Big box 'o fun...

Author's Rating:

Pros: Variety of games, each full production titles.  Something for everybody, and excellent value.

Cons: A little dated feel to games, but that's a minor comment.

The Bottom Line: 

Its uncommon to see such value in video games: 5 very good titles from a well known franchise at a great price.

Author's Review
Valve packaged 5 games from their famous Half Life 2 series on a single CD and called it The Orange Box.  Three of the games are part of a first person shooter series.  One game is a multiplayer first person shooter.  And one game is a truly innovate puzzle game.

Let's address the main concern: all the title in the package are quality, full production value games.   The titles have all been out for a while, but if you have never played them, you're going to enjoy how well they play on the xbox360. 

The biggest surprise of Orange Box is that the gem of these titles is a fantastic 3d puzzle game called Portal.  In portal, you are challenged to navigate a series of obstacle courses using a device that allows you to teleport from one section to another.   This game is part platform, part 3d puzzle, but unlike most platform games, you play from a first person perspective.  I'm a player who *hates* platform puzzle games, yet I found this game so much fun, I know I'll be replaying it in a few weeks.  What makes it so much fun?  First, there is a lot of humor in the dialog of a computer that monitors and guides your progress through the levels.  And also, the level design is challenging yet so simple - it compels the player to figure out the correct teleporting sequence.  Finally, there is a delicious twist to this puzzle game, but I'm not going spoil it for you.  Trust me, Portal is a lot of fun.

Three of the games, Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, and Half Life 2: Episode 2  are the continuation of the famous Half Life first person shooter series.   As these titles have all been reviewed individually, I'm not going to go into detail, but I do want to assure the buyer, that you are going have a good 6 - 10 hour sojourn per game.  Half Life series was originally written for the PC, but the port to XBOX 360 is a very successful effort.  The graphics scale well - while not PC quality - they really aren't that far off thanks to the 360 video power.  Its an immersive experience for sure.  The game controls are just fine, and the combat model of the weapons has been adopted to the joystick quite well (joysticks are less accurate than PC Mice, so when a game is ported from PC to console, some effort needs to go into adjusting how easy it is to aim the weapon).

The story line is of an alien invasion, and you become a key component of the human resistance effort.  Ok, it sounds stereotypical, but the plot is a convenient way of putting the player into war torn buildings, crumbling structures, and unexpected alien weaponry.  Occasionally you are assigned a partner in sections of the game.  One tip: these partners have unlimited ammo, so if you're low, let them do the shooting while you look for supplies.  Partners are either replaced immediately after they die, or are invulnerable - either way you never spend much time worrying about their health.

Admittedly, Half Life 2 feels a bit dated.  Newer titles do a better job of building suspense, interacting with AI partners, and put more enemies on the map at once.  But still, Half Life 2 is a good time, and certainly for $25 at the most -- you're not going to feel ripped off for this kind of quality play.

The final title is the well known multiplayer game, Team Fortress 2.  Unfortunately, no internet connection to the Xbox 360 means I can't play this game so no-review-for-you.  I will say that team fortress is a very popular game, featuring classes of characters (sniper, flame thrower, medic, spy, etc.) that compose a team and these teams play against each other.  Google it, and you'll see some rather passionate communities around this game.  Which means, lots of hours playing this game once all the other titles have been finished.

So there you go.  Orange Box is a varied collection of games - hours of fun, and a compelling bargain at $25.  A great holiday gift either to others or yourself.  Recommended for sure.