The "Half Life 2: Orange Box" is both a brilliant package of games, and a brilliant deal. With the great advantage that it includes both previous episodes of Half Life 2, a newcomer to the series does not have to worry about purchasing the predecessors separately. However the experienced ... Read review
Advantages: Great value, great gameplay, great replayability from Team Fortress 2. Disadvantages: Steam is necessary to play, Portal and Episode 2 short games.
The "Half Life 2: Orange Box" is both a brilliant package of games, and a brilliant deal. With the great advantage that it includes both previous episodes of Half Life 2, a newcomer to the series does not have to worry about purchasing the predecessors separately. However the experienced Half Life 2 player should not be concerned - not only is the package far cheaper than buying the three new games separately, if a player has either of ... ...they will be given the games as gifts, which can then be sent cost free to anyone with an email address. This is a great way to get someone into the series who has been reluctant to buy the game!
In terms of the games themselves, the Orange Box brings three new releases: Half Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Episode 2 is a continuation of the storyline introduced in Half Life, Half Life 2 and Half Life 2: Episode 1. ... more
The "Half Life 2: Orange Box" is both a brilliant package of games, and a brilliant deal. With the great advantage that it includes both previous episodes of Half Life 2, a newcomer to the series does not have to worry about purchasing the predecessors separately. However the experienced Half Life 2 player should not be concerned - not only is the package far cheaper than buying the three new games separately, if a player has either of the two old games already on their Steam account, then they will be given the games as gifts, which can then be sent cost free to anyone with an email address. This is a great way to get someone into the series who has been reluctant to buy the game!
In terms of the games themselves, the Orange Box brings three new releases: Half Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Episode 2 is a continuation of the storyline introduced in Half Life, Half Life 2 and Half Life 2: Episode 1. While the game does not introduce much new in terms of gameplay features, what it does contain is very well polished. While playing felt that the game was much better thought out than the previous episode, which sometimes became repetitive. Episode 2 is the opposite, with most encounters proving to be just as interesting and exciting as the last. A couple of new enemies are introduced: the Antlion Worker and the Hunter add some vital variety in the enemies you face, and the tactics necessary. In terms of storyline, a new character is introduced, who has very little to do with the previous episodes. The likelyhood that such a major character would have been able to avoid being mentioned even once during the first 2 games is small, and this makes it seem like he was thought up exclusively to move the plot forward in this game. Other than that though, the storyline moves forward at a much faster rate than the previous episode, and leaves a great feeling of suspense at the end. Overall, feel that Episode 2 is a great improvement over Episode 1, though still shorter than preferable.
Portal is probably the highlight of the Orange Box for me. It is the spiritual successor of the game 'Narbacular Drop', whose developers Valve hired to help develop Portal. The entire game is focused around the gameplay mechanic of portals: the player, using a special gun, can create linked portals which he can then travel through. The game's 18 levels revolve around traversing the level area to the exit, which encompasses doors, switches, elevators and bizarre bouncing energy balls, which much all be utilised to find the way out. One of the key attractions other than the puzzles, is the AI voice and her sense of humour. As you travel though the 18 levels, under the guidance of the AI, you start to appreciate the amount of character development which has gone into the character which at first appeared so simple. Portal has a game length of a few hours, which while may seem short initially, proves to be just the right length by the time you have mastered the challenge rooms included. All in all my play through of Portal was a very enjoyable experience, being probably the greatest puzzle game I have played in the last 5 years, and is highly recommended to everyone.
To round up, Team Fortress 2 has been highly anticipated by the community, having been awaited since 1996 and the creation of the original Team Fortress mod for Quake. The wait however, has apparently been worth it, as the release of Team Fortress 2 has been extremely successful among the wide gaming community. A strictly multiplayer only game, the game pitches two teams against one another to achieve certain objectives, be it capturing and defending control points, or capturing the flag. What makes the game special however is the class system. The player can chose one of 9 classes: Soldier, Pyro, Scout, Heavy, Engineer, Demoman, Spy, Sniper, or Medic. Each class has vastly different roles, each one being specialised for different aspects of combat. Each class has their own strengths and weaknesses verses the other classes, for example the Spy is particularly susceptible to the Pyro, but the Pyro can usually be countered with a well placed turret from an engineer. This leads to endless gameplay possibilities, and very little repetitive combat. One downside to the game is the fact that there are only 6 offical maps released with the game, however since the Team Fortress 2 kit for the map editor was released, many high quality player made maps have arrived. Overall, Team Fortress 2 is a very high class multiplayer experience, and while it many not please the every whim of all the Team Fortress Classic devotees, it is definitely worth playing.
The Orange Box is a great choice, and while the individual single player games may be shorter than average, once you have taken into account the fact that you are getting three games for the price of one, they start to seem very fulfilling. Definitely worth the purchase, and I feel that Team Fortress 2 is something I will still be playing months or even years on.
Advantages: 5 fantastic games in one Disadvantages: none so far
This review is for the xbox 360 version of the game. I'd never played any of the Half-Life games before this one, so I only knew the titles by reputation. But what a reputation.
With 5 games included in the package, The Orange Box promises a lot but I'm pleased to say that it delivers it all...and more.
Half-Life 2 picks up where the original Half-Life left off (so I'm told) and after a little bit of a slow start, soon puts you right in the thick ... ...Half-Life before, but the controls are simple enough and well-mapped to the xbox 360 pad so even newcomers to the series will soon feel at home.
