EA and Valve have made a great bundle of games here that no one should go wihtout trying.
Portal: Portal gives you a fun and challenging adventure. The portal gun is both a great new feature and a awesome way to solve things. If you have played any other Valve game in the past Portal will feel and play along the lines of the other games. It has great sound effects and the world looks really nice. I dont think i have played a game lately that really made me think the way Portal did.
Half LIfe all the episodes: Half life is a well paced and structured story. The weapons and the grave gun are all unique and fun to use. The only complaint i could really probably can come up with is that the vehicles have some stiff movement every now and again like if you get stuck on something but that is easily overlooked. As i said at the begging i didnt like Half Life very much when i started playing it but after a while i just was captivated by its game play, its story, its action, its good thrills and every thing else it has. Its achievments are far from the average ones. For example on one achievment you have to go through most of Half Life 2 episode 2 makeing sure you dont loose a garden nome, sounds easy but wait till you try it.
It say that Half LIfe 2's story, world, action and all the rest is worth it. If it were only Half Life 2 the game would be worht the price. Can't wait till the next addition comes along but i will be waiting paitently.
Team Fortress 2: This is a great addition for The Orange Box. When i played it i had a blast and enjoyed it alot. The game play and the action were solid. The maps were something new and enjoyable. The graphics and sounds were very nice. The only Complaint i have with this multiplayer is that sometimes you wont find more then 1 other player to play against and some times you will find all the ones you need. The other thing i have against it is that there arnt very many maps. Team Fortress's flaws arnt its fault completly though its just that not many people play it alot.
Overall: This collection is simply a masterpiece. Every one of its games is unique adn something you wont find any where else really. I would recomend this game to any person whole loves a good FPS and a good amout of puzzles and challenges to get through the game. This game takes alot of thinking and mindless attaking.
I can see how The Orange Box is not for every one though. Some people just dont like having to solve alot of puzzles in games so they obviously wouldnt like portal and then Half Life has a far share of puzzles. And then alot of people probably dont like how the entire series is done from a first person perspective.
Whether you like this style of game or not it is worth checking out. Rent it and give it time to soak in before making your final judgment, like me if i had based the game off the first hour or two i would not have finished but i kept playing to see what was instore. And if you are pretty sure you will like it go pick up a copy it is only what 30 or 20 dollars now. It is one of the best buys for the Xbox 360 and any other system you want it on.