Orange Box is one of the must have games of the 2007 holiday season. Buy it now!
Unless you really hate all types of FPS adventures, you will absolutely love The Orange Box. I mean its 5 games all in one package! (HL2, HL2:E1, HL2:E2, Portal, TF2). And there is a game for every type of gamer.
If you haven't experienced the Half Life 2 Series already, this is the time!
Even today, Half Life 2 still is considered one of my favorite games, and it still holds against the newest shooters. Physics based puzzles, awesome story, and a variety of weapons make this game a sure 10/10.
Half Life Episode 1 and 2 only expand on this experience, but are unfortunately signifigantly shorter than the original game. (What do you expect?)
Portal satisfies the puzzle cracking wiz inside all of us. With breathtaking visuals and an even better script (You will be giggling all over the place), this will keep you entertained for every minute of the sadly short game. The level design is fantastic, and some will get you extremely frustrated. Even though I beat the game in less than 2 hours, I had spent about 30 minutess on just one of the levels.
Team Fortress 2 is for those multiplayer deathmatch junkies (my favorite part of the Orange Box). Its class based system is very entertaining. You got a variety of classes, each unique and generally unseen in other games. For example, as a spy you can disguise yourself as a enemy unit and backstab people behind enemy lines, while the pyro uses the flamethrower to do Damage Over Time. It is addictively fun, even though those damn Heavy+Medic combos can really piss you off. Self Stat tracking inspires you to work even harder, but I wish there was an overall ranking. Like there is seen in BF2142.
Graphics: 10/10
Half Life 2's graphics may be dated, but they still are up to today's caliber.
Episode 1 and 2 improve upon the graphics, so people with modern cards can experience such things as HDR. (High Dynamic Range, i believe)
Portal's graphics, although simple, are still very impressive, and are extremely immersing to the experience.
TF2's cel-shaded style is one of the best parts of the game, and is a visual masterpiece.
Sound: 9/10
Not much to say about the sound.
Good all around.
Value: 12/10
There is no way around it. This is a MUST BUY. I have no clue why you are reading this review, you should be out buying it right now! It is 5 games in one!
(If you have already have played HL2 and Epi 1, I would say that it is a 8/10, as Portal is very short, Epi 2 is short [4-5 hours I think] , and it depends on how many hours you can squeeze out of TF2.
Tilt: 10
If you haven't played HL2 before and you like any type of FPS, you have to get this game!