Half-Life: Opposing Force

Solid expansion to the Half-Life series. I really like how you can sort of track where Gordon Freeman is during this game and really adds to the immersion, as it doesn't feel like you're in a separate universe/location that's completely unrelated to the original. The new weapons are stellar and fit very well with the rest of the Half-Life arsenal, though have a little bit of powercreep to them.

Only issue with the game is balancing, as most of the new enemies are bullet sponges that make half your weapons obsolete due to their lack of firepower. Don't play on Hard mode if you're not a masochist.

9/10 game. If you like Half-Life, you'll like this.

Lot of nostalgia here but I think this game still holds up and still is a fun short adventure.

Pretty much more Half-Life, featuring new enemies that are reskins of soldiers and Bullsquids! I enjoy it, except for the times where you can get stuck in elevators or walls due to buggy collision detection.

Having freshly emerged from my inaugural journey through Half-Life: Opposing Force, I find myself compelled to articulate the profound admiration I harbor for this extraordinary expansion. Clocking in at a brisk 3.5 hours, this experience proved not only a formidable addition to the original 1998 opus but a brilliant divergence—one that illuminates a parallel perspective I find both thematically enthralling and philosophically congruent with my own views.

Where the original Half-Life chronicles the desperate struggle of a lone scientist caught in the maelstrom of an interdimensional catastrophe, Opposing Force introduces us to the indomitable discipline of the United States Marine Corps. This military framework—precise, structured, and unyielding—evokes a sense of order amidst the chaos of Black Mesa. From the outset, the game establishes its militant ethos with a tone of grim determination: you are Corporal Adrian Shephard, not an accidental hero but a trained instrument of tactical efficacy. This immediate shift in perspective is not just refreshing—it is revelatory.

The military immersion is not superficial but richly embedded within the game’s mechanics, dialogue, and set pieces. The meticulous attention to detail—from the authentic radio chatter to the cohesive squad-based encounters—evokes a sense of procedural realism that resonates with my own deep-seated admiration for military order, discipline, and valor. Opposing Force doesn’t simply add new weapons and enemies; it redefines the player’s relationship to the environment. You are no longer surviving—you are executing, maneuvering, adapting with trained precision. This is not mere gameplay variation; it is a transformation of ethos.

What I found particularly laudable is how Opposing Force enriches the lore of the original without undermining it. Rather than recycling the central narrative, it carves a concurrent storyline that intersects with Freeman’s arc in subtle, poignant ways. The glimpses of Gordon Freeman as an elusive presence, never directly interacted with yet palpably there, is an ingenious narrative stroke. It reminds us that great events are multifaceted, and heroism comes in many uniforms—some clad in lab coats, others in fatigues.

In truth, my affection for Opposing Force is inseparable from my own admiration for the military as an institution. The game does not shy away from portraying the moral ambiguities and psychological burdens faced by soldiers in combat zones, but it does so while upholding a tone of professionalism and competence. It does not reduce the military role to caricature or cannon fodder; it dignifies it. And in doing so, it reflects back values I hold dear: resilience, loyalty, calculated strength, and operational clarity in the face of disarray.

Opposing Force is more than just a side story—it is a masterful recontextualization of an already brilliant narrative universe. For those who see the world not as chaos to escape but as disorder to be brought to heel, it is nothing short of inspiring. This game, with its martial heartbeat and narrative ingenuity, has not only earned my respect—it has entrenched itself as a personal favorite in the canon of interactive art.

An alright game but sometimes you get a little lost and don't know where to go had to watch some youtube tutorials myself

This game is a GREAT expansion of the half life games, even though it is made by gearbox it still feels like a good and well made half life game, even for its age it still aged like fine wine.

Nice expansion, I liked it. And I definitely prefer Adrain's laser pointer gun over the magnum in the main game, it somehow feels more responsive.

I actually prefer this over Half-Life 1, it's definitely the best out of the 3 Half-Life expansions. Just wish this was a bit longer.

A unique alternative to the original Half Life's gameplay. I personally really enjoy stories that take place at the same time as other stories, so being a small part of the original story, plus adding on to said story really tickled me. I personally prefer the arsenal in OpF over HL, although I have mixed feeling about the Deagle. Sometimes it felt like it wasn't even dealing damage, and sometimes I'd one tap anything I come across. Overall, if you enjoyed Half Life, you'll enjoy this campaign as well

I think Opposing force is the best out of the classic Half-Life series, bcz its got alot of guns that didnt make it into half life 1, blue shift, and more monsters and mechanics. So this is my fav game if we talk about the classic games of half life so if u wanna get half life, i reccomend this one.

