Five Great Games in one Orange Box

User Rating: 9.5 | The Orange Box X360
By ebraz83 | Review Date:
60 dollars is a lot to pay for a video game. There are a lot of games out there that I would probably purchase and play but because they weren't received too well I hold off on dropping 60 bones on them. The Orange Box is the first game that I've come across that I feel like 60 bucks is a good deal. Half Life 2 by itself could merit the price tag. When you add to that HL2 episode:1 it becomes a pretty good deal. Add to that HL2 episode:2 AND Portals, AND Team Fortress 2 and you have one of the best gaming values ever! Sure Half Life 2 came out a couple years ago so it's not exactly new but the fact that it's still better than a lot of the games coming out now is a testament to it's quality. This is the first exposure to it that many people with a 360 have. Not everyone has a computer geared towards gaming. It's a top notch game with good storyline, good characters, moments of very intense action, head scratching puzzle solving, and a variety of gameplay mechanics which are all blended together seamlessly and perfectly. For a FPS fan this is a must have. Tack on to that Episode:1 and Episode:2 and the fun continues. Ep 1 and 2 are just expansions and are not full games but they make the whole HL2 saga that much longer. Amazingly, even after playing through the main game, and both episodes, it doesn't feel like it went on too long or that the tasks became redundant. The game design is great and they're always throwing something new at you like new enemies or new clever little predicaments that you have to think your way out of. It's all very well done and very fun from start to finish. Besides ep:2 there is other never before released content in the box. Portals is a game in which you have to think your way out of some crazy puzzle rooms with the help of a device that shoots portals onto walls, ceilings, floors etc... Shoot a couple portals onto a wall, walk into one, walk out of the other. Sounds simple but they think of some pretty crazy ways of using them. This is an extremely fun game with a great sense of humor provided by the artificial intelligence and source of the only dialog in the game: GLaDOS. There is some replay value here too since after you complete the relatively short game, you have the option of playing some of the levels again with time challenges, footstep challenges, and challenges involving minimum number of portals used. You can also play more advanced and more difficult versions of certain levels. The multiplayer part of the box is Team Fortress 2. This is an addicting and deep multiplayer experience under the glossy coating of it's cartoon graphics. It is class based in a way that no other mulitplayer game has been. You absolutely need to use the strengths of the nine different classes or you will not be successful. This may scare away some people that are more accustomed to the run and gun type of play. You run and gun here, you die. There are not many maps and not many gametypes but with the wealth of classes you don't need them. Playing as one of the classes will give you a completely different experience than playing with another. From the engineer that builds turrets and ammo/health dispensers, to the medic which can heal and can make players invincible for a short time, to a spy which can disguise himself as a player on the enemy team, you are bound to find a class that you enjoy playing as and that fits your style. It is very fun and a great game to play when you get sick of the "run to find the biggest gun you can before the other guy" style of play in a game like Halo. Overall it's hard to find anyone who wouldn't recommend The Orange Box after they've played it. If you only like half of the content included, it would still be worth the purchase price. Lucky for you, all of the content is top notch fun. A very well made game and a ton of fun.

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