The future heavy duty powertrain market is expected to be more diverse, with shifts gradually towards cleaner and more sustainable alternatives. Among various options, the hydrogen ICE holds the promise of significantly reducing emissions while leveraging existing ICE technology. However, it also faces substantial challenges related to engine performance, fuel storage and delivery, infrastructure development, economic feasibility, safety, and market acceptance. This paper focuses on performance challenges of hydrogen engine, including knock and pre-ignition, as well as low thermal efficiencies by introducing the opposed-piston two-stroke hydrogen ICE (OP2S H2ICE) as a potential solution. The study demonstrates that OP2S H2ICE can operate using direct injection, compression-ignition (CI) combustion solely with hydrogen, under various low-load conditions. Specifically, as the load increases, the combustion transitions from partial-premixed controlled CI combustion towards mixing