BAN ME PLEASE
11-10-2007, 4:24 PM
The Orange Box
System: Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Valve
Grade: 4.879/5
The Orange Box is a collection of vastly different games, but they all come together quite nicely. Since it's hard to group all of the games together, I'm going to review each game as if it were seperate.
Half Life 2 is the first game I'm reviewing, and make a note here (huge succes lma lmao lmao), Half Life 2 is the first half Life game I've ever played. I've read up on how amazing these games were, but in the end I'm not a big PC gamer and have never really went out to buy either game.
Starting off with the gameplay, well, it's an FPS. Not really much different. You have the variations from things like Halo because its not all Run and Gun, but you have to hide for cover some times and then there are the puzzles, which range from "why put this here in the first place" to "holy shit, how the fuck do you fucking do this fucking puzzle". But there's just something about the gritty texture of the overall game and the character interactions that make this an FPS that no one should miss out on. Everything happens at the perfect times, and besides for the rather long (and sometimes annoying) car sequences, this game has just about everything. Shooting, ducking in cover, puzzles, driving, and at some parts of the game a first person RTS.
The story would seem over-done if this game didn't present itself so well. It's not all "Holy crap! Alions r atackin11!", but it looks as if the Aliens have already won, and quite some time ago. And dealing with this game being a sequel, it does very well at continuing from the last game, but at the same time making this a new game all of its own. From what I've read about Half Life, Half Life 2 contains an entirely new story line, branching off from the one the original Half Life left off.
Then the graphics(which can apply to this and Episodes 1 + 2), they're simply amazing. Not only are they great, they add to the story immensly. You can really sense the feeling of grittyness and a worn-down society when playing through the Half Life 2s, And even the faces of the NPC's animate smoothly.
---
Now to Half Life 2: Episode 1. If anyone didn't already know, it's basically just a continuation of Half Life 2, an epilouge, if you will. The only thing about it is that Episode 1 only feels like an epilouge. When it was first released it was sold not as an expansion pack, but a full game (although I think it was brought down in price).
Episode 1 is by no means a bad game, but I have to say that I am very glad I didn't just buy and play this alone. This game gives you about 2 1/2 tops, maybe more if you feel like replaying it. In fact, this game probably would have taken me less time if not for the fact that I was trying to get the "One Free Bullet" Achievement.
This game really has no story. It's basically a little over two hours of Gordan and Alyx trying to get out of the City 17 with data that Alyx stole from the Combine. Sure you have Antlions, and you have Combine Soldiers, and you have Striders, but that's all you really have. The game pretty much repeats itself with you fighting each of the enemies, and varies every chapter or so. It's an extremely short game, but goes well with the entire package.
---
Half Life 2: Episode 2, however, is an entirely different story. While the premise is similar to Episode 1's, the mood of the game just makes it feel better. The missions are definatley different, at the Beginning you will be traveling through an Antlion nest and by the end you'll be taking down dozens of striders attacking a base. Not only are there two more levels in Episode 2,(although one of them is completely unnessary), but each of the levels are longer than any of Episode 1's levels.
The story may be just "get from point A to point B" and have a lot of obstacles in your way, but it presents these obstacles very nicely. The addition of the Hunters are great, these new enemies are not only a challenge to take down but are fucking cool as hell. And the G-man is back for a visit, this time bringing you information that's not completely useless. And atleast by the end of this game you'll have an objective for Episode 3.
The only real complaint I have about Episode 2 is about how this game has too many "cutscenes" (well, the Half Life version where you can move around freely but still have to stand still to hear what people have to say) You really can't get through a level without hearing some character drone on about stuff that you could probably figure out yourself.
---
Now on to the extra games in The Orange Box, which are not just cool little mini game type games that Valve just added in for the heck of it, but two very addicting, and very different games.
Portal was being hyped before the game's release, but to many it still became the surprise hit. This First Person puzzle game is anything but a little extra Valve added in.
First of all, it's short, but it's o.k, because it's just a puzzle game. You might be completing this game in just over two hours on your first run, but this game is just so addictive you'll be wanting to play through it again, either on the challenge puzzles, or with the developers commentary.
Secondly, this game is freakin' hilarious. You sort of have to look for the humor, but it's there. The way the computer that's "helping" you throughout the game talks is funny, but the things she(He?) says helps brighten the mood. With the help of the weighted companion cube and the turrets, this game will atleast make anyone crack a smile.
