The Orange Box Reviews

• THIS IS THE REVIEW Valve DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE

  
  By A74TA8X5YQ7NE on 2007-10-11
  HL2 was one of THE BEST games ever created - and I am not an easy customer (feel free to browse through my other reviews, including the one on HL2, you will see what I mean).
  Nevertheless, the whole STEAM disaster taught me the lesson TO NEVER, EVER again get suckered by a game whose publisher:
  (a) considers me a criminal - although has pocketed my $50,
  (b) wants me to ask for permission EVERY BLOODY time I want to play even a single player game,
  (c) installs an auto-updating, commercial-reporting and in-contact-with-the-mothership utility that retains backdoor access to my computer,
  (d) lets greed dissolve any shred of shame and envision a world where gamers will be charged by the hour to play games they have already bought, and
  (e) does not concede to the proven fact every "security system" eventually gets cracked and every "OnLine activation requirement" eventually gets bypassed. So, utilizing an overly inconvenient security scheme only serves in penalizing the people who actually paid good money for their product - and manage to shoot their sales in the foot at the same time.
  
  It may seem unbelievable, yet it is True: "STEAM-secured" HL2 barely sold HALF the units that unprotected HL1 did! (Source: The Washington Post - link provided in comments).
  You would think some bright MBA (who could not tell the difference between a FPS game and an RPG) was sent home with no bonus? Guess again. Here come the Episodes!
  
  After underselling HL2, VALVE then tried to catch up with short Episodes sold as...expansions. Well, a couple of hours of gameplay and some polished surfaces an expansion do not make. So, when Episode1 sales missed their projections by far, the geniuses accountants jettisoned the BLACK BOX release (which were to contain just the NEW games) and came up with this...ORANGE BOX idea.
  
  This release contains, of course, Episode2 and - in order to sweeten the deal - the original HL2, Episode1 as well as a short maze game and a multiplayer platform (all based on the HL2 engine). I do remember Episode1 being so short that, even back then, I was sure it was only PART of the expansion under developement: these parts were eventually to be sold as separate...Episodes 1 & 2 (& maybe 3).
  Now, let's see how good a deal the ORANGE BOX actually is. This is what it contains: HL2 (an excellent 2004 game not really showing its age), Episode1 (a very short expansion), Episode2 (the rest of the expansion, also short), PORTAL (a 2-hour FP maze runner) and the multiplayer game TEAM FORTRESS 2.
  So, are the accountants actually doing us a favor when pricing all these games for 50$? Not unless this is your first experience with HL2.
  If you do NOT own either HL2 or Episode1, then, yes, this is a GOOD DEAL. If, however, you already own HL2 and Episode1, I would suggest waiting for the individually sold components. When was the last time we paid 50$ for another short expansion?
  
  Now, since I do have to connect to a server in order to play a multiplayer game, it makes no difference to me whether that be STEAM or any other server. Validate away my genuine copy to your hearts content!
  However, I REFUSE to ask permission every time I wish to play a Single Player or LAN game FOR A TITLE I HAVE ALREADY PAID AND BOUGHT!
  I REFUSE to ever again submit to the whims of STEAM - only to fall victim to busy, unstable and fickle servers!
  
  VALVE has to learn eventually that respect is a two-way street. The intrusiveness and inconvenience of STEAM created a huge debt with its original HL2 customers - and, since the market correction of the affect of STEAM failed to sink in, the ORANGE BOX will now inevitably pay that debt - with interest.
  Episode2 may be a fine expansion and TEAM FORTRESS the new CS. Nevertheless, they are still STEAMed up by accountants posing as game designers. They fooled my once...
  
  I am NOT going through that again!
  
  PS:
  WESTWOOD was once a mighty company riding the cutting edge of creativity (the COMMAND & CONQUER series was their innovative idea, starting with the classic DUNE that introduced the RTS genre). In 1997 they released an online RTS game named COMMAND & CONQUER: SOLE SURVIVOR. In 2003 (just 6 years later) WESTWOOD was bought by EA GAMES which (true to its mega-corporation mentality) pulled the plug on the existing servers. Whoever had bought SOLE SURVIVOR now had a piece of worthless reflective plastic.
  
  Now, what makes you think this cannot happen to VALVE?
  (and what will the value of all these STEAMed games be then?)
  
  

• Worst Amazon purchase I've ever made.

  
  By A2J3MR64L567OK on 2008-01-02
  I've been shopping on Amazon since the late 1990s. I've been playing video games since the early 1980s. Between the two, I've probably bought over 100 different video games through Amazon for a dozen different game systems and computers. The Orange Box is, without a doubt, the WORST game purchase I have ever made here. Not only do I feel completely cheated, not only do I feel as if I am in fact owed several hundred dollars in frustration fees, I actually think my overall interest in video games has been damaged by this monstrous piece of marketing vomit masquerading as a playful gamer utopia. That is how ridiculous this piece of Trojan Horsed garbage is.
  
  The culprit is a smarmy little ferret of a program called "Steam". I don't know who came up with this, but I hope they get hit by a bus and buried in a fire ant den. Simply put, "Steam" is an Orwellian nanny program that requires you to basically convert your computer into an Internet-enabled marketing survey to even access the games you "own" (but that Steam controls). Once upon a golden time, when you bought a game you could put the CD in your computer and simply play it, perhaps with an activation key. But with Steam, you have to set up an entire account larded with nefarious third party vendors just to have a fighting chance of even downloading the games that are supposedly just included in the Orange Box. Fantastic.
  
  And guess what - there is no mention of Steam anywhere in The Orange Box. NONE. The entire instruction manual for the Orange Box consists of a single two-sided set of control instructions for the actual games. I guess they just forgot to print the "Oh, By the Way, You Need Officially Licensed Steam Spyware To Install or Play Any Of These Games, Suckers" liner.
  
  I have never been more disgusted and embarrassed by a purchase before, and I've been to Amsterdam. I strongly encourage everyone to give deep and abiding thought to whether they really want to pay $40+ a pop for the privilege of having customized spyware run roughshod over their computer. I guess this "5 game* --- *if you manage to navigate 15 layers of watchdog control" game "deal" really is too good to be true.
  
  
  
  

• Great game ruined by DRM.

  
  By A26QZYA5WJGKAU on 2007-10-12
  I am in college right now, and am often very busy. I do most of my gaming when I return to my mom's house for winter break and summer break. My mom's house has no internet connection. This game cannot be played without an internet connection, due to draconian DRM policies.
  
  Remember: When you buy a game with DRM, you're not buying a game, you're buying...well, nothing at all really.
  
  

• WARNING: Massively Region Locked

  
  By A2JQ3OFWOH6KX4 on 2007-10-25
  Orange Box is region locked like no other game before. If you buy this game in one country and bring your laptop to another country, there's a good chance Steam won't let you play it. This isn't mentioned anywhere on the box or in the license agreement, it's just a nasty surprise you get. So if you buy this game in the USA and take a trip to Japan with your laptop chances are you won't be able to play the game because Steam will detect you're using a Japanese IP address.
  
  Right now Valve is locking this game down by country but next they may lock it down by state or even city. Sorry, you bought the game in Los Angeles, you can't play it in San Diego.
  
  Negative five stars for a defective product. Valve stole my money.
  
  

• Great package for those who are new to HL2

  
  By A1YEPFLLH42OU1 on 2007-12-04
  Okay, so I'll admit to being one of the five people that hasn't even touched Half Life 2 until now. I did play through the original Half Life, and its difficulty (especially in the later stages) was a bit of a turn-off. Personally, I think that when the game practically necessitates cheating to complete it, it's a bit too much. That said, seeing this bundle on the store shelf was a bit too good of a deal to pass up, so I picked it up.
  
  First impressions on the game design- the physics is more heavily involved in gameplay than in any other shooter before or since. In fact, in many cases the gameplay seems to FOCUS on the physics, not on killing enemies. To underscore this, you can actually finish most of the game with only the gravity gun, which (except in rare cases) can't kill anything directly but can pick up objects to throw at enemies. This is an interesting departure from the norm, but there are times when I think they took it a bit too far. Typically, you'll start off killing enemies and will have the normal frantic bursts of action, but you'll eventually run into a puzzle. These are usually something as simple as a locked door or elevator, and you simply (or not) have to open it or turn it on. Most of the puzzles can be figured out given a reasonable amount of effort on the player's part, but there are a few that will undoubtedly frustrate to the point where you simply look it up. I guess this is fine, so long as you aren't highly averse to cheating in such a fashion. I will say, when you do get where you're going, you do feel a sense of accomplishment at having figured it out.
  
  The game's graphics are pretty good even for now, and voice acting is well done. The environments are well made and look realistic in a sort of grim alien/post-apocalyptic style. It's nothing that will blow you away after seeing next-gen titles, but it's none too shabby either. Additionally, the episodes feature graphic improvements. If you have bought a machine anytime in the last 3-4 years, chances are it'll run smoothly at max settings. The game is quite stable as well, though it doesn't seem to like being minimized. One thing to note is that the game does take quite a while to start up and has occasional- and sometimes rather jarring- load pauses. These usually take place in a featureless corridor, and I found that after a while I could tell when it was about to stop to load.
  