Arguably just as good as the original HL 1. It add many new and unique weapons that aren't seen in any of the HL games. Pretty hard towards the endgame.

"Race X" was probably one of the coolest things in this game exept the electric bug halfwits that just have straight up aimbot
the weapons are pretty nifty too personaly i loved the wrench still a 10/10 would replay

This’ a pretty good game. It could even go as a separate game if not for Half-Life. Even though Gabe Newell doesn’t know number 3, there can be more than 2 games in a Valve’s series. Opposing Force offers us a bit less unique experience than the original game does; it’s very similar with Half-Life by its gameplay, but it also brings new levels, new story, and new gameplay features. You obviously will feel déjà vu if you have played the predecessor of this product; but this can even confuse sometimes since some key mechanics make you come up with something new. Technical state is good here too, so you won’t have to install billions of mods to play this game, although it’s been released in 1999, 25 years ago.

GAMEPLAY

I’ve already mentioned Valve as a good creator of puzzles in games in my HL's review, so they’re still here. But not to look like a thing released just to earn more money while Half-Life had popularity, Gearbox Software created new gameplay possibilities and used them in their puzzles. One such novelty is rope climbing; and if you don't complete Training Room, you can get stuck in some places, like the elevator shaft in the chapter of Missing in Action. I strongly recommend completing Training Room not only because of new features that you’ll find out there, but also because of the charismatic Drill Instructors Dwight T. Barnes and Sharpe who will teach you about new mechanics in the Half-Life series.
I also should mention a new mechanic of taking allies with oneself; like they say, you can do more damage together. But at the same time you shouldn’t forget about their safety since they’re very helpful; medics can heal you and your teammates, for instance.
Howbeit, most gameplay with Shephard is pretty similar to one with Gordon Freeman.

PLOT (I’ll try to be spoilerless, but don’t promise)

Like I said, this game is about the story of a new character, Adrian Shephard, during Resonance Cascade, caused by Freeman’s actions. Story begins with Adrian and his crew flying to a mission. At that time their airplane takes some alien fire and the protagonist survives via a miracle. Shephard finds out his colleagues are about to pull out, but is late for their plane; he’s reluctant to find another way out and kill Black Ops soldiers, who are supposed to have the same purposes at Black Mesa, on his way. He gets to the last and “the nastiest-looking” alien - Gene Worm; having killed that terrible monster Adrian meets G-Man. And the latter doesn’t answer any questions again, as though he enjoys being misunderstandable. Opposing Force’s plot brings new lore in the Half-Life series, and I think it’s worth it. I’m not sure whether Valve has acknowledged extensions as canon stuff for the franchise, but, I guess, no one will argue that it’s a great extension to HL’s lore.

WEAPONS

Despite being only an extension for a game, Half-Life: Opposing Force can offer you new kinds of guns; some of them even make gameplay more diverse and puzzles more baffling. Barnacle Grapple is a good example: this’ an alien creature from Xen which can get hooked with biological substances and pull you and itself towards that object(or object towards itself). It makes player more mobile during gunfights. But there are also new firearms from Earth, like Desert Eagle, M249 Squad Automatic Weapon, and M40A1 Sniper Rifle. Last two make Adrian very dangerous. SAW is so powerful that Shephard even can’t stay in his position while shooting, meanwhile the Rifle is precise and painful.
But some weapons were even replaced. The legendary Crowbar is in this list - it was replaced by Pipe Wrench and Combat Knife. On higher difficulty levels you’ll ought break every wooden box that doesn’t blow up, so the wrench is better for gameplay, in my opinion, since it deals more damage, and hence, breaks boxes faster. Briefly speaking, weapons were updated for this game well enough to create its pace.

MUSIC

In Half-Life I didn’t notice music often; maybe I just was deaf. But in this game(or extension) I got what I was supposed to get in developers’ minds. Sometimes dynamic music plays when you’re supposed to rush to kick your enemies’ butts fast. With new guns, energetic music makes you feel like you’re in an action film; but if you’re playing at the maximum difficulty level, you shouldn’t forget your enemies aren’t just-born naïve babies who can’t even hold a gun. The only thing that confuses me is the absence of intro while launching the game. This’ not about this facet of the game, but it’s not æsthetic either.

