The Orange Box
Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC
Developer: Valve Software

"Half-Life 2: The Orange Box" is, in essence, a translation of the original "Half-Life 2", a game that first graced computer screens around three years ago. But your not just buying a 3 year old game, The Orange Box includes
"Half Life 2" and "Half-Life 2: Episode One", add one part brand-new, sequel-esque content, which would be "Half-Life 2: Episode Two", and one part which is a innovative full-length puzzle game called "Portal", and our last part is an update to a classic multiplayer shooter, "Team Fortress 2", so all in all, this is quite frankly the best deal in video game history.

Since I don't have Live, this review won't be reviewing Team Fortress 2, I will also be short reviewing each game, as I feel that's the best way to review "The Orange Box

Half Life 2

Story:

Right, Storywise half life 2 seems to have missed the mark, the writers have gone for something really deep and dramatic, only since all the character's in the game think you've been alive all this time(since the events of Half Life) they never bring it up, plus non of them ask Gordon where he has been all this time. So basically with the weak info you get from the character's , the story is this:

A strange alien force called the "Combine" have taken over earth for some reason, there is a Human working as an admin of earth and is on the Combine's side, there is a small group of Humans and Volitgauts(sp) who are trying to take down the Combine, Gordon joins up with them and goes off to save the day.

That's the basics, more small details pop up, but not any big plot twists, there are pieces of things you can put together once you know all of the story to speculate on what events happened, but it's all speculated opinion, it seems Valve are trying to pull something amazing off, or are just lazy

I mean, What happened to all the aliens of Xen, that escaped into Black Mesa, why do the combine have headcrabs as weapons? who is this breen guy? I don't recall him from Half Life 1, but Barney says he is my old administrator, why have the combine taken over the earth? lot's more of these question's pop up and never really get answered, it's like watched a really really bad version of Lost.

Gameplay:

The Gameplay in Half Life 1 had you platforming over dangerous edges to tightwalking on a really thin line, Brilliant gun fights, clever puzzle based boss battles, scary moments(remember seeing your first headcrab zombie, or when you get the crossbow from the shark cage?) and it was just awesome as awhole.
Half Life 2 has pathetic Platform sections, Brilliant Gun fights, dramatic action sequences and loads of see-saw physic based puzzles.

It feels like something was lost from the translation, Don't get me wrong, Half Life 2 is great fun to play, but it feels like valve thought forget those tense platforming sections, lets make them more safer! All of the so called "bosses" can be killed with a few rocket hits (remember in Half Life 1, you had to distract that 3 headed monster with grenades, then run down the ladder to activate each fuel chamber?), plus Valve has placed nice little crates of rockets so if you run out, you can always get more.

The puzzles are filled with see-saw puzzles, yes well done Valve, you created a Physics engine.*clapclap* now no more see-saw puzzles please!

Exploration in Half Life 2 is flawed, just like every other FPS. The big issue that FPS games tend to have with big sprawling levels to explore is that they only really have one thing to reward you with: Ammo. If you're using your weapons wisely and aren't running low, you don't really have much incentive to explore all the extra nooks and crannies the game presents, and that's too bad, because there are a lot of well developed environments here.

Graphics:
All five titles in The Orange Box run the Source engine, which was originally designed for high-end PCs of 2004. What looked outstanding at that time isn't nearly as much so three years down the road – a fact borne out in the port of Half-Life 2, thanks to the muddled look of the game's textures from short to moderate distances. Thankfully, those blurry surfaces are the only symptom of Source's age to emerge here, in large part due to some technical modifications made to the engine for its rendition to the 360. As you progress from Half-Life 2 to Episode One, you can see the texture quality clarity increase noticeably.

But it's a minor problem, it's something you'll notice when you first laod up the game, anyway, Half Life 2 has some gorgeous lighting and environmental effects and the frame rate never seemed to drop.

Sound:
Half-Life was a game that did its sound design right, and that legacy is reflected accurately in all three of its successors here – sound effects are easy to follow, voice acting is always spot-on, and the entire soundtrack is both catchy and fits the flow of the gameplay flawlessly. The little things are what really stick out from each encounter – the sound of a Combine soldier flat-lining after you've killed him, or the screech of a headcrab as it lunges for your skull. The piece that plays when you are getting chased by the chopper while you're zipping around on your water craft is awesome!

Pro's:
-Brilliant Sound effects
- Solid gun battles
- It's great fun, and will keep you hooked to the end
- Nice Graphics
- Gravity Gun is fun when it comes to killing Zombies
- Driving Sections work, near enough.

Cons:
- Gravity Gun gets boring
- Story Line should have been more devolved and explained better.
- lack's some of the gameplay elements from What made the original Half Life awesome!


