Orange Box - Xbox 360

First off I rated this game a 5 stars because this game sucked me into the story since the very start. I'm talking about half life two, the story is kind of confusing at first since I never played the first Half life. All I did was go on youtube to look up the first games lore and I have to say the universe of Gordan Freeman is very intriguing to say the least. The game really pulled me in that much more since I knew what was going on. The shooting mechanics feel solid and responsive. The feeling of killing an alien and or a Combine solder feel really good as well. It was hard to put the controller down to be frank....The weapon slots are easy to access whenever you want to switch a gun on the fly. Yes this game has weapon slots no carrying just two weapons like modern games. This has a very old school fps feel. The game essentially feels like you are on an adventure and the reason I keep bringing up the word feel is this game has a unique style of fps gameplay that you just don't see anymore in modern fps.The art style for a decade old game is very impressive as well. You see how the world is on the brink of total devastation that brings you to a total investment of the game. It has great facial animation for the characters you see down the line. Very L.A Noire if you ask me with the facial animations. This game has aged very well since its first release back in 2004. It can go toe to toe with even some of the more recent video games being released. I just have to give credit where credit is do. Valve did an awesome job with the source engine.I have to mention the sound Half life 2 has because this is one of the most important parts in a game that separates an okay game with something that will totally hook you in from the start. The enemys have a very creepy noise to them and if you know what a zombie headcrab is then you know what I mean by just a creepy sounding enemy. The combine solders wear this type of gas mask and sounds just like Bane from the batman movie when they talk. They also have walkie talkys that sounds just like a real walkie talkie. When you kill them you can even hear the Combines HQ trying to get a hold of them. Sounds very realistic in my opinion. The soundtrack is also one of my favorite video game soundtracks I have ever heard. The music as a very well made and just invests you even more into the game. Believe you me you will just stop and listen just to take it all in.I know It sounds like I'm praising it but there are some flaws, very minor but I feel I have to mention them. If you plan on purchasing this game for the consoles be aware of load times. A friend of mine plays the ps3 version and told me they are extremely long and kind of takes him out of the experience a bit. The 360 version has load times that are a bit slow but they rarely ever took me out of the atmosphere this game provides. There is a bit of frame-rate drops here and there on the 360 but not as much as the ps3.Now I'm going to talk a little bit about Portal and Team Fortress 2. Portal is a well made puzzle action game that kind of took me by surprise. I'm not that big into puzzle games myself but Portal gave me this Euphoria rush every time I completed a puzzle. At first they are easy enough but when you progress through the story they get trickier and trickier. Well paced I might add It's not like it was completely easy then all of a sudden the difficulty ramps up and you either have to look up how to complete a puzzle or you just stop playing. Nothing like that, it is well paced. The computer A.I named Glados is a big part of the story. She at first seems as if she is trying to help you but more further in the story you can tell she is trying to kill you. Her dialogue knocks it out of the park for me and had me chuckling every opportunity I heard her voice. Glados has that very animatronic voice that sounded like she was calm when in reality she was trash talking the whole time.Team Fortress 2 was the least played game out of the bundle.... Well just because at the time I really was not into the whole team based shooter genre. I'm proud to admit I was a dummy for not giving this game a chance. At first it is a bit tricky because it's quite difficult to kill people if you don't play the role you choose. For example there are 10 classes you can choose. Very addictive multiplayer. I have only put an hour or two in so I'm not gonna tell you stuff I don't know. If you read my review this long I thank you for taking the time to read my review of atleast most of the orange box. Hope I helped you understand a little bit more about this package. I really do think you should pick this game up what are you waiting for?

Market ReviewI purchased this product mainly for Portal. My friend had let me play it before I had an Xbox and I wanted my gf to have the same experience that I had as I really enjoyed the game. Portal sells on the Xbox Live arcade for $15 and since this was $20 for Portal, the Half-Life 2 series AND Team Fortress 2.. I was easily sold. Great value for the price.Overall Product ReviewThe Orange Box is a great Experience for fans of the First Person Shooter (FPS) genre. Filled with something for everyone to enjoy whether you like something short and sweet, long and epic, or if you just want to shoot stuff. This being said, if you don't enjoy FPSs.. this is not for you.. and Team Fortress 2 requires you to be an Xbox Gold member. So keep that in mind.Individual Game ReviewsPortalPortal is definitely a MUST PLAY game if you enjoy games that can fully immerse you in the world. It's strange to call it a FPS, since in all honesty, you don't really shoot anything in the traditional sense. The game is a full experience that stands by itself as it begins as a quirky puzzle game and slowly grows into something much more. I won't spoil anything, but I highly recommend that you try and play the game in one sitting as it seriously will mess with your mind. That being said, the experience is pretty short. But quality over quantity, easily a game that everyone should experience.Half-Life 2 - Episodes 1-2Although the gameplay is slightly dated, Half-Life 2 is a great adventure game that puts you in a constant state of tension as you traverse diverse and interesting environments. The story is slightly confusing at the beginning, but worth the investment to get into as it unfolds. The artillery choices are fun and allow you to play the game in however manner suites your play style the best and the core game mechanic is fun and easy to pick up but very difficult to put down (which is a good thing). Playing around with one particular armament called the "Gravity Gun" is especially enjoyable and is something that every gamer can discuss with fondness. This is an episodic epoch, though.. so if you want something with a clear cut resolution.. you may get annoyed by the fact that episode 3 has been in the works for some time although no release date has yet been determined. These first few episodes are really fun, and hopefully, good things come to those who wait.Team Fortress 2If you have a Gold membership, don't care about epic plot lines, and just want to shoot things.. Team Fortress is for you.