The Orange Box
by Electronic Arts
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List Price: Our Price: $19.99 You Save: $10.00 (33%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $14.99 (click here) Category: Video Games See more product details |
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Video Game Reviews of The Orange Box
Customer Review: Amazing deal but good games
Summary: 4 Stars
Right up front, I'll say I'm not a PC gamer; mainly because my computer hasn't been upgraded in years and not even sure it can run it. Also most of them tend to want a membership fee and all that Visa/Mastercard stuff hasn't applied to me in years so in the end I have to rely on console ports and more specifically, ports to the Playstation 3. A game like Half-Life 2 got massive praise, Gordon Freeman is practically a household name in a gamer's home and the Orange Box contains count em 5 games for you to get through. However, I wouldn't say I was absolutely blown away by Half-Life 2 and its 2 episodes but I can say I did enjoy it to a certain extent. Now, Portal on the other hand...
Half-Life 2 (Episodes One and Two): 3 games that deal with the adventures of Gordon Freeman after his mishaps at the Black Mesa Research Facility from the first Half-Life. City 17 is a dystopian environment, the Combine forces have taken control and places can get overrun by strange creatures. Gordon Freeman helps the human resistance and takes the fight to the Combine through the episodes.
Now when I first rented this game, I got a couple chapters in after dealing with an atrociously-controlled motorboat and thought the game isn't worth this much aggravation. Wanting to at least give it another chance, I got it again and made it past there and while I still think there's nothing really here that makes me think "amazing!", I have to say I had more fun later on, mainly thanks to the Gravity Gun. It reminds me of the Kinesis gun from the recent Dead Space where getting a faraway object allows you to drop it to create stepping stones or shoot it away from you. This comes in 2 uses: use it against debris such as abandoned cars and my favorite, launching explosive barrels at enemies as bombs or finding saw blades and launching them at their bodies and well, "torsos" is the word there. Later on, you get an item that allows you to command a previously dangerous-to-you enemy and now you can unleash them on enemies and it's a blast seeing them beat enemies to death.
My problem is that for all the technical achievements and fun aspects Valve put into the game, they also suffer one problem I don't notice a lot, that of delays. Not in terms of the game itself (since as I said, I don't follow the PC game scene) but within the game. Many times, I'll be playing and it'll be fun but then it gets derailed as I have to spend an inordinate amount of time to go do something in order to progress. For example, halfway in the game I get a buggy. Many, many times I have to get out of the thing, go somewhere and turn off a shield or clear away abandoned cars in order to leave and in one strange case, carefully traverse I-beams of a bridge and turn off a shield so my buggy can go on train tracks. Why can't it just be a nearby tower and not go through 20 minutes of careful walking? Or for that matter, shorten the time needed for use of the buggy?
Now, then we have Portal. And yes Portal is unbelievably short as I finished it literally in one 2 and a half hour sitting. However, the game is fun, brain-challenging and incredibly cute and funny. You play as a test subject for the Aperture Science. Given a gun which fires dual portals, you must clear a set number of room puzzles and make it to the next one. Fire one portal on the wall, one on a nearby ceiling and walk through and you'll find yourself tumbling from the ceiling. Another favorite tactic is putting one on a high up wall and one on the floor. Falling from high up, if you time it right, you'll go through the floor/high wall but more quicker than before, allowing access to previously inaccesible areas. Or in gLaDos terms, the AI running the tests, "speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out". This AI is arguably the star of the show as she's got a deadpan humor and has frequently hilarious bits of advice and comments. We also have the droids you have to work your way past which also is voiced by the same VA as the AI and have cute sing-songy type voices and if it wasn't for the fact that they're trying to kill me, their "there you are" thing would be adorable.
I didn't bother checking out Team Fortress 2 so can't really comment about that but as for the games itself, if you're an FPS fan than obviously you've heard of Half-Life and most likely played them already and want them all on one package. For the rest of us, it's a good thing to check out and see what's all the fuss apart but it still won't unseat Bioshock, Shadow of the Colossus or Metroid Prime as one of my favorite games...and that's with all 5 games too.
