Overall, incredible story and gameplay that felt long.
I know that this game has received rave reviews from everyone, it seems, and they are mostly true. What initially got me hooked on the Orange Box was the demo for Portal on XBOX Live Marketplace. That being said, I went through portal as fast as I could when I got it and loved every puzzle in it. It really took me for a loop on the last level and really added a whole new layer to the game. I feel like the current bargain bin price tag on the Orange Box is worth it for Portal alone.
This game package is an amazing deal. When I started into Half-Life 2 I really didn't know what to expect. It started out great and the environments and the puzzles within them gave me goosebumps thinking back to the good old days of Dark Forces 2 (when levels were more of a challenge than bad guys some times). Unfortunately the game kind of peaked for me in Revenholm (I might have butchered the name) which is about half way through the game. The level achieved a sincere sense of eeriness that, no matter how hard they tried, just could not be reproduced at other parts in the game. I just felt like I was craving it the rest of the game and it never showed itself.
That being said, there were still new twists and environmental interactivity that made the rest of the game fun and exciting however, after awhile I found myself just playing it saying, "please just let me get to the end so that I can beat this game and get on with it." Followed by a, "There are two more of these?" The final level makes up for it a little since you can take out your angst and frustration over the past hours of gameplay on the bad guys with your new electrified gravity gun. That was definitely a plus.
I am not saying that it is a bad game by any stretch of the imagination. I am just putting a caveat out there stating that if you are starting Half Life 2, you will be going into a long stretch of game play that at times will seem repetitive towards the end.
Half Life episode 1 & 2 blend together in my mind because they felt more story driven and just the right length to leave you wanting more. They have tweaked the controls a little bit in these games and overall I felt that they were more entertaining than Half Life 2 itself.
I have yet to play Team Fortress 2 and I have already played hours on this set of games. It is easy to see that I got my $20 worth out of this set. If you are into first person shooters and like playing solo then the Orange Box is for you.