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Exactly what the title says. Among other games, I've been debating about whether to buy the Orange Box pack off of Steam, though I'm just not sure if it's worth my time. I mean, I've bought games in the past that people have said were good, but in the end, I didn't exactly like them, so I guess I'm just trying to be cautious. Pretty much, what I'm curious about is the pros and cons about the games included in the box.

Team Fortress 2: Very fun to play; I don't really know how to describe it, but there's something about this game that just makes it loads of fun... I'm sure that if FingerFood sees this topic he'll have more to say about it.

Portal: Very good storyline, thought-provoking* gameplay. *I mean that in a hard to figure out way, not a philosophical way.

Half-Life 2: personally, never played the story, so I can't help you out there. But the mods...

Yes.
HL2 and HL@ ep1 and 2 are great first person shooters, great story, nice game-play. I Loved it, the atmosphere and story and all... Ohhh Ravenholm
Now as for Portal, that is one of my favourite games ever. The puzzle game-play is great. But the best part is the dialogue and the absurd, dark story.

As for TF2, I've never played it, but from what I've heard it's a lot of fun.

I would recommend getting it, but really, I suppose in the end it depends on what kind of games you like.

The_Emperor wrote:Yes.
HL2 and HL@ ep1 and 2 are great first person shooters, great story, nice game-play. I Loved it, the atmosphere and story and all... Ohhh Ravenholm
Now as for Portal, that is one of my favourite games ever. The puzzle game-play is great. But the best part is the dialogue and the absurd, dark story.

As for TF2, I've never played it, but from what I've heard it's a lot of fun.

I would recommend getting it, but really, I suppose in the end it depends on what kind of games you like.

I'm open to every type of game. I even own one game made for casual players. Probably the only trouble I have with games is multiplayer - I've never been able to get into it for some reason.

I only bought Portal, personally. That's the only one I promise you'll love to death, and then Portal 2 comes out in February, so....

If you feel like TF2 and HL2 are worth it, go ahead and get the pack.

Portal is, simply put, the greatest game I've ever played. The basic gameplay is shockingly original, the atmosphere is wonderful, and GLaDOS herself is absolutely hilarious. It's short, but this might not be a bad thing - as "Yahtzee" Croshaw said, Portal doesn't overstay its welcome.

Team Fortress 2 is creative and fun, but like you, I'm not that into multiplayer, which the game is focused on; you would probably enjoy TF2 for a little while, but I doubt you'd really stick with it for long.

But the real draw of the Orange Box is Half-Life 2. HL2 and episodes are, by themselves, probably worth the price of the Orange Box. Half-Life 2 combines amazing atmosphere (Ravenholm) with an unbelievably well-told story, classic characters (Dr. Breen) and unusual gameplay. I once saw Half-Life 2 described as the "thinking man's shooter" - it's an FPS, but it has an emphasis on intriguing, well thought-out puzzles. Episode One is still fun, but a little bit of a retread. However, its focus on Alyx Vance, your NPC ally, makes it memorable, and it does an excellent job of setting up Episode 2. Which is awesome.

All-in-all, between Portal, Half-Life 2 and, of course, Source mods, the Orange Box is easily worth its price tag, even if you're not into TF2.

I guess the only thing that you could dislike is Half-life 2; you will either love it or be bored by it, no middle terms. I recommend watching a playthrough of Half-life 2 in Youtube, preferably a video of the middle of the game (and preferably one that shows the Gravity Gun in action), if you like it buy it.

GangsterJawa wrote:I'm sure that if FingerFood sees this topic he'll have more to say about it.

Eh, TF2's sort of been boring for me nowadays, but I'll go ahead and give input on it, and the Orange Box in general.

Team Fortress 2: To be honest, I thought it was better before all of the updates. It was simple, incredibly balanced, and rather addicting despite it's simplicity. Now it's just one huge pile of content that doesn't really go together. I suppose that's sort of what you get from constantly updating a game over three years; an entirely different vision from where it started. The only problem with that is that they have to keep the original shipped stuff, or at least most of it, and so it ends up just being a jumbled mess.

Despite the huge amount of updated content making it a mess, it has improved the game, at least most of it. Even if you got it for $20 individually it's still a fantastic deal. So if you get it in the Orange Box, it's practically a steal.

If you don't like multiplayer, though, then you might just play it for a few hours total and then be done with it. That's what this game is; multiplayer. It does have some small Single player training and practice modes, but they're trivial compared to the rest of the game. There is the chance that you will like it, as it's probably one of the best, least hardcore ("No, "OMG! UR A NOOB LOL" people. Well, maybe a few, but significantly less than other games.) funnest games. If you only play one multiplayer game, I'd think it'd be this.

Before I move on, I will note that the majority of the game is based on dedication. The longer/more you play, the more items you get. So you'll probably either love TF2 and play it for hours upon hours or play it for an hour or two and then be done with it. There pretty much is no middle ground.


Half-Life 2 (And Episodes): HL2 is the majority of the Orange Box. It's entirely singleplayer, so it's right up your alley, and it's arguably one of the best PC games out there. It's a decent length, taking me about 20 hours for HL2 and about 5 for each episode on my first playthrough. You'll likely want to play it again, as you'll probably miss a whole bunch of stuff. I've played through it around 7 times and every time I find a couple new things. So it's definitely worth it considering the time you'll be entertained.

