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The Orange Box | 
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| From: Electronic Arts
Category: Video Games
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $29.65
You Save: $10.34 (26%)
New (32) Used (6) from $21.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  205 reviews
Sales Rank: 94
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp, Windows 2000
ESRB: Mature
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows 2000
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 1.1
MPN: 9852
UPC: 014633098525
EAN: 0014633098525
ASIN: B000PS2XES
Release Date: October 9, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW & FACTORY SHRINK WRAPPED-I SHIP 6 DAYS A WEEK VIA 1ST CLASS MAIL, USUALLY SAME DAY!!!
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| 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 |
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| Editorial Reviews:
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
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| Customer Reviews: Read 200 more reviews...
 Buy This Game August 19, 2008
This Game should be bought by anyone who likes first person shooters and puzzle games. The real draw is the combo of all 5 games in the one package. It has Team Fortess 2, Half Life 2; episodes 1 and 2 as well, and Portal. Even if you are not specifically wanting to play the some of the games i would suggest buying this package, instead of the seperate packages, so if you do want to play it in the future you already ave it istead of shelling out $20 for it later.
Don't already own half-life 2? Then give this 5 stars. Some pros and cons but over all very good, just not excellent. August 11, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The first thing to note is that orange box is more expensive on Steam than through Amazon. So in many ways at that price you can stock this review back up to 5 stars. However Steam does offer this product for $10 more (excluding tax). So its interesting that Valve cannot compete with Amazon (or doesn't want too) but I think to be fair in a review it would be best to give an overall review of this product rather than just the Amazon version.
The orange box is a compilation. It contains five games. The games all have Valve's Source engine in common. These are Half-life 2, Half-life 2: Episode 1, Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Half-life 2: Episode 2.
After the release of Half-Life 2 came Episode 1. It was an actual story continuation about a quarter of the size of the original game. Many people own HL2 and EP1 already. For most fans this means that Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Half-life 2: Episode 2 is what they are paying for. So to make amends Valve has decided to allow owners of HL2 and HL2:EP1 to get additional copies that they can share with others who do not have them over steam. Good idea.
Portal is probably the most ingenious mod since counter-strike (note, Counter-strike: source is not included in orange box!). Using challenging level design and a gun that can open and close portals the player must navigate there way around rooms by using their brains in conjunction with the various apparatus and their portal gun. There are 18 levels that can get taxing and a final level that is good old fashioned `twist in the game' fun. The problem is you can finish portal in a few hours.
Probably the most anticipated game is TF2. TF2 is fun but is also a little bit of a disappointment at the same time. The cartoon look may deter a lot of fans. I must admit that I prefer the look of TF1 which kept more in style with its Half-life roots. TF2 distances itself completely from anything that feels like HL (or HL2 for that matter) but in doing so has become a very different game to TF1 although the game play is the same. That is not to say that TF2 isn't a pile of fun. It is, but it will split fans. The maps are certainly better though however you can't help but feel that there are other multiplayer games out there that are much better than TF2... or that portal trumps it. TF2 is something that will grow and will probably always have fans but you can't help feeling that other multiplayer epics like Call of Duty 4 (which has blown away Counter-strike in terms of the leading FPS multiplayer) reduces TF2 to that game you play once in a blue moon.
Now down to it. HL2: EP2. Is it any good? The answer is yes and here is why.
In the Beginning... There was nothing new much in the Half-Life game engine which was essentially just a modern hack of the Quake game engine, so how could a game that based itself on software that others developed succeed in becoming the biggest selling game of all time? When Half-Life first came out it did a couple of things right that most other first person shooters failed to do... (1)Story,(2)Story and (3)Story. Valve created Half-Life in a period of our lives when Area 51 was a hot topic among UFO buffs and the X-Files was to become mainstream family television viewing. Alien based entertainment media was a craze in the mid and late 1990's, unprecedented since the 1950s. Smack in the middle of what could be considered the most influential era for UFO enthusiasts came half-life where you get to play as Gordon Freeman, a physics researcher who witnesses a freak accident in an Area 51 type facility. All hell breaks loose and you have to survive. No cut scenes. No initial story. No explanation. You where just there and you had to escape. EP2 hasn't thankfully left these roots and has instead expanded on the story, this time with deeper environments (running through landscapes rather than buildings all the time), improved textures (flowing hair) and more in game story action. You will get a solid few days gaming out of it, maybe more depending on how long you spend at it and the experience is very impressive, especially the story and feeling of being immersed in the half-life world of Gordon Freeman.
So where does this leave us with Orange Box? Well although many of the single player games have multiplayer (such as HL2 multiplayer), TF2 is really the main multiplayer offering and it doesn't look like it can win the hearts and minds of the multiplayer community. In fact, Valve has now two causalities down (TF2 and CS:S) to COD4. It is loosing the multiplayer match.
