Game Review: The Orange Box

I am a big fan of the Half-life series by Valve Software. Here is a company that produces some really great games that have a lot of replay value. To this day, I still play Counter Strike and Day of Defeat for the PC. Games that are many many years past their prime. But, they are still good with a great following.

I was excited to play “The Orange Box” for the 360. Here is a single disk that contains 5 games - Half-Life2, HL2 Episode 1, HL2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. I did not get into Team Fortress or Portal, only had 5 days on the rental. Prior to renting this, I own and have finished both Half-Life 2 and HL2 Episode 1. I really wanted to play Episode 2 and it did not a disappoint.

It picked up right where Episode 1 left off, so I would suggest that you start from the beginning and work your way through from the beginning. The graphics lived up to the Half-Life 2 Source engine. The AI was fairly intelligent, even on normal. It certainly lived up to the HL2 name. I would highly recommend playing this game and this series. And this is a great way to do it. Valve provides you the entire series for one price. Take home message: Good Graphics – check out the water, Puzzles are similar to the rest of the series, and good replay value.

If you do not have Half-Life 2, this is a buy!