Half Life 2: Episode One:

Story:
Again, it doesn't answer anything really, if anything it leaves you asking for more answers.

Gameplay:

See-saw puzzles again!!!!!

Nothing new here, which isn't a bad thing at all, but don't go expecting it to return to it's half life roots just yet.

Graphics:

You can notice that Episode 1, looks better than Half Life 2, but only slightly, the graphics seem to increase marginally each game, but it makes you wonder....why didn't they all look the same?

Pros:
- It kinda explains a little bit more about the story
- it's awesome to play
- same pro's as Half Life 2

Cons:
- Story leaves you with more questions than answers
- more see-saw puzzles
- lack's some of the gameplay elements from What made the original Half Life awesome!

Half Life 2: Episode Two

Story:
In Episode 2, the story starts to give answers and gives us a few more questions and it looks like in episode 3 things will be explained better and fully.

The events in Episode 2 take straight after the events of Episode 1, and see's you trying to reach Dr Klienier(sp) and some new character who was apparently in Half life one. (but he wasn't, same as Breen.)

Gameplay:

It seems with Episode Two, Valve went back to it's roots more, it's not perfect, but I found myself having more fun playing Episode 2, than Half Life 2 or Episode 1, Maybe it's because it felt more like Half Life, I defiantly feel like Episode Two is the strongest Half Life game in "The Orange Box".

Half Life 2: Episode Two also adds 2 new enemies into the game, The first one you encounter is the "Hunter" which are quite fierce in battle and take a few shotgun blasts to get them down, and the 2nd are "The Administrators" which you don't get to fight directly but seem to be able to own nearly anything...apart from DOG perhaps.

Also this time round, Valve seem to have gotten over the fact they made a physic engine and there is better puzzles using the physics this time round!

Pros:
- Feels more like Half life
- Plays better than Half Life 2 and Episode One
- Starts explaining the story alot better
- No more See Saw Puzzles
- Same Pro's as Half 2 and Episode One

Cons:
- Ends quite quickly for my liking
- The last 10 mins was quite boring and felt more like a push back towards Half Life 2.
- No Episode 3 :(

Portal

Story:

You wake up in a test chamber where you are set free to do Tests by a mysterious computer that revolve around Portals, you then learn to find out that the computer is insane, and you must escape alive.

Pretty normal stuff, to expect from a film but I don't think I've seen a story like this in a video game so props to it.

Gameplay:

The gameplay in "Portal" has you using..well Portals to solve each Test chamber, it's sounds quite simple, you place one portal where you want to go, and place another as a entrance to the other portal you placed. Only, you have to overcome certain obstacles, such as Poison water, Gun Turrets and portal erasing barriers, at the start the game is very easy, and stays quite easy for mot of the game, most test chambers will have you puzzled for a while, but you'll get past them sooner or later, once you complete portal itself, you unlock harder chambers, which are hard!

Overall the gameplay is original and innovative and freash.

Graphics:

easily the best out of The Orange Box, The lightning effects looks amazing!

Sound:

The sound in Portal is spot on, the Voice acting is great and the script of dark humor is perfect!

Pros:
-Fresh and original Gameplay, that will leave you wanting more.
-it's great fun to mess around with the portals
- Script is good and funny.
-Graphics are lovely
-Gravity Gun got 0wned by Portal Gun


Cons:
-Too Short
- The Cake was a lie :(

Overal Rating of "The Orange Box":

9.5 out of 10

Half Life expert here.

I'll give you everything but the remarks on the story and gameplay for HL2. The art of the game is that you don't know, you know only what your character knows, you really feel immersed because unlike in (insert FPS here), it doesn't privileged you to countless cutscenes and prologues, you're dropped in, and you have no idea what the f**k is going on, just like the character you're playing.

Quote:Exploration in Half Life 2 is flawed, just like every other FPS. The big issue that FPS games tend to have with big sprawling levels to explore is that they only really have one thing to reward you with: Ammo. If you're using your weapons wisely and aren't running low, you don't really have much incentive to explore all the extra nooks and crannies the game presents, and that's too bad, because there are a lot of well developed environments here.

What else are they supposed to reward you with? Cupcakes?

Quote:I mean, What happened to all the aliens of Xen, that escaped into Black Mesa, why do the combine have headcrabs as weapons? who is this breen guy? I don't recall him from Half Life 1, but Barney says he is my old administrator, why have the combine taken over the earth? lot's more of these question's pop up and never really get answered, it's like watched a really really bad version of Lost.

Also for an info checkup Breen was the admin of Black Mesa in the events of Half-Life 1, he was the one who instigated the "portal storm" incident and let all the creatures to the lab. Also, they use headcrabs because shambling corpse are a lot easier to kill than armed rebels. It's like a chemical/biological weapon, as well as a fear weapon.