Customer Review: awkard port of a fantastic series / franchise
Summary: 3 Stars
I hesitantly purchased the Orange Box for PS3 knowing the software maker's hatred for the PS3 platform. The game is playable with long load times between scenes. Online play is ok but limited compared to the PC version. I really wanted to play this game but probably should have built a 1000 dollar PC to play it rather than skimp and get it for PS3. In scenes with lots of activity there are slowdowns in framerate. I would guess down to 30fps or lower... Having said this it is playable and enjoyable. It's worth $25 or so but not more. If you are serious about playing HL or TF2 you'll probably
wish you had a fast gaming rig.
Customer Review: PS3 Orange Box is a must have
Summary: 5 Stars
I was hesitant to purchase this game due to some reviews claiming that it had frame rate issues on the PS3. I am happy to report that those issues were either overblown or fixed. If you don't have this compilation of 5 games, you need to get it. The price drop to $29.99 make it a steal. I would pay that for Portal by itself. My girlfriend actually likes Portal! It is so different from other games. It is my understanding that Valve may not port future games to the PS3. That would be unfortunate. All their games on this disk are great and I recommend it with no reservation.Customer Review: EXCELLENT FUN
Summary: 5 Stars
I HAVE BEEN A HALF LIFE FAN EVER SINCE THE FIRST GAME CAME OUT. I HAVE PLAYED IT PROBABLY 5 TIMES. I HAVE PLAYED HALF LIFE 2 ABOUT 3 TIMES. THIS NEW HALF LIFE PACKAGE WAS A REAL GOOD DEAL AS I PICKED IT UP NEW FOR 29.95. HALF LIFE EPISODE 1 AND EPISODE 2 ARE REALLY FUN. BOTH EPISODES ARE FAIRLY TOUGH AS YOU GET OVERWHELMED BY ENEMIES AT TIMES AND OF COURSE YOU ARE FIGURING THINGS OUT IN PUZZLE FASHION. I STARTED PLAYING PORTAL AND FOUND IT POINTLESS AND I HAVEN'T PLAYED TEAM FORTRESS AS OF YET. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT JUST FOR EPISODES 1 AND 2. I'M NOT A GAME NERD SO I DIDN'T FIND ANY PROBLEMS WITH IT. SOME OF THE REVIEWS I READ I NOTICED THAT SOME PEOPLE GRIPE ABOUT THE SMALLEST DETAILS. I HAVE NO GRIPES. I PLAYED IT ON THE PS3 AND I ENJOYED IT JUST FINE. I DID GET THE IMPRESSION THAT THERE WILL BE A HALF LIFE 4. I HOPE SO. IF YOU ARE A HALF LIFE FAN, BUY THIS GAME. YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID, ESPECIALLY AT THIS PRICE. Customer Review: Bang for your buck.
Summary: 4 Stars
The first thing that can be said for The Orange Box is what a deal it is. For less than the price of one game you're getting 5: Half Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. And every single one of those games are awesome in their own right. Starting with Half Life 2 and the 2 episodes; graphically all three are great and hold up even compared to newer games. The story and weapons are part of what make this game so fun and definitely one I'd recommend for those who enjoy both first person shooters and puzzle games, but beware as there are zombies. Team Fortress 2 is a quirky online first person shooter that is worth trying out and a lot of fun to play with a bunch of friends. Each character class has it's own unique personality to go along with it's unique weapons. Finally there's Portal. A first person action puzzle game that is both fun and challenging. GLaDOS the crazy computer who is putting you through all your test with the portal gun had me laughing out loud so many times and I replayed the game several times just to hear what she had to say. Plus the ending of the game, which I won't give away, is well worth the time put in getting through the trickier puzzles. Overall this is a great buy I'd recommend to anyone who enjoys fps game and puzzles that have a different point of view to them.