.
Rather than being a plane reskin of Half-Life 1, Half-Life Opposing Force offers an expanded Half-Life experience, both in plot and gameplay. If you enjoyed Half-Life 1, you'll definitely enjoy Opposing Force!