[quote=DeathNoteL]


[b]Cons:
- The Cake was a lie :(

Lol it was? If im not mistaken you do get the cake in the end
And btw i LOVE the song in the ending x3

SnakeTheFox Wrote:The art of the game is that you don't know, you know only what your character knows, you really feel immersed because unlike in (insert FPS here), it doesn't privileged you to countless cutscenes and prologues, you're dropped in, and you have no idea what the f**k is going on, just like the character you're playing.

Quote:Exploration in Half Life 2 is flawed, just like every other FPS. The big issue that FPS games tend to have with big sprawling levels to explore is that they only really have one thing to reward you with: Ammo. If you're using your weapons wisely and aren't running low, you don't really have much incentive to explore all the extra nooks and crannies the game presents, and that's too bad, because there are a lot of well developed environments here.

What else are they supposed to reward you with? Cupcakes?

Quote:I mean, What happened to all the aliens of Xen, that escaped into Black Mesa, why do the combine have headcrabs as weapons? who is this breen guy? I don't recall him from Half Life 1, but Barney says he is my old administrator, why have the combine taken over the earth? lot's more of these question's pop up and never really get answered, it's like watched a really really bad version of Lost.

Also for an info checkup Breen was the admin of Black Mesa in the events of Half-Life 1, he was the one who instigated the "portal storm" incident and let all the creatures to the lab. Also, they use headcrabs because shambling corpse are a lot easier to kill than armed rebels. It's like a chemical/biological weapon, as well as a fear weapon.

I understood that, that was the point of the story, but come on, it's lazy, they have had 2 sequels via episodes right now, and only near the end of episode 2 did the story process, for me not knowing what was going on, kinda made me feel like I was playing a game without a story most parts. I feel the need for better story telling, since looking at speculation on the story, it seems to have a good story, one that would put down any other FPS story, so i think they should inform gordon on this, or at least, at LEAST! Ask him where he has been all this time. also again, all those questions are unanswered, you didn't really answer why the combine have headcrabs.


As for the exploration, My point is clear as day, If one has enough ammo, your not gonna stop to go looking for more. thus = waste of some nice areas.

I don't recall ever hearing Breen's name in half life 1, apparently he did do all those things, but it's nice to see that Valve can just make a character and then say "HE WAS FROM HALF LIFE 1 LUL"

Urge Wrote:[b]Cons:
- The Cake was a lie Sad

Lol it was? If im not mistaken you do get the cake in the end
And btw i LOVE the song in the ending x3

I think you get the new title screen of the cake, but never get it in the game.

and yeah, that ending song was kick ass.

Quote:I understood that, that was the point of the story, but come on, it's lazy, they have had 2 sequels via episodes right now, and only near the end of episode 2 did the story process, for me not knowing what was going on, kinda made me feel like I was playing a game without a story most parts. I feel the need for better story telling, since looking at speculation on the story, it seems to have a good story, one that would put down any other FPS story, so i think they should inform gordon on this, or at least, at LEAST! Ask him where he has been all this time. also again, all those questions are unanswered,

That's the point. Even Gordon doesn't know where he's been, he was put in Statis, and was brought back to fight the combine. From my experience, as soon as you explain a mystery, it loses all intriguing qualities and becomes another plot device.

Quote: you didn't really answer why the combine have headcrabs.

I recall saying

Quote:Also, they use headcrabs because shambling corpse are a lot easier to kill than armed rebels. It's like a chemical/biological weapon, as well as a fear weapon.

Quote:As for the exploration, My point is clear as day, If one has enough ammo, your not gonna stop to go looking for more. thus = waste of some nice areas.

So then don't stop? Really, I understand what you're saying, I just don't see how else it could be implemented. What else could they put there? Another generic item collection system with hidden tokens or something? Because that would ruin the serious vibe of the game.

Quote:I don't recall ever hearing Breen's name in half life 1, apparently he did do all those things, but it's nice to see that Valve can just make a character and then say "HE WAS FROM HALF LIFE 1 LUL"

I recall hearing his name quite a few times actually. Although again, just like in HL2, in HL1 you have to open your ears and eyes and keep a lookout for little clues and references, you're not given list of Characters and References like you are in every other game.

Again, I understand your concerns, but you have to understand that's the the way the plot works. It's a very simple, realistic method. The story would be ruined completely if they just had yet another self-narrative character who explains everything for you. Some of the art of Half Life 2 is that it doesn't spell things out for you, it tells you only what you try to find out, or what you can find out. Just like in real life, you can't and don't know everything.