  The original HL2 is generally a good story and great pace, save for one glaring thing. There are two sequences where you're driving a vehicle around, and it's my opinion (and most I've mentioned it to agree) that these are just WAY too long. It's almost as if the developers were justifying the time they spent making the vehicles work by stretching out these sequences to a ridiculous length. Some other interesting notes are that allies are somewhat useful now, and the variety of enemies is enough that they don't get overly repetitive. Particularly, there is a point where you get to command an endless horde of weak critters to overwhelm a horde of enemies (fortunately, not endless), which is one of the highlights of the game.
  
  The episodes (1 and 2) more or less follow the same style of the original. You lose all your weapons at the start of each one, which is rather irritating, and they aren't especially long installments. They largely serve to drive the plot along, which is actually getting interesting enough that I'm looking forward to the finale. You spend most of your time with Alyx backing you up, which is good if you hate being lonely, but somewhat of a shift in gears from the core game where you're largely solo. There are a few surprises and new enemies along the way, and enough new environments to make things fun.
  
  Additionally, this package comes with Team Fortress and Portal, which are a multiplay shooter and puzzle game respectively. I haven't looked into either extensively since I largely bought this pack to get the Half Life content, but it's a nice bonus.
  
  The only big gripe I have about the Orange Box is something that a lot of other people have complained about- specifically, Steam and the Valve DRM. If you don't have a live internet connection you CANNOT play any of the games since it needs to connect to Steam to authenticate you. Steam also performs updates whenever you launch, so patching is not optional and can eat into your game time when you don't particularly want it to. There were times when I was playing some online game, my internet died, and I figured to just play some HL2 instead... and after a few minutes sitting on the 'Now loading...' prompt I remembered it wasn't going to work either. This, like many other aspects of Half Life 2, is different from any other shooter out there- but not in a pleasant way. Personally, I don't see why it can't authenticate once in 3 launches, or even every other launch. Even that would be preferable to the way it is now.
  
  All in all, the Orange Box is a great value if you haven't already bought HL2 or Episode 1. I'd hesitate to say it's a 'great' value for Episode 2 alone, but this is also available separately on Steam if you already have the rest. For those who haven't tried the core game, it's a lot of fun and good game time for the price, and unlike most new shooter releases you probably won't have to upgrade your PC to run it.
  
  
• Overall game package....Better than I'd hoped ... maybe even a 'Game of the Year' contender in this group
  By AUX9KZUUB3YCE on 2007-10-15
  Some comments on the 3 new components of this 5 game package.
  
  Episode 2...a worthy sequel to Episode 1...
  
  In fact, qualities good enough (IMO) to think that it might have contended for single player, Game of the Year*, (however, its shorter overall length would probably preclude this honor.)
  
  This game was all that I'd hoped for; it has some great battles, an extended car driving component, an interesting new weapon (towards the end), a compelling story line, a hint of humor and a touching, emotional ending.
  
  In addition, it has smooth flowing graphics, well sync'd voice and lip movement and a few interesting puzzles. Also, the way the other characters (i.e. Alyx, Dr. Vance etc.) watch you and turn their bodies to adjust to your position (Freeman) is remarkable; very realistic.
  
  My only small complaint would be that the first quarter of the game was a little drawn out and repetitious; however this is only a minor concern in an otherwise incredible PC game.
  
  Easily 5 Stars...more if I could.
  
  *****
  
  Portal...quirky and different but fun!
  
  A rather unique, single player puzzle game that involves going in and out of doors; doors you make with (what else), your portal gun. However, this task is not quite as easy as it sounds; to accomplish your goals you must use strategies of lateral thinking, timing and momentum to get through all 19 different levels. Of course the challenges become more complicated as you progress and to win the game (and escape), you must defeat the increasingly neurotic test-facility robotess in the finale. Great fun!
  
  This spacial concepts took a little time to get use to, but once the basics were mastered this was an interesting and fun exercise in abstract thinking and puzzle solving. 4 ½ Stars.
  
  *****
  
  Team Fortress 2...non-stop action
  
  An excellent addition to the original TF. The gameplay could best be described as multiplayer chaos, with everyone running around like mad trying to survive. It is, however, great fun. 5 Stars.
  
  Conclusion:
  Great value for the money; 1 new game, 2 new sequels, plus a couple of old games thrown in (games that, for anyone who likes this genre, has already played long ago). Overall package...5+ Stars.
  
  *other nominees for single player 'Game of the Year' might be 'Bioshock' and "Call of Duty 4', with 'Timeshift' and 'STALKER-Chernobyl' close runner ups and 'Crysis' in a more distant grouping.
  