The puzzles in this game are just challenging enough that you'll be wondering to youself "How do I do this?", but easy enough so that you'll be "damn, that was obvious" by the time you figure it out. I have to say though, most of the puzzles in the main game are fairly easy, and none of them would take a whole lot of straining to figure out. The challenge puzzles, however, are another story.
Now for the graphics. It seems that valve kind of didn't know which way to go, because the walls and the character itself looks like they just ripped something out of Half Life 2, but the gun, the turrets, the cubes; they all look like they came out of Team Fortress 2. It's a nice blend of realistic and somewhat cartoony, and it works nicely with the overall mood of the game.
---
Last but not least, Team Fortress 2. I have to say that this is the funnest online multiplayer game I've played. And I've played Halo 3 and Gears of War.
The learning curve on this is tough, because not only do you have to figure out what class of character you like, and which one your good at, but everyone in this game goes pretty damn fast, and are pretty hard to kill if you're chasing them. Unlike in games of Halo when two opponents duke it out and whoever has the better gun wins, in Team Fortress two you'll be chasing your opponent, hitting your opponent, or using different weapons to see what will kill them the best.
The downside to TF2 is that it only has 6 maps, and only one of them is capture the flag, and the rest are variations of "capture the base". So there's really no "Team Deathmatch", but then again you can just make it that way yourself by ignoring the rules of the game and go around killing everyone. Also, each map is pretty large and a lot of times you'll be using different parts of the maps for the capture the base modes, so it'll seem like it's been a long time since you've played the map. Not to mention that there's 9 different characters you can play as on maps that look pretty good.
The graphics might be the best part of this FPS, and is probably the thing that sets it apart from other average FPSs. Playing TF2 is sort of like playing a playable version of Finding Nemo or the Incredibles, a very violent, playable version of the Incredibles. This game is all cartoony, but it isn't really cell-shaded, which is good, because cell-shaded is sooooooo last year.
Overall TF2 is a very fun and addicting game, and is probably the next best thing after Portal on this game.
---
So there you have it, my review of The Orange Box. I doubt any of you are going to read the entire thing, but if you do good job. My final statement has to go with how well this game is priced, because you are getting quiet a deal for this game. For the 360 it's 60 dollars for 5 full games, and for the PC it's only 50 bucks for all 5 games. So if you think of it this way, you can get each game for only 10 dollars.
System: Xbox 360, PC
Developer: Valve
Grade: 4.879/5
The Orange Box is a collection of vastly different games, but they all come together quite nicely. Since it's hard to group all of the games together, I'm going to review each game as if it were seperate.
Half Life 2 is the first game I'm reviewing, and make a note here (huge succes lma lmao lmao), Half Life 2 is the first half Life game I've ever played. I've read up on how amazing these games were, but in the end I'm not a big PC gamer and have never really went out to buy either game.
Starting off with the gameplay, well, it's an FPS. Not really much different. You have the variations from things like Halo because its not all Run and Gun, but you have to hide for cover some times and then there are the puzzles, which range from "why put this here in the first place" to "holy shit, how the fuck do you fucking do this fucking puzzle". But there's just something about the gritty texture of the overall game and the character interactions that make this an FPS that no one should miss out on. Everything happens at the perfect times, and besides for the rather long (and sometimes annoying) car sequences, this game has just about everything. Shooting, ducking in cover, puzzles, driving, and at some parts of the game a first person RTS.
The story would seem over-done if this game didn't present itself so well. It's not all "Holy crap! Alions r atackin11!", but it looks as if the Aliens have already won, and quite some time ago. And dealing with this game being a sequel, it does very well at continuing from the last game, but at the same time making this a new game all of its own. From what I've read about Half Life, Half Life 2 contains an entirely new story line, branching off from the one the original Half Life left off.
Then the graphics(which can apply to this and Episodes 1 + 2), they're simply amazing. Not only are they great, they add to the story immensly. You can really sense the feeling of grittyness and a worn-down society when playing through the Half Life 2s, And even the faces of the NPC's animate smoothly.
---
Now to Half Life 2: Episode 1. If anyone didn't already know, it's basically just a continuation of Half Life 2, an epilouge, if you will. The only thing about it is that Episode 1 only feels like an epilouge. When it was first released it was sold not as an expansion pack, but a full game (although I think it was brought down in price).
Episode 1 is by no means a bad game, but I have to say that I am very glad I didn't just buy and play this alone. This game gives you about 2 1/2 tops, maybe more if you feel like replaying it. In fact, this game probably would have taken me less time if not for the fact that I was trying to get the "One Free Bullet" Achievement.
