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      <h5><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">//<a href="../../../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">loonygames</font></a>://<a href="../index.html"><font color="#7C420E">issue 
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              <p align="left"><font size="-1"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#0022A8"><b><font color="#00025E">Random 
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              <h5 align="right"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#00025E"><img src="../../images/icons/shelf_final.jpg" width="191" height="240" align="left"><loonystart>Vol. 
                2, Issue 3<br>
                November 24, 1999<br>
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                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="3">The 
                  Top Shelf:</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="center"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000FF"><i><font color="#904C10" size="6"> 
                  Half-Life: Opposing Force</font></i></font></b></p>
                <p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">by 
                  <a href="mailto:hb@loonygames.com">Noel &quot;HB&quot; Wade</a></font></p>
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              <p align="left"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><img src="../../images/letters_new/t.jpg" width="19" height="38" align="left">ake 
                one highly successful game. Extract its core technology, backdrop, 
                and feel. Add in a decent amount of new talent. Liberally sprinkle 
                in some of their new views and insights. Shape into a fairly decent 
                story. Mix thoroughly together and let simmer for a year. With 
                this recipe, is it any surprise that the result is a real taste 
                treat? Actually, while its no surprise that it&#146;s good &#150; 
                it is a mild one at just how nice <b>Half-Life: Opposing Force 
                </b>turned out!</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As you 
                probably already know, you play the role of Corporal Shepard &#150; 
                a fairly new face among the ranks of the armed services. You were 
                one of the guys sent in during<b> Half-Life</b> to find and stop 
                Freeman &#150; and make sure that no one got out alive. Of course, 
                you&#146;re not REALLY a bad guy in all of this &#150; and, thankfully, 
                you don&#146;t seem given over to the task of playing a marauding 
                soldier who goes around killing scientists at random (as the military 
                seemed to do in <b>Half-Life</b>). As with all things, disaster 
                will strike, and you find yourself in more of a desperate situation 
                &#150; where your goal is to get out alive; and escape the horrors 
                of Black Mesa (sound familiar?).</font></p>
              <table border="0" align="right" bgcolor="#D7B582" width="98" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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                  <td height="43"> 
                    <div align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/cgi/image.pl?image=/content/2.3/shelf/images/of1.jpg&amp;w=400&amp;h=300&amp;back=/content/2.3/shelf/index.php&amp;name=The%20Top%20Shelf"><img src="images/of1_sml.jpg" width="100" height="75" border="0" alt="click to enlarge!"></a></font></div>
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                  <td height="18"> 
                    <p align="center"> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000253"><ignoreme>You're 
                      on the opposite side this time around (30k)</ignoreme></font></i></p>
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              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Before 
                I begin talking about the game, let me point out a small detail 
                that many people might overlook. The &#147;Hazard Course&#148; 
                in the main menu has been replaced with &#147;Boot Camp&#148;. 
                I highly recommend playing that, because while some things will 
                be just like the hazard course, there are many new game-play elements 
                (and hearing the drill instructors throughout the course is hilarious. 
                &#147;Full Metal Jacket&#148; fans will smile at the references 
                and tributes paid to that movie in this area). After you&#146;re 
                done being a &#147;maggot&#148; (trainee) in what has got to be 
                the shortest boot camp a soldier has ever gone through (though 
                for the purposes of the game, its perfect), you&#146;ll be ready 
                to hop into the single player game.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Oh, you 
                want to know about the what? The multiplayer aspect? Well, if 
                that&#146;s all you&#146;re interested in &#150; then skip to 
                the bottom of the article. Are you sure you&#146;re playing the 
                right game if you&#146;re asking me that? Let me tell you something 
                right now &#150; to skip the single-player part of this game is 
                as much a travesty (and an affront to all of the hard work that 
                the Gearbox team put in) as it is to skip the single-player portion 
                of<b> Half-Life</b> itself! This isn&#146;t just a fancy, commercial 
                mod &#150; this game truly is an extension, and a new chapter/story 
                in the<b> Half-Life </b>universe.</font></p>
              <p align="left"></p>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Okay, 
                the single-player game then... The story starts out with a nice 
                intro. sequence that fully immerses you in that &#147;<b>Half-Life</b> 
                mood&#148;. I&#146;m not going to describe even one bit of it 
                in detail; because I don&#146;t want to spoil ANYthing &#150; 
                but I will say that right from the start, you will see (if you 
                look in the right directions at the right time) that the Gearbox 
                folks put in as many touches and locations from <b>Half-Life</b> 
                as necessary to make you believe that you really are &#147;back&#148; 
                at the Black Mesa labs. Of course, in these type of games nothing 
                ever gets good until disaster strikes &#150; and that&#146;s precisely 
                what happens. You&#146;ll be treated to a few more scenes, and 
                then you&#146;ll black out. The whole sequence is much shorter 
                than <b>Half-Life</b>&#146;s &#150; which, while revolutionary 
                for its time, does tend to get old after playing the game through 
                several times. AND, being an expansion pack, its nice to see that 
                they didn&#146;t waste any time &#150; just set up the story, 
                mood, and backgrounds; and then dump us players into the action.</font></p>
              <table border="0" align="right" bgcolor="#D7B582" width="98" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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                    <div align="center"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="http:/home/loonygames/loony.timedoctor.org/content/cgi/image.pl?image=/content/2.3/shelf/images/of2.jpg&amp;w=400&amp;h=300&amp;back=/content/2.3/shelf/index.php&amp;name=The%20Top%20Shelf"><img src="images/of2_sml.jpg" width="100" height="75" border="0" alt="click to enlarge!"></a></font></div>
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                  <td height="18"> 
                    <p align="center"> <i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="1" color="#000253"><ignoreme>Say 
                      howdy to Otis - who's a little hungry. (35k)</ignoreme></font></i></p>
                  </td>
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              </table>
              <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">You&#146;ll 
                come to in a makeshift medical area; with refugee scientists trying 
                to administer first-aid (the sequence that happens as you fade 
                into consciousness is hilarious, and well done) &#150; as well 
                as check out the &#147;crab-creatures&#148;. Scientists and their 
                undying curiosity... sheesh! Anyways, just as Gordon had to get 
                his HEV suit, you&#146;ll need to grab a similar device for Shepard 
                &#150; before you can claw your way out of the Mesa. The device 
                is a little less believable than <b>Half-Life</b>&#146;s HEV suit; 
                but it works, and doesn&#146;t distract you from the game-play 
                by wondering about armor/shields. Almost immediately, you&#146;ll 
                be introduced to one of the &#147;Otis&#148; characters. He&#146;s 
                the new security guard type of character that you&#146;ll run 
                into. Even more humorous than the original Barneys, &#147;Otis&#148;es 
                will also come in handy &#150; as their Desert Eagle .357 pistol 
                is accurate and deadly (and ammo for your own Eagle pistol is 
                a little on the rare side, especially in the beginning of the 
                game). Just don&#146;t stand in front of him while he&#146;s shooting, 
                okay? He&#146;s a little trigger-happy when monsters are around.</font></p>
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<p><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2">Credits: Illustration 
  &copy; 1999 Dan Zalkus. This review is &copy; 1999 Noel Wade. All other content 
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