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| Date Reviewed: 11/22/2007 |
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Strengths: Price. Great single player experience (HL2-Portal), and huge multiplayer replayability (TF2).
Weaknesses: No discount if you already own one or more of the games (but you can gift the extra copy of the game to friends). Ep1/2 on their own are pretty short.
Summary: At $50, The Orange Box is a steal. If you manage to snag it for less on sale, you are getting amazing value. Buying these games individually would cost over $100. HL2 with episodes 1 and 2 constitutes an epic single player experience. The source engine, although not quite as flashy as the CryENGINE, still looks good and runs well on a wide range of hardware.
Portal is a refreshing break from the traditional FPS. A pleasant surprise in this already formidable package. After you spend hours beating HL2+Episodes, TF2 will hold your attention for hours.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/01/2007 |
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Strengths: HL2 Episode 2 has awesome graphics and battles throughout, longer than Episode 1. Portal, is a great puzzle game,
innovative and fun to play. Team Fortress 2 is ok. Not big on the online experience
Weaknesses: Unfortunately, I already had two of the games. Consumes all your free time and gets you into trouble with your wife.
Summary: The best entertainment value at a low price. This game is worth the money, even if you already have HL & episode 1. I picked the orange box up for Portal, probably the amazing game I have ever played. I'm now hooked on Team Fortress 2, haven't even tried out episode 2. Everyone knows HL2 is one of the best games out there, and Episode 2 will not disappoint you. I'm already more than pleased with this purchase.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/04/2007 |
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Strengths: Tremendous Value - Hl2, Hl2:ep1, HL2:ep2, Portal and TF2
Weaknesses: forced bundle didn't exactly sit well at first, but got over it
Summary: HL2 and Episode 1 have previously been released. The only thing I did not like was that you were forced to rebuy those in this bundle. Not 100% forced, but to buy the new games separately would cost more than the bundle. Good marketing I guess.
Ep2 and Portal are excellent. Well worth the price of admission. TF2 I haven't gotten into much, but seems like a fun time once you get the hang of how the class system works.
Definitely worth the purchase. Stop reading and go buy.
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| Date Reviewed: 11/29/2007 |
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Strengths: 5 games, 1 low price
Weaknesses: 2 of the games are over a year old, and most people already have it, but you can gift them.
Summary: This was probably one of the best gaming deals to come out in the last few years, the reason being mostly because of Portal and TF2. Portal is one of the most original FPS's I've played. The game play is very fun and the entire last half of the game had me laughing because of the dialogue. The bonus levels left me wanting more, and hopefully some good user created levels come out. TF2 is also probably one of the best multiplayer FPS's out currently. I played the original TFC briefly, but I've been playing TF2 non-stop with some friends. The player classes are all very well balanced, thus leading to some unique gameplay with my friends. As for Episode Two, it was good but not much innovation as compared to Portal and HL2. I felt a lot of the elements from Ep1 and HL2 were reused. Hopefully Ep3 won't take as long to get released.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/04/2008 |
- goldrogers
- Member Since:
Jun 2006
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Strengths: Portal, Team Fortress 2, Half-Life and its episodes, great value
Weaknesses: None
Summary: Orange Box has been rated one of the best games of 2007. In fact, the only game that can compare, IMHO, would be Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii. Orange Box has so much value packed into it: HL2 and its episodes, TF2, and Portal. Portal is great and refreshing, though a bit short. TF2 requires tons of teamwork, but once you get past that learning curve it is a lot more fun that your average "lone wolf" type shooters. The cartoonish graphics also add to the fun atmosphere. HL2 is probably one of the greatest single player experiences ever. If you've played HL1, you'll know what I'm talking about, but HL2 is even better.
I picked this up for around $20 on Black Friday from Best Buy, but I think it's worth every penny of its $45 (or $50?) MSRP, if not more.
10 out of 10 stars from me.
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| Date Reviewed: 12/19/2007 |
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Strengths: TF2
Portal
HL2
HL2 episode 1
HL2 episode 2
Weaknesses: None!
Summary: If you haven't played in the Halflife universe, or just not Halflife 2, then this is the pack for you. You get all the fun of the Halflife 2 trilogy, as well as the new fun game Portal, and of course the popular Team Fortress Classic. Hours of fun for the price of one game!
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| Date Reviewed: 11/11/2007 |
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 Half Life 2, Episodes 1 , Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 Strengths: Multiple games is one package and a buddy list on Steam.
Weaknesses: Force to buy games you already own in one package.
Summary: Team fortress 2 by itself was worth it also the cartoon graphics wasn't too appealing in my book. This is one of those games that have literally no learning curve and which allows new players to jump right into the action online although teamwork is a must. Multiplayer is fun only if the immature kids stop screaming off the top off their lungs into microphone when voice chat is enabled.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/09/2008 |
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Strengths: 5 awesome games in one box!
Weaknesses: None I've found yet.
Summary: THE best gaming deal of 2007. I already had HL2 and HL2 EP1, but they can be gifted to a friend. I bought this to get HL2 EP2 when it first came out (great Black Friday deal), and I haven't been dissapointed. Portal and TF2 are an added bonus. Portal is short, but it's innovative and pretty cool. I haven't played TF2 yet since I'm not really into the online game thing, though I'm sure I'll try it out when I've got some free time.
