The Orange Box

The Orange box retail item is one of the best sets I've ever purchased. As far as first person shooters go, Half life 2 ranks among the finest Jam packed with action, realistic graphics and physics that you would think would bring any respectable machine to its knees, but actually it's easy on the system resources (My machine is over a year old without any major upgrades except a memory upgrade from 2 gb to 4 gb) I didn't need to scale anything down! This game has it all, an excellent plot, storyline, even a burgeoning under-the-table love story. Weapons are diverse and realistic looking, and actual gameplay leaves nothing to be desired from bifurcating zombies with circular saw blades, to disintegration via unstable fusion cores. If Half life 2 leaves you wanting more you have 2 extra "episodes" to play with; action, graphics, physics are all the same some extra characters are introduced all-in-all the other episodes are just as good as Half life 2 albeit not as long. If you're looking for some intellectual gameplay that tests your cognitive abilities look no further than Portal, a game that takes place in a strange lab that seems like nothing more than a testing arena but slowly reveals its sinister purpose. Team fortress 2 is also an excellent multiplayer game that is based on the half life engine.

WARNING: Don't buy this game unless you don't have a problem with the fact that you MUST be connected to the Internet to even install the game. If you're one of those people who have anti-virus software running at the same time, also forget it, as you will most likely be unable to find any but the least secure settings that will allow it to work.

If your PC is already part of the worldwide spammers botnet, then OK, I guess. But I strongly advise against it for anyone with any computer equipment you actually care about keeping virus or malware-free.

It's positively unconscionable to think there's anything even remotely OK about connecting to the sign-up website Steam just to run this game, after buying the game in a store. No wonder colleges have so much trouble allowing returning students to plug their laptops into the college networks without infecting their networks with so many viruses and malware it's not EVEN funny anymore.

Yu-jin Chia,

While Steam requires a live internet connection to INSTALL the games, one can play the games offline by simply putting the Steam client in offline mode. Additionally, one can turn off the automatic update feature for the games.

Steam is by far the best online game distribution system available. Most others require a monthly fee. A steam account is free (no setup fee and no monthly fee). One simply purchases the games desired.

Beware. A lot of people on here selling "New but opened" copies of orange box are actually selling registered copes and Valve (in their infinte wisdome) refuse to transfer licences from one customer to another (in violation of the "First Sale" doctrine of copyright law).

DO NOT BUY a used copy except from an 'authorized valve reseller' (whoever that is, apparently not Amazon, unfortunately).

Great buy for all who are new to HL2 and those who already have it.


You get:

HL2: Which I believe is one the best games ever. Nothing more I can say that hasnt already been said.

HL2 Episode 1: Fast action and great graphics and gameplay. Not much more to say about this either.

HL2 Episode 2: Another fast paced and very intense game. The graphics still hold up and this expansion has less puzzle solving this time which I like alot better. Also, th final battle is very intense and very cool. Awesome soundtrack as always. Game keeps you on the edge of your seat. Also has a surprise ending.

Portal: What a little gem this is. This is a very cool game with great graphics and great puzzles to solve. The puzzles get harder and harder up to the last one which is very long and very challenging. Also a little comical and also has a surprise and cool Ending.

TF2: Instead of making this look like the old TF (which would have been like playing CS), they created 9 Pixar -like charcters to choose from. Excellent graphics and cool maps and there are so many new maps already out there that this game stays cool for along time. With 9 classes to choose from, you have many different ways you can play the game. Also keeps your best scores for each class. I love this game.

So if you haven't gotten any HL2 games, this is your chance to catch up and have at least 40+ hours of single-player gaming and countless hours on TF2. Happy gaming.