Just an odd question. I’ve finished Half Life and Half-Life 2 and its episodes. I was considering moving on to Opposing Force, Blue Shift, or Decay… but I wasn’t sure which to visit first, or if it was worth even playing these games after Half Life.
Any recommendations?
it doesn’t really matter, but i wouldn’t play decay until you have someone to play with however if you have a friend you want to play with decay is the only half life game i know of with co-op
Edit: would you rather be fighting more soldiers or aliens. if you want to fight soldiers play blue shift, if you’d rather fight aliens play opposing force
I would say opposing force. Mostly because there’s more ‘new’ to it.
HL1, BlueShift, Opposing Force, HL2, HL2:E1, HL2:E2
I personally say play Blueshift first, then Opposing Force. Opposing Force was released before Blueshift, but Blueshift takes place in the game before Opposing Force(both take place parallel to the HL1 timeline, Blueshift going from before the beginning of HL1 to when Gordon gets knocked out at the midway point in HL1, Opposing Force starts sometime around thereabouts, and lasts past when Gordon leaves for Xen), plus Blueshift uses only the items that HL1 uses, while Opposing Force adds in a bunch of new items and gameplay mechanics.
Play decay when you find a decent person to play with, let me know if you need help setting up a server so that you can play with people online. Playing a lan game is easy, but an internet game takes some work to set up.
Also, you’ve got HL1, and HL2 with the episodes, you should be moving on top MODS. Like They Hunger Trilogy(HL1), and Minerva: Metastasis(HL2), The Trap(HL1), Research and Development(HL2:e2), Sweet Half Life(HL1), USS Darkstar(HL1), Point of View(HL1), and Offshore(HL2:e2)
The R&D Mod is must have.
If you wanted to play the original Half-Life cooperatively with friends online you could always download this mod https://www.svencoop.com/ (Sven Co-op) for free, providing of course you have Half-Life installed on your computer. The mod includes many different random maps, fun to play online or by yourself (harder by yourself in most instances).
The new version even includes the HD models for NPC’s, and interesting takes on the weapons, e.g. giving you both a MP5 and M16A2.
The map designer for the HL1 Co-op is also working on getting a cooperative Opposing Force going, but it’s probably not a good idea to wait for that. Play the single player now by all means.
Decay is really interesting although it has A LOT of that ‘non-confirmed content’/‘Canon’ stuff in it. 
Actually my concern was which of the games was the most satisfying to play. I’ve heard Blue Shift is the shortest of the three, for example, and I don’t want a game that’s Portal in length unless it’s as good as Portal.
I saw Decay on sale at one of my local GameStops, and it claims that an AI can substitute for the other player (I’m not really a fan of online/multiplay). It’s more expensive than just picking up OP4 or Blue Shift on Steam, but if the experience is worth it then I might just go for it.
Do any of the mods build on HL’s story, even unofficially? That’s what I’m interested in the most, but I didn’t know much about which mods were the best.
Ok,
If you want more of a story as to how the soldiers treat BM personnel then get Blue Shift
If you want some cool new weapons, more gameplay features and a new race of aliens thrown into the classic HL style, go for Opposing Force
If you want to learn more about the Facility and it’s inner and multidimensional workings, go for Decay.
If you only want to buy one I’d recommend Opposing Force because it has more ‘Bang for Buck’ so to say. But seriously, are you really that short of cash? No offense intended but the Half-Life Anthology only costs $15 USD 
anthology doesn’t include decay… or it didn’t when I bought it
I know it doesn’t. The only way to get it is to buy the PS2 version of Half-Life or get some dodgy version for the PC off of the internet.
With no job right now (stupid economy) and possibly other expenses that might come up, yes, I’m that short on cash.
Like I said, no offense intended :3
In that case… go for Opposing Force.
Blue Shift isn’t as good as Portal, but it’s definitely worth $5. The steam version is buggy as hell, but you can either noclip through the buggy parts or download BS: unlocked, for a patched version. It’s a third party mod that requires the Steam version of Blue Shift.
I never beat OP4, I got stuck at one part with low heath, and I just couldn’t manage to get past it.
So I gave up.
If you get the original HL, go get the “WTF MESSUP MOD” because it’s really funny. It’s the original HL’s first few levels (just Black Mesa), but everything is hilariously screwed up. For example, the first level you can run around in is called “To Distroy The World”, and pressing the receptionist guard’s button makes gibs rain on him.
The PC version of decay isn’t dodgy, it’s the only way worth playing it. It’s also free if you already have HL.
Seriously, if you’re that short on cash, start hitting up moddb and planet phillip to find some mods. they are FREEEEEE.
It’s all down to personal taste. I thought that Blue Shift was better than OF and HL in terms of atmosphere and mood (which is what I enjoy in games, next to story and gameplay). It felt honed, and was of a better quality than the previous Gold Source games overall. It’s darker than Half-Life and tougher than it as well in my opinion. The set designs, lighting, maps and gameplay are all superbly set out, and feel as though they’ve been refined to perfection. Its Xen levels are of a far better quality than Half-Life’s as well, and I really enjoyed them.
Opposing Force, although still incredible, felt a little convoluted. It seemed to give the impression that it was attempting to go all out and over the top with a new species of aliens, new weapons, new enemies, new allies and new gameplay elements, so combined with the existing ones, something about it felt needlessy complicated. It was still good though, and gameplay-wise I thought it was the toughest and also the most epic of the three. I’d say it was about HL2’s length, which is shorter than Half-Life.
So it really depends on what you want. Opposing Force is enjoyable and nice and long, if a little convoluted perhaps. It’s perfect if you’re simply after gameplay and enjoyment I’d say.
Blue Shift is darker, more honed and of a better quality in my opinion. It’s more focussed on puzzles and atmosphere and provides a more cinematic experience. It’s shorter than OF, but to me it felt much much longer than it was in actuality. I think the reasoning behind that was that I felt so much more involved and tensed when playing, so that something that I breezed through in five minutes the second playthrough felt like half an hour.
good point. Blue shift felt like a more cohesive part of the Half Life universe, but overall fairly short, and the ending left a little to be desired. Opposing Force felt bigger, more dramatic ending, but felt like it was pretty much all combat and not much else. I know there was more both of them than that, but it’s been a while since I’ve played them both.
I just replayed Opposing Force. I hate Pit Drones :’(
Yeah and that game is bloody hard on ‘hard mode’… Virtually always on below 50 health and 20 suit charge.
EDIT: Just started replaying Blue Shift, God it’s tedious…
What? Which part? The only flaw that immediately comes to mind with Blue Shift was the Xen part with the headcrab tunnels. That was dull, but still bearable.
Founded in 2004, Leakfree.org became one of the first online communities dedicated to Valve’s Source engine development. It is more famously known for the formation of Black Mesa: Source under the 'Leakfree Modification Team' handle in September 2004.