CONCLUSION

Whatever you called it - an extension for Half-Life or a separate game - it’s great. I like this game, and I suggest playing Half-Life: Opposing Force because of its story and gameplay. It’s good as a separate game, but it also is a good addition to the original game’s story. Technical state is great, except for a few cases when I was stuck inside environment, so I see no reason not to get to know this classic masterpiece. I know that in our world everyone who has wanted to play it has already played it, but I’ll tell you anyway, that I recommend that you play this game; but better do it after having completed the original Half-Life.
And tell me what is your major malfunction…

Very good DLC to HL. Many new enemies and weapons you can use as a marine with clunky dumb ai soldier friends. The story line doesn't make any sense but there is a good focus on combat. This is basically HL but way less and easier puzzles. Combat and story not as good as HL1, enemies on hard just unfair and your basic weapons do no damage. Still worth playing though.

Opposing Force is a standalone expansion pack in which you can play as the enemy. In itself, this is a cool experience, because how often do games like this where you also get to see the other side? And also the paths of Freeman from the original game and Shepard diverge and it's very exciting to see the incident on Black Mesa from a completely different perspective. The add-on therefore not only offers new levels and weapons, but also provides added value for the lore and understanding of the plot. It offers a really good atmosphere and great world building, even if it is more hectic than in the main game.

The game wasn't developed by Valve this time, but by Gearbox (the guys who made Borderlands) and yet they've managed to recreate the Half-Life experience from the main game, especially in the gameplay:
It sometimes feels harder than the main game due to the new enemy types that appear in the endgame and on Hard difficulty, I really didn't have an easy time with them. It's also much more action-heavy than Half-Life with more enemies, situations where you get ambushed or can't find safe cover. But you have a whole arsenal of 8 (?) new weapons. Including some new military weapons, like the sniper rifle, but also cool designed alien weapons. My favorite is still the Barnacle weapon, which I use less as a weapon, but makes you feel like Spider Man when you swing around. I like all these new ideas that have been incorporated here. Unfortunately, the game often feels like a lot of experimentation has been done, but perhaps never polished due to a lack of development time.

In terms of playtime, the game is shorter than the main game, which should be obvious for an add-on, but it's definitely worth the experience. You can also forgive the small imperfections in this game, as you get more half-life action with this. and you definitly gona need it.

流程不是很长，手电换成夜视仪，撬棍换成扳手

Pretty fun dlc to the game feels like a whole new game itself, Brand new weapons and enemy types and a fresh setting in the black mesa facility 11/10 Personally I liked this more than half life 1

What an incredible game, the bugs no so much. Right off the hop, fired the pistol underwater and now it no longer works! Unbelievable.

Solution: Easy mode: Keep an old Windows 98 machine laying around with a CRT.
Hard mode: Emulate Win98 with PCem in W10.

This game has the most insane weapon variety out of any game and I don't feel like that's talked about enough. I can't believe people who say Opposing Force (and in extension, Blue Shift) are not only not canon, but also aren't good in general... they shouldn't be allowed to vote. They should be put into stasis for all eternity just like Shepard.

Very nice game and the third best half life game I guess

I was hyped to try Opposing Force and see Half-Life from the soldier's side. Playing as Marine Adrian Shephard in Black Mesa sounded cool. Right away I noticed this game moves faster than Half-Life 1. The action comes at you quicker and harder, with more enemies and bigger firefights.

The shooting feels great and way more intense than the original. New guns like the Desert Eagle and sniper rifle make combat snappier. The barnacle grapple gun is stupid fun too. Puzzles take a backseat to action this time around.

Race X enemies are kinda annoying though. Most just eat bullets, especially those beefy Shock Troopers. They slow down the pace when you're stuck pumping rounds into them. Still, they're different from Half-Life 1's aliens, which keeps things fresh.

What's wild is how different this feels from Half-Life 1. It's not just more levels - it's its own thing with a different vibe. Shephard's cool in his own way, not better or worse than Gordon. The ending comes out of nowhere though, and some areas aren't clear where to go next.

Bottom line? Opposing Force kicks ass if you want faster, heavier combat than Half-Life 1. It's not as smart or polished as the original, but way more action packed. Totally worth playing if you like shooting stuff in the Half-Life universe. Just expect some frustrating bullet sponge moments.

Хорошее дополнение к Half-Life, начало довольно интересное, но ближе ко второй трети появляется слишком много мутантов и черных оперативников, и игра вместо головоломок уже предлагает бесконечные сражения, что, как мне кажется, слишком однообразно

The "Race X" feel kinda out of this world but it still was fun. It's a shame they pretty much forgot about Adrian Sheparf in the next games, I still hope for something like at least a mentioning.

