The Orange Box Review

The Orange Box is a video game that is available exclusively for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. What kind of name for a video game is The Orange Box? Who came up with a name like that? Those are two questions that I cannot answer, but I do know that The Orange Box is an amazing package deal. The Orange Box comes with Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episode I, Half-Life Episode II, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. Everyone knows the storyline of Half-Life 2 by now, so here is Half-Life 2 in a nutshell. The game is a direct sequel to the original Half-Life and the events transpire after the events of the original Half-Life. Humans are being held as prisoners at a location known as City 17. The plot revolves around the protagonist scientist Gordon Freeman, and he is attempting to eradicate the alien crisis. I was impressed with the storyline in Half-Life 2 because it had its fair share of poignant moments. The gameplay in Half-Life 2 is exactly what you would expect it to be. Gamers will have a usual assortment of weapons at their disposal. Some of them are machine guns, handguns, grenades, rocket launchers, and so forth. Then, there is everyone's favorite gravity gun. This intricate weapon can be used to launch projectiles into the air. Anything and everything can be used in conjunction with the gravity gun. For instance, a piece of wood can be lifted up and tossed at foes by utilizing the gravity gun. Realistic physics is what gives Half-Life 2 a more distinctive quality than some other first person shooters. In addition, there are some driving sequences in the game with Gordon's ally Alyx Vance. Furthermore, players will be going through the game battling against various opponents. These enemies entail zombies, aliens, and other fiendish creatures.

The graphics in the game seem a little on the low end of the spectrum, and they are not necessarily next generation visuals. On the bright side, the animations and voice acting is superb. Even the music has a fitting rhyme to it. The Half-Life games have approximately 25 hours of content.Half-Life 2 has 15 hours; Half-Life Episode I and Half-Life Episode II have five hours of gameplay each. Next up is the game called Portal. Portal is intrinsically a puzzle game with a twist. The twist being that you are equipped with a gun that creates portals. These portals serve as exits and entries. If gamers pull the trigger on the gun, then a portal opens. Another pull of the trigger will open another portal. For example, a puzzle could be something like getting from point A to point B. However, it is not as rudimentary as that. Earnest contemplation must be a factor in completing the later puzzles in the game. The initial puzzles in the game are simple, but the game gets more arduous as you progress. Luckily, the game does have some facetious moments scattered throughout as you travel from portal to portal. Unfortunately, Portal is short. It is really short. I am talking about shorter than Kevin Federline and Paris Hilton's music career short. Alright, maybe not that short. Nonetheless, the game is only one to two hours in length. The last and final piece to The Orange Box is Team Fortress 2. Team Fortress 2 is a multiplayer game with numerous character styles. There are a total of nine classes altogether, and they all have pros and cons. For instance, an engineer is proficient in setting up a defense with traps. Conversely, a demolition man will be brilliant at making the rivals explode. All of the characters are well balanced, so there is no one character that can overpower the other. The Orange Box is five games for the price of one. Overall, The Orange Box is more than an adequate compilation of video games that is more than just Half-Life 2.
Final Verdict: The Orange Box is a great game package.
9 out of 10