Ah, the Orange Box. Containing games such as the much anticipated Half-Life 2 (HL2) Episode 2, and a couple of surprises, including Team Fortress 2 (TF2) and the revolutionary Portal.
Overview: It’s a pretty good deal, really. Different versions of the Box contain a couple of different games, but the main ones HL2 Episode 2, Portal, and TF2 are all brilliant in different ways.
Between them, they cover a couple of varieties of games: FPS, Puzzle, and a mix of the both. Episode 2 contains the genre expected of Half Life games, that is, of mild puzzles and fights, shunted into a confused universe of aliens, robots, and headcrabs.
Portal is a heavy puzzle game, but still extremely fun. TF2 brings back the classic Capture the Flag, in a hectic, mad kind of way.
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Half-Life 2 Episode 2:
It’s the next in the saga, the strength on which the other games in the Orange Box are riding. Episode 2 carries on (not surprisingly) from where Episode 1 left off. Alyx and you are continuing on your journey to White Forest, when some unforeseen consequences put you into a bit of trouble… But we’ll leave you to find out exactly what is happening. But it gives the Vortigaunts another look-in, and introduces a new Combine weapon, so we know you’ll just love it. And if you’ve never tried Half-Life, we advise trying it RIGHT away. Play the prequels, expansions, sequels, sequels to the sequels, and the other Half-Life engine based games. Then you’ll see why we love this game so much.
Nometet.com says: 90%
+ More Vortigaunts.
+ More puzzles + More fighting
+ More Half-Life
- The final boss fight is stupidly long… you’ll see.
Portal:
We were a bit sceptical about Portal at first it was a puzzle game, which I generally don’t like. It had cute looking turrets sure sign of a bad game. But I was proved wrong. Form the first chamber, Portal proved to be an enthralling and challenging series of tests of our capabilities. It consists of you, a simple nobody, running through various tests using a portal gun. Sound boring? It isn’t, trust me. Because the portal gun allows you to open up holes on the wall, and you to come out somewhere else. In the beginning, you can only open one hole the other is immovable. But you later get control of the other one, and things get more interesting. And perhaps there is a plot, behind the walls of this spotless, empty lab…
Nometet.com says: 97%
+ Revolutionary
+ Fun
+ Good jokes!
- NOT ENOUGH!!!
Team Fortress 2:
When we played Team Fortress Classic, we thought that would be the last of it. A simple capture the flag, with different classes. It was an OK game, but the Spy class was underpowered, the scouts were too slow, and the Demomen were idiots. And here comes the sequel.
Still the same idea; capture the flag, capture the control point, with lots of killing, but everything else is different. The game is now exclusively online. The graphics are now cartoonized, looking brilliant in a weird way, and all the maps and peoples have been remodelled to look awesome. And all the class powers have been adjusted. For example, Spies can no longer feign death, but they do have a cool invisibility watch, as well as instant killing if they backstab enemies, and not to mention their sentry gun- destroying sapper.
Teams work together now, the classes are used in conjunction, not in separation. Medics guard Heavies, who blast away the enemy, who cannot defend as the sentry their Engineer built was destroyed by a Spy, who, coincidentally, was discovered by a Pyro idly throwing flames around.
It is a really good game, and worth playing.
Nometet.com says: 82%
+ Great graphics
+ Great style
+ Completely redone
-No new classes
Others: The other games in the Orange Box that we haven’t reviewed because they are not new are Half-Life 2 Episode 1, and Half-Life 2.
Overall, Nometet.com says: 90%
Review by Nometet
//Editor’s note: I disagree with Nometet a bit here – I think that Team Fortress diserves a bit more than 82%. It is great fun. Be warned though, it is better to get it on the PC if you can.\\