Portal is a stunning experience through and through. I can't underestimate how novel this experience was. Portal and EP2 are both truly rewarding games in every sense that we understand good gaming. However one is left thinking that while this is a great deal for those who haven't got HL2, you are actually just paying regular prices for good games. I feel they should have thrown in HL1: Source into the deal also.
To this extent Orange Box depends on who you are. If you are new to anything HL2 then get it. If you are an experienced HL2 user then EP2 and Portal are where it is at. The TF2 hype is eclipsed by better games.
Pros:
- Portal
- EP2.
Cons:
- TF2 is only just ok.
- Better multiplayer elsewhere
- No Counter-strike: Source
- No Half-life 1: Source
- Valve are loosing the multiplayer battle
best collection ever August 5, 2008
Half-Life 2 saga: This is a great series. I am one of thoes two people in the world who never played Half-Life 2 before the Orange Box and I was sort of hesitant to buy this collection because the HL1 and HL2 demos are terrible, but I figured I would give it a try and see what the hype was all about. Trust me; when they say HL2 is one of the best games ever, they aren't lying. The action is non-stop and always very intense. It really makes you feel like some incredible action hero from a movie or something.
Team Fortress 2: This is without a doubt one of the best online games ever made. It's really fun and easy to pick up. The skill is not so much in the shooting as it is in teamwork and strategy, so it is a nice change from the traditional shooter.
Portal: Due to it's length, I would not recommend this game as a stand-alone title. However, as part of a collection, it is a great way to break up the action between intense TF2 matches and exhilirating HL2 vehicle sequences. It really is a great puzzle game when part of a collection.
Overall, The Orange Box is just an amazing collection. Even if you don't like the games as much as I do, there is a lot of great content and the price is undeniably unbeatable. For $30, you really can't go wrong with TOB.
Steam is awesome August 5, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Ignore all the reviews about Steam being "Spyware" and "DRM" ridden. These are written by people who are ignorant to what Steam actually is and how it works - despite how extremely simple it is.
Yes, you do have to install Steam, but it is a relatively small file and has a very small memory footprint (it currently takes up 13mb of RAM, whereas Firefox is using 93). Yes you have to make a (FREE) account that doesn't require anything more than an email address. And what are the benefits of this system?
When you buy a Steam game, you put in the serial code that it comes with and the title is PERMANENTLY added to your Steam account. That means, even if you break the disc, or lose the serial number, or have a computer crash - You still have free access to that game FOREVER.
I can go anywhere in the world with an internet connection, onto any PC, download Steam, enter my info, and my entire list of purchased games is immediately available to be downloaded again for free.
Also note that when buying a game on a disc like The Orange Box, you do have the ability to install the game directly from the disc. It just simply needs to connect to the internet once to register the game to your account.
Steam is saving the PC gaming industry.
Oh yeah, and The Orange Box is awesome - I own it for my PC, and my Xbox 360.
The best deal on Amazon, no doubt!!! July 31, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Reading all the negative reviews about this game because of the "steam" app, I felt that I owe it to this game I write a good review about it.
First of all I have steam on my system and It's been running for a couple of months, never had any problems with it and never thought of uninstalling it.
In fact I think steam is a very good app if your interested in downloading games you like, rather than purchasing it from a store.
I live in Saudi Arabia and the games here cost twice as much as steam offers them if not more than twice. So that is one huge benefit of steam.
Second of all, you can't give a game 1 star because of this imaginary flaw you had which obviously your system can't handle.
The recommended requirement for this game is 2.4 Ghz, I've read some reviews of people bragging about steam with very low PC specs, and I'm pretty sure the problem isn't with steam it's with their spyware/adware filled systems.
I'll cut to the chase, and I'll review the game after noting that steam is not that bad. Half Life 2 is the best game I have ever played, period.
And I'm not alone in this. If you're interested in games or not, a boy or a girl, old or young, you owe it to your life to play Half Life 2.
The proof of the revolution of video games is more obvious in this game than any other.
The artistic factor and the amazing atmosphere give you an experience like no other.
I am yet waiting for a form of entertainment better than this.
So let alone, HL2 is still worth 40$, completed with 4 other amazing games is on heck of an offer.
HL2 episode one follows in the footsteps of HL2 in terms of story, quality and entertainment.
HL2 episode 2 will make you say "it just keeps getting better and better".
Portal is one of the most unique games I've ever played. It's no lesser than HL2, but has it's own form.
Team Fortress has been in development for Ten year years and that is pretty obvious when your playing, a near perfect multiplayer and the most fun.
A note on the graphics on these games, It still holds up as one of the best graphics out their due to the physics engine and the weight each partical has, I've seen newer games (2008) and I'm still waiting for a game that is more similar to reality than HL2. There are locations in the game where you really feel like your walking through reality, combined with 60 frames per second giving you an experience like no other.
Don't get me wrong, and don't surpass this review as the "fanboy" kind of review, HL2 indeed is one of the best games ever created by man and I've checked a sum of reviews from gaming websites where it was given an average of about 97% which ranks it in the top 5 games of all time, well deserved, and can't wait for HL2 episode 3.
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