  
  
  
  
• Steamy pile of ...
  By A1WTTAZTTBMJB3 on 2007-10-19
  The games themselves are ok. But the fact that everything is attached to Steam is awful. The worst piece of software I have ever seen. Support does not exist. No phone support at all, email requests been unanswered for over a week and now to top it all the account has been deactivated for no apparent reason. I am doing a chargeback and not buying anything from Valve ever again.
  
  
• Worst Company Ever
  By A25O8ZBNV3EAQ9 on 2007-10-22
  I was in Thailand for a business trip when I saw the Orange Box sitting in a name brand store at a great price. I purchased the item as I was planning on purchasing it anyway. It is a legitimate product, not a bootleg. This is name brand store, not a back street vendor.
  
  When I get home to the states I install the game with no problems. Over the course of a week I played Portal which is a good but short game. I then go on to episode 2 and play until I have 1 mission left to beat. I log off and then log back on a few hours later. To my surprise I cannot play any of the games. I get a message that the games are not available in my territory.
  
  I head over to the Steam website but there is nothing about the issue. I look up a phone number for tech support but there isn't one. You have to put in a ticket which can take a minimum of 3-5 business days.
  
  So here I am not able to play any of my games, I can't get any help at all from Steam. Steam is the most intrusive DRM program I have seen. If it has problems you can't play your game even though you have the disc in hand. And the companies wonder why people pirate things. Although I don't condone then I can understand some of their reasoning.
  
  I've got my support ticket in and I doubt I will hear anytime soon. I hope those of you who purchase this never have any problems with Steam. You will be left with an unusable product and little to no support.
  
  
• Gargabe game from garbage company
  By A3RXNER8YJE3JD on 2007-10-19
  I will never buy a valve product again. I bought a legit game from a legit source, and valve just cancelled my account for no reason. They have done this to what I suspect is in the thousands of customers. There is a forum site where many people are screaming mad.
  
  I played the various Orange box games for 1 week, than they basically screwed me over by deactivating a legit account.
  
  If you wanna play a game sold by a crooked company, buy this game.
  
  
• Superb
  By A1W00UPFJSRXZ2 on 2007-10-14
  Excellent price for 5 triple-A quality games. Lives up to the hype.
  
  ...and if you already own HL2 and episode1, Valve (through Steam) lets you transfer those licenses to a friend.
  
  
• Fun for the short time I was able to play it.
  By A1ZSLDF9LEHPO1 on 2007-10-22
  I purchased the orange box retail (not Amazon), installed with the DVD, and successfully activated my key though Steam. Everything was fine and dandy for a few days but then I went to play some Portal one night and all the games associated with the Orange Box were removed from my account for no apparent reason. When I try the launch the games from my desktop, I get a 'Territory Error' and I'm forced to quit. Valve has not been helpful in this regard and I still can not figure out why the removed the games from my account without warning, and I'm a paying customer. Valve claims that you can install and play any game associated with you Steam account on any computer in the world. However, my experience so far has taught me that I can't even play them on my own computer! I urge you to stay away from Valves products until you can be guaranteed that you won't be locked out of your Steam account. As of right now I'm out $4X.XX and have no games to show for it. Valve will never see a dime from me again.
  
  
• region locked
  By A1G02MT87XIJK4 on 2007-10-22
  According to Valve, their games are region locked so make sure you purchase from the same area that you will play in, otherwise your games will be disabled. A copy of the orange box bought in one country will not work in another country since all valve games are verified through steam.
  
  My biggest complaint is that no information regarding the region lock is listed on the box itself or on Steam's website. After purchasing a legitimate copy of the orange box while i was in asia, my games disappeared a few days after i had installed and played when i got back to the U.S. Theres no official statement from Valve as of yet and no word from their customer service.
  
  
• Fun if you ever get to play it
  By A1KGKPWWG61U42 on 2007-10-26
  I bought the Orange Box three days ago. For some reason, the games are trying to download themselves from Steam rather than installing off of the DVD's. So far, only the original Half Life has installed. This is after leaving my computer running nonstop for two whole days. Occasionally, the install craps out with "The Steam Servers are too busy. Try again in a few minutes" and I start the install again.
  
  If the games aren't finished installing by tomorrow (72 hours after purchase) I am sending this back for a refund.
  
  
• Great Game, Nightmarish Process
  By A30VL9Q5RCOK49 on 2007-11-02
  Steam is an absolute nightmare. The game ran fine initially. I quit the game and went back to play some more, but Steam found problems with my "Local Game Files" and then tried to download the files from Steam-infinitely! I tried to reinstall from dvd and "Steam servers are too busy, please try again in a few minutes" during which time the Steam servers were apparently NOT too busy to drop an ad for a new Steam game onto my desktop. Maddening, sbdolutely maddening. If you don't enjoy frustration, buy something else!
  