The graphics are excellent, especially the exterior environments, with stunning water effects being one of the highlights. The sound is pretty impressive too, voices and other sounds fade when your character moves away or turn your back to the source of the sound.
The series continues with HL2: Episode ...
psirac 22.11.2007
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Orange Box
Advantages: A real Deal for your money, weird cool game experience, 5 totally different games in one Disadvantages: hard to find much, cuz there are 5 different game types, each will suit you differently.
...Where you'll have to find the exit, by punching holes (portals) by a portal gun. You'll be able to move through room to room irrespective of the direction they are (down or on the sides). Lol. Yeah pretty fun! You don't get to shoot anyone in this game mode. What make this mode step up are its game dialogues. You'll enjoy this mode cuz of the different joke dialogues you'll experience. This is better if it's called as a funny mode! Lol
[this is ... ...duty fire power. This is the man. Equipped with Mini and shotgun. You can call this a bulldozer.lol
->Scout: can run , jump faster than any other player in the game. Somewhat a cool dude with a baseball cap, running shoes and headset.lol. His role is to capture objectives after the enemy defenses are broken
->Pryo: this guy has the games most effective short range weapon. THE FLAMETHROWER!. Lol. He's suited in a gas mask. Some robotic voice. Designed ...
djmlog103 09.01.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Orange Box
Advantages: Superb value, classic games, variety in the titles Disadvantages: Portal and Episode One are fairly short
The Orange Box is a compilation of five Valve games, that was released in 2007. Please be aware that I am only talking about the PC version. Back in 2007, I received this as a Christmas present and I know it was less than £20 at the time. I've found it available new today for just £12.99. This is the kind of deal any gamer should be happy to see! The games included are Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode One, HL2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Half-Life ... ...the title. Also, the HL2 episodes are not full blown sequels, but continuations from the end of Half-Life 2. I will cover each game in this review, although they probably justify dedicated reviews! Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2 was released three years earlier than the Orange Box to critical acclaim. I already owned a copy and I am guessing a majority of Orange Box buyers already owned it too. This is a first-person shooter set in a world under attack ...
rambo26 22.11.2009 (28.11.2009)
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Orange Box
Advantages: Contains 5 superb and varying games. Affordable for it's offer. Disadvantages: REQUIRES the program "Steam" to run.
...to start to talk about the orange box immediatly as it has so much to offer. So i'll start from the start impossible to go wrong with The Orange Box. With your purchase of The Orange Box, you'll get Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. They're all based on the same graphics engine(the Source Engine), but all of them are completely different games, which ensures that there's something for everyone. You'll also get 2004's Half-Life ... ...Gordon Freeman's been doing over the past few years. On the PC, you'll launch each game separately. On the Xbox 360, the game boots up to a menu where you can easily select any of the five games, and quitting out of a game brings you back to the selection menu. The program "Steam" is required to run the orange box yet it allows you to add friends you played with on a server or add a friend of yours who also has the orange box. The game runs on the ...
barnmore 10.03.2008
· Read full review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of The Orange Box
Gameplay/Playability
Graphics
Sound
Value for Money
Longevity
Similar reviews »
Reviews which might be of interest for "The Orange Box"
Advantages: 5 game in 1 disc Disadvantages: NONE!!!
The OrangeBox is 5 games from valve software bunched into 1 disk for a low price. My favorite game on the orangebox is definitely team fortress 2. Team Fortress 2 is an online game where you have to communicate between your teammates. There are nine classes in team fortress 2 - The Heavy, Pyro, Scout, Soldier, Engineer, Medic, Demoman, Sniper and Spy. Each of the classes have their own strengths and weaknesses. For example, you couldn't rush into the battle scene as a spy. You would be blown to bits! This is why you need to use teamwork to communicate in the game. This has to be one of my favorite multiplayer game ever. I still haven't gotten tired of it, after hours and hours of playing! The main reason I bought the OrangeBox was for Team Fortress 2. Half Life, Half Life episode 1, Half Life episode 2, and Portal are also ...
Advantages: Astounding value for money, Half-Life 2 is superb, diverse first person gameplay Disadvantages: Half-Life 2's graphics *slightly* dated, Team Fortress 2 - some lag from time to time
Look inside The OrangeBox...
The OrangeBox is a rather ambiguous title for a game, giving very little clue as to the game's contents. If you have not heard of this game before, you might be surprised to find that it does not, to my knowledge, feature any actual orangeboxes. What it does feature is an abundance of diverse quality content, spread over what is advertised as being five separate games for the normal retail price of a standard game. In fact, it is more like three and a half games, but this is more than enough to justify labelling The OrangeBox the best deal in video game history. The first game is Half-Life 2, released in 2004, and widely considered one of the greatest PC games of all time. The next two titles are the follow-up expansion episodes, numbers 1 and 2, which I would group together as being the second game ...
Advantages: great value and game play Disadvantages: there are no drawbacks!!
well we all know how amazing the origonal half life was!!!! half life had amazing game play with an exciting and first person shooter action and also had a fantastic array of weapons!! the first half life had everything u needed in a first person shooter and the only draw backs were that the graphics were a bit iffy. Now comes half life episode 2 and it has all the positive points of the origonal half life and they have improved the graphics!!! half life 2 is an amazing game! and if u team it up with team fortress 2 which in its self is an amazing game aswell it gives u fantastic value for money and days of endless fun!!! if u look at the price of a normal 360 game its around 40 quid for a new game, this orangebox with two of the best games and storylines ever made for less than the normal price!! i really recomend this game! ...
Enjoyable gameplay, intense action, immersive experience, great graphics, fun weapons 
