Opposing Force: Welcome to Black Mesa

6th October 2012

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The Replay Experience Experiment: Half-Life: Opposing Force incoming

After the crash of his V-22 Osprey, Adrian Shephard regains consciousness completely in an infirmary, not too far off from the crash site. He leaves the infirmary, learning that the other Marines who had survived the crash had been killed by the aliens. He makes his way towards the extraction point, where he is told via radio that the military forces are pulling out of the facility.

Trivia
The Poll


Challenges
  • Kill the zombie soldier.
  • Find the dead soldier at the bottom of the ravine.
  • Find the pushable barrel in this chapter.
  • Find the skeleton in this chapter.
Saves

HARD [27KB]

Screenshots

Click on the thumbnails below to open a 1024 pixel wide image.
WARNING: The screenshots contain spoilers.

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Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3 Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
Single Player First Person Shooter Maps and Mods for Half-Life 1, 2 and Episodes 1, 2 and 3
The Replay Experience Experiment

This post is part of the The Replay Experience Experiment 2012 event. This is a chance to replay all the Half-Life games and discuss them based on our experiences since we first played them.

Hat Tip

The trivia text taken from the CombineOverWiki, a fan-supported, editable wiki covering the Half-Life series of games.

Walkthrough
A Complete Half-Life: Opposing Force Walkthrough

On the left is a complete text walkthrough for Half-Life: Opposing Force.

It has been written by Stanley E. Dunigan and updated with all the tricks and tips from PlanetPhillip.Com readers.

It is in PDF format, meaning you can open it directly in modern browsers or download it and print it.

(Left-click to open and right-click to save)

Do Not Own This Game?

You can purchase Half-Life: Opposing Force directly through Steam and could be playing in within moments, depending on your internet connection.

Categories (?)
Games Opposing Force

16 Comments

  1. PlanetPhillip
    Summary

    There’s plenty of variety in the chapter and it really is a “welcome”! In fact, there could almost be too much going on and too many new effects. I almost felt that Gearbox had tried to cram too much into the first real chapter.

    Gameplay

    Mostly exploring and puzzles. A couple of vortigaunts to kill and the ubiquitous headcrabs, but not too much combat.

    Points of Interest

    Nothing stood out for me. What about you?

    G-man Sightings

    I think this sighting is hard to miss. It’s where the radioactive liquid is rising and you need to get into the door.

    Bugs or Errors

    I got stuck on the lift platform, just after seeing the G-man, a number of times. Jumping up and down as the lift goes dow seems to solve the issue.

    The Poll

    I don’t think I used the knife once.

    Challenges

    -Kill the zombie soldier.
    -Find the dead soldier at the bottom of the ravine.
    -Find the pushable barrel in this chapter.
    -Find the skeleton in this chapter.

    5 Words or Less Review

    I got vertigo

    PlayTime

    38 minutes

    Deaths

    3 or 4
    But only in the area where the platform gets destroyed. I couldn’t remember what to do and tried to jump to various places.

    Reply
  2. EmoLevelDesigner

    As for convincing us that we’re in Black Mesa – later we’ll visit Black Mesa transit system – some of the places where Freeman rode the train.

    Eventually we appear in the medical room, revived thanks to scientist’s life-saving efforts. Once we get out of the room, we see destruction. This feeling is aided by great music. It’s good that we can download Opposing Force soundtrack, because it fits here a lot better than Half-Life one. I tried to climb the girders to see if there’s some secret above the ceiling, but fell every time.

    As we find our vest, the scientist hints us that there is a next stage of zombie’s mutation. We will see it soon.

    Here we meet the new security guard who entertains us with his jokes. Another one shows that the door us under voltage and fatal.

    The design of this chapter is very atmospheric and beautiful. There are very well made corridors, pit where we take the knife and understand that it’s the same place where we saw soldiers attacked by alien slave. We find the heavy wrench, and it’s very fun to gib monsters with it.

    http://steamcommunity.com/id/emoleveldesigner/screenshot/558697910664054613/?

    The voice from radio says that the soldiers are retreating and we can join them if we get through the transit system.

    There are two nice half-life style puzzles, where the signs provide hints – first one says that we can break the reflector, second one is that we need to help the robot in order to advance.

    http://steamcommunity.com/id/emoleveldesigner/screenshot/558697910664052707/?

    Mystery continues here – one time the room we are in starts to tear apart and we see G-Man who saves us and then disappears.

    Eventually we get to the transit system, where radiation leaks are one of our enemies. Finally we start going through the places where Freeman was, which are convincing us that we’re really in Black Mesa, and chapter ends when we get into the train at the place where Freeman saw G-Man for the first time.

    Playtime: 31 minutes

    Reply
  3. wunnle

    Wrench is crowbar of Shephard.

    Reply
    1. PlanetPhillip

      That’s correct.