  
• Nothing rhymes with Orange...
  By A1H1CGZJ3TWOVX on 2007-10-10
  They say nothing rhymes with Orange... but what about PWNage!? I guess that doesn't either. But it should! This game rocks!
  
  Team Fortress 2 is worth the price of admission for this instant classic collection. The team play is deep and instant. You really find people pairing up as medic and heavy to mow down a field of scouts and engineer turrets. Or people switching classes to fill in a defensive gap. THe healer class is greta fun as is the support engineer. They game is very well balanced with each class able to counter another.
  
  The voice acting is hilarious and the charater models are gorgeous. This game will be played years to come, as the graphics are so highly stylized they will age with grace. The depth of each player class and the differing play modes make for a truly engrossing experience. Mix in some achievements, point capturing, Steam's new robust online community, in-game VOIP and you have a stellar game experience worth $50 alone. But wait theres more!
  
  The price is simply amazing. Easily the best deal in gaming available out there! Half Life 2 was great and episode 1 continued that excitement. Portal proves to be great and a fresh take on puzzles, this time in 3D. Episode 2 will be great as well.
  
  I am happy i purchased this game and have been able to play Team Fortress 2 for the Steam beta period. I will not stop playing for a long long time! Great work Valve!
  
  
• Big Brother
  By A2H90WJ42J7BRW on 2008-01-02
  I wish I had read the bad reviews before waisting my money.
  Valve is so threatened by hackers stealing their code that they are punishing all the rest of us.
  Their "Orwellian" scheme is to get you to buy the game and then make you agree to a lisence that says you don't own it, even though you paid for it.
  I have never had a game like this, where I couldn't access the game directly from the disc. It's outrageous that Valve could do this.
  Do not buy this game. You have to download the game from the internet.
  It smacks of spyware.
  
  
  
• Good Game, Lousy distribution
  By ALHWGT8A8EP1I on 2007-11-30
  Give me a freakin break!
  I go in and buy a box and I want the GAMES not the software to download the game. I should not have to upgrade my line of communication in order to download a game. Also, I should not have to be ONLINE or in ONLINE mode to play a game.
  
  The games once downloaded I awesome and I like to play them. But I will *never* buy another Steam/Valve box of download software!
  
  Once they go belly up, how do I get to keep my games?
  
  Mike
  
  
• Inside an Orange Box: Where to Put Valve and Steam
  By A2J57EQ9KPGXR9 on 2007-12-18
  I like game software, owning what I purchase. Valve Software and Steam, the internet-based registration process, prevents me from ever buying Halflife anything, anymore.
  
  I was one of the few lucky ones to get Steam to work on my PC when I purchased Half-Life 2. But then I realized that I bought a licensing scheme, not a game.
  
  Never again, no matter how "good" the gameis supposed to be..
  
  
• steam is a nightmare
  By AFWPLXT2OD6H1 on 2007-12-31
  You would think that if valve implemented something that was able to register and verify their product online, they would make a system that would work. If it doesn't work, then why not just do it the way that everyone else does it? I mean if you are going to make users go through all the trouble of having to verify the game over the internet, then shouldn't the process of playing the game after validation be hassle free? After all, we paid for it. We should be able to play it.
  I'm having nightmares trying to get anything to play except for peggle. I have been able to play a little bit of portal. The problem is that the local .gcf files are corrupted and the support page tells you nothing about them. So you're left with downloading GCFScape and verifying each .gcf file is not corrupted and deleting them if they are, and then opening up steam again to download. Except that the next download is corrupt too, so you have to start the process all over again (which takes hours). Meanwhile, you can't play anything.
  They need to make the process of downloading and extraction more foolproof, or they need to make steam a little bit more verbose when there is a hang-up or both. Controlling the verification of authenticity over the internet is fine by me. But if you are going to go that route - be sure that process is as hassle free as possible.
  
  
• All Aspects are Brilliant
  By A3V6Z4RCDGRC44 on 2008-02-16
  We love portal, and we play Team Fortress 2 non-stop all night, every night. We can barely fit our review of Team Fortress 2 into this review space but you can see the other full reviews of the other components on our bellaonline website.
  
  -----
  
  One of the three games in Valve's "Orange Box" package, Team Fortress 2 is a long-awaited sequel (announced in 1998) to the original "Team Fortress Classic" mod for Half-Life 1. Despite the abhorrently long delay, this game is worth every second of development.
  
