Half Life 2: The Orange Box - Reader Review

The Orange Box was released on October 10, and is the greatest video game deal to date. the Orange Box includes, Half-Life 2, HL: episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.

The Main Part of this game is Half-Life 2. Half-Life 2 is a 3 year old game from valve in which the player controls Gordan Freeman, the scientist that unleashed an alien world on the Earth in Half-Life. The game picks up a few years after the events in Half-Life 1, and has you in a desperate race to reach the citadel, when the main bad guy is controlling and negotiating with the enemy. You will receive multiple weapons through the course of the game including a shotgun, SMG, a Gravity gun, and a crowbar. The enemies you encounter range from simple pawns, to epic fights for survival. This portion the game will take you anywhere from 8 to 10 hours to complete, and can be revisited to unlock hidden and well placed achievements.

In Half-Life episodes 1 and 2, you continue off of the ending of Half-Life, desperately trying to end the alien menace, from destroying the rest of humans population. These episodes are more 'vehicle' based, but are a joy to play through. In Half-Life 2: Episode 2, a sense of humor is unreleased, and takes away the stress of some of your objectives. The 2 episodes will add another 8-10 hours to the already lengthy FPS.

Portal, is an interesting game, included exclusively in the Orange Box. In it you control a test subject, trying to experiment with seemingly inescapable situations. The game play is very smooth, and the voice acting is spot-on. It is a fantastic comical adventure, as well as a well creed First-person puzzler. the game take you through 11 chapters, consisting of 1 or 2 puzzles each. The ending is a surprise, and comes a little too quickly. The game can be finished in only about 3-4 hours time. However, you will have a blast every moment that it has.

finally, Team Fortress 2, the sequel to the grand-daddy of Class-based online FPS(es), is here. The game has taken on a very cartoony art direction, but does not take away from the pure enjoyment of the experience. There are many classes to choose from, including a scout, an engineer, a spy, and a heavy assault. The game only has 6 maps, and you will see everything, in a matter of 2 hours. But the pure addictive nature of the game, and the clever jokes put into the core game play are fun to see and experience.

Overall, the Orange Box, is the greatest deal you will find this year, and as something for everyone. If you are into puzzlers, first-person shooters, or online mayhem, this is defiantly worth a buy.

- Review by PawnagE

Half Life 2: The Orange/Black Box [Game Details] Xbox 360 / PS3 / PC

The beginning to the popular series, Half-Life, was released October 31, 1998 for the PC and was considered one of the best games in it's time. 6 years later, the sequel was released and was also praised for it's awesome graphics and realistic physics followed by the next installment, Half-life 2: Episode One. And, on October 9th, 2007, Half-Life 2: The Orange/Black Box will be released for the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

The box will include Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, and Half-Life Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Half-Life 2, Half-life 2 Episode One, and Half-life 2 Episode Two features former Black Mesa scientist, Gordan Freeman going through the ruined city of City 17, the wastelands outside the cities, and the infected city of Ravenholm. In the game, you will fight the mawmen (zombies), barnacles and headcrabs (headhoppers) from the original Half-Life along with new creatures such as ant lions, Combine soilders, poison headcrabs, poison mawmen, super headcrabs, and super mawmen. You fight with other members from Black Mesa and Alyx Vance. And yes, it has the Gravity Gun.

In Portal, an innovative puzzle game by Valve, you are a test subject in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. As a test subject, it is your job to, with the use of the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, complete numerous tasks to get through obsticles. The portal gun can pick up items and has the ability to shoot out small portals in which you can walk or jump
through. The obsticles you face in Portal are machine guns, large gaps, and unclimbable walls.
The Portal gun is also used to manipulate other objects, such as cubes or flying spheres, to knock over or activate other objects.

• Here are some screenshots of the Portal

Team Fortress 2 is another game many are looking forward, too. With it's massive online play and many character classes, Team Fortress 2 might be one of the best online games for the Xbox 360. There are many enhancements to the other Team Fortress, such as ammo closets placed in

spawning rooms to restock on ammo and other items, critical hits, the ability to spectate game rooms, different survivability for different classes, and enhanced rules of play in capture the flag and control point match. There are 9 confirmed classes in Team Fortress 2, including demomen, engineers, heavy weapons, medics, pyros, scouts, snipers, soldiers, and spies. For more information about Team Fortress 2, be sure to check out the interview with Valve Engineer Robin Walker, Project Lead Charlie Brown, and Marketing Director Doug Lombardi.

The game has yet to be rated.

Also be sure to check out the Team Fortress 2 Interview on IGN Here.

- Article Written By HermieKrab