Valve's Orange Box is awesome despite a few weak points, but all in all, the Orange Box is mandatory for gamers.
To get the backstory and the full ride, I decided that it was best to play Half-Life 2 first. So... I did. I was pulled in immediately. The twisted beginning really makes you feel the suffering in this near-apocalyptic world. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for the citizens of City 17. I went through this and was wowed, but I stopped playing when I hit the maddening vehicle sequence. Using a horrible one-thumbstick system, the hovercraft pissed me off more than anything. So, I stopped playing and moved on for a while.
I wanted to give it a chance. So after hearing that Episode 2 was amazing, I decided to play that. As said... Yeah, Episode 2 is AMAZING. Even though it used the same vehicle interface... I couldn't put it down!!! The last level was especially awesome: the most intense piece of gaming I've played since fighting my first Berserker in Gears of War. Only problem: it was over before I was finished! I WANTED MORE!!!
So I wound up finishing Half-Life 2 and loved it despite the hovercraft sequence. What really made me love Half-Life 2 was the sequence in which you have an army of really big bugs called Ant Lions at your command.
Episode One felt weak after playing the better two-thirds, but it was Half-Life 2 so I was happy with it.
SCORES OF THE HALF-LIFE 2 GAMES:
SOUND - Great acting, great sounds, great music although it's not always there. Overall: 9
GRAPHICS - Not on par with modern standards of excellence, but great facial animations are the saving grace: 7
GAMEPLAY: Actually a weak point. It's confusing because the B button is the reload button, where X or RB is the standard. And vehicles are a drag: 7
VALUE: It's Half-Life 2 plus goodies... what more do you need? 10
TILT: I'm tilting with an 8.
TOTAL AVERAGE: 8.2
Team Fortress 2... the worst part of the box. The concept is EXCELLENT, I will give it that. But it's not executed well.
It's supposed to be a team based multiplayer game featuring various units you can choose from to complete an objective. I'm not going in too much depth here, but here's why I don't like it:
Bad matchmaking system. Let's look at Halo 3's matchmaking system and compare. Halo 3 owns it.... I really hate joining a match mid-session... it's awkward and can really affect the balance later on. Adding to this, the games are never full and even if they are... there is no way to fully implement use of the various classes you can choose from.
BREAKDOWN:
Graphics - Fine, but not impressive: 9
Sound - Wait... there's sound? What little you hear is good: 7
Gameplay - Kind of clunky at points, like HL2 and there my class complaints and matchmakings issues: 7
Value - Only great if you count in the rest of the Orange Box: 5
Tilt - Meh: 8
TOTAL 7.2
PORTAL:
My favorite part of the Orange Box. There are basically no problems with Portal. The concept is that you are doing some kind of corporate experiment test using the Portal Gun. You make portals that serve as two-way doors between two locations that you place. You make these portals basically anywhere and it's loads of fun to play with.
The best part of Portal is that it's downright hilarious. There is a computerized voice that guides you through the test. Well, it consistently lies to you and says things are simply hilarious. Add to that, the end credits song will crack you up and leave it stuck in your head for ages to come.
This is best reviewed in the BREAKDOWN:
Graphics - Once again... fine, but not impressive: 9
Sound - The computer voice that guides you is hilarious and the emptiness the game gives is great to the overall feel: 10
Gameplay - Flawless and easy to use: 10
Value: Really short...: 6
Tilt: Too awesome to not give it a 10.
TOTAL: 9.0
The Orange Box as a package is great and the final average total is...
8.1
However, seeing as it takes three games and puts them together, with two being awesome, I have to give it a raise to 9.1. But thank you Gamespot for forcing me to make a 9.0.