User Reviews (11 - 21 of 173)

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A Pack of New Titles Brings Old and New Players to New Classics

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 14 / 18
Date: October 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

For the price of a single A List game title (For instance, Bioshock) you get five here in the Orange Box. The price is undeniable for anyone that enjoys Puzzles, Shooters, Multiplayer or just games in general.

Half Life 2 and it's Episodes, One and Two, are all included in the Orange Box. A physics based shooter/puzzler that is usually referred to as the very plateau upon which the greatest games of all time sit. Half Life 2 grants more then 20 hours of gameplay if one were to take their time, and both of the episodes grant about 5-10 hours each. A plus is that if you already own Half Life 2, or Episode One, you can give them to a friend through Valve's Steam platform free of charge.

Team Fortress 2 has been a long time coming. After Team Fortress in around 1995 and Team Fortress Classic nearly 10 years ago, the only whispers from Team Fortress were cancelled, but brought back in 2006 with a cartoony Pixar like style that really lends a lot to the experience. It's basically 100% multiplayer all out action in which you pick a class with specific over the top skills. (The soldier can use his rocket launcher to launch himself high into the air, the spy can disguise as an enemy team member, etc.) It's pure fun, well worth at least 40 of the 50 dollars for the package.

Portal is a mind blowing experience that can be hard to describe. A specialized tool carried by the player opens portals on flat surfaces to completely unconnected parts of the map. There is no shooting of weapons done by the player while navigating through 20+ puzzles that require use of the "portal gun" to finish. The game itself is far too short for such an interesting and gripping idea, able to be completed in under two hours, but more time can be squeezed out of it with medals completed in least footsteps taken, fewest portals shot, etc, along with an easy method for adding community made maps.

Alltogether, bought seperately, these games would cost 100+ dollars, but they only ask half of that. An undeniable deal for anyone that enjoys shooters, multiplayer, puzzles, or teamplay, the Orange Box has something inside for everyone.

Good Game, Lousy distribution

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 15 / 20
Date: November 30, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Give me a freakin break!
I go in and buy a box and I want the GAMES not the software to download the game. I should not have to upgrade my line of communication in order to download a game. Also, I should not have to be ONLINE or in ONLINE mode to play a game.

The games once downloaded I awesome and I like to play them. But I will *never* buy another Steam/Valve box of download software!

Once they go belly up, how do I get to keep my games?

Mike

Steamy pile of ...

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 34 / 62
Date: October 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

The games themselves are ok. But the fact that everything is attached to Steam is awful. The worst piece of software I have ever seen. Support does not exist. No phone support at all, email requests been unanswered for over a week and now to top it all the account has been deactivated for no apparent reason. I am doing a chargeback and not buying anything from Valve ever again.

Overall game package....Better than I'd hoped ... maybe even a 'Game of the Year' contender in this group

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 42 / 82
Date: October 15, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Some comments on the 3 new components of this 5 game package.

Episode 2...a worthy sequel to Episode 1...

In fact, qualities good enough (IMO) to think that it might have contended for single player, Game of the Year*, (however, its shorter overall length would probably preclude this honor.)

This game was all that I'd hoped for; it has some great battles, an extended car driving component, an interesting new weapon (towards the end), a compelling story line, a hint of humor and a touching, emotional ending.

In addition, it has smooth flowing graphics, well sync'd voice and lip movement and a few interesting puzzles. Also, the way the other characters (i.e. Alyx, Dr. Vance etc.) watch you and turn their bodies to adjust to your position (Freeman) is remarkable; very realistic.

My only small complaint would be that the first quarter of the game was a little drawn out and repetitious; however this is only a minor concern in an otherwise incredible PC game.

Easily 5 Stars...more if I could.

*****

Portal...quirky and different but fun!

A rather unique, single player puzzle game that involves going in and out of doors; doors you make with (what else), your portal gun. However, this task is not quite as easy as it sounds; to accomplish your goals you must use strategies of lateral thinking, timing and momentum to get through all 19 different levels. Of course the challenges become more complicated as you progress and to win the game (and escape), you must defeat the increasingly neurotic test-facility robotess in the finale. Great fun!

This spacial concepts took a little time to get use to, but once the basics were mastered this was an interesting and fun exercise in abstract thinking and puzzle solving. 4 ½ Stars.

*****

Team Fortress 2...non-stop action

An excellent addition to the original TF. The gameplay could best be described as multiplayer chaos, with everyone running around like mad trying to survive. It is, however, great fun. 5 Stars.

Conclusion:
Great value for the money; 1 new game, 2 new sequels, plus a couple of old games thrown in (games that, for anyone who likes this genre, has already played long ago). Overall package...5+ Stars.

*other nominees for single player 'Game of the Year' might be 'Bioshock' and "Call of Duty 4', with 'Timeshift' and 'STALKER-Chernobyl' close runner ups and 'Crysis' in a more distant grouping.

Great Game, Nightmarish Process

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 34
Date: November 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Steam is an absolute nightmare. The game ran fine initially. I quit the game and went back to play some more, but Steam found problems with my "Local Game Files" and then tried to download the files from Steam-infinitely! I tried to reinstall from dvd and "Steam servers are too busy, please try again in a few minutes" during which time the Steam servers were apparently NOT too busy to drop an ad for a new Steam game onto my desktop. Maddening, sbdolutely maddening. If you don't enjoy frustration, buy something else!

Gargabe game from garbage company

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 28 / 56
Date: October 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I will never buy a valve product again. I bought a legit game from a legit source, and valve just cancelled my account for no reason. They have done this to what I suspect is in the thousands of customers. There is a forum site where many people are screaming mad.

I played the various Orange box games for 1 week, than they basically screwed me over by deactivating a legit account.

If you wanna play a game sold by a crooked company, buy this game.

Superb

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 29 / 61
Date: October 14, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Excellent price for 5 triple-A quality games. Lives up to the hype.

...and if you already own HL2 and episode1, Valve (through Steam) lets you transfer those licenses to a friend.

DANGER - Do not buy a used copy! Valve won't transfer licences

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: April 24, 2008
Author: Amazon User

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).

Video Game Review of The Orange Box

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: November 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RKVEV9HSY1AXI

Fun if you ever get to play it

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 21 / 44
Date: October 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought the Orange Box three days ago. For some reason, the games are trying to download themselves from Steam rather than installing off of the DVD's. So far, only the original Half Life has installed. This is after leaving my computer running nonstop for two whole days. Occasionally, the install craps out with "The Steam Servers are too busy. Try again in a few minutes" and I start the install again.

If the games aren't finished installing by tomorrow (72 hours after purchase) I am sending this back for a refund.

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