
Orange Box = 3 Excellent Games

I know there are really five games, but Half-Life Episodes 1 & 2 are short and really are just add-ons to the main game. You COULD play them out of order or by themselves, but then you would really miss out on the phenomenal story that HL2 offers in full.
Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 & 2: Excellent. AWESOME!!
Fun factor: 10/10 if your a FPS fan, 6/10 if your not so much. This game is a shooter through and through. It really pulls away from the pack with it's innovative level design, gameplay and variety of light puzzles and enemies to engage with.
Visuals: 9/10 The graphics on the Xbox 360 are sharp and hi-rez. Everything from backgrounds to textures to faces are rendered in photographic or near photographic quality, which gives this 4-year old game a very new feel. Things break apart nicely when you hit or shoot them, even your weight can smash somethings. Particle effects, which are plentiful in this Sci-Fi shooter, are a delight to witness.
Audio: 9/10 This would have gotten a 10/10 if there was a little more dialogue. All of the plot advancing takes place within real-time game scenes, and there is enough of it during those times, but other than that there is hardly any talking. You will occasionally hear radio chatter or some kind of PSA, which do add to the overall ambiance. Physical sounds of things colliding or being destroyed, weapon sounds and character/enemy voices or sound FX are all top notch.
Tech: 9/10 Everything works here. Controls, precision, movement, collision detection (except getting stuck in an Antlion Pit), physics, frame-rate, draw distance. Load times are quick but you may find they are numerous. The way Valve built this game allows for a "seamless" flow, there ARE different levels marked by their labels popping up every so often, but there is no stopping of gameplay between them.
Difficulty: 7/10 if your good with FPS, 9/10 if your new to the genre.
Overall: 8.8/10
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Portal: Very cool. Uber-unique and very fun to play.
Portal is somewhat based off of the HL world. There are similarities or parallels between them and they serve to tie into the overall theme, even if they are subtle like the turrets or the gravity gun. This is a puzzle game with a twist. First, you play it in first-person mode, second, it does have it's brief action sequences and third, the story is a little deeper than other puzzle games. This game is a challenge but starts out easy. The idea is that you have a "gun" that shoots two different portals, walk through one and come out the other. Easy right? Riiight ...
Fun Factor: 10/10 if you like HL, puzzles or "breakaway" games. 5/10 if otherwise.
Visuals: 8/10. Even though you may not encounter much that is visually stunning, everything is pristine. The first time you see your self through the portal is amazing.
Audio: 8/10 Again, not a whole lot but everything sounds good. I love the GLaDOS voice that is essentially the backbone of the game.
Tech: 10/10 The physics are OUTSTANDING and are an integral part of how you play the game. Everything else is top-notch.
Difficulty: 7/10 if you play the story only. 10/10 if you try the advanced levels.
Overall: 8.6/10
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Team Fortress 2: Fun to play. I haven't played this game a whole lot.
Fun Factor: 8/10 Fun with people you know.
Visuals: 8/10 Cartoony.
Audio: 6/10 Eh.
Tech: 7/10 Good.
Difficulty: 7/10 Medium learning curve.
Overall: 7.2/10
Review ID: 10000000007559364

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