The Orange Box reviewed: Valve tells the industry to step it up

By Tyler Barber



Valve's maverick digital distribution service, Steam, is trailblazing the PC scene by offering a centralized community, free matchmaking and convenient downloading. Sharing the love with console owners, the Orange Box is continuing Valve's generous offerings with five games packed onto one disc for $60. For gamers used to stupidly-priced hard-drives, blood-sucking micro-transactions and retro-robberies, the Orange Box is a savior. A game without bureaucratic restrictions. A free man.

Life gives you a crowbar…
Half-Life 2 and HL2: Episode One are amazing games, but they’re showing their age (but more like Madonna than Keith Richards). Their transparent set-pieces, clumsy weapon selection (mapped to the D-pad) and linear battles feel antiquated. But the brand new Episode Two takes the gameplay off-rails, and provides new, larger environments for non-linear skirmishes. The devious Hunters debut with AI programmed to flank and smoke you out of hiding, all while remaining strangely emotive. Episode Two perfects Valve's oscillation between combat and puzzle-solving with what is described as the biggest physics-based puzzle in the series. Which is good, because with so many great console-centric shooters ending in disappointment, Valve needs to deliver a fresh and satisfying conclusion to the HL epic.


Let them eat cake
An hour-and-a-half into Portal has me unnerved. The corrugated windows that feed into empty observation rooms, sterile walls and the hum of the fluorescent lighting escalates to an insanity-inducing silence. Even more distressing, GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System), the disembodied monitor of the "experiment," is starting to sound a few ingredients short of a fruit-cake. Armed with a portal gun, you can shoot two openings onto any flat surface, creating a two-way warp. As the meat of the Zelda-esque puzzles, this mechanic is used in labyrinthine variations coated with a Dharma Initiative vibe. The musings of your over-seer provide the backdrop for the story—yes, a plot in a puzzle game you'll actually care about. What's on average a three-hour tour, Portal might be the shortest contender ever for Game of the Year.


A shooter for everyone?
Leading up to Team Fortress 2, Valve chiseled-away at four versions before fixating on the current Incredibles-meets-Norman Rockwell aesthetic. Pretty and functional, the cartoon-y look helps distinguish each of the nine classes in TF2. Each class varies in speed, health and damage. The Heavy walks slow and has more health, whereas the Scout is extremely fast, but only takes a few rounds to drop. Other classes bring a layer of depth to the online shooter genre. The Spy and the Engineer, for example, have an Itchy and Scratchy relationship—the Engineer builds machine-gun and the Spy, disguised as one of the opposing team's members, disables the turret incognito. What's most promising about TF2 is its allure to those intimidated by online shooters. Classes like the Medic, Pyro, and—to some extent—the Engineer, rely on skill-sets other than twitch shooting. But, with a Holiday season full of online-shooters, it’s yet to be determined if console gamers can open-up to Valve.