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Valve Uncrates the Orange Box

Posted by Bezhou Feng on 11 October 2007 - 02:18 · 20 comments & 12532 views

In one of the more highly anticipated game releases of the year, Valve Corporation has officially released "the Orange Box" to consumers today as both a retail boxed copy and an online download available through Valve's Steam. The Orange Box retails for $49.95 in both stores and online and contains a whopping five games: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episode 1, Half-Life 2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Of course, the meat and potatoes of this box is in Episode 2, which continues the story of Gordon Freeman and his allies as they take the fight from City 17 into the wilderness, and Team Fortress 2, the highly anticipated follow up to Team Fortress for Quake and Team Fortress Classic for Half-Life 1. Portal, probably the least known part of the package, is described by Valve as a "game that blends puzzles, first person action, and adventure gaming."

Fans will be happy to note that the Orange Box is thus far holding up very favorably in reviews: PC Gamer gave the compilation a 94% and Gamespot and IGN gave it a 9.5/10.

News source: Steam News Release

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Full name: Bezhou Feng
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#1 Posted by Rogue` on 11 Oct 2007 - 02:44: Well worth the $45 it cost me to pre-order.....TF2 alone has given me 50+ hours of gaming

Shame Portal and Ep2 were pretty short though :|

Ah well, bring on Ep3

#2 Posted by joker999 on 11 Oct 2007 - 05:15: i want just TF2 not packs

#3 Posted by Flae_qui on 11 Oct 2007 - 07:43: fixing my buddies PC right now cus that software killed his video driver... ATi x1950 card doesn't seem to like it...

#4 Posted by Xerxes on 11 Oct 2007 - 08:03: I think I'm gonna have to bite the bullet and buy HL2 and HL2:EP1 again to get Portal and HL2:EP2. I have to say I'm not too impressed about it. They released HL2:EP1 standalone, why not HL2:EP2 and Portal too? I am aware I can buy just HL2:EP2 and Portal by themselves off Steam, but I don't have a credit card.

#5 Posted by +Coldgunner on 11 Oct 2007 - 09:24: I think what ended up being £25 for the pack was fantastic, just take hl2 and ep1 as freebies and £25 for ep2, tf2 and portal was well worth it

(1 reply) #6 Posted by +Kushan on 11 Oct 2007 - 09:40: People keep saying there's 5 games in this box, when there's (at most) 3 games and 2 episodes. What's more, those two episodes and one of the games are incredibly short and not worth the price of a full game.
Then, one of the remaining games is 3 years old and on the PC that means it's value has dropped substantially, so really the only thing in this box worth the money is TF2.
It may be a good game, but the Orange box is a scam if you ask me. It's only viable audience are those that have never played HL2 before and for those of us that have, it's like a kick in the balls.

#7 Posted by PENGUINwithM4A1 on 11 Oct 2007 - 09:50: You know you can sell / give away the games you already own, and personally i dont have EP1 so spending £22.50 for episode 1, 2, TF2, portals and HL2 is a huge saving:

Ep1: £10
Ep2: £15
Portals: £10
TF2: £15
HL2: £10

So i saved £20 on that, and i gave HL2 to my brother so now we can play some deathmatch,

(5 replies) #8 Posted by +.Vamp on 11 Oct 2007 - 09:50: I'm so pleased that here in the UK we have to wait another 8 days until it's released for the xbox360.

#9 Posted by deck on 11 Oct 2007 - 11:54: Portal is probably the best game I've played in terms of pure interest and fun. I like puzzles I do. And it was funny. Too short, yet I'd like to see the concept adapted to a HL episode or a completely new FPS.

(1 reply) #10 Posted by Mathachew on 11 Oct 2007 - 18:22: Bring back the Black box!

#11 Posted by chicken-royal on 11 Oct 2007 - 18:31: Personally, I found the £25 I paid over Steam to be excellent value for Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2.
Spent an unhealthy amount of hours playing the TF2 beta, finished Portal yesterday, which didn't take very long, but the story and every other part of the game was so well made, really enjoyed the whole thing. Made a start on Episode Two last night, plan to finish it off tonight or tomorrow.

3 excellent new games for a great price. Well worth it!

#12 Posted by Dakkaroth on 12 Oct 2007 - 05:47: Considering Portals being really short, is it safe to assume there will be awesome Portal mods for PC? Curious~

#13 Posted by Drone_101 on 13 Oct 2007 - 16:55: Portals great fun, TF2s well worth the money alone and getting HL2 as a freebie I can give away to some1 isn't exactly a kick in the teeth. Aint finished EP2 yet, to busy playing TF2

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