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| Date Reviewed: 01/28/2008 |
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Strengths: Great value, very good games
Weaknesses: Requires Steam to play
Summary: So far, I have only played 2 of the main 3 games included -- Portal and Team Fortress 2.
Portal is a very unique game which requires you to manipulate your environment using portals to warp yourselves through different parts of each level, which is designed as a short mini puzzle. Some are definitely more straight forward than others. However, with about 20 puzzles for the main game, it is possible to finish this game quite quickly. Bonus levels and a rehash of the original levels with higher difficulty are included.
Team Fortress 2 is of course the newer version of Team Fortress, the latter which is one of my favorite games of all time. In comparison, TF2 is much more cartoony, and offers more game modes than the original. The player classes are largely the same as before, and some of the levels (e.g. 2fort) pay homage to the original maps which made TF so popular. On the maps I played, however, gameplay seem largely dominated by one side, and it felt like there was a slightly larger learning curve with TF2 than with the original.
Overall, all the games so far are great, and with 3 completely distinct games (and 2 of the previous versions), this bundle is a great value.
On the minus side, however, the use of Steam is required, and so internet access is required to play. It is not unusual to see an ad or popup or two while logging in to play a game. While not a major minus, it is one downside which many other games do not have.
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| Date Reviewed: 03/06/2008 |
- Sudhakar2k
- Member Since:
Jan 2007
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Strengths: Great Value, comes with 5 games in one box. Half-Life 2 is one of the best shooting games of all time.
Weaknesses: Lot of fair use issues for me.
Must create a steam account to play the game.
Must install steam software.
Must login to steam account to be able to play the game.
Takes up 15 GB of space.
Summary: The Orange Box is essentially five separate games: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, the puzzle game Portal, and the multiplayer action game Team Fortress 2. Of these I have played Half-Life and its one of the best shooter games I have played. Paid $25 for this so I got an incredible deal for the five games.
The only disappointing thing for me is the fair use i listed in weaknesses. I bought the game legally, yet I am forced to install steam, sign up for an account, and have it running everytime i want to play the game. If it weren't for this I would have give five stars.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/29/2008 |
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Strengths: Good value - especially at sale prices; great graphics; low system requirements compared to some other recent games
Weaknesses: Steam (the activation/update software) takes a bit of tweaking; some games require moderately large updates before they can be played
Summary: A great value for the number of games you're getting here (and for the quality of the games as well. There's a reason that Half-Life 2 and Portal have topped many "best game of the year" lists!)
Portal is a truly unique, think-outside-the-box experience, and almost worth the price alone. Plus, the end theme is possibly the best song ever written for a game.
The real reward from this box, however, is Half-Life 2. A first-person shooter on the surface, it actually contains a lot of variety due to the richness of its environment.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/28/2008 |
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Strengths: several games included in box, great graphics, good storyline
Weaknesses: connection to internet required
Summary: Wow! Had heard good things about Valve's games, but never thought that it would be so enjoyable to get five games bundled in a box. There is one game I liked the best, called Portal. Won't ruin it for you, so all I can say is that although a short game you will find solving each puzzle a real challenge.
Graphics are nothing short of amazing. Computing requirements won't stress your PC and you will get beautiful images. Even the characters show facial expressions. Simply an eye treat.
About the only gripe I have with these games is that they will try to authenticate you by connecting to their server. When doing so it will do automatic download to update your games. You cannot control when the updates are done. So if you want to play a quick game, you will have to wait until the update is done. Small gripe for a great game.
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| Date Reviewed: 02/28/2008 |
- Caliburnis
from PA
- Member Since:
Dec 2005
View Member's:
Reviews
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Strengths: *5 great games for around $50!
*Long-lasting multiplayer matches
*Continuation of the Half-Life legacy
*Strong modding community
Weaknesses: None
Summary: This package is easily worth $50, though I was able to obtain a copy at Best Buy for $25 during Black Friday 2007, but sales like that are uncommon. Occasionally, other retailers like Circuit City, Best Buy or Target might offer the title for $40. An excellent purchase and a steal at any price below $50. Spanning 5 complete games - Half Life 2; Episodes 1 & 2; Portal; and Team Fortress 2; this package will keep you hooked to your PC. The minimum system requirements are lower than other newer games, as Half Life 2 is a few years old - that means PCs circa 2004 should be able to play a game that's still played heavily online and has a strong third-party modification ("modding") community. Highly recommended - get it!
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| Date Reviewed: 02/21/2008 |
- Dufas46
from WA
- Member Since:
Jan 2005
View Member's:
Reviews
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Strengths: great game play lots of game play time
Weaknesses: none I can find
Summary: Love the games on the DVD's.. Highly recommend, great bargain!!!! will keep me entertained for some time. Hope other game developers follow Valve's lead and put package deals
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| Date Reviewed: 02/02/2008 |
- Unclefunnyman
from NC
- Member Since:
Dec 2005
View Member's:
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Strengths: Value
Weaknesses: None
Summary: This is a NO BRAINER. For the price of ONE GAME you get Half-Life 2, the most highly acclaimed first person shooter of all-time, Episode 1 and 2 expansions on that game, Team Fortress 2, rapidly becoming one of the most played on-line FPS, and Portal, which is simply amazing and also highly ranked by every review I've seen. Buy it, Play it, Enjoy it.
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