Games of the Year
I had the pleasure of coming to Orange Box as a huge fan of the original Halflife but never having played it's sequel. Halflife 2 came out at a time when I was transitioning away from PC gaming. While I felt some regret at the time I'm glad I got to wait for it. It looks and plays great on the 360 and being able to play the original HL2 along with the two episodes was really satisfying.
It's really hard to fit everything that makes Halflife 2 great into a capsule review like this. So I'll just say it is an expertly designed FPS. I was challenged by never frustrated, nor was I ever bored. The weapons, level design, enemy AI, and puzzle solving were all excellent. Alex is the best digital character in any game, period.
Portal is an amazing game. The thing that surprised me the most was how the story affected me. The puzzle design was excellent, and puzzles aren't the sort of thing I'm usually interested in. But something about the atmosphere of the game really haunted me for a long time. And Portal has the all time best end credits. Within the parameters of what it is (it isn't long and it really on has one type of gameplay) it may be the most perfectly designed game I've ever played.
Team Fortress 2 was fun for the brief time I played it, but multiplayer games are all about the people you play with, and I generally don't enjoy gaming with strangers over XBL. Back in the Halflife days we played a lot of Team Fortress classic after hours at work and had great fun. TF2 seems very much like it's predecessor with stylized graphics and some gameplay refinements.
I picked this game up at a Walmart for 20 bucks, so the value proposition is just over the top. I'd say anyone who hasn't played at least 2 of these games should pick up Orange Box.
