Advantages: Ultra intense gameplay, good fun, good community, nice graphics
Disadvantages: Not to everyones taste

...Team Fortress 2. My new addiction. Was the first to start playing the beta. Oh my how much fun :D Its completly revamped for a slightly cartoonish feel. The gameplay is nothing like :) The spy can dress up as a enemy and take out that dominating sniper turn invisible. (my current favorite) The heavy gunner can spin his barrells are he walks to avoid having to warm up, his capabilites being able to spray enough lead to make even Iraq take notice. The sniper with his single chambered sniper rifle. Such power. Watch as he tracks and "pops the noggin" with his trusty SMG as backup. The hardy soldier with his handy rocket launcher provides a good base, inflicting large splash damage. The scout on his nimble nimble feet. Running around with his shotgun wreaking havok. (till someone gives it to him in the face). Just watch... Read review

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Advantages: good team play, fun graphics
Disadvantages: hard!

...Paid for the orange box through STEAM, which is very unlike me, but i thought i'd give it a go. Took a while to download but you could choose what you wanted to download and since i already have HL2 and HL2 EP1 i just got TF2, HL EP2 and Portal, played TF2 first and here's my brief review which i shall edit later. Pretty simple. Team Fortress 2 is an FPS, online like battlefield and like battlefield its fun. It is different tho, sure you have to capture certain "points" on the map and kill enemies trying to do the same, but the main difference is the graphics. TF2 is very cartoony. Unlike battlefield which tries to be beautiful. The good news is this makes TF2 smooth and less power hungry, yet on full settings its still looks sweet. The Blue Vs Red teams element is nice. Blue team wear blue and vice versa, which makes identifying... Read review

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Advantages: Great Graphics and Gameplay
Disadvantages: Incredibly Long Startup Times

...Unreal Tournament (UT) is the first of a new generation of shooters to appear. Quake III: Arena just came out over the weekend and Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. But those two games have a lot of catching up to do ... UT is the underdog, probably because of the poor multiplayer performance in Unreal. But Unreal had an incredible graphics engine, far superior to Half-Life's (TF2 is based on this) or Quake II. And UT's engine is basically a revved up Unreal engine. It shows. Detailed character models, great lighting effects and lush textures show the incredible horsepower in the UT engine. But that's not all ... the most important question is, how is the gameplay? There is a single-player tournament that you basically use to train. You play against Bots which are the most intelligent I've seen. They'll hide, fire wildly... Read review

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Advantages: Great gameplay, easy to get into user friendly
Disadvantages: internet connection sometimes lets you down

...Team Fortress Classic remains the best online game ever but does the future hold for it? will we ever see the end of lag? what is the latest release date for TF2? Well these are big questions firstly this game is fantastic and is easily playable using a 56k modem although I must point out that this is dependent on what server you choose to go on. The teamplay element makes this game excel each class has strengths and weaknesses but as a organised unit they become a formidable fighting force unless they encounter a emp or mirv grenade! Many people complain about the lag or latency this is something that will never go away even when the whole country is using broad band connections. This is because of many factors but one major obstacle is that you can speed up users connections as much as you like but the server will only be able... Read review

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Advantages: Massive amounts of gameplay variety and fun
Disadvantages: TF2 is dissapointing considering what the PC version is like.

...the length of the game, and can really be included as the extension, with the Half Life formula slightly modified and improved All in all, Half-life 2 and its expansions should be the reason you bought the Orange Box, offering you a good 40+ hours of gameplay. Team Fortress 2: Don't get me wrong. TF2 Is great on the PC. The graphics are the best I've ever seen in any game, ever. The gameplay is amazingly well balanced offering a place for nearly every player as one of the 9 classes. Take for example you like helping your team by keeping them alive offensively, the Engineer allows you to make turrets to defend bases and prevent attacks on weaker classes. Or defensively, you could go for the Medic, with limited offense but a gun that heals your teammates up to 150% of their health. As for attacking the other players, the Heavy has... Read review

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Advantages: Even better than Team Fortess 1.5
Disadvantages: Unknown yet

...If you're ready for the challenge of true team-based online action, you'll find it in Team Fortress 2: Brotherhood of Arms. With TF 2, you'll go into battle as part of a squad of fellow warriors all bent on the same goal -- whether it's storming a beach, demolishing a bridge or escorting a VIP to safety. And you'll do it knowing your teammates are watching your back as carefully as you're watching theirs. Begin by assuming one of twelve roles, each with unique strengths and weaknesses. If you're looking for a straight-up fight, you'll choose Marine or Commando. Prefer the shadows? You'll make a cunning Spy or Sniper. Medics and Engineers support their teammates through bravery and ingenuity. Focus the raw force of your team's talents through communication and strategizing. Whether you're extracting hostages or defending... Read review

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Advantages: 5 fantastic games in one
Disadvantages: none so far

...?). And finally, Team Fortress 2. Again, a follow-up to an earlier game, which again, I've never played. TF2 is multiplayer only and is great fun over 'xbox live'. You can choose to join an existing game with people you don't know, or set up a game with only your friends involved (of course, you can also speak to the people you're playing with...private or public chat). The graphics differ from HL2 (and even Portal) by being much more cartoon-like, having an almost cel-shaded style. That isn't to say the graphics are worse than HL2, merely different. They're extremely sharp and engaging. There are several categories of character, all with differing skills, strengths and weaknesses. Characters are generally either strong, powerful but slow moving, or fast and sneaky but less robust, or somewhere inbetween. That's a rather simple definition... Read review

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Advantages: Cheap! Good performer in most modern games
Disadvantages: Awkward shape may not fit in some cases

...it shows the fins on the rear are not parallel with the card they are at a slight angle which made it awkward to fit in some cases, but the fins are fairly flexible and could be bent quite easily. But mine arrived and the fins were straight, so i had no problems with clearance of the RAM DIMMS like other reviews said (and my case is an average size) if you want i can post pics of the inside of mine, just let me know :) Performance wise, considering its price, it is superb. My specs are as follows: AMD 64 4000+ 2 GB ddr pc3200 RAM and of course the 8600GT With the powerhouses like Crysis this card wont max it at any respectable resolution. I run it happily at medium @ 1280x1024 at around 20-30 FPS which in my eyes if perfectly fine. The source engine games like HL2, Portal & TF2 are easily dealt with and run it fine with all... Read review

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