A solid game but come on this is really NOT 5 games in one.

User Rating: 8.5 | The Orange Box X360
By IBLEEDBLUE33 | Review Date:
It seems to me these days that Microsoft can tell anyone that a game for their system is awesome and everyone believes it no matter how good the game actually plays. The Orange Box is yet another example of good marketing. Let me explain why this is not 5 games. First you have Half Life 2 which is one full game. This game came out on the original XBOX over 2 years ago and it now looks a little better and plays the same. So for most fans of the series they have already played this game. Then you have episode 1 and 2 which can be finished in about 8 to 10 hours. I could say that this is 2 more games if they didn't look and play exactly like HL2. Both episodes are just an extension of the main game not whole games by themselves. So HL2, episode 1 and 2 equal to be one full game that will take you around 25 hours to complete. A good size game for a FPS. But like I said most that buy the Orange Box have already played HL2.

Then you have the game Portal which takes about 4 hours to complete. If you really want to you can call this a full game on its own because it is quite different than the main game. But being 4 hours long means it would be worth maybe $20 by itself. Portal is hit or miss depending on your taste. I found it enjoyable at times and super frustrating a lot of other times. No real fighting goes on with portal just a lot of mind bending puzzles that will make you think (alot). A fairly fun extra in my opinion.

Then you have Team Fortress 2 which is the multiplayer. This MP has a very unique cartoonish look about it and it plays closely to what you would expect judging by the visuals (arcade like). I found this fun but not nearly fun enogh to take players away from games like COD4 and Halo3. That is obvious because the last time I played it there were like 30 players online. My question though is how is a multiplayer considered a game by itself. Does that mean Halo and COD series are 2 games in one? I also experienced quite a bit of lag while playing and the stats never updated correctly. I have yet to ever find myself on the leaderboards with a rank. It is like I have never even played one game. This doesn't give players much of an incentive to keep playing especially when the gameplay is not as polished as Halo or COD. A fun multiplayer that will get played sparingly by most.

So my question to all the game players out there is how is this game any better of a deal than Halo or COD series or any other good game for that matter. I ran through episode one and two in less than 10 hours and through Portal in less than four. I have put around 10 hours into TF2 and I am quickly growing tired of it. Oh yeah and HL2 I beat that game two years ago. The only reason I feel this game deserves an 8.5 is because of the clever level design, thought provoking puzzles, good story and it does offer replay with TF2. There are also 99 available achievements to try an obtain if you are one of those kind of players.

Overall if you have played the original Half Life and enjoyed it then it would be a better deal because of Half Life 2. But for those of you like me and played HL2 on the XBOX then you should rent this game first to see if you think it is the best deal in video game history. HA!

(A revised review that raises my score from 8 to 8.5 due to the fix of the lag for the most part in TF2. After playing more TF2 I found myself really enjoying playing as the different classes and the counter upon counter moves that each team needs to make in order to win. I still wish there were more maps and I wish it kept up with your total kills and deaths but it is a surprisingly deep and fun mp experience if given the chance.)

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