  Team Fortress was one of the first big games to use classes, each with their own weapons and specialty. Following either a Capture The Flag or a Control Point objective type, players combined the unique abilities of each class to capture their objectives. TF2 has kept this basic premise, and added a wicked, madcap sense of humor and colorful stylistic choices to it.
  
  There are 9 classes in the game each given their own weapons (including a unique melee weapon), abilities, and personalities. First is the scout, who is the fast character who is meant to rush in, get the flag, and get out. In TF2, the Scout has a smart mouth and constantly wisecracks as he downs foes with one of his three weapons - a shotgun, a pistol, and an aluminum bat. The Soldier is next - a grunt armed with a rocket launcher, a shotgun, a shovel, and a military drawl. The soldier can "rocket jump" by firing at his feet, which injures him but launches him far upwards. The Pyro is armed, as one might guess, with a flamethrower (as well as a shotgun and a fire axe) and is the game's least comprehensible character - muffled as he is by his flame-retardant suit and mask. The Pyro is meant to ambush characters, due to the flamethrower's short range, but if he can get in close and start spraying fire and setting enemies ablaze, the kills just rack up.
  
  The Demoman is a bit of a quandary - a self-described "black Scottish cyclops", he is equipped with two grenade launchers (one that launches regular grenades, one that launches remote-detonated "sticky" grenades that can be used as deterrents for enemies proceeding carelessly through doors) and an empty bottle as a melee weapon. The Heavy is perhaps the game's most recognizable character - a huge, Russian man armed with a minigun. Gameplay for the Heavy consists of firing or winding up the character's huge weapon, or on occasion using his backup shotgun or his mighty fists. The Engineer is one of the more intellect-oriented classes in the game; not adept at physical combat, the Engineer prefers to build gadgets to help his team. The devices that can be built are a sentry gun (an automatically firing turret that can be upgraded to three different levels of weaponry), a dispenser (which gives health and ammo), and a teleporter. All of the engineer's devices require metal to build or upgrade, which is gained by collecting ammo from fallen enemies. The Engineer's personality is laid-back, with a southern drawl more relaxed than the Soldier's.
  
  The Medic is the main support unit for any team - with the use of his healing Medigun, the Medic is responsible for keeping his team alive. Furthermore, after healing enough, the Medic can use his Ubercharge ability to render himself and a target invulnerable for roughly ten seconds. The Medic has a German accent, perhaps a nod to the stereotypical Mad Doctor. Snipers are Australian Bush Rangers armed with high-powered rifles. These rifles charge up their power, but only when zoomed in; this encourages snipers to wait and time their shots, rather than using the sniper rifle as a really accurate close-combat weapon (as seen in Counter-Strike). Requiring reflexes and accuracy, the Sniper is a highly specialized class, and every map has windows looking out over a large battleground for the Sniper to fully use his abilities. Finally, the Spy is perhaps the most complex class. Capable of taking the appearance of an enemy unit (to allies, he appears to be wearing a paper mask with the target class' face drawn on it), the Spy must try his best to infiltrate the enemy and take them out - through backstabbing, sappers (which disable engineer tools), and good old-fashioned misdirection. As a backup, Spies can cloak themselves, useful for infiltrating and exiting the enemy base. While Spies cannot be easily detected, certain suspicious behaviors can be noted and so a Spy must try his best to blend in - for example, not charging the enemy base from his own base, where no regular soldier would be doing so.
  
  These nine classes form the wildest, most madcap First Person Shooter in recent history. Set on six different stages (the development team states in the in-game commentary that more were considered, but playtesters noted that players usually only play maps that they really like over and over, for example De_Dust in Counter-Strike) with a Mad Scientist theme, players join either the BLU (Builder's League United) or RED (Reliable Excavation Demolition) teams. Both sides are fronts for secret corporations, and the maps revolve around capturing secret data (the equivalent of CTF) or important secret bases housing nuclear weapons or laser beams (the Control Point game type).
  
  The graphics are the most noticable and unique new feature to the game. Using a cartoonish style and shading/lighting type, the characters and maps are designed to let the characters stand out and be identifiable by their color, class, and weapon (in that order). The result is fantastic - TF2's style is possibly the best use of a cartoonish style in a video game that I have seen. Each character is vibrantly alive and unique, a fact further fleshed out by their in-game taunts and sounds (many taunts activate automatically when certain conditions are met - for example, if a Scout kills a Heavy with his bat, there's a sound clip for that). A far cry from the mostly silent and serious setting of Team Fortress Classic, TF2 embraces the ridiculousness and outlandishness present in its gameplay, making light of combatants rushing headlong into their death (when killed, you get a screenshot of your killer, complete with arrows marking your body and, if you were killed by something explosive, any little parts that are nearby).
  
