PC version review, a must buy for all PC gamers!
The Orange Box contains 5 games that are all considered A+ titles by fans and professionals alike. The Half Life series has always had critical acclaim and the sequels HL2, Ep1 and Ep2 are no different. These three games continue the story and the gameplay to one of the best PC FPS series ever created. While there are some minor downsides to the HL2 episodes in that their rather short gameplay length and lack of any new weaponry etc can come across as boring. The emotional story, intense action and constant improvements to the Source engine have caused the series to constantly improve upon itself. You can't call yourself a gamer, and definately a PC gamer, if you don't own the Half Life and Half Life 2 games.
Portal is the little gem of this package. Its short single player campaign is a perfect mix of gameplay, puzzle solving and black humour in the form of the games antagonist, GLaDoS. An intuative game with a lot of inovation to make it stand out in a crowd. No other puzzle game has used portals as a method to solve said puzzles and no other game has managed to make such a concept so successfull. Definately a brilliant game and with the possibility of Mods for the PC version its well worth a look.
Team Fortress 2 is probably the best piece of the Orange Box because of its online play. PC games are all about the online play and TF2 definately delivers a solid experience. The many classes in the game are well balanced and very unique, no two feel the same, and compliment one another well. Since release Valve have added achievements to both the Medic and Pyro class and intend to continue adding them for the other classes. If your into that sort of thing then TF2 is a big must, a lot of the achievements are challenging and yet highly amusing. Not to mention they in a way force players to try out other classes they may never have played before.
Overall the Orange Box is quite possibly the best gaming package to ever be created. Five games for the price of one, five awesome games. If your a PC gamer then i suggest definately buying this as you really cant find a better deal or justify calling yourself a PC gamer when you dont own such an awesome array of games.
