Below are user reviews of Half-Life: Opposing Force and on the right are links to professionally written reviews.
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    User Reviews (1 - 11 of 72)
    
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            It's not Half-Life...but it's good...
            
                4
                Rating: 4, 
                Useful: 44 / 47
                Date: November 29, 1999
                Author: Amazon User
            
            I purchased Half-Life shortly after it's release in 1998 and built a system just to play this one title...I was not disappointed. More recently, my anticipation had been building over the past several months as I watched  and waited for Opposing Force to be released. I bought it, loaded it,  played it and conquered it...all too quickly. Valve presented the gaming  world with some pretty big shoes to fill, and it seems as though Gearbox  has made the add-on to the 1998 Game of the Year less difficult to  complete. I thrive on the complex puzzles that level designers create  (i.e., System Shock II). And, while the alien AI has been enhanced, the  overall game play (when compared to it's parent product) doesn't live up to  my level of anticipation or the hype that normally surrounds a Sierra  product. Also, I know that it is only 40% the size of the original game,  but I paid as much for this as I did Half-Life. I have to admit, though,  that the multiplayer aspect and additional maps are right on the money.  Some of the best death-matching you can buy is right here (until Q III is  released). And, overall, the visuals were excellent throughout the Black  Mesa compound. I am disappointed, though, that I only caught 1 glimpse of  Gordon Freeman. Bottom line: buy it and enjoy: blowing things up, cracking  skulls and playing with exotic weapons...or your collection of Half-life  maps and mods will go unfinished...until 2001 (Half-Life 2! ).
        
            
Opposing Force
            
                4
                Rating: 4, 
                Useful: 32 / 37
                Date: November 26, 1999
                Author: Amazon User
            
            This expansion pack is awesome, it lets you play as the Army against the original character, Gordan Freeman. In the original game remember the soldiers regrouping and calling for backup? Now you can do that to! There  are many new characters to interact with, and now you can finally blow away  thoes stupid rent-a-cops and scientists away for fun! Not to mention the  Internet play is awesome, tons of new characters, weapons, and more!  The  only reason I gave this game a 4 star is because of its price. A little  spendy for a add-on, considering that I have seen Half-Life for only $9.99
        
            
Worthy of the Half-Life Name, But Not the Original
            
                4
                Rating: 4, 
                Useful: 17 / 17
                Date: December 09, 1999
                Author: Amazon User
            
            Ahh....Half-Life. The best game ever created. So when I purchased the "Game of the Year's" expansion pack, I was excited for more of the same excitement. What I found was that I was not let down. Of course,  there were a few flaws.
Oh, there are so many good things about this that  I will only name the most impressive. Since you play one of the Marines  sent in to "silence" the Black Mesa Staff, you get to see the  game from a whole new perspective. So of the new areas are absolutely  amazing, especially the Zoology and Aquatics Areas. Some of the new areas  aren't so new, but you'll have a smile on you face when you recognize them  from the original (of course, from a different perspective). The enemies  surely got beefed up, as well, A whole new alien race was introduced,  making your life as Cor. Adrian Shepherd even more of a living hell. And  with your rank comes the ability to order around a bunch of new  butt-kicking military types, in the form of a medic, engineer, and soldier.  I was stunned when the engineer I was with used his torch to cut open a  locked door, boot it down and blast away at the alien on the other side.  The new weapons are also excellent too, with out being overly flashy and  all with a drawback of some sort to balance them out. Finally, There are a  ton of new multiplayer maps for both Half Life and Team Fortress Classic,  with the majority of them in top form.
There are a few cons with this  mission pack, though. Opposing Force is close to 40% of the size of the  original. The episodes are slightly shorter, with longer (and often  annoying) loading times. Though it sure is fun ordering your fellow Marines  around in combat, their AI is less than perfect. Sometimes they charge into  the thick of combat and end up getting cut down, no matter how many times  you tell them to stay where they are. The Marines also tend to mindlessly  go places they shouldn't, or to the same extent, don't follow you. The plot  gets a little sketchy, too. Even though your character technically agreed  to aid the folks of Black Mesa, you are never really sure as to what side  you are on. And you will spend quite a lot of time trying to figure out  what you're trying to accomplish. Thought the plot is advanced via fellow  soldiers and radios that you can use, you are never really told WHY you are  doing something (why do back into Black Mesa if I just left it?). Finally,  one of the biggest flaws is the fact that there is a lot more  "filler" than you would expect. A lot of the areas just don't  seem right, and some of the puzzles get repetitive.
All in all, though,  Half-Life: Opposing Force is excellent. I have never witnessed an expansion  pack so well done, and despite it's flaws, you'll be glad you bought it.
        
            
H/\lf-Life's Opposing Force Review
            
                5
                Rating: 5, 
                Useful: 23 / 27
                Date: February 18, 2000
                Author: Amazon User
            
            Ok, so you jsut got done beating the final boss of Half-Life, and your thirsty for more?Well, how about returning to Black Mesa as one of the Military Bad Guys sent to kill Freeman? This game was incredible, it had  the graphics of HL, new monsters, a great plot, and much more!You're now  Adrian Shephard, colonel of the army that has been sent to black mesa. you  get to control a squad of highly advanced recruits.they are the medic,  engineer and soldier. In OpFor you get stranded in the facility and have to  get out.Im not going to say anything more, but go buy this game!Its great!
        
            
This is a dream come true!
            
                5
                Rating: 5, 
                Useful: 16 / 18
                Date: November 27, 1999
                Author: Amazon User
            
            Finally I get to kill all those pesky guards and sciencetists that ticked me off in the original! And best of all new guns to kill them with! Very very cool guns. And you have this little nifty alien device that you can  use as a rope/grappling hook tool. This FINALLY tells you who the  mysterious G-Man is and answers some of the other questions the original  left you hanging to answer. And I love working with the soldier AI against  the new smart-ass "Alien Corps" AI in furious battles. Very fun  and frightening. But to some the game up in 2 simple words: BUY NOW!
        
            
BAHH!  They ALL DO IT!
            
                3
                Rating: 3, 
                Useful: 12 / 14
                Date: December 17, 1999
                Author: Amazon User
            
            Please welcome Half-Life: Opposing Force to the crowded arena of expansion packs.  In this follow-up to the sweetest shooter ever made, one plays the enemy Marines and has to join forces with all the annoying soldiers that you strived to kill in the first game.  That's the short version, at least.  The game is good, though not even half as long as the original.  It is also  mad easy compared to the first game, and vets will finish this game in a  day.  Multiplayer is, like the first game, fantastic, and is great fun to  play on a LAN. So why did i give it 3 stars?  Because, by itself the game  is great.  But compared to Half-Life: Game of the Year, it pales horribly.   One of the big problems with expansion packs is that the developers give  the job to another team.  Thankfully, Op Force is not  a disaster, and is great fun for the day it takes to beat it.  But, like  other expansions, it can't match the pure excellence of the original game.   I can't understand why the creators pass their games off like this.  Diablo  Hellfire was the perfect example of total junk.  The first was superb.  The  expansion was a rehash.  This is the case with Op Force.  It's the same  game.  New stuff, but the same game.  This is either good or bad, depending  on your opinion, but to me, this game is a novel little target practice  session.
        
            
Great, but a little short
            
                4
                Rating: 4, 
                Useful: 9 / 10
                Date: December 06, 1999
                Author: Amazon User
            
            For the price, I expected this to be longer. It was very well done, however. Good new weapons, monsters, plot, etc.
        
            
Great game, but where's the rest of it?
            
                4
                Rating: 4, 
                Useful: 7 / 7
                Date: July 27, 2000
                Author: Amazon User
            
            Well, I was very excited about this game before it was released. An add-on  to one of the best games ever created, only now played from a  juxtapositional viewpoint. So how did the game stack up to it's hype? Very  nicely. This game is essentially more Half-Life goodness (and who can  complain about that?) with new weapons, a couple AI buddies, and some new  gameplay elements. (Rope climbing, etc) In my mind, there were only two let  downs in this solid gaming title. First, the final boss was a real neurotic  experience.  I felt like I was solving a puzzle, not duking it out with a  badass alien.  Second, and more significantly, I finished this game in 7  hours of off and on gaming. In this day and age of 40+ hour games, that's  just way too short. By the way, the training portion of this game is  excellent. Inspired by "Full Metal Jacket," it's both functional  for newbies and yet still fun for verteran Half-Lifers. Think of this game  as a little something to hold you over until Half-Life 2 hits.
        
            
EXCELLENT, but...
            
                4
                Rating: 4, 
                Useful: 5 / 5
                Date: February 03, 2000
                Author: Amazon User
            
            Opposing Force was a worthy add-on to Half-Life, but it is way to short.  Between homework and having to go to work, I still found time to beat this game in a single weekend.  Don't get me wrong, the new millitary  perspective is awesome - commanding small groups of soldiers is cool and a  nice variation on the Half-Life theme - it's just that it is way to short.   I can't even beat the Big Baby at the end of the original Hal-Life, but I  beat the monster at the end of Opposing Force in maybe 10 minutes (after I  got a system down).  
Overall, a nice game worthy of the Half-Life name.   Oh, and you guys out there who are familiar with the Black Suit Guy, you're  really gonna hate him at the end of the game...
        
            
This is Half-Life I like!
            
                5
                Rating: 5, 
                Useful: 6 / 7
                Date: April 01, 2000
                Author: Amazon User
            
            I enjoyed "Opposing Force" even more than the original Half-Life! I thought it was better being an army grunt, and also having a much wider selection of guns and explosives. The best level would have to  have been "The Package", where you get to command a group of your  fellow soldiers through a literal army of black Ops people.
As always,  could have been just as good without all of the gore. Also, this game had  plenty of coursing in it. I'm not sure why they didn't include this in  their rating, since it's obviously there. Just a warning to let you know  that the rating of 17 and up is properly given. Another thing I was  disappointed with was the plot. You never find out what happens to yourself  or Freemen, you never find out who the G-man is who tracks you in both  Half-Life and Op Force, and you never find out why the Government sent you  and your buddies in, and then decided to kill you with MORE army grunts.  Maybe I'm missing something here. I hope all my questions will be answered  in Half-Life 2.
All in all, it's a game, right along there with  Half-Life, that is sure to became a classic very soon. So what are you  waiting for? Buy it!
        
        
       
    
    
    
    
    
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