When it's all said and done, The Orange Box has something for everyone to enjoy.
I can't possibly see the reasoning behind the Orange Box. The Black Box made sense to me because it had three games that I've never played at one great price. The Orange Box has five games, two of which I've already played, meaning that I, and essentially, more than five plus million other gamers who have already played those two games will feel like this is a huge waste. I don't see the point in "giving away" the ones I already have since for the most part, anyone and everyone that has wanted to play Half Life 2 and its super short sequal has already bought it. I guess Valve decided that it wanted to try it's luck out with console gaming and gave it a good port(ing), but to some extent, I feel that the logic used in order to get PC veterans to get the Orange Box just doesn't work here.
Putting that aside, if you haven't played Half Life 2 and Episode One, then you might as well skip this paragraph. The three games, Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal can be seen as the parts compromising one game. You've got a single player (Episode Two), albeit a short one, a great online multiplayer (Team Fortress 2), and you've got a mini game/ something we felt we should throw in for the fans. Looking at this way, the Orange Box isn't so much of a deal, but more of a complete package that Valve had to put out. In all aspects this works out phanominally well, and has something for everyone. So what the (explicit) right? Yeah it takes a little bit more than common sense to see past all of the glearing features of this game but in a sense, even though it once again shows Valves prowes in gaming, it should send them a note that this might not, and should not work again.
Episode Two is starting to show the age of the Half Life 2 saga. Huh? Yeah I went there. It seems like with the last two "episodic content" release Valve has been trying to jam pack as much of what Half Life 2 had in it, into a five to seven hours of gaming experience. I'm from the school of thought that the zombies pissed the living (explicit) out of me, and to certain extent it made first half of Episode One almost unbearable - yeah I hated Ravenholme to death. Instead of picking up where Episode One left of, Episode Two slows it down again, and I can't seem to get into it; so it has you go around the country side, in a linear fashion, fighting of hordes of chemically infested bunkers, or over run Combine outpost and annoying opponents. The new additions in terms of enemies where frustrating and annoying. I think Valve generally enjoys pissing us off; and don't forget they wanted throw another physics puzzle in it, as if that wasn't annoying the first half dozen times? All in all, Episode Two makes good of what it should have done, and does Episode One one better; however, it's still short as hell, it still has trouble shifting paces, and frankly the graphics engine is showing it's age.
I can't help but some what acknowledge the fact that Valve did a good job, and that they did the best with what they had, even though the story and overall set up features generally not only indicated what the main plot behind Episode Three will be - which I'm sure Valve will do something that only an extremist would - but if you have anything similar to a brain, you can put your money that if Valve wants to finish off the series in the next rendition, that it will have to be at least two, if not three times longer, or that they will be making Half Life 3. Gee I wonder how long that one will take.
Shifting focus, Team Fortress 2 is one of the best multiplayer expiriences of the past decade. Valve put a lot of effort into making something that everyone can enjoy as there seems to be something for even the dumbest kid on the block to do. It also helps that it is a team game. In games like Counter Strike, or even Unreal Tournament, a few great players bunched in with crappy ones could beat a team of all good players, but now that's just not the case. Good teams win, no matter what, those who work together and use strategy can and will win. Five players can't win you the game no matter what you do, if you don't have a strong supporting cast to provide assistance. The maps, few as they might be, are great, and time consuming. I guess the whole idea is to give the fans a taste, and then let them run wild with it. Overall Team Fortress 2 provides a pleasent experience that has something for everyone. I would have liked to have seen a faster gameplay, because the speed of the current game makes it difficult for a team to get a quick break when facing off against another team that is turtling.
The odd part of the Orange Box, was Portal, the game no one knew a thing about or was even looking at. Suffice to say it's a unique experience that must be played. This game shows, I mean literally shows the genius of Valve. They turned a simple premise, something that you thought nothing could be done with and made it one of the most pleasent suprises of the year. Yeah Portal is fun game; it's funny, entertaining, challenging and rewarding - you guessed it, the keys to making a good game. It's an awesome game and my only flack on it, is that it isn't long enough; you could literally finish it in one sitting, but then again you could do the same with Episode Two.
The Orange Box literally has something for everyone, from the Half Life 2 saga, to one of the best online multiplayers to date, to an awesome game that is a must for all, if you've been looking to drop money on a game for the Holiday Season, then this one is well worth it.