  As a whole, this game is a blast. Its frantic gameplay, hilarious voice acting, and strategic simplicity make this a game for almost anyone to enjoy. There's nothing to dislike about this game - even the small map selection doesn't seem to matter because of how involved one becomes with the strategy used in each. This game is brilliant.
  
  10/10.
  
  
• DANGER - Do not buy a used copy! Valve won't transfer licences
  By A2TBAL3X8CYDRM on 2008-04-24
  Beware. A lot of people on here selling "New but opened" copies of orange box are actually selling registered copes and Valve (in their infinte wisdome) refuse to transfer licences from one customer to another (in violation of the "First Sale" doctrine of copyright law).
  
  DO NOT BUY a used copy except from an 'authorized valve reseller' (whoever that is, apparently not Amazon, unfortunately).
  
  
• A Pack of New Titles Brings Old and New Players to New Classics
  By A2UBMRDWNYB98L on 2007-10-10
  For the price of a single A List game title (For instance, Bioshock) you get five here in the Orange Box. The price is undeniable for anyone that enjoys Puzzles, Shooters, Multiplayer or just games in general.
  
  Half Life 2 and it's Episodes, One and Two, are all included in the Orange Box. A physics based shooter/puzzler that is usually referred to as the very plateau upon which the greatest games of all time sit. Half Life 2 grants more then 20 hours of gameplay if one were to take their time, and both of the episodes grant about 5-10 hours each. A plus is that if you already own Half Life 2, or Episode One, you can give them to a friend through Valve's Steam platform free of charge.
  
  Team Fortress 2 has been a long time coming. After Team Fortress in around 1995 and Team Fortress Classic nearly 10 years ago, the only whispers from Team Fortress were cancelled, but brought back in 2006 with a cartoony Pixar like style that really lends a lot to the experience. It's basically 100% multiplayer all out action in which you pick a class with specific over the top skills. (The soldier can use his rocket launcher to launch himself high into the air, the spy can disguise as an enemy team member, etc.) It's pure fun, well worth at least 40 of the 50 dollars for the package.
  
  Portal is a mind blowing experience that can be hard to describe. A specialized tool carried by the player opens portals on flat surfaces to completely unconnected parts of the map. There is no shooting of weapons done by the player while navigating through 20+ puzzles that require use of the "portal gun" to finish. The game itself is far too short for such an interesting and gripping idea, able to be completed in under two hours, but more time can be squeezed out of it with medals completed in least footsteps taken, fewest portals shot, etc, along with an easy method for adding community made maps.
  
  Alltogether, bought seperately, these games would cost 100+ dollars, but they only ask half of that. An undeniable deal for anyone that enjoys shooters, multiplayer, puzzles, or teamplay, the Orange Box has something inside for everyone.
  
  
• Crashed My System
  By A59582CKBFMON on 2007-12-09
  When launching any of the games purchased, I couldn't get passed the intro as my system kept crashing. My PC is only a year old and exceeds the minimum requirements, I have an NVIDIA 7300 LE, new X-FI Xtreme Audio sound card, and 2.66 GHz Pentium 4.
  
  My PC kept locking up so many times that when I powered off, it corrupted my master boot file which took me a day figure out how to fix. Once back into Windows, I IMMEDIATELY uninstalled everything.
  
  What really shocks me is a game maker that suggests you completely remove all anti-virus software completely in order to solve lock-up problems. I use Norton AV 2008, and if Steam can't get their game to work properly with such a popular AV software package, they have no business trying to sell this product.
  
  
• This is the Star Wars Galaxies of the HL franchise...
  By A1GDCXI6V6T81M on 2007-10-15
  I loved HL2. I loved HL2 E1. This episode, however, is both uninspired and frustrating. Too many missions which are thinly disguised timed missions. (You know, wave after wave of mobs are thrown at you and if one makes it past you through one of the areas you are guarding have failed and thus get to restart.) The plot that is being advanced is, well, about as original as as an MST3K movie. Your new weapon is a mine you must fire with the grav gun so it sticks to a mob, and then switch to another wep and hit the mine so it explodes.
  
  BTW, if the mine gets hit by enemy fire even when it is in your grasp, it crumbles. Also, if you miss and land it near the mob, the mine merely shatters.
  
  Wow! What a great innovation!
  
  And, this is the wep you get for one of the timed missions--the last boss mission.
  
  Sadly, also, this entire episode only takes about 5-6 hours to finish if you explore a lot. You are not getting a lot of content for your dollar.
  
  This is the Star Wars Galaxies of the HL franchise...
  
