The Orange Box (PC/PS3/360)

[Charlie]

Been a while since I played the original on the PC, but I'm pretty sure HL2 is of equal length, maybe even a little longer.

I don't quite share the forum's love for Portal. It's a good game, with some nice humour but, because the Orange Box's other 4 games are so good, I certainly consider it the weakest link. Still enjoyable though while it lasts.

[Malc]

Actually you haven't fallen and are still in the running

You only have to do it on the bit where

->Open Spoiler<-

you contain actually enter the core - it's the two Stalkers right at the start that keep removing the charges from the light bridges. Contain the core without killing either of these and you'll get it.

Ah, thanks for that, I thought it seemed impossible.

[domsalvia]

Having not played any of the package before, I am now at chapter 2 of Ep 2 and am feeling a bit emperor's new clothes about the HL2 experience. I can't see past it being a solid but dated shooter with some REALLY poor bits thrown in (anything involving buggy or hovercraft for a start). I can imagine the physics causing a stir at the time but now? Are they really that big a deal? I would argue not so much.

Portal is obviously magic - was the Portal feeling the HL2 feeling back in the day playing something new and ground breaking, and if so will people coming back to Portal after a few years of building on that style gaming feel how I do about HL2 right now?

I dunno, everyone gushes over the game(s) so much I'm either missing something from it or everyone else is wrong. I tend towards me being infallible generally

I would like to rate TF2 but it seems a bit lacking in the overall experience. Playing the game is double plus good, but I have been spoiled by the Halo 3 end to end package. Maybe they can clean it up in some magic patch of frontendness, but I'm not holding out on it.

edit: But I probably ruined Ep 1 for myself by going or the single bullet achievement, but I don't think it would make that much difference given my feelings for HL2 and Ep 2 (so far).

[Skull Commander]

Having not played any of the package before, I am now at chapter 2 of Ep 2 and am feeling a bit emperor's new clothes about the HL2 experience. I can't see past it being a solid but dated shooter with some REALLY poor bits thrown in (anything involving buggy or hovercraft for a start). I can imagine the physics causing a stir at the time but now? Are they really that big a deal? I would argue not so much.



I dunno, everyone gushes over the game(s) so much......

I fully agree here. I have been half life 2 on and off over the last week and although it's good in places I don't see what all the 'best game ever' quotes are all about.
The game is tedious for huge sections, especially the vehicle sections. The physics are fun but I was doing this on psi ops which came out around the same time.
The story is the usual sci fi drivel and I don't feel connected with Gordon Freeman at all.
The gravity gun is great and gives you some much needed freedom.
I don't think it's a bad game, but it doesn't even get into my top 50 games of all time, never mind top ten.

[Brats]

You're both not alone. I feel exactly that same as I posted earlier in the thread. It's not a bad game, but it does have some really janky sections and some really boring bits.

[Malc]

It's all just opinions, second game in my top 100 list for me.

[domsalvia]

I would like the gravity gun more if it were consistent. The amount of times I've been unable to pick up a rock or similar but the game didn't want me to use it as a weapon in some city sections (looking at you here Ep1... <taps foot>) is plain crazy. I'm not even talking about big rocks here either, deffo smaller than some I've been allowed to grab. Enter the mine in Ep2 and I'm lugging around massive bundles of metal now. Insanity! I may by picky, but it got my goat for a little while, as in all the time trying to 1 bullet Ep1

[dogen]

some REALLY poor bits thrown in (anything involving buggy or hovercraft for a start)

Man, I quite like the vehicle sections, I thought they were handled quite well.

[egparadigm]

Just been playing Half-Life 2. There was a really weird bug after I defeated

->Open Spoiler<-

the helicopter.

I jumped out of the hovercraft and then I was magically transported across the level to a nearby ladder!

Just reached the area with

->Open Spoiler<-

Dr. Mