Orange Box review

For those still unfamiliar with the legendary Orange Box, it is a compilation of essentially 5 different games for the price of one. It contains Half Life 2+Episode 1+Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. So let's start from the top.

When Half Life 1 first came out, I was an avid fan. It was a fun take on science experiments gone wrong, with creative level designs, big bosses, and great gameplay. So naturally when Half Life 2 came out I was all over it. Valve took something that was great and made it greater. Relying mostly on their handy dandy physics system, they let the player not only experience great graphics (which still look good by today's standards) and inventive levels, but gave us the almighty Gravity Gun and let us go wild. With it you can manipulate just about everything in the world they have given you, allowing you to come up with creative solutions to problems. Running low on ammo? Pick up a saw blade with the gravity gun and decapitate a zombie. A game with this kind of feature could easily turn gimmicky, but in Half Life 2 it plays a central role in solving challenges (like leap-frogging on platforms you move with the gun to avoid touching the sand lest you be attacked...it's like an grown up game of lava monster), and it's FUN. Overall the game is challenging, intelligent, and continually keeps up its sense of epicness.

I'll lump Episodes 1 and 2 together here since I feel they share a great many similarities. Basically these are expansion packs for Half Life 2 that continue to reinvent the story and throw a ton of great twists and turns in. They continue the tradition of amazing level design and innovation, especially one sequence where your gravity gun becomes superpowered and you can actually use it to shoot people and watch them fry. They are, of course, shorter than the original, but they are no less fun.

Since I want to end with Portal I'll tackle Team Fortress 2 here. For those unfamiliar, Team Fortress was a multiplayer addition to the original Half Life with several interesting classes you could play like the engineer, scout, and medic. With the release of Half Life 2 came the reincarnation of the classic, and it's better than ever. The cell-shaded graphics are the perfect style for this hyper bloody fast paced free for all. Each of the classes you can choose from are relatively well balanced on a team, making each match a joy to play.

So finally we reach Portal. Oh, Portal. I have literally played through this game about 4 times, and I never get sick of it. Yes, the design is quite linear, and yes, I solve the puzzles practically the same way every time. So why do I never bore of this game? GLaDOS is why. I'll explain. Essentially the whole plot of the game is that you are a test subject being subjected to various puzzles involving portal technology, wherein there are 2 portals and when you step through one you come out the other. Simple right? WRONG. I don't even understand how the people who designed this game were able to come up with so damn many cool ways to use this concept, though they provide a developer walkthrough where you literally walk through a puzzle and push little buttons to hear what they have to say. So, during all of these trials you are being given instructions by the pathologically lying mechanical voice of GLaDOS, and this is why the game is fun. GLaDOS has a humor all her own, promising to give you cake when you finish, shouting "WHEEEEE" when you go flying, and constantly phrasing value in terms of organs (i.e. the device you carry is now more valuable than the organs and combined incomes...). It's unfortunately hard to hear everything that she says in the final battle, along with everything each of the nodes you knock off says, but it's well worth it to just save beforehand and listen. When the game ends you are treated to one of the best songs ever made, "Still Alive", during which if you don't laugh, even after playing it for the fourth time, you are a terrible human being. Overall, the game is short. On my last playthrough I finished in about 40min, and there are experts out there on youtube who can do it faster (though good luck telling what the hell they're doing). However, it's just enough to make a worthwhile experience that lets you play around with it and not get bored. Basically, it doesn't overstay its welcome. And for those who want the experience to continue, by beating the game you unlock different versions of levels where you can challenge yourself with fastest time, least steps taken, or just a really hard version of the level.

It could easily be argued that the Orange Box is one of the best video game compilations ever made, if not the best. We get the incredible Half Life 2 series, the immensely enjoyable Portal, and an entertaining multiplayer experience in Team Fortress 2. Especially since these days you can find it for like $20 or less, there is absolutely no reason not to get this.

The Orange Box gets a 10/10.