I won't say much about the plot or anything, but I will say that it's one of the better plots and atmospheres I've seen.


Portal: You probably know a lot about Portal already, so I'll keep it short. Portal is probably one of the most brilliant, interesting little games you'll play for a long while. It's short, sweet, and to the point, and does it very well. The only downside to it is that it's too short, only taking a few hours if playing at a medium speed, but that's it's only drawback.


So, in conclusion, I'd definitely say the Orange Box is worth the money. Not only do you get 5 games (It's more like 3 games with 2 addons, but still.), but they're all very good games. Plus you get access to Source mods, as others have said, which are always...interesting.

(Holy [Diet Dr Pepper] I wrote a lot. Maybe I should be a game reviewer when I grow up. )

It's definitely enough bang for yer buck, but it comes down to what you think of the games. For the most part you'll be getting some seriously awesome puzzle solving action. But you'll also be getting a sweet multiplayer experience as well. IMO, definitely worth the money.

Definitely.

That is all.

i bought it some weeks ago and i can agree, its not just worth the money, its like more than 4 times worth the money, portal is amazing and with portal: prelude and the flash version which are really well made and even harder than the original game you can spend many more hours.
half-life 2 and episodes are awesome too, they are definitelly three/one of the best shooters ever, the gravitygun and the character developement and atmosphere are incredible, only the background music/the lack of it doesnt do the game justice

Fingerfood wrote:Eh, TF2's sort of been boring for me nowadays, but I'll go ahead and give input on it, and the Orange Box in general.

Team Fortress 2: To be honest, I thought it was better before all of the updates. It was simple, incredibly balanced, and rather addicting despite it's simplicity. Now it's just one huge pile of content that doesn't really go together. I suppose that's sort of what you get from constantly updating a game over three years; an entirely different vision from where it started. The only problem with that is that they have to keep the original shipped stuff, or at least most of it, and so it ends up just being a jumbled mess.

Tremendously off-topic obligatory intervention: I have to disagree, the updated content add a lot of replay value to what would otherwise have become a boring game after all these years, without the new game-modes, new maps and specially the new unlocks, it would be just another one of those modern multi-player games that you play for a while and then move on to something else, without ever considering playing it again (such as Modern Warfare...).

The unlocks also give the classes a greater range of gameplay possiblities that may suit the playing style of various individuals, that is their purpose. Allow me to elaborate: when I started playing Team Fortress 2, I liked to play as a defensive Pyro, I did not have the understanding of how to ambush and stalk players as an offensive Pyro, so I would remain with the Engineers, spy-checking friendly players approaching the Sentry, reflecting rockets and bombs, eliminating threats out of the Sentry's field of view and more recently removing sappers with the Homewrecker; the Airblast and the Homewrecker (an unlock that I obtained very early) greatly helped me sustain this style of playing until I learned how to play offensively with said class, this would otherwise have been difficult to achieve if the game were to remain the same as it were in the beginning and I would probably have distanced myself from the Pyro, which is actually my favorite class.

Another simple example: I hate the Spy's standard Invisibility Watch, the Cloak and Dagger is my preferred cloaking device, it allows me to take my time, assess the enemy in safety and lay in wait for the appropriate time to backstab an enemy player or place sappers on a sentry. The Cloak and Dagger also envolves actual sneaking, instead of just rushing for the door like an invisible balaclava wearing mad man.

This is, in my opinion, the most welcoming and user-friendly design for a multiplayer game; instead of having to conform to some vision set in stone, new players may use these unlocks (which can be obtained through random drops, therefore not requiring the player to be a 'pro') to adapt the role of a certain class to his/her own preferences, whilst veteran players will always have something new to try.

@Fingerfood: TBH, I actually don't know too much about Portal; all's I know is that it's a FPS-Puzzle game hybrid.

And your description of TF2 sounds good enough; one of the reasons I stopped doing MP was due to people calling others noobs and what not. Then there was the server lag I'd encounter, though I guess that was a result of my old PC.

I'll probably end up buying the whole enchilada very soon. School's going to start for me on Monday, though, so I'm probably going to hold off for a little bit.

Thanks for the input guys; you're really helpful.

Edit: The download is now paused on Team Fortress and Episode 1 and 2 for some reason. Also, what exactly is the "Lost Coast" thing that came with the pack? It wasn't listed on the store entry...

@Ping: In Portal, you are a test subject of Aperture Science's testing facility, run by a somewhat psychotic supercomputer, GLaDOS, that has you run around with a gun that essentially shoots portals. The cool thing about it is, momentum is saved, so for example if you shoot a blue portal at the wall, and an orange portal 10 ft down to the floor below you, and jump into the orange portal, the momentum will shoot you out of the blue portal at the same speed you were falling at. So you just have to go and get past obstacles and creepily soothing-talking sentry turrets. The plot just gets better and better as you go along. You are promised cake at the end...

Overall it's a good game. It's completely balanced in gameplay, plot, action, and humor. Maybe a bit more humor too.