What exactly is The Orange Box? Well, it’s a lot of
things. First of all, The Orange Box is a great bargain. Five games for $39.99?
Check. Great games with awesome replay value? Check. An amalgam of fun from a
trusted developer? Check.
Starting off with Half-Life 2, the sequel to
the game that gave first-person shooter games story, the player can be amazed at
what a bargain that The Orange Box actually is. Coming from the famed game
developer Valve, it is no surprise that the sequel to one of the greatest games
of all time, is also one of the highest rated games of all time. In Half-Life 2
(now known as HL2), you will start out playing as Gordon Freeman, the hero of
the game. Throughout HL2, one will work at destroying the Combine, who, after
the events of the first Half-Life, took over Earth and destroyed Earth’s
military in no more than five hours. In the ensuing levels, you will gain new
weapons and a better chance at wiping out the Combine with the Resistance.
Gameplay is one of the best parts of HL2. From the different areas, to driving
the dune buggy to the puzzles that are needed to be solved, Half-Life 2 stands
out as one of the best games I’ve played in ages.
Next up are the two sequels to Half-Life 2,
known as Episodes 1 and 2. Episode 1, while still fun, comes up a little short
as the first sequel to HL2. The player will spend most of his time in the
Citadel, trying to eradicate the Combine. While using the Gravity Gun is really
fun, this episode feels cramped and kind of short. Episode 2 excels past Episode
1 and shoots its entertainment value into the stratosphere. Here the player
joins up with Alyx Vance and fights in the countryside to try and get to the
White Forest base to wipe the Combine from the face of the Earth. Overall, the
games of Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and Episode 2 are a definite rationale for
buying The Orange Box.
Next up is Team Fortress 2. The sequel to the
game that made the genre of class based gameplay in first-person shooters
popular, Team Fortress 2 is not your average online FPS (first-person shooter).
With 9 different classes to choose from, the options to play are endless.
Playing in one class for a long time can get boring, but the rewards are great.
For example, playing the medic class, the player can gain better weapons to beat
the other team. This can help you upgrade your classes and gain victory faster.
But, since it is a team-based video game, one will need a headset and microphone
in order to communicate with teammates.
Finally, there’s Portal. In my opinion, Portal
is the gem of The Orange Box. This puzzle game puts a portal gun into the
player’s hands, forcing him to solve puzzles and figure out the mystery behind
the Aperture Science Laboratories. Basically, this game gives the player a gun
that creates portals to allow him to solve puzzles. The puzzles get
progressively harder as the game goes on and the game gets even more fun.
Portal, while really entertaining, is a very short game, and if you are not
intellectually challenged, one can beat it in about two and a half hours.
For the price of retail for The Orange Box, and
the smorgasbord of fun that it is, you may wonder why you don’t have these games
already? Well, stop wondering, and go buy it!