      Reply
  4. Kyrii

    I actually found the skeleton years ago, and found it’s placement rather amusing 😀

    You’ll have to look hard, though, because I ain’t tellin 😀

    Reply
  5. Olrick

    General
    Classical BM Like to my mind. You find yourself in a highly damaged place and must reach a point for help.
    The difference here is that you are a Marine send to “clean” Black-Mesa. However you can’t accomplish your mission because you are alive thanks to the scientists, but did you received any order on your mission ?
    In fact you will not encounter many enemies on your way, at least on this part of the game. On the other hand you will find an allies, or not ?

    Poll
    I didn’t have a preference, but I think I use more the wrench

    Challenges

    Kill the zombie soldier. No
    Find the dead soldier at the bottom of the ravine. OK
    Find the pushable barrel in this chapter. No
    Find the skeleton in this chapter. OK, why did he came to that place ?

    Gman sightings

    Yes two times:
    – Before the ravin with Barney
    – At the Radioactive Pool, when he provides help

    Death

    None

    Caught my eyes

    First domesticated headcrab ever

    Playtime

    19 minutes

    French Let’s Play

    Reply
  6. 2muchvideogames

    I died like 50 times at the laser room. It was rather hard to aim, because I ‘missed” the wrench. Heh heh heh. Trust me, Shephard doesn’t need the wrench when he’s got… something.

    This video will reveal how to kill the zombie soldier and where the barrel is, but the other two seems easier for everyone, so fair enough. So one big issue we can discuss here is, why 2 melee weapons? And are they balanced against each other? I think the answer is NO, thus why people prefer the wrench to the knife. The knife, unfortunately, is your average crowbar replacement. From unused animations it would appear the knife meant to have a stabbing feature, but that didn’t make it for some reason. Thus the wrench with its “charge-up” power swing would give players a strong alternative to the “average crowbar” melee weapon.

    Playtime: 12’46”

    Reply
  7. TWIN SUNS

    A pretty solid introductory chapter to Black Mesa. I love the scene with the Zombie Grunt and love the fact that you have to simply run away as you don’t have any weapons yet.

    You receive Opposing Force’s signature wrench in this chapter as an analogue to Half Life’s crowbar.

    This chapter also has excellent little cross overs from Half Life’s Black Mesa Inbound. Even though set much later, it’s interesting that both games take place in the same general area and even have similar chapter titles.

    Playtime: 21 minutes

    Reply
  8. Kaito Kid


    Yay, The project is back on 😀

    you guys may not have noticed during boot camp, but my gameplay is a lot slower than before. This is due to 2 reasons: 1: I don’t know op4 as well as Half-Life, I played half-life at least 75 times but opposing force no more than 5-6 times. 2: I can’t use my bhop script in op4, so my bhop sucks. I hope to improve it a little during the project tough.

    Welcome to Black Mesa, the first REAL opposing force chapter. We wake up in an emergency room. For some reason, we are the only survivor of the crash. We get out, see more injured soldiers, and “questionable ethics” start right now. We see a bunch of scientists conducting experiments with headcrabs and dead marines. The only reason why I didn’t kill them is that I knew their experiements would eventually lead to a living zombie and they would all die anyway. Right after that, we see a zombie waking up in some kind of gamma ray machine, and he breaks the window to come eat you. then we run and encounter our first Otis, just finishing a zombie. he accepts to open the door for us (if we already have our suit) and we can move forward. I actually hate the wrench, and I rather use the knife when possible. Then we get on the crash site, the plane (and fence) are now electrified and you can’t go through them as easily as I did during incoming. We have to go turn off the power. I used a trick there to turn it off without going inside, it’s pretty easy to do but you gotta do it fast otherwise it drains a decent amount of health. The wird thing is Otis will die by electrocution even if the power is off. natural selection I guess. Then we are told to pull out, and start our journey deep within black mesa. I always love crossovers, so I love this part of the game where we revisit black mesa inbounds. it hasn’t been done correctly tough, some maps are overlapping or are just not in the same position from each other than in the original. You need to study the maps seriously to see this tough.

    Challenges:
    -Kill the zombie soldier.
    No, he didn’t even have time to break the window
    -Find the dead soldier at the bottom of the ravine.
    didn’t try.
    -Find the pushable barrel in this chapter.
    argh, there is one? I could have prop boosted somewhere I guess
    -Find the skeleton in this chapter.
    Creepy, wait I didn’t get any of the challenges o.O

    5 Words or Less Review:
    Why electric fences there?

    Deaths:
    none, hope to keep it like that

    Playtime:
    6 minutes 25 seconds 833 milliseconds

    Reply
  9. rikersbeard

    Nice level with plenty of little comedy scenes being played out, along with a scary zombie you cannot kill and the lardy “Barney” who does not seem to want to help!
    Lots of exploring and some combat make this a nice level to begin with.

    Point of interest.
    This was the flooding room of radioactive sludge, which held my interest due to the sheer number of times I replayed it! I died so often it began to physically hurt my brain! Luckily I spotted the escape root the last time I sank below the ooze.

    I’m sure I spotted the G-Man a couple of times.

    I tried the knife but the discovery of the wrenches duel mode made that weapon redundant for the time being.

    Of the challenges. I did not!

    5 Words or Less Review.
    A Duel Mode Wrench!

    Playtime.
    47 mins.

    Deaths.
    Many! The flooded goo room took most of those!