This game really has no story. It's basically a little over two hours of Gordan and Alyx trying to get out of the City 17 with data that Alyx stole from the Combine. Sure you have Antlions, and you have Combine Soldiers, and you have Striders, but that's all you really have. The game pretty much repeats itself with you fighting each of the enemies, and varies every chapter or so. It's an extremely short game, but goes well with the entire package.
---
Half Life 2: Episode 2, however, is an entirely different story. While the premise is similar to Episode 1's, the mood of the game just makes it feel better. The missions are definatley different, at the Beginning you will be traveling through an Antlion nest and by the end you'll be taking down dozens of striders attacking a base. Not only are there two more levels in Episode 2,(although one of them is completely unnessary), but each of the levels are longer than any of Episode 1's levels.
The story may be just "get from point A to point B" and have a lot of obstacles in your way, but it presents these obstacles very nicely. The addition of the Hunters are great, these new enemies are not only a challenge to take down but are fucking cool as hell. And the G-man is back for a visit, this time bringing you information that's not completely useless. And atleast by the end of this game you'll have an objective for Episode 3.
The only real complaint I have about Episode 2 is about how this game has too many "cutscenes" (well, the Half Life version where you can move around freely but still have to stand still to hear what people have to say) You really can't get through a level without hearing some character drone on about stuff that you could probably figure out yourself.
---
Now on to the extra games in The Orange Box, which are not just cool little mini game type games that Valve just added in for the heck of it, but two very addicting, and very different games.
Portal was being hyped before the game's release, but to many it still became the surprise hit. This First Person puzzle game is anything but a little extra Valve added in.
First of all, it's short, but it's o.k, because it's just a puzzle game. You might be completing this game in just over two hours on your first run, but this game is just so addictive you'll be wanting to play through it again, either on the challenge puzzles, or with the developers commentary.
Secondly, this game is freakin' hilarious. You sort of have to look for the humor, but it's there. The way the computer that's "helping" you throughout the game talks is funny, but the things she(He?) says helps brighten the mood. With the help of the weighted companion cube and the turrets, this game will atleast make anyone crack a smile.
The puzzles in this game are just challenging enough that you'll be wondering to youself "How do I do this?", but easy enough so that you'll be "damn, that was obvious" by the time you figure it out. I have to say though, most of the puzzles in the main game are fairly easy, and none of them would take a whole lot of straining to figure out. The challenge puzzles, however, are another story.
Now for the graphics. It seems that valve kind of didn't know which way to go, because the walls and the character itself looks like they just ripped something out of Half Life 2, but the gun, the turrets, the cubes; they all look like they came out of Team Fortress 2. It's a nice blend of realistic and somewhat cartoony, and it works nicely with the overall mood of the game.
---
Last but not least, Team Fortress 2. I have to say that this is the funnest online multiplayer game I've played. And I've played Halo 3 and Gears of War.
The learning curve on this is tough, because not only do you have to figure out what class of character you like, and which one your good at, but everyone in this game goes pretty damn fast, and are pretty hard to kill if you're chasing them. Unlike in games of Halo when two opponents duke it out and whoever has the better gun wins, in Team Fortress two you'll be chasing your opponent, hitting your opponent, or using different weapons to see what will kill them the best.
The downside to TF2 is that it only has 6 maps, and only one of them is capture the flag, and the rest are variations of "capture the base". So there's really no "Team Deathmatch", but then again you can just make it that way yourself by ignoring the rules of the game and go around killing everyone. Also, each map is pretty large and a lot of times you'll be using different parts of the maps for the capture the base modes, so it'll seem like it's been a long time since you've played the map. Not to mention that there's 9 different characters you can play as on maps that look pretty good.
The graphics might be the best part of this FPS, and is probably the thing that sets it apart from other average FPSs. Playing TF2 is sort of like playing a playable version of Finding Nemo or the Incredibles, a very violent, playable version of the Incredibles. This game is all cartoony, but it isn't really cell-shaded, which is good, because cell-shaded is sooooooo last year.
Overall TF2 is a very fun and addicting game, and is probably the next best thing after Portal on this game.
---
So there you have it, my review of The Orange Box. I doubt any of you are going to read the entire thing, but if you do good job. My final statement has to go with how well this game is priced, because you are getting quiet a deal for this game. For the 360 it's 60 dollars for 5 full games, and for the PC it's only 50 bucks for all 5 games. So if you think of it this way, you can get each game for only 10 dollars.