More fun than normal halflife for being an addon but some parts are really annoying so its best if you dont wanna be annoyed to play on easy mode

best half life game just finished I'm addicted finished before half life 1 lol👍 also the best weapons i LOVE the barnacle and the boss fight at the end. Snarks are also SO cute.

Defo reccomend :)

Fun little side story telling a different perspective during the Black Mesa Incident, feels weird to play as an army dude but at least you get to be the GOOD army dude right? This one is also green instead of orange so that's good too. I need the remake to this game it would be awesome.

A short spinoff to Half-Life that Valve didn't even make themselves.
Still a great game
would recommend

its pretty much more half life, so its pretty good. The weapons they added are super unique, I like the friendly NPCS better than the OG, and the enemies are more harder. Although, the game is short and feels rushed once you get to the end. The first half of 'The Package" feels rushed and on the final chapter you just stumble upon the final boss with little to no build up. and the only warning that the boss is even in there is a barney that says "yeah theres probably some random monster in there kill it good luck lol". Other than the rushed end of game it's good

I would like to thank Valve for making these games for us. Games like Portal (1-2), Team Fortress (OG-2), and the game (which the third might never come out) Half-life (1-2-Alyx-etc).

97 / 10. Extremely fun, more fun than the last game. Only 9.7 because of the multiple game crashes at the ending boss fight

Half-Life: Opposing Force is the best expansion for Half-Life. This game doesn't just give a new story but new features, weapons and mechanics as well! It keeps an interesting story and experiments with the gold source engine really well!

Sadly alongside Blue Shift this game still contains the gold source problems seen before the 25th update of Half-Life which can be annoying if came across and the boss seemed more easier than I expected, though I have no problem with that.

Overall this game does great at expanding on Half-Life and I highly recommend if you want more Half-Life or a really fun shooter!

Link to game review (if I do one) here: TBA

-DrSeaDevil

Really good game honestly, I prefer it over the original Half-Life, but Half-Life is still the better game overall.

Pretty good, but some enemies are just plain out unfair. (Specifically the Race-X fellows). And sometimes the weapons like the shotgun just doesn't.. work? Eitherway, 8/10 expansion pack, though the bosses are underwhelming.

Pretty Good dlc for half life 1

new guns new enemies they added new gameplay elements to spice up going through black mesa 2nd or 3rd

shock trooper can be annoying even on easy but other then that skip blue shift just play this one and if you want a fresh og half life 1 sometimes better i just wish there was more zen in this dlc thou

7.5/10

Opposing Force is one of the best expansion pack ever made and it gives me a full metal jacket vibes

I wish Steam had the option to make a neutral review, because it's not that I hate the game it just feels very iffy. I see a lot of people glazing Opposing Force and I just can't get myself to even remotely like the game. It has weird bugs, strange level design, and annoying enemies. I can barely find any redeeming qualities about it other than you get to ally yourself with HECU soldiers and fight more Black Ops soldiers. The weapons are... whatever. They're reskinned Half Life 1 guns, which I usually wouldn't care about if it weren't for the fact that I see people also glazing Opposing Force's guns. 6/10

gearbox making the last few chapters: lets just throw in as many shock troopers and voltigores as possible

Fine, but game throws at you too many enemies at once, who can soak up your ammo like a sponge, while your resource is very limited.
And final boss really bugged

Felt really well playing in black mesa with different POV. It has a different charm in itself I just don.t know how to describe this in words(maybe because my english is bad)you definitely need to play this once if you are a fan of Half Life

This is like an entire separate game. I can't believe they squeezed so much content into a side project. Blue shift definitely feels like subpar DLC. but this is almost a sequel. Complete with new enemies and bosses. I wish the guy in this game was more significant to the Half-Life timeline, but a self-contained story is okay. seeing Gordon Freeman form another perspective is really cool. At times, it does feel like this is obnoxiously difficult, but nothing saves couldn't force me through. also, some really bad audio moments. There's also the typical Half-Life awkwardness. I still recommend this one, just get ready for something intense, you will be pushed pretty far.

Really fun to play as the ironically "opposing force" of half life. The ending boss fight was decent for the most part, but the combat in the other chapters were fantastic. The vortigoures (idk how you spell that) are a great mini boss fight when you encounter them. Overall, this is a great game, I highly suggest you play it.

