My Best Game of '06
Can I begin to say how much I adore this game??? I can try
HL2
Though a bit old and suffering a tad from over-exposure, Half Life 2 and all it's grunty little offspring hold up incredibly well by todays standards. The graphics are good and don't look out of place on a next-gen console despite their age, the physics are better than most new-releases and the story and pacing are fantastic. HL2 has really set the benchmark for story, with an intelligent plot that empowers the gamer. Instead of feeling; "oh, more generic cannon fodder I've wasted ammo on" you feel "I'm glad I've accomplished something that will save the world and the NPCs I have grown fond of" . The characters are superb, from Burnie to Eli and especially Alyx you feel like you're in a different world and really feel emotions in all situations with your new family. Hell, I even have a special place in my heart for Dog, the characters are that well fleshed out. If you've finished it before, you will love it again and those who missed it the first time round have no excuse.
Portal
Those of you haven't experienced the dark humour of GLaDoS and the brilliant and original gamplay of Portal, you are really missing something. Clocking in at just five hours long, Portal is the short, shining gem in the Orange Box's crown. The amazing dialogue and mindbending puzzles will stick with you forever and change every puzzler you play from now on.
Team Fortress 2
There is just so much I love about TF2 it's hard to know where to begin. The graphic style feels you're just inside a Pixar movie, and the cool jazz soundtrack, 50's paranio, James Bond style encounters and dark humour enrich this perfect online game. Epically balanced, each class is brimming with personality and individuality, the featurettes dotted around the interweb highlighting the thought and effort put into each class.
Above all else I love the community. Half my friends list are lifted from this game and playing as a medic is as much fun as going lone wolf, mainly because the players you encounter actually wear a mic, engage in intelligent conversation, employ actual strategies and thank team work. Google garry's mod or team fortress and you will be presented with a plethora of user made content and humour. I feel this beats technically superior online games like CoD and Battlefield because I appreciate a strong community and I promise you will love this game and the friends it makes you.
The Orange Box is a triumph of gaming and I owe a big thanks to Valve for many happy hours and doing the industry the single biggest favour of any games developer. 6/5
