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The Week Ending December 13, 1999

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Half-Life: Opposing Force
Over Thanksgiving weekend I had a chance to play through Half-Life: Opposing Force, the add-on pack for Valve's phenomenal first person shooter. Overall, I have to say that despite the onerous task of trying to match Half-Life's quality standard, the developers at Gearbox have created a stunning add-on, which is honestly just as good as the original game. With a few new monsters, weapons, and levels, the game has just enough innovation to keep you interested, and it's particularly thrilling to see locations and levels from the first game cross over into the add-on pack.
Unfortunately, the add-on is pretty short – I finished it in about six hours straight. In addition, the much-hyped crossing-of-paths with hero Gordon Freeman from the original game were somewhat disappointing. (I was really looking forward to seeing the scene where Gordon was dragged along the floor after being hit unconscious from the opposite perspective, but it wasn't in the game). If you can find the game for a reasonable price, it gets my stamp of approval. After seeing Opposing Force, game developers will no longer be able to throw together a bunch of levels that didn't make the original game, add one new weapon, and expect to sell a ton of copies.

Messiah Demo
If you want to talk about a game with a history, that game would be Messiah from Shiny Entertainment, creators of the memorable Earthworm Jim. Well, Shiny has had a very difficult time delivering memorable products since EWJ, but one of their best hopes for a breakthrough game was Messiah. Promising incredible 3D technology and a unique concept where the player (an angel named Bob) could possess characters and objects in the game, Messiah seemed to have a lot of potential when it was first unveiled at E3 in 1997.
Over two years later, we're on the cusp of Messiah's release, and unfortunately, if the compatibility test is any indication, this game is yet another forgettable release from Shiny. Nothing pains me more than to play a game that clearly has potential, but is marred by a questionable control scheme and confusing gameplay. It was fun to jump between character bodies a few times, but Messiah has no suspense, no drama, and is completely void of excitement – at least this is the case with the compatibility test.

To add insult to injury, the recently released patch, clocking in at 38 megs, seems to do little more than add a bunch of sound files to the game, including main menu music; the control scheme seems to be the same. With games like Opposing Force and Unreal Tournament out there, a questionable control scheme is all you need to dismiss Messiah off your Christmas list.

Radio Appearance
Last week I appeared on the Daily Dementia radio show to discuss Unreal Tournament and give a preview of my next feature article, The Final Hours of Quake 3. You can listen to the show now.
Your Comments?
Agree or disagree? I'd love to hear your opinions.

Thanks for reading! That's the Gist of It.

Geoff Keighley
Editor-in-Chief
GameSlice