The Orange Box - By aussierockr
When Valve announced the release of the Orange Box, a collection of Valve games including the highly anticipated Team Fortress 2, it was met with great response from the serious gamer community, but went unnoticed in the casual gamer community.
Let’s start with the casing; living up to its name with a bright orange cover, it does go unnoticed amongst other games, looking more like an empty box rather than a game on the shelves. But on further inspection, you will find one of the best bargains of the year.
Half-Life 2
Half Life 2: Episode 1
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Team Fortress 2
Portal
But that is not all. The PC version encompasses a few hidden gems; a key for Counter-Strike 1.6, and Peggle Extreme, a trial of the Pop Cap game Peggle Deluxe (which, might I say, is a highly addictive game). Along with that, PC users will also be able to download Half-Life: Lost Coast, a short campaign focused on using Valve’s new graphical engine (or something to that degree).
So, let’s go through each game. I will cover all the Half-Life’s together, as they are basically the same. I was never really a fan of the Half Life series. I find the gameplay to be very outdated, and not much realism or effort put in. Along with that, I find the graphics to be 10 years behind, contrary to popular belief. The graphics within Half-Life 1 are barely upgraded in Half-Life 2, and most FPS games to be released within the past 5 years beat Half-Life’s graphics. The series seems much to overhyped, and doesn’t warrant the ridiculous amount of games released.
Despite all this, I still found myself addicted to Half-Life, mainly because the storyline can’t be beat. Because Half-Life’s campaigns are a separate game to its multiplayer counterpart, the effort put into the campaign as a whole is spectacular. From the little puzzles needed to be solved to reach the next zone, to the attention to detail, this game really will keep you entertained for hours. The game is repetitive, but Valve throws in several levels which take you away from your usual setting, keeping the user playing.
And for once, this campaign won’t be clocked in just a couple hours; something which is lacking in this world of online multiplayer gaming. So if you are looking for a recent game that finally has some worthwhile single player, Half-Life is definitely for you.
Now, onto Team Fortress 2. I had never played Team Fortress Classic, but was assured by all who played it that it was amazing. Yet all I have heard about TF2 from these people, is that it doesn’t live up to its predecessor. Well, I don’t think many games can do that, and so I feel that reviewing this game without prior knowledge of the original game is best.
Team Fortress 2 has the feel of a joke game; the graphics are quirky and reminiscent of Leisure Suit Larry 8. But once you actually get into the game, you find this is no joke. Team Fortress 2 is faced-paced, fun-filled action that will actually have you enjoying your gaming time, instead of shouting at your monitor and flooding the VOIP channels with incoherent rage. The game allows you to choose from 9 different classes, all of which are very balanced and the same on both teams. Each class in the game gives you a chance to play a very different role within your team, and gives you a different aspect of the game. The generic maps available include 2 gametypes; Control Points and Capture the Flag. The control point gametype has several variations to it, but the basic idea is that you take the enemy’s control points. Capture the Flag is slightly different, with your goal being to capture the enemy’s briefcase, containing intelligence. There is also a third gametype which isn’t played as much, which is straight-up deathmatch. Unfortunately, Valve decided to only release one map for deathmatch; a pit with teams spawning on either side.
The modding capabilities of TF2 are endless, as the game is just like any other Steam-released game. The maps already available for TF2 are top-quality and provides hours of fun once the original maps become boring.
There is one downside to Team Fortress 2; its scoring system isn’t great, and sometimes people playing team-based roles don’t get the points they deserve.
Team Fortress 2 is just an amazingly fun game. Valve’s ability to balance every aspect of the game and throw in some humour provides a gaming experience which can’t be beat. It is such an enjoyable game.
And finally, we come to the “filler game”-turned-cult-phenomenon release in the collection, Portal. Portal is a puzzle game based in a FPS environment. The game is set at Aperture Science, and you, the main character, must pass a serious of mind-boggling puzzles. The puzzles are completed using portals to move about the map. You are guided through the facility via the PA by GLaDOS, a robot with a dry sense of humour. The plot is pretty straight forward and the major twist isn’t anything but predictable. But that isn’t to be said it isn’t enjoyable either.
The most intriguing part of this game is that there are only two characters in the game; GLaDOS and the character you control. This provides an interesting experience where the mini-puzzles in Half-Life are brought to their full potential, and will leave you thinking.
The problem with Portal is that the campaign is much too short. Once you get the hang of the Portal system, you will find yourself moving through the levels with minor effort. Although the extra challenges available will keep you playing longer than the campaign, it still isn’t a long game. This is made worse by the fact that it is solely a single-player game.
So, overall, whether you are really excited about one of these games or not, you can’t go wrong with The Orange Box. With console versions giving you 5 games for the price of one, and the PC version giving you 8 games for less than the price of one, the Orange Box has something for everybody; good campaigns, good multiplayer, funny games, serious games, and thinking games.
What more could you want?
Let’s start with the casing; living up to its name with a bright orange cover, it does go unnoticed amongst other games, looking more like an empty box rather than a game on the shelves. But on further inspection, you will find one of the best bargains of the year.
Half-Life 2
Half Life 2: Episode 1
Half-Life 2: Episode 2
Team Fortress 2
Portal
But that is not all. The PC version encompasses a few hidden gems; a key for Counter-Strike 1.6, and Peggle Extreme, a trial of the Pop Cap game Peggle Deluxe (which, might I say, is a highly addictive game). Along with that, PC users will also be able to download Half-Life: Lost Coast, a short campaign focused on using Valve’s new graphical engine (or something to that degree).
So, let’s go through each game. I will cover all the Half-Life’s together, as they are basically the same. I was never really a fan of the Half Life series. I find the gameplay to be very outdated, and not much realism or effort put in. Along with that, I find the graphics to be 10 years behind, contrary to popular belief. The graphics within Half-Life 1 are barely upgraded in Half-Life 2, and most FPS games to be released within the past 5 years beat Half-Life’s graphics. The series seems much to overhyped, and doesn’t warrant the ridiculous amount of games released.
Despite all this, I still found myself addicted to Half-Life, mainly because the storyline can’t be beat. Because Half-Life’s campaigns are a separate game to its multiplayer counterpart, the effort put into the campaign as a whole is spectacular. From the little puzzles needed to be solved to reach the next zone, to the attention to detail, this game really will keep you entertained for hours. The game is repetitive, but Valve throws in several levels which take you away from your usual setting, keeping the user playing.
And for once, this campaign won’t be clocked in just a couple hours; something which is lacking in this world of online multiplayer gaming. So if you are looking for a recent game that finally has some worthwhile single player, Half-Life is definitely for you.
Now, onto Team Fortress 2. I had never played Team Fortress Classic, but was assured by all who played it that it was amazing. Yet all I have heard about TF2 from these people, is that it doesn’t live up to its predecessor. Well, I don’t think many games can do that, and so I feel that reviewing this game without prior knowledge of the original game is best.
Team Fortress 2 has the feel of a joke game; the graphics are quirky and reminiscent of Leisure Suit Larry 8. But once you actually get into the game, you find this is no joke. Team Fortress 2 is faced-paced, fun-filled action that will actually have you enjoying your gaming time, instead of shouting at your monitor and flooding the VOIP channels with incoherent rage. The game allows you to choose from 9 different classes, all of which are very balanced and the same on both teams. Each class in the game gives you a chance to play a very different role within your team, and gives you a different aspect of the game. The generic maps available include 2 gametypes; Control Points and Capture the Flag. The control point gametype has several variations to it, but the basic idea is that you take the enemy’s control points. Capture the Flag is slightly different, with your goal being to capture the enemy’s briefcase, containing intelligence. There is also a third gametype which isn’t played as much, which is straight-up deathmatch. Unfortunately, Valve decided to only release one map for deathmatch; a pit with teams spawning on either side.
The modding capabilities of TF2 are endless, as the game is just like any other Steam-released game. The maps already available for TF2 are top-quality and provides hours of fun once the original maps become boring.
There is one downside to Team Fortress 2; its scoring system isn’t great, and sometimes people playing team-based roles don’t get the points they deserve.
Team Fortress 2 is just an amazingly fun game. Valve’s ability to balance every aspect of the game and throw in some humour provides a gaming experience which can’t be beat. It is such an enjoyable game.
And finally, we come to the “filler game”-turned-cult-phenomenon release in the collection, Portal. Portal is a puzzle game based in a FPS environment. The game is set at Aperture Science, and you, the main character, must pass a serious of mind-boggling puzzles. The puzzles are completed using portals to move about the map. You are guided through the facility via the PA by GLaDOS, a robot with a dry sense of humour. The plot is pretty straight forward and the major twist isn’t anything but predictable. But that isn’t to be said it isn’t enjoyable either.
The most intriguing part of this game is that there are only two characters in the game; GLaDOS and the character you control. This provides an interesting experience where the mini-puzzles in Half-Life are brought to their full potential, and will leave you thinking.
The problem with Portal is that the campaign is much too short. Once you get the hang of the Portal system, you will find yourself moving through the levels with minor effort. Although the extra challenges available will keep you playing longer than the campaign, it still isn’t a long game. This is made worse by the fact that it is solely a single-player game.
So, overall, whether you are really excited about one of these games or not, you can’t go wrong with The Orange Box. With console versions giving you 5 games for the price of one, and the PC version giving you 8 games for less than the price of one, the Orange Box has something for everybody; good campaigns, good multiplayer, funny games, serious games, and thinking games.
What more could you want?
