The Orange Box

"5 Amazing games in one box = Best gaming deal ever."

The Orange Box is a game collection, containing Half-Life 2, Episode One, Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. All are excellent games, definitely making this game (OK so they kinda cheated but buying this collection is still a necessity) an essential purchase. In this review I will go into detail about HL2 (ep 1 and 2 are pretty similar to HL2 will count for the three games), Portal and Team Fortess 2.

HALF-LIFE 2:

Admittedly most of HL2's features may seem rather generic, but there is one huge feature which makes HL2 different. HL2 is shown from Gordon Freemans perspective, you never seen anything outside of his eyes. Gordon Freeman, our silent hero, is thrown into City 17 roughly 10 years after the events of the original HL. An alien species, the Combine, have invaded Earth and pretty much rule every, under their representative, Dr Breen. Gordon soon meets Barney (from Black Mesa), and is thrown into the fight against the combine. HL2 is fairly simple, you go through rather linear levels, solving puzzles, fighting enemies, and so on and so forth. However HL2 introduces two vehicles, the Air Boat, and Car, both used in two different levels. The vehicles work very well, however I did have slight problems controlling them with the analog stick (not as good as they felt on the PC), but they worked fine. Another major feature of HL2 are the physics. The HL2 engine, Source (which all OB games run on) has an amazing physics engine (its a little dated now but it did originally come out in 2004, very impressive at the time), in which we're given a Gravity Gun to play with. The Grav gun allows us to pull objects towards us, drop them or throw them at a high speed. Many puzzles require ues of physics, they're never too difficult and break up the action well. Whilst the Gravity Gun might not sound very good, its a play to believe kind of thing.

Half-Life 2: Episode One:

Episode One concentrates on the consequences of the Citadel explosion, at the end of HL2. Ep 1 sees Gordon Freeman fighting to escape from City 17 with the Citadel core close to explosion, its a race against time for Gordon and Alyx to escape. Episode One originally brought pretty new lighting effects, although these are now present in all OB games. Another major feature was the fact Alyx was present through out the game. Alyx can now fight alongside you, she isn't present that much in HL2 and isn't up to much. Apart from that, I admit Ep 1 is probably the weakest game in the package, it quite literally is an expansion pack, removing the vehicles and adding next to nothing.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two:

Episode Two is set in the forests and old mining caves that surround the ruins of City 17. Gordon and Alyx race the combine to White Forest where Eli and Kleiner await, in order to deliver an essential data packet stolen from the combine. Episode Two was meant to feature large open environments, and this is partially true. Some levels are fairly large, and loading checkpoints aren't seen as often, but I personally think it was an missed opportunity. The only true free roam type section is at the very end (although I admit it is a very good and epic finale). Apart from this, Ep 2 doesn't add much either, we get a new vehicle (a car, a bit better than the old one) and a new weapon, but again, this isn't used until the end. However as a whole, Ep 2 is definitely better than Ep 1.

Portal:

Portal is simply one of those games you have to play. Portal is rather strange, fun, brilliantly designed, and just so amazing, its hard to fault it. Portal is essentially a puzzle game, forcing you to complete dangerous tests for a Portal gun, developed by Aperture Science. The Left Trigger makes one portal, the Right Trigger makes the other, an object goes through one portal, comes out the other. Its a rather basic premise made complex with the variety of puzzles you're put up against. Portal isn't the hardest of games but its never too easy, it gradually eases you in. Portal is fairly short, clocking in at about 3 hours or so, but with Advanced maps on offer after completion, there is a lot of come back for. And of course, Portal is incredibly funny, Aperture Science robot GLaDOS provides funny commentating during your tests, and is one of the highlights of Portal. Its hard to explain, but Portal should be the first game you play on the OB.

Team Fortress 2:

And finally, we come to the multiplayer game of OB. TF2 is essentially an updated version of the original popular HL mod, Team Fortress. TF2 adopts team game play, across 6 maps and 3 game modes, Capture the Flag, Attack/Defense (is that what its called?) and Territory control. Whilst these game modes aren't anything new, its the class based system that makes TF2 so good. There are a total of 9 different classes, each with different advantages and disadvantages. Most classes are well balance, although the Medic and Pyro are probably the weakest two (personally I love the Pyro, he just doesn't have many features I guess). Depending on your class, you can make turrets (engineer), disguise yourself (Spy), plant bombs (demoman), or heal team-mates (Medic obviously). Other classes include the Soldier, Scout, Heavy and Sniper, each unique. During my recent time with TF2 however, the game proved to be incredibly laggy, with almost empty servers, if your PC can run it, get for PC instead.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/12/08

Game Release: The Orange Box (EU, 10/19/07)