Half-life: Opposing Forces

                  Reviewed by Nick Edmunds

For anyone not aware of Half-life, it's a first person shooter
extraordinaire and the 1999 Game of the Year to boot. Quite
popular it was, and what do you know:  here's the sequel.  The
good news is Opp. Forces is more of the same, but with a few
important differences.  This time you play not the scientist
Gordon Freeman, but Corporal Shepherd, and you're not caught up in
an experiment gone wrong rather you are a man with a mission -
you're in there to get the man Freeman.  So basically you're
playing the guys you were avoiding in the first game, but still
involved in an F.B.I. conspiracy and killing aliens aplenty
-excellent.

The intro scene finds us in the back of a helicopter with our
mates, discussing the job ahead.  It may be straight out of
'Predator', but it's a beautifully crafted piece of 3D imagery,
which perfectly delivers us into the chaos of conflict.  A couple
of black outs later you find yourself stranded from your unit in
the Black Mesa research facility, suffering a bizarre case of d'j.
vu as the carnage begins.

It seems little has changed at Black Mesa.  The look and feel
remain very much Half-life, and before you know it you're having
the old 'Nam flashbacks and toasting anything in sight with your
expansive arsenal (Where does he put it all?  He must have hollow
legs). In fact, at times it's easy to forget you're not Gordon and
start popping Squaddies all over the shop - Oops.

With regard to the new and improved features you would expect from
an add-on you have some buddy type characters to interact with
(nicked straight from 'Team Fortress') and some new aliens whose
slightly improved AI means they are slightly less stupid than
their predecessors.  With you not being Gordon your kit is
slightly different from the original game, e.g. night-vision
goggles instead of a flashlight and there are a few new weapons,
both conventional and alien (the Desert Eagle - with laser sight -
is my favourite), but I don't want to spoil all the surprises.  It
would also appear that Shepherd's military training has paid off,
as he possesses skills that Gordon didn't, such as the ability to
climb ropes and use field items like radios.

A nice feature is the included training ground.  Yes, we've seen
the like before with the girl Croft and more recently with Xena,
but this 'Full Metal Jacket'/'Officer and a Gentleman' spoof
really is a laugh and quite educational too.  I now wish I'd
looked at it before playing the game (but I was young then and
thought I knew it all).

Not surprisingly, as Opposing Forces is an add-on, the full
version of Half-life is required. As such there's no pretence of
Opp. Forces being a game in its own right, I mean it's just a big
mod, right?  Which brings me to my only gripe.  While I thoroughly
enjoyed every minute, it did feel as if it was over very quickly.
And as it really is just more of the same I would only recommend
Opp.  Forces to those who loved Half-life; otherwise you may want
to consider 'Unreal Tournament' or 'Quake 3 Arena' which were
released around the same time.

As an aside anyone with the slightest interest in Half-life may
want to check out mrmeaner's 'Wirelife' webby at
http://www.btinternet.com/~mrmeaner/ for Half-life associated
hints, tips and links to freely available add-ons and patches.














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