As an avid Half-Life fan, my opinion may be a little biased, but I thought it was a pretty fun expansion. The gameplay is the same as HL1 which is fine, since it's fun to play, but it falls short really hard when it comes to how it tells the story. Valve has never been an "exposition" team when it comes to developing a story, only really having it in small doses to serve where the gameplay is going and for some iconic monologues. Unfortunately, Gearbox fumbled in that category and has Jon St. John dump info on you multiple times, and it's really jarring. Are they necessary to understanding the story of the expansion? Somewhat, but they could have been trimmed down and more spaced out. The level design was passable; nothing as good as Blast Pit or Questionable Ethics, but it never particularly bored me. A serviceable and fun expansion pack that misunderstands Valve's development process but still remains enjoyable.

Blue Shit - https://www.quora.com/Why-is-my-poop-blue-green

Blue Shit is an expansion I wanted to be good. If it is good, I hardly remember any of it.
That last set piece was really nice.
It is worth playing if you've just finished Half Life and have like 4 more hours to spare.

I remember being quite disappointed by this back in the day. Now, though, I really appreciate a lot of little things about it, like how it foregrounds the slaughter of the scientists or getting to experience the totally thankless position of the working class protagonist. It's nice to get back to fighting the soldiers again too, instead of trying to humanize them, although OPPOSING FORCE did a decent enough job of that. I'm much more comfortable playing as some poor shmoe who gets no respect.

Given that this was originally meant as an extra for the Dreamcast port, you can't expect a huge new campaign from it. But even without knowing that, there's not really much to criticize. It doesn't matter that it's short, or that there aren't any new weapons or enemies -- it's a nice extra slice of HALF-LIFE action, and that's enough.

If I view this as more Half-Life, I am utterly underwhelmed.

If I view this as "how did that funny guy in HL2 make it out of Black Mesa anyway?", I'm at least satisfied.

If I view this as a trackball gaming training exercise, I am...well, slightly more skillful with the thing.

This is the first Half-Life spin-off I've played and it was a pleasant experience. It's much shorter and some of the game mechanics are stripped from the original game. But, it's still as immersive as the original. Xen is less annoying than the original game, that's for sure. It has a nice mix of action, puzzle-solving, and platforming. There aren't as many Easter eggs, so going off the beaten path isn't as rewarding. However, if you are like me and just want more games to fill that craving you got upon completing Half-Life, this game is definitely worth checking out.

Best Parts:
• "Focal Point" chapter
• Gordon Freeman cameos
• Dark corridors with Headcrabs

Replay the Game? - Probably

Closer to the original HL than Opposing Force, which I personally like. It's not very memorable though, the encounter design definitely tries its best to mimic what Valve were going for.... sometimes that shines through, fighting the military in this is great, but the encounters don't have that same kind of "oompf" to them that they do as Freeman.

There isn't that encounter where you reach the surface and it's absolute hell on earth before you immediately get forced back inside. There's no Surface Tension. Instead there's a lot of.... creeping through the dank sublevels. It's another kind of atmosphere, it works in its own right, but it's kind of just a reminder of what this was going to be before it became what it is.