The Orange Box (360) impressions

Already soaked about 10 hours into the game across three of the different games. Here are some of my impressions on the game so far:

Half-Life 2
I must say, Valve did a good job on porting it. Some review sites are sort of merciless by claiming it looks like a sharper version of the Xbox port back 2 years ago, but that is selling it short. Besides keeping the same targeting and selection methods the Xbox version used, it is a perfect port of the PC version. Not only that, but there are several additions (Dynamic Lighting, Motion Blur while turning , etc). The outdoor levels really look 360 quality, while the indoor areas have not aged that well in comparison, sadly. I have barely seen any slowdown, and the only time I have is during loading sequences (Which are about the same as the PC version). This is defiantly a PC perfect port, despite what some reviewers might say.

Episode 2
Man, this sure has changed quite a bit since when it was first revealed. Granted, I am only on the third chapter of the game, so I am not too far (About 2 hours in). If Episode 1 was about City 17 and the Combine (Basically the beginning and end areas of Half Life 2), this is pretty much like the middle of half life 2. So far, I have yet to fight any Combine soldiers (Fought some Zombines, though). You also have to fight a bunch of Antlions and new Acidlions that cause poison status, but not as bad as the poison headcrabs (They are annoying, though). It looks extremely good, about on par with other 360 titles for the most part. I should be able to beat it tomorrow or Saturday.

Portal
Fun, addicting, but very short: Portal can be beaten in 3 hours. Think of it as a shooter that focuses more on puzzles and ledges then the enemies themselves (There are only 2 enemies in the game, not including the final boss). The game is also very funny in general, mostly due to the AI that always makes weird comments and threats. There is also a bunch of other stuff to do once you beat it, so replay value is high (Plus, there is commentary, which is always fun).

I have not tried out Episode 1, since it was sort of a choir to beat it the first time (Dare say I will try it out tomorrow). Can't try Team Fortress 2 until I get the router re-hooked up in the computer room, so I won't be able to try it until tomorrow. Anywho, the 360 version is defiantly a value and the way to go if you are a fan of achievements (99 total).

 

Thank your for sharing your impressions. I have always wanted to play Half-Life and if I had a 360 this would surely be the first game (compilation) I'd order.

 

Thanks for the review, looking forward to more HL goodness

 

I hated counter-strike, hence i never touched any of the Half-Life games.. :$

 

Quite a shame, since the games are good. And if you like multiplayer games, there's always good fun.

For the original HL: Deathmatch Classic, Day of Defeat, TFC,...
For HL2: HL2: Deathmatch, Day of Defeat Source, Insurgency, TF2 (just released).

 

I think I might get this on PC, but I already have HL2. I just don't get why this games review average has beaten like...everything, since two of the games have been out for awhile, although they are good.

I gotta say, I'm more interested in just HL E2 and Portal then TF2. Not big into those HL multiplayer games.

 

Do you know if you can buy just Episode 2 off of Steam? I want to play it, but it would be kind of a waste to buy the whole Orange Box since I already own HL2 and Episode 1.

 

I wish the bundle included Day of Defeat Source, too. But that's a lot to ask for. It's already a MASSIVE bundle.

 

Picking it up on the weekend.

 

Hoepfully GameFly will ship my copy by next week. The flash version of Portal can only do so much.

 

Let us know how TF2 performs on the 360.

 

There are networking issues with it. You want a really good host in order to get 4v4 no one I've talked to has been able to get 8v8.

Seems like Steel Battlion: LOC all over again

 

Thanks for the review. I still haven't played ep 1 so I have some catching up to do. (been a very busy and low game budgeted 18 months or so)

 

I want to try Team Fortress 2 out. It looks fun, and the non-serious design makes it even more appealing, imo.

 

That statement is painful. Counter-Strike is nothing when compared to Half-life. Hell, I dont even like Counter-Strike when not comparing it to Half-life! :nod: :lol:

 

True. I don't like any of those HL games except HL2 Deathmatch, and I loved Hal Life 2. Hell, I didn't even like Half Life 1.

 

Just picked up The Orange Box for the 360 last night, and let me say this.

Half-life 2: Episode 2, Portal, and TF2 are all AMAZING!

I was looking forward to Portal the most and let me say that I was not let down. It is incredible. :nod: Totally worth $60 in my opinion. :thumbsup:

 

Just finished Episode 2 *SPOILERS*




Damn, that was good. I thought Episode 1 had bad pacing, but Episode 2 did a far better job. The beginning two levels dragged on a little bit (Not a big fan of Antlions), but the later chapters were well worth it, the best being the final action level against a legion of Striders and Hunters. There was much more story, and some stuff from the first Half Life was finally solved and answered. I don't get the feeling Episode 3 will solve everything, but it will be epic, either way. My main issue is that there is no new weapons, which is still somewhat of a drag (The magneson device is not quite a new weapon, in my opinion). Either way, its well worth a play.

 

I'll pick the Orange Box on Friday and I'll be able to finally finish HL2 after all this time. I hope Portal is as fun as it looks like. If they receive good feedback perhaps Valve can develop a longer Portal game.

 

Its very fun, but short (3 hours). However, there is a bunch of replayability and the advanced challenges as well to last another 4 or so hours. They also said that they were planning on making more portal games, and the PC version should be getting a updated version of Hammer so they can make their own custom maps.