The Orange Box

"Not for everyone"

First Off-some of these games are not for everyone so there are reviews (like mine) supporting them and some hating the game. But here is my opinion so here we go.

Half-Life 2,ep1,ep2
Story- this is the easy part. the game has an engrossing story that pulls you in. you play as Gordon Freeman same as the first game and you never see or hear him ever. Sort of like Call Of Duty your one man put into several scenarios. But there are no cutscenes. Instead you always view things from Gordan's perspective. During the game you'll meet interesting characters and interact with them. overall 9/10

Gameplay- Now here's the tricky part. it's a FPS but with odd mechanics. guns don't have a certain feel shotguns are powerful but there's nothing groundbreaking. Then there's the gravity gun. shoot concrete blocks at your enemies and laugh. but there's also the puzzles oh the puzzles. turn the switch balance the weights etc. this is where half life sets its self apart from games like COD and Halo. there are numerous physics engine puzzles that are amazing. puzzles great but gravity gun was the saving grace for gun play. 8/10

Graphics- other than Half Life 2 the game looks great and runs great even with lots of things going on onscreen. plus especially in Half Life 2 episode 2 there are some gorgeous lighting effects. Also the character animations are the best in the business 9/10

Voice Acting- From Half Life's Doctors to the main characters and the screaming citizens the voice acting is great. Nothing better in a FPS game (other than Halo). 10/10
Overall9/10

Portal
Overall-relies solely on the physics engine to do puzzles and transport though portals. Also has same story mechanics as Half Life 2. However your not the orange man, instead you play as a test subject in a research facility. But with only 18 test chambers with the first couple relying solely on basic moving mechanics it's just too short. 7/10

Team Fortress 2
Overall-Fun Class based action on multiple map with different modes is great. Also the way each class has its own strength and weaknesses makes it even more fun to try out each class. Also the key shooting mechanics are much improved from Half Life 2. But the lack of maps and the ability to do any mode on each map is disappointing but still overall fun.9/10


HINT-if your worried about Half Life there may still be a demo out on the market place or you could pick up Half Life 2 for the original Xbox cheap(plus it's backwards compatible).

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/04/09

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