New weapons and enemies
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“New weapons slap, the squad mechanics are surprisingly useful and the level design keeps throwing curveballs without overstaying its welcome.”
Steam review · 7.5 h played ↗
Half-Life: Opposing Force
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Overwhelmingly PositiveOverwhelmingly Positive · 95%Gearbox Software1999FPS · Shooter · Action
The verdict
A well-loved Half-Life expansion that retells the Black Mesa incident from a soldier's view, with new weapons and enemies. Skip it if you dislike bullet-sponge enemies, elevator bugs and a brutal late game.
Great for
Half-Life fans who want more Black Mesa with a new perspective, fresh weapons and a short campaign
Main risk
Late-game difficulty spike with spongy enemies, scarce health and elevator softlock bugs
What players love
Fresh HECU soldier perspective on Black Mesa
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“Seeing the Black Mesa incident from a completely different perspective is very interesting.”
Steam review · 4.3 h played ↗
Better than Blue Shift, rivals the original
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 positive reviews
“Between the two expansions this is very obviously the superior one.”
Steam review · 3.2 h played ↗
Great level design and atmosphere
Mentioned in ~1 in 13 positive reviews
“Level design is pretty good and comparable to the base game.”
Steam review · 12.1 h played ↗
Fast-paced, challenging action
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“It pumps up the tempo. It's pretty short but packed to the brim with action.”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗
Short, doesn't overstay its welcome
Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews
“You can finish it around 4 hours so it doesn't overstay its welcome”
Steam review · 4.9 h played ↗
What players complain about
Worse than Half-Life 1, weak level design
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“The level design is awful, with the intended path of progression often feeling very poorly conveyed.”
Steam review · 6.7 h played ↗
Elevator softlocks and buggy state
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“this game has like 10 different bugged out elevators that make you stuck in the floor.”
Steam review · 5.8 h played ↗
Unfair difficulty spike and scarce health/ammo
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 negative reviews
“The entire second half of the game is just not FUN.”
Steam review · 9 h played ↗
Bullet-sponge enemies, esp. Race X
Mentioned in ~1 in 5 negative reviews
“enemeies in this game are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bullet sponges holy hell”
Steam review · 4.2 h played ↗
Bloated, useless weapons and janky gimmicks
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 negative reviews
“The arsenal is bloated and it makes switching to your desired weapon a pain”
Steam review · 11.2 h played ↗
Weak, anticlimactic bosses
Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews
“easily the worst boss in all of the HL series”
Steam review · 3 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable
Steam doesn’t list requirements for this game.
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