Desert Eagle

The Desert Eagle is a weapon featured in Half-Life: Opposing Force and the first firearm acquired in the game. It is the standard sidearm for HECU soldiers and some Black Mesa security guards.

Overview
The Desert Eagle is a powerful sidearm that holds seven rounds of .357 Magnum. While somewhat similar to the .357 Magnum revolver at first glance, there is a major difference between them; the Desert Eagle has two firing modes. The first one, automatic, is the primary firing mode. It fires much faster than the .357, but has a lesser accuracy. The second mode is activated by hitting the alternate fire key. This activates a laser that makes the weapon as accurate as the .357, but decreases the rate of fire, although it stays faster than the .357's.

This weapon is first obtained in the middle of the chapter Welcome to Black Mesa, where a Black Mesa security guard dies by electricity shock when trying to open the generator gate near the crashed V-22 Osprey. If not obtained there, it can be acquired by killing HECU engineers who will drop them.

Tactics

 * The Desert Eagle can kill anything weaker than a Bullsquid in one shot. While this may sound tempting, it is better to conserve Desert Eagle ammo for foes that require multiple Desert Eagle shots to take down, such as Shock Troopers and Pit Drones. All of the enemies that can be killed with one Desert Eagle shot can also be killed with one double Shotgun blast, which has much more ammo scattered throughout the game than the Desert Eagle does.


 * The Desert Eagle works best at long range, so the laser sight should be activated at all times.


 * While being close to an enemy, the laser sight should be turned off. Rapid firing does more damage at close range than taking timed shots with the secondary fire mode.


 * In Hard mode, it takes around two shots to take down enemies that used to take one, so headshots are essential for conserving ammo.


 * This weapon is extremely effective against Black Ops. It usually takes about two aimed shots to defeat one Black Ops soldier in Normal mode, and the Desert Eagle can engage them at long range, a range in which Black Ops' weapons are less efficient.

Trivia
The Desert Eagle is also a major pistol in the Counter-Strike series, capable of killing a player in one or two headshots.

List of appearances

 * Half-Life: Opposing Force