Others say...

"Orange Box - Insane Deal, Wonderful Games"
The whole notion of sticking all these games together for such an unbeatable price blows me away. Anyhow, as a whole the package, the price, and the games cause my rating to bump up to 5/5 stars but I'd like to break it down by game and review each of them shortly because it is a compilation game.

Half Life 2: 5/5
HL2 Episode 1: 3/5
HL2 Episode 2: 3/5
Team Fortress 2: 5/5
Portal: 5/5

Half Life 2:
The game picks up what seems to be 15 or so years after the original game. You have been dropped off in the middle of a conflict between an alien police force / totalitarian and the surviving humans. It seems that the aliens from the original game have returned as well (including the charming Alienesc face hugger ones).

There are plenty of weapons to use in the game and the games feel is much less restricted than the original. As mentioned in other reviews the vehicles can be annoying but I enjoyed those levels as well.

The multiplayer is interesting but I didn't find it anything worth mentioning further here.

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Half Life 2: Episode 1:
Continues shortly after Half Life 2. You lose all your weapons (since it's a stand alone game this is understandable but annoying) and your mission continues. The game wasn't anything special and while it did continue the story I would never have purchased the game if it wasn't included. It's rather short and there isn't much new.

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Half Life 2: Episode 2:
Just like Episode 1 you start off empty handed as well. It continues from the ending of Episode 1. I must admit this episode had some more interesting aspects to it but it too was somewhat repetitive. It also had the most annoying beginning of any game I've ever played. Who doesn't want to spend the first half of the game with only the gravity gun?

It does end in an interesting way and leads you to believe there will be a Half Life 3, however. I'm just hoping there isn't a Half Life 2: Episode 3 before then.

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Team Fortress 2:
Arguably one of the best multiplayer shooter games on the market right now. While there aren't many maps that come with the game the ones that do are fun to play and the plethora of classes to pick from keep the game interesting.

One of the only draw backs to the game would be just that there aren't many weapon choices once you do select a class. There's a melee weapon, your class weapon, and usually a weaker but more generic weapon (like a shot gun or a rifle). It does add to the strategy of the game though.

My only other complaint would be that for a game that so relies on team combat it requires a lot of work to join a clan. It would have been nice if there was some way to dynamically set a clan tag in your profile so you wouldn't have to actually change your steam login username to join one.

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Portal:
This game alone would have definitely been worth buying if you were given the choice let alone as a piece of such a great bundle.

The whole idea behind it is you are a test subject at a facility which is using you as a guinea pig to test out a new weapon. This weapon allows you to create a portal which you can use to move from wherever you set the opening portal to where you set the closing one. This is the only gun you get in the game.

I won't spoil much but the game somehow manages (through the genius of the developers no doubt) to use this premise to build an engaging atmosphere and storyline even into such a short game. It's puzzle game meets action shooter. And while it sounds very easy it can be pretty hard as you begin to think about all the possibilities of the portals (like making a portal under you, and one above you pointing out, jumping down and using your speed to propel you a distance).

The only draw back to this one is how short it is. You likely can finish this game in one sitting if you put enough time aside and pick up the general idea of how to use the portals quick enough.

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All in all this is a great collection and definitely worth the money. The HL2 episodes are rubbish but everything else is a definite add on to the compilation.

"best deal"
5 games in one.

EXCELLENT story in the HL2 and 2 add ons. Very cinematic and movielike. FUN FUN FUN

"Orange Box Rox"
This game is exactly as all the great reviews say. I don't have much to add, it's a great game.

"orange box"
game rocks. you cant beat getting 5 games in one box for such a cheap price. portal or team fortress 2 are definitely worth it alone. including the new halflife episode and the old ones is also great. had some problems getting the old ones working but found some information online. they should have fixed the issues by now though. other than that, i still play team fortress 2 all the time and portal was one of the best games i have played in a long time.

"Completely Happy"
This game is worth the money paid for it. Portal was definitely fun, and the half life 2 episode 2 contains a good amount of playtime. I try to gauge a games worth based of amount of game time versus cost, and this is up there with the best.