The Orange Box Review

Before I start my review, I recommend anyone intending on playing through all the features of The Orange Box should play through Portal first for reasons that shall remain untold!

Half-life 2: Episode 2 is a spectacular segue into the final installment in the Half-life 2 epic saga! Episode 2 continues the story of Gordon Freeman in his quest to save the world from the Combine. Episode 2 keeps a good balance of continuing the story while still providing intense gameplay moments that will be remembered even after finishing the episode. From car chases to alien invasions, Episode 2 has it covered.

Portal incorporates an awesome puzzle game in which you can create portals on walls to accomplish little puzzles that start out simple, but take some critical thinking. Portal also has a story element that I will leave to be discovered by the player.

Team Fortress 2 is also included in the Orange Box package and is a fantastic multiplayer adventure. TF2 uses an excellent lighting system that gives the illusion of hand-drawn animation in a video game. The different classes in Team Fortress 2 give hours upon hours of replayability for players if they become tired of a certain class. A wide variety of options always makes for an enjoyable multiplayer experience.

The Orange Box gets 9.6/10. It already contains one of the best games of all time, plus several other fantastic Valve-owned creations. One thing it lacks however is the ability to play with the PC users and the accessibility of user-created material.