TLDR: don't play this game. just don't. (even if you got it for free)

Don't play this game if you've played any other half life game. (and if you haven't, also don't play this game.) this is a garbage game undeserving of the half life name and franchise.
initially i thought this just wasn't valve quality but no it's just genuinely bad. in the first parts of the game it's just unintuitive puzzles and buggy mechanics that don't work half the time, basically softlocking you when you think you've tried literally everything(you have, but you gotta do it like 3 or 4 times for it to actually work), and in the latter parts of the game almost none of the enemy encounters or boss fights are fun. none of the new enemies are fun to fight and the boss fights are generally terrible design and the ones that don't feel like ripping out your hair are just budget remakes of half life 1 bossfights, such as the tentacle monster from blast pit.
the game also deviates from the standard half life arsenal, taking away/nerfing a lot of the good weapons from the perfectly balanced(mostly, negligible in comparison) kits gordon carries around so that you end up with a ton of incredibly situational weapons, several weapons that are almost always out of ammo and you end up using the same two guns for the whole game(shotgun for close range and the machine gun for anything else).
the game also lacks any music but i feel like i've complained enough about my experience playing this absolute mountain of shit of a game to convince at least one of you not to buy/play it and subject yourself to the same torture i had to go through.

literally the only reason to play this game is for the lore, and for that you can just watch some youtube videos. not like this game is very lore-packed anyway, besides things that are introduced in hl1, there are like 5 important moments in this game, and not nearly as much lore as you will find in any one of the games from half life 1 to half life 2: epsiode 2.
i went into this game with big expectations (given how insanely overhyped this game is in the half life fandom and how prominent it is in half life memes) and after 8 hours of misery i ended up practically forcing myself to finish it, even if it required going into godmode every once in a while. i still didn't finish it because it feels like eating exclusively cardboard for every meal and waiting for it to finally start tasting good.
a game that costs real money being this bad with less than a third of the game being actually fun is unreal, especially considering this was supposed to be a dlc on a valve game. the fact that this game was released in 1999 is not an excuse either considering that hl1, quake, TLoZ, and a whole bunch of other great games were released before then.

End of rant.

It's a bit more forgiving than base Half-Life, and personally well-rounded for the most part. The larger and slightly different arsenal, definitely set the tone.

I do have some issues. For instance, Black-Ops felt more abused than they were in the original, (probably because they couldn't just use HECUs, rotfl!!!) The boss is underwhelming to say the least. It didn't feel like a challenge at all, plus the enemy spawning after each hit the poss takes, felt like an excuse for a distraction, rather than something being integrated with the boss fight. (From what I've read online, Pichford can't make an interesting boss, so take that as you will, lol!) And although they weren't any issue for me, ropes were made sloppily, and definitely could've been more refined, or entirely replaced considering this was made in GoldSrc. I can't really complain about them much, as they do add in to the US Marine aspect.

If you want more GoldSrc Half-Life, it's worth your time.



Unrelated to gameplay, (slight spoilers): Honestly, the canonicity of this expansion being up in the air somewhat bothers me. The dialogue from the NPCs, reinforced the feeling of the Black Mesa Incident. And the idea of Shephard himself: Being a lost HECU Solider, still being able to overcome all odds, and practically being a more brute Gordon Freeman, is just interesting to me.

Hopefully the G-Man employs him one day. :P

Has a lot of bugs, Adrian always gets stuck to the floor after travelling on an elevator, after which you have no other choice but to load a previous save. But all in all, it's a good game.

Opposing Force is undoubtedly an underrated gem , The way that Gearbox expanded the plot and offered players a new perspective on the Black Mesa incident was excellent , not only that but they also introduced new weapons and enemies which added a lot to the gameplay.

This is the best Half-Life expansion, with a variety of new weapons and enemies, it stands out better then Half-Life Blue Shift which had bad level design and now new content. But Opposing Force is freaking good. I recommend this before Blue Shift, but play Half-Life 1 first.

It good found it more enjoyable than half life 1 probably beacuse i was playing on easy mode

The gameplay is similar to Half-Life, with a few extra gameplay mechanics. If you like Half-Life, you will most likely appreciate this as well.

got a fatal error after i beat the final boss, so i couldnt see the end screen

> be me
> grunt in HECU, get deployed to Black Mesa
> told it's cleanup duty, ez clap
> aliens start phasing in from freaky hell dimension
> scientists throwing wrenches at me
> get eaten by sentient barnacle on the ceiling
> somehow still alive
> find a wrench, become the janitor of fate
> see things no paycheck can justify
> no one gets paid, no one gets out
> 10/10 would get PTSD again
> play Opposing Force
> it's like Half-Life, but with more *oof* and less Freeman
> recommend it, poor soldiers didn’t get paid enough for this
> classic expansion, aged like irradiated wine

🦀 Shephard still MIA 🦀