    Reply
  10. MisterAddy

    So, we’re back in Black Mesa again, and off to a good start. The level design is very good quality, I love the part where we are saved from the toxic waste by G Man. He seems to have a much more active role in this game than any of the others, I wonder if this was down to Gearbox?

    I do find it a little disappointing that we take on almost the same role as Freeman, maybe it would have been fun if we started off on the side of the military against the science team! Anyway, Il like the variation in weapons, but I find the night-vision extremely annoying.

    One of my favourite elements is revisitng areas that we glimpsed in Half-Life, it makes Black Mesa seem more like a real place.

    Reply
  11. Unq

    A passable reintroduction to Black Mesa in this chapter. I didn’t find it outstanding but there are memorable parts, and of course near the end we start to see familiar places from Half-Life from a new vantage. Looks like they fixed that radioactive leak, at least. I also liked seeing some of the places we caught glimpses of during the Osprey crash aftermath.

    This chapter includes some nice, basic puzzles. One familiar (cut the power) and one that I believe is new (control a suspended cart with a joystick so you can make some tricky jumps). Nothing major but I do like the small freedom allowed in the second puzzle; you can even skip the cart if you’re in a hurry.

    Although I don’t like much of OpFor’s soundtrack, the gem in this chapter is played right when you find the crashed Osprey – titled Name:

    http://youtu.be/OW6m3Dso6fw

    Also, quick note that the Gman actually shows up twice in this chapter. Once as Phillip mentioned, and once before that:

    http://imgur.com/D7Jsw

    Mapper’s Corner: For me the standout part of this chapter is the room that disintegrates around you and fills with radioactive goo. While not terribly fun to play through (it’s really just waiting in the right spot), this sequence is technically superb and is right up there with the Osprey ride and even Half-Life’s resonance cascade.

    As usual, everything is put together with multi_managers to control the timing and a bunch of sounds and env_shakes are used to add atmosphere and weight to the sequence. I’ll list only the key effects here, many are very clever:

    – The pipe, catwalk, & support that crash through the floor are a combination of func_platrots and a func_door_rotating to make them rotate a little as the fall. An env_render is used to change from the f_d_r to the f_p at the right moment.

    – The ladder on the left is a combination of func_wall_toggle (to make the original ladder disappear), a func_pendulum (to make the ladder swing by a corner before it falls), and a func_platrot to again make the ladder fall and rotate at the same time. Env_renders are used again to switch from one entity to the next.

    – The floor that disintegrates is made up of a bunch of func_wall_toggles. For each section, an env_beam targets the floor (info_target), the func_wall_toggle is toggled which removes it, and an env_shooter is triggered to throw concrete chunks to make it look like the floor breaks apart into the air.

    – The radioactive leak that pours out of the pipe on the left is a func_rotating. Pretty clever use in my opinion.

    – Finally, the catwalk that serves as your escape route is a func_door_rotating.

    Individually, some clever entity usage. But together, a perfectly timed impressive sequence.

    Playtime: 21 minutes

    Reply
  12. 2muchvideogames

    The floor that disintegrates is made up of a bunch of func_wall_toggles. For each section, an env_beam targets the floor (info_target), the func_wall_toggle is toggled which removes it, and an env_shooter is triggered to throw concrete chunks to make it look like the floor breaks apart into the air.

    How come they used a func_wall_toggle/env_shooter combo instead of a single func breakable? Wouldn’t that be alot more convenient?

    Reply
    1. Unq

      You could do it that way. My guess is that with a func_breakable you can’t really control the number of concrete “gibs” or their velocity. So by using an env_shooter it looks much more like the concrete floor is blowing up into big chunks.

      Reply
  13. Dr. Amazing

    I was sick for the past few days so I didn’t feel like playing OP4, but I feel better now. Now let’s get into…

    WELCOME TO BLACK MESA

    Very entertaining chapter that went on a bit too long

    Points of Interest

    Gearbox sure did pay a lot of attention to detail when it came to the maps.
    Apparently, the ultrasound is of Randy Pitchford’s wife.
    The sequence with the room collapsing on you is just amazing.
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=101803344
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=101804411
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=101805556

    Bugs and Glitches

    The model pack I was using didn’t match up with the Stretcher sequence.
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=101803466

    Music

    http://youtu.be/wm9rFgXEHA0
    Nice little ambient piece.
    http://youtu.be/OW6m3Dso6fw
    Also a nice little ambient piece.
    http://youtu.be/vib6YUsyF3g
    Eww.
    http://youtu.be/x4oHBMoVuvk
    Has a cool “overarching” effect when you listen to it with headphones on.

    Poll

    Gotta admit, I used the knife much more than the wrench.

    Challenges

    Got the first 3 but not the last one

    Misc.

    You can have a little fun with the invincible scientist poking the crab.
    If you use one of the computers multiple times, it will BSOD.
    http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=101804885

    Playtime

    16 minutes

    5 Words or Less

    Longer than I remember

    Reply
  14. Ade

    Aww I only got 1 challenge, the easiest one

    Playtime: 21 minutes

    Reply

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