Well, I finished Opposing Forces yesterday and in the grand total, it took me 4.5 hours. I had finished HL1 2 days ago and that took me 13 hours. ((btw i remember reading once that some guy had killed the final boss, after softening him up, with the crowbar. I did it too so it is possible and its pretty cool to think "i started HL1 with a crowbar and finished HL1 with a crowbar..."))
I think the reason for the short time span, in hours, was that I had beaten both multiple times beforehand but this was the first time I had played them both on hard. I guess I'll have to chalk that up to the fact taht I am a better gamer now than I was the last time I played. And now on the real reason for this thread..... I think I enjoyed Opposing Forces more than HL1 (yes i know blasphemy!)!
Sounds
In Opposing forces you get a big wrench and a knife. The wrench had a very low bassy hit when you hit stuff. It gave off the impression of being very powerful (well... it was if you "charged" it up). As opposed to the crowbar which sounded so weak. The crowbar had no real "response" kind of sound. The kinfe in OpF also felt very fast. The sound was a quick "swoosh" which made it sound cool.
Another thing that sounded better in Opposing forces was the guns. Now I am not talking about the same guns that were in HL1, I am talking abotu the M249 (SAW) and the alien electric bug gun. It just felt so bad@$$ to rush into a room full of alien soldiers/black ops and just let loose with a fully loaded M249 "buh -buh -buh -buh -buh -buh". Each shot had this bassy sound effect and was accented by the high sound effect of the belt moving new rounds.
Atmosphere
In HL1 the marines didn't really feel like the bad guys. When they said stuff like "...that gordon guy is killing my buddies..." I felt bad to come out of the doorway blasting him to pieces with a 40mm grenade to the chest. Sure, they were following orders but after you killed their friends, they were sort of justified to want to kill you. In Opposing forces the Black Ops felt truly evil, like a bad guy should. They didn't care who the f--- you where, you were dead meat. Government's orders.
I also "felt" more for allies in OpF. When they said stuff like "have you seen any other soldiers in my platoon?" or "when we get out of this alive, im buying you alll a round of beer" they felt more like individuals. They didn't just open a door, they "watched your 6" Now in HL1 there was barney, but thats just 1 guy. In HL1, most of my friends killed the scientists. I didn't but I wouldn't have cared. Their characters seemed so shallow.....
There was also the feeling of teamwork when you buddied up with other marines in OpF. You really felt like a group. I found myself making sure that the other marines I was with were not charging ahead and getting their heads blown off, but instead placing them in strategic positions and then flushing the enemy out towards them.
Ropes
I thought the inclusion of ropes was awesome. I dunno why, it was just cooler than ladders.... (plus the physics weren't too bad for ropes in HL1)
Conclusion
If HL1 wasn't 3x longer than OpF, I would be forced to say that I enjoyed OpF more, but OpF was pretty short. I beat it in a day (like I said earlier).
comments? thoughts?
I think the reason for the short time span, in hours, was that I had beaten both multiple times beforehand but this was the first time I had played them both on hard. I guess I'll have to chalk that up to the fact taht I am a better gamer now than I was the last time I played. And now on the real reason for this thread..... I think I enjoyed Opposing Forces more than HL1 (yes i know blasphemy!)!
Sounds
In Opposing forces you get a big wrench and a knife. The wrench had a very low bassy hit when you hit stuff. It gave off the impression of being very powerful (well... it was if you "charged" it up). As opposed to the crowbar which sounded so weak. The crowbar had no real "response" kind of sound. The kinfe in OpF also felt very fast. The sound was a quick "swoosh" which made it sound cool.
Another thing that sounded better in Opposing forces was the guns. Now I am not talking about the same guns that were in HL1, I am talking abotu the M249 (SAW) and the alien electric bug gun. It just felt so bad@$$ to rush into a room full of alien soldiers/black ops and just let loose with a fully loaded M249 "buh -buh -buh -buh -buh -buh". Each shot had this bassy sound effect and was accented by the high sound effect of the belt moving new rounds.
Atmosphere
In HL1 the marines didn't really feel like the bad guys. When they said stuff like "...that gordon guy is killing my buddies..." I felt bad to come out of the doorway blasting him to pieces with a 40mm grenade to the chest. Sure, they were following orders but after you killed their friends, they were sort of justified to want to kill you. In Opposing forces the Black Ops felt truly evil, like a bad guy should. They didn't care who the f--- you where, you were dead meat. Government's orders.
I also "felt" more for allies in OpF. When they said stuff like "have you seen any other soldiers in my platoon?" or "when we get out of this alive, im buying you alll a round of beer" they felt more like individuals. They didn't just open a door, they "watched your 6" Now in HL1 there was barney, but thats just 1 guy. In HL1, most of my friends killed the scientists. I didn't but I wouldn't have cared. Their characters seemed so shallow.....
There was also the feeling of teamwork when you buddied up with other marines in OpF. You really felt like a group. I found myself making sure that the other marines I was with were not charging ahead and getting their heads blown off, but instead placing them in strategic positions and then flushing the enemy out towards them.
Ropes
I thought the inclusion of ropes was awesome. I dunno why, it was just cooler than ladders.... (plus the physics weren't too bad for ropes in HL1)
Conclusion
If HL1 wasn't 3x longer than OpF, I would be forced to say that I enjoyed OpF more, but OpF was pretty short. I beat it in a day (like I said earlier).
comments? thoughts?
