If you look at the list of awards handed out over the years in the games industry the company Valve have more than their fair share. The likes of 'Half Life' and its sequel 'Half Life 2' have garnered both critical and financial success making them one of the most powerful games companies, even making their own PC based streaming system. As a console gamer my involvement with them has been poor. 'Half Life' on the PS2 was a poor port and I missed the sequel on the Xbox. Therefore, I was intrigued to see 'The Orange Box' getting a 360 release with not only 'Half Life 2' included but also two extra add-ons (Episodes 1 and 2), an online shooter experience (Team Fortress  Read the complete review

The Orange Box is a video game compilation of first person shooters (FPS) for the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3, produced by the wonderfully talented folks at Valve. How's that for a professional introduction? Look at all the information I squeezed in there. I could end the review right here. But I won't. The games included are all based on the same game engine, the Source engine, and although they're all FPS games, they provide a wide range of variety and gameplay style. The games included all have names, and these are them: - Half-Life 2 Half-Life 2: Episode One Half-Life 2: Episode Two Portal Team Fortress 2 The ...  Read the complete review

Back in 1998, which was before Doom 3 and even Unreal Tournament, Valve released Half-Life for the PC. It was a mega-hit as it dodged a lot of things that shooters were doing wrong at the time, and it had so much attention to detail you couldn't help but love it. It received a sequel in 2004, and is also considered one of the best. Now, nearly ten years after the original, Valve have proven themselves to be quite a clever bunch. If you're a PC owner who's played the game's on here, then this probably won't interest you. But, if you think about it, console owners have missed all this stuff. But Valve have fulfilled some people's wishes by releasing The Orange Box, which ..  Read the complete review

'The Orange Box' is a collection of five games from the Valve Corporation including Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. =Half Life 2= Half Life 2 was the one we were waiting for. After years of waiting for a sequel to the much loved original and the many delays it was finally released. The story is set in 'City 17' in a world enslaved by the alien race the 'Combine' who came through to Earth after your actions in the first game. Reprising your role as the silent Gordon Freeman you are reunited with some of your friends from Black Mesa in the underground resistance movement, intent on ...  Read the complete review

As a developer, Valve has an incredible reputation for quality games. With that in mind, I purchased The Orange Box with high expectations and it is safe to say that it met those standards. The Orange Box contains 3 games; the original Half-Life 2 plus it's latest installments Episodes 1 & 2, Portal and Team Fortress. Half-Life 2 is one of the greatest videogames of the past 20 years. Following the story of the unlikely hero - Gordon Freeman, Scientist. Who finds himself in the middle of the alien dictatorship of the planet Earth. Admittedly, it's jarring at first if you haven't played the first game (or even if you have played the first ...  Read the complete review