Remember those secret rooms in Portal? Same concept. No one is going to tell you what they are. You don't know why they're there, and some of the intrigue is going into them, and reading whats on the walls/floor, and piecing it together yourself, just like your character would have to, essentially making you feel like you ARE the character.

SnakeTheFox Wrote:you didn't really answer why the combine have headcrabs.


I recall saying

Quote:Also, they use headcrabs because shambling corpse are a lot easier to kill than armed rebels. It's like a chemical/biological weapon, as well as a fear weapon.

still doesn't explain how they got headcrabs...lol that could be taken so out of context

Quote:As for the exploration, My point is clear as day, If one has enough ammo, your not gonna stop to go looking for more. thus = waste of some nice areas.


So then don't stop? Really, I understand what you're saying, I just don't see how else it could be implemented. What else could they put there? Another generic item collection system with hidden tokens or something? Because that would ruin the serious vibe of the game.

It not that i don't mind it's just ammo that there to collect, it just that some nice areas can be overlooked due to no need to get out and explore.

Quote:I don't recall ever hearing Breen's name in half life 1, apparently he did do all those things, but it's nice to see that Valve can just make a character and then say "HE WAS FROM HALF LIFE 1 LUL"

I recall hearing his name quite a few times actually. Although again, just like in HL2, in HL1 you have to open your ears and eyes and keep a lookout for little clues and references, you're not given list of Characters and References like you are in every other game.

Again, I understand your concerns, but you have to understand that's the the way the plot works. It's a very simple, realistic method. The story would be ruined completely if they just had yet another self-narrative character who explains everything for you. Some of the art of Half Life 2 is that it doesn't spell things out for you, it tells you only what you try to find out, or what you can find out. Just like in real life, you can't and don't know everything.

Remember those secret rooms in Portal? Same concept. No one is going to tell you what they are. You don't know why they're there, and some of the intrigue is going into them, and reading whats on the walls/floor, and piecing it together yourself, just like your character would have to, essentially making you feel like you ARE the character.

I haven't played Half Life 1 for awhile, so I don't recall his name in there, but you're most likely correct, I'd imagine.

and I can see thats how the plot works, but I've never really been a fan of all that stuff, well I am, I mean...I watch lost, and it's the same thing, maybe I just never really noticed that much stuff in HL2 and i dunno i just can't like the concept of it in Half Life..meh.

as for portal, I think I only came across one of those secret rooms.

DeathNoteL Wrote:

SnakeTheFox Wrote:you didn't really answer why the combine have headcrabs.


I recall saying

Quote:Also, they use headcrabs because shambling corpse are a lot easier to kill than armed rebels. It's like a chemical/biological weapon, as well as a fear weapon.

still doesn't explain how they got headcrabs...lol that could be taken so out of context

Quote:As for the exploration, My point is clear as day, If one has enough ammo, your not gonna stop to go looking for more. thus = waste of some nice areas.


So then don't stop? Really, I understand what you're saying, I just don't see how else it could be implemented. What else could they put there? Another generic item collection system with hidden tokens or something? Because that would ruin the serious vibe of the game.

It not that i don't mind it's just ammo that there to collect, it just that some nice areas can be overlooked due to no need to get out and explore.

Quote:I don't recall ever hearing Breen's name in half life 1, apparently he did do all those things, but it's nice to see that Valve can just make a character and then say "HE WAS FROM HALF LIFE 1 LUL"

I recall hearing his name quite a few times actually. Although again, just like in HL2, in HL1 you have to open your ears and eyes and keep a lookout for little clues and references, you're not given list of Characters and References like you are in every other game.

Again, I understand your concerns, but you have to understand that's the the way the plot works. It's a very simple, realistic method. The story would be ruined completely if they just had yet another self-narrative character who explains everything for you. Some of the art of Half Life 2 is that it doesn't spell things out for you, it tells you only what you try to find out, or what you can find out. Just like in real life, you can't and don't know everything.

Remember those secret rooms in Portal? Same concept. No one is going to tell you what they are. You don't know why they're there, and some of the intrigue is going into them, and reading whats on the walls/floor, and piecing it together yourself, just like your character would have to, essentially making you feel like you ARE the character.

I haven't played Half Life 1 for awhile, so I don't recall his name in there, but you're most likely correct, I'd imagine.

and I can see thats how the plot works, but I've never really been a fan of all that stuff, well I am, I mean...I watch lost, and it's the same thing, maybe I just never really noticed that much stuff in HL2 and i dunno i just can't like the concept of it in Half Life..meh.

as for portal, I think I only came across one of those secret rooms.

Keep in mind Half Life came before Lost :P

As for the secret portal rooms, you should look for more. They're fun. Kinda freaky too.