Half-Life 2: The Orange Box for PlayStation 3 Reviews by Gamers

I only played a small demo of the half life 2 on my PC and gave up pretty much before anything fun happened, so I walked into this game thinking that I might return it pretty quickly and that’s it.

But somewhere in finding the right path and starting to run into NPCs, getting the infamous crowbar and finally a handgun, I slowly changed my mind until I played for hours and losing complete track of time. I do agree that the graphics are below what I know the PS3 can perform. Having played uncharted, half life’s 2 graphics seems almost ancient. But it’s quite passable and it doesn’t take away from the overall feeling. Most effect including water and rag doll is premium and the engine is capable of offer decent draw distances, painting quote a nice scenario, especially in vertigo inducing environment like under the large bridge.

And only ones did I run into poor frame rate after I died and had to reload.

The greatest flaw, which is not related to a ‘bad’ port in regards to graphics or anything else, is that first person type games are not ideal of puzzle solving that involves jumping or walking narrow ledges. That type of action is better suited for a 3rd person perspective. I frequently fall off and lose hit points due to a horrid way of not being able to see the characters feet.

But this is easily dismissed given the rich environment, decent NPC interaction and sometimes delightfully frantic action.

I highly recommend this massive set of games that includes not only half life 2, but also a short but interesting game called Portal and a online only game called Team Fortress 2 that I haven’t played yet but looks like mischievous fun.

The Orange Box is an incredible package, but it suffers technically as a bad port. I'll start by discussing the individual parts.

Half-life 2, Episode One and Episode Two - This is one of the most memorable FPS experiences to date. Another reviewer complained about the lack of action in the first ten minutes of the game, but Valve does an incredible job setting up the atmosphere and the storyline perfectly. Generally, the game's environments can be manipulated in many ways - you can interact with people, pick up and throw objects, shoot/throw explosive barrels, etc. You can even play tic-tac-toe in a playground. The sandbox feeling is heightened even more when you get the gravity gun, as you can pick up objects like saws or tables and chuck them at the enemy to save ammo. The action is very intense and has many great shock moments. The driving sequences, however, are tedious at best, with confusing controls and objectives.

Portal- In my opinion, Portal is the strongest piece in the set, and that's saying a lot. The entire game only takes 3-5 hours, but the scriptwriting is absolutely fantastic. You play as a test subject who, at the guidance of a completely insane robot voice, complete challenges using only a portal gun. You'll use momentum to launch yourself through the air, juggle with deadly energy balls, and much more. Portal is one of the most clever, entertaining and hilarious games I've ever played, as the insane computeris says some of the funniest things ever in a videogame. And who could forget the Companion Cube and the credits song?

Team Fortress 2 - This is a very strict and refined class and objective-based multiplayer game. Each map is custom tailored for one gametype, and there are nine classes each with specific roles. Very fun for a while, but the repetition can get old.

I would love to give this game a 10, but frequent framerate issues and unforgivable, frequent 20-second load times after every death or area nearly ruin the experience.