From Deseret News archives:
Video game review: 5 games in 'Orange Box' simply spectacular
Platform: PC and Xbox 360
Studio: Valve
Rated: T-M, Teen to Mature for blood and gore, intense violence, language
Score: 10 out of 10
THE REVIEW:
"The Orange Box" title can be a bit confusing to the uninitiated, but this collection of five games is a legitimate contender for the game (games?) of the year. Depending on your perspective, it can be viewed as a rerelease of mostly old material for maximum price or a wealth of great material for the price of a single game.
The new material here are three games, "Half-Life 2: Episode Two," "Team Fortress 2" and "Portal." For some, the recycled material will be "Half-Life 2" and "Half-Life 2: Episode One."
The games were produced by Valve, a small studio with a handful of releases under its belt. "Half-Life 2" found its way to the Xbox and was a mild commercial success and a first-rate port. Later Valve released an enthusiastically embraced update on the PC, "Half-Life 2: Episode One." With the computing power of the Xbox 360 and its comparability to the PC allowed Valve to release "Half-Life 2: Episode Two" on both formats.
In a marketing stroke that is looking rather brilliant, the smallish developer released all three installments of "Half-Life 2" and threw in two other games that alone would be short on content but together present a strong five-game collection for the price of a regular game.
PC Half-lifers who have paid for each installment might feel a little ripped to pay full price for limited content, while those console gamers who haven't experienced the series before and are diving in on the 360 will have more games than they can shake a wireless controller at.
The good news for the PC crowd is that the inclusion of "Team Fortress 2" and "Portal" more than make up for the retread here.
GAME PLAY:
Recent comments
Team Fortress 2 is great. Watch out for Karl Malone dishing out the...
Anonymous | Nov. 1, 2007 at 9:39 p.m.
It would be weak if Orange box got game of the year since its just...
Frank | Nov. 1, 2007 at 2:52 p.m.
Half Life and Halo fan forever!!!!!!
Anonymous | Nov. 1, 2007 at 11:19 a.m.
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