  
• this RIP OFF !!
  By AW9ZQ2IHCVFEI on 2007-11-01
  Steam is the worst. If you want a hassle after you have paid, but before you play, try Bioshock, at least it is a better game. Pass on this Pumpkin, kick it in the face instead and throw it into the street.......
  
  
• Steam Really Messed this one up
  By A17E6570DO0YCA on 2007-12-04
  Steam used to be an optional install for your computer now that you are forced to install it before you can install this game. I have had a pretty little orange box sitting on my shelf for a week. If you use AOL as an ISP, I would recommend not purchasing this game until they come out with a fix for this, because you can not download the steam update while using AOL therefore the whole game is useless and unable to be installed until this is fixed. The orange box has become a pretty expensive BOOKEND for me. THANKS STEAM!
  
  
• Some Good, Some Bad
  By A23HCR977WY1YN on 2007-10-13
  Half-Life Episode 2: Grade: C
  I have just completed Half-life: Episode 2. Honestly, the story is the only reason why I finished it. The game play just felt like more of the same. No new weapons, two new enemies and an extremely short game. It took me 5 1/2 hours to complete, according to my personal game play statistics page on Steam, and I spent some of that time lolly-gagging around and exploring. If I stuck to plowing through the game, I probably could have beaten it in 3 to 4 hours. The story is Episodes 2's saving grace. Now that TF2 has finally been completed, lets hope the team can put more energy into the third episode.
  
  Team Fortress 2: Grade: A
  I started playing this during Beta testing and I've been addicted to it since. The graphics, characters and balanced game-play is a vast improvement over the first Team Fortress. The Orange Box is almost worth it just for this.
  
  Portal: Grade: B-
  Decent game with puzzling maps to exercise your mind. I finished it relatively quick. There are bonus maps that take the game-play a little further. It has an interesting story that adds to the Half-Life universe.
  
  
  The Package Overall: Grade: C+
  It's a good thing Episode 2 came in a package of other games. Here's hoping that Episode 3 is a stunner. TF2 is amazing fun. Portal is decent fun with quirky game play. Half-life 2 and Episode one have been out for a long time now. If you are new to the Half-life experience, then you have hours upon hours of game-play. If you are already an experienced Half-Lifer and Episode 2 was what you were waiting for, then you may be in for a disappointment.
  
  
• Go play Quake Wars!
  By AFQCFW93RYADX on 2007-10-22
  This game took 3 years to long. They force you to buy games you already own under the guise that you can give them to a friend. However, they know full and well your friend will want to play what you are playing, so they will end up buying the full box and have games to give away too. Don't waste your time with this overhyped piece of junk.
  
  
• Another Steam Burn
  By A35ASBCRRQJC6Y on 2007-10-23
  Amazed that I had to buy a bunch of games I already own as well as others I do not want in order to get Ep 2 (what a scam). I bought orange retail and while installing/activating through Steam I kept getting server errors and told to try again later. Maybe it's just me but when I lay $50 hard earned dollars down for a game, I want to take it home and play it (after all I own it right? - wrong). Valve's Steam software dictates when I can play. Well, when I finally got Ep 2 up and running (the next day), it was OK - nothing special and certainly not worth $50 (maybe $20) but at least they gave me a bunch of other games I could care less about. I've finally come to the realization that my Steam days are over. Valve's Steam has become more oppressive than the Combine.
  
  
• GOD HATES STEAM
  By A39T0L7SX0BQ8R on 2008-05-29
  Steam! Gotta hate it. I have a satellite connection with Hughes. I have 299MB of high-speed bandwidth before the fair access policy kicks in and slows me down to dial-up speed like a virtual bungee cord. You get two DVDs with a pile of data ( like 9GB?) on them but Steam just has to download everything off the web. Why even sell a physical box if you are going to force us to download it all anyway? I am pretty sure the games rock but I may never actually know because I have to download so much.
  Now Hughes has a time they allow us to update without it costing against our bandwidth and if you could set steam to update at that time, it would work. I wouldn't be mad but no, there is no way to control WHEN it updates, only how fast. THE CAKE IS A LIE. If it were not for steam, this package of games would be so perfect. God hates Steam and so do I. Only the truly fortunate uber 1337 with true cable connections can ever just ignore the problem valve shoves into peoples laps by selling them virtual product in a physical package. May gnats fly up the nose of all Valve staff and half suffer dice sized kidney stones for this annoyance. *gestures obscenely and storms off*
  
  
  

• Half-Life 2 (Orange Box): Prima Official Game Guide
• PC Gamer (1-year)

• BioShock
• Crysis
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
• World In Conflict
• Unreal Tournament III