Product Description

With part 3 of the Half-Life saga in the horizon, this collection brings you from the start so you're ready to take on the third episode of this exciting trilogy. Half Life earns its popularity and reputation at being the first First Person Shooter game to use aq lifelike, realtime plot that pits you in the action as well as behind the trigger. Created by Valve Software, each episode employs advanced technologies for better, more realistic play. In Half-Life, you assume the role of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a recently graduated theoretical physicist who must fight his way out of an underground research facility whose teleportation experimentations have gone awry. The second part of the trilogy of episodic expansions for Half-Life 2, Episode Two picks up where Episode One left off?with Gordon and Alyx traveling out of City 17 and into a vast new environment.
The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people people he cares about are counting on him. Intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #118 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Valve
• Released on: 2007-10-09
• ESRB Rating: Mature
• Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000
• Dimensions: 2.00 pounds

Features

• Characters - Advanced facial animation system delivers the most sophisticated in-game characters ever seen. With 40 distinct facial muscles, human characters convey the full array of human emotion, and respond to the player with fluidity and intelligence
• Physics - From pebbles to water to 2-ton trucks respond as expected, as they obey the laws of mass, friction, gravity, and buoyancy
• Graphics - Source's shader-based renderer, like the one used at Pixar to create movies such as Toy Story and Monster's, Inc., creates the most beautiful and realistic environments ever seen in a video game.
• AI - Neither friends nor enemies charge blindly into the fray. They can assess threats, navigate tricky terrain, and fashion weapons from whatever is at hand

Amazon.com
The Orange Box delivers five innovative games from Valve, creators of the Half-Life franchise, in one box. The Orange Box includes Half-Life 2: Episode Two, PortalTM, and Team Fortress 2 in addition to full versions of the award-winning Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One for an engrossing first-person action experience.

Features:

• Five Games, One Box: The Orange Box is the ultimate collection of innovative action games for the console, and an amazing introduction to the Half-Life series for console gamers.
• Epic Storyline: Half-Life 2: Episode Two takes you deeper into one of the best-known stories in gaming, following the desperate struggle of Gordon Freeman against the mysterious Combine. In this episode, you must leave the confines of City 17 for the first time and face even greater dangers beyond the city walls.
• Redefining Action: Portal delivers an innovative new action gaming experience. Arming you with a portal gun that lets you create portals from one location to another with the press of a button, Portal will forever change the way that you interact with your environment.
• World-Class Multiplayer: Team Fortress 2 is the sequel to granddaddy of role-based multiplayer action games. Featuring nine distinct roles Heavy, Spy, Scout, Demoman, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, Soldier, and Pyro Team Fortress 2 is one of this year's most anticipated multiplayer games for any platform.

Customer Reviews

a fine compilation
Well, nothing I can say will be anything new, but yeah, the orange box is a great value in gaming. Even if you don't like half life, getting this is worth it just for Team Forteress 2 and Portal, the games which I have spent most of my time on. There's a nice veriety of experience betweent he story-driven single player of half life 2 and the episodes, the cartoony multiplayer of TF2, and the humerous puzzler portal. If you have a decent PC there is no real reason not to have this.

I guess the only downside would be having to install the Steam platform. Though I've had no major problems with it so far, some people I know say it can be frustratingly buggy.

Great Purchase
Low price. Check.
Fun games. Check.

This is one of the best video games purchase I've made. 5 great contents at the price of 6 dollars each.

Best purchase of 2007
I'll admit that I've never played the Half Life series before, but I heard so many great things about this package, I decided to give it a shot. I have played and beaten all of the Half Life 2 games and enjoyed every second. I am officially hooked now...almost as hooked as I am to Team Fortress 2. And Portal is nothing short of brilliant. There's not much else to say other than it's a must buy for fans of FPS games. And for users of Nvidia products, you'll be happy to know that you also get to download the FULL version of Half Life 2: Lost Coast for free!

My only problem that I have ever had with The Orange Box package is this: STEAM! It has it's pros and cons, but from time to time it has unexplained bugs that they have yet to fix, such as not being able to load my games. Luckily, these bugs only happen on random occasions with no permanent damage, but maybe in time they'll fix these little inconveniences, because it can really be a nuisance. But don't let this discourage you. Even with these minor happenings, this bundle is well worth it's value.