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Austin360 blogs > Digital Savant > Archives > 2007 > October > 15 > Entry
Full review: ‘The Orange Box’
A shorter version of this runs in tomorrow’s Life & Arts section:
It would be hard for Valve Software to top the success of its legendary 2004 “Half-Life 2,” one of the finest PC games ever made. So instead, Valve has expanded that universe to create a superb bundle called “The Orange Box,” which includes the original game, two expansion “Episodes,” a brand-new online game called “Team Fortress 2” and an inspired puzzler called “Portal.”
Taken together, the five games of “Orange Box” make for an extraordinary package for PC gamers, and an even better deal for Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 owners who never have had the opportunity to play “Half-Life 2” on a console before.
The new “Half-Life 2” adventure, “Episode 2,” continues the story of Gordon Freeman and contains typically stellar design of each level, creepy aliens and more expansive outdoor environments. It doesn’t disappoint. It picks up right where “Episode 1” left off and, while the first expansion felt a little like a retread (you had to go back to the Citadel, ground already covered in the original game), “Episode 2” offers new environments, new challenges and a breakneck pace. Though the episodes only last about six to eight hours for experienced gamers, the care in detail and the stunning environments continue to make the scary near-future world of “Half-Life 2” one we’ll want to keep visiting.
“Portal” is a mind-bending puzzle game in which the player is given a tool for creating portals from one place to another. This leads to some crazy physics moments as you navigate a testing lab in one piece. It’s funny, unique and brilliant. Though the game starts off with simple, rudimentary challenges, it gets progressively harder, its humor darker and more surprising. It’s nearly impossible to describe the game without visuals; check out the original “Orientation video”:
We can only hope that Valve will take this concept and run with it; playing a game like “Team Fortress 2” or “Half-Life 2 Deathmatch” with portals would be incredible.
And then there’s “Team Fortress 2,” a huge departure for Valve: It takes typical online shooter warfare and paints it in an animation style similar to Pixar’s “The Incredibles.” The mix of expert action and stylized cartoon graphics makes “TF2” incredibly fun. On the Xbox 360, it’s a nice alternative to “Halo 3.” On a well-equipped PC, it’s simply magnificent, an addictive and new online experience that’s as hilarious as it is thrilling.
Most of my gaming time the last two weeks has been spent on “TF2” and the variety of gameplay makes it infinitely replayable. You’ve got nine different characters to choose from, each with its own special skills and personality. On a practical level, differentiating the characters so much in the game (and limiting it to red versus blue teams) makes it easy to see who your enemies are on the battlefield and to instantly get a lay of the land, even with 24 characters running around. Valve also incorporates voice chat into the game, which makes formulating strategy much easier.
There are only a handful of maps available right now, but they’re so well-crafted and fun to play that it’s a minor quibble. We can expect Valve (and their devoted mod community) to add more content to the world of “TF2.”
Even if you don’t buy “The Orange Box,” you can still download Valve’s Steam software, sort of an online storefront that has gone from mostly carrying Valve’s own games to making available for download lots of independent games as well as titles like “Prey” and “BioShock.”
They’ve also recently added lots of community and friend features to Steam, which makes it much easier to set up online matches with friends and to create a public gaming group. And they’ve cleaned up what used to be an inspiring interface. You have to wonder how Valve found the time to spruce it up in the middle of all this game development, but Steam finally lives up to its promise as a great premium game-delivery and matchmaking service.
“The Orange Box,” which even includes a “Half-Life”-themed version of the game “Peggle” in the PC version, is a great value — five stellar games for the price of one. Just “Team Fortress 2” and “Episode 2” would be worth full price, but as we’ve come to expect from Valve, it’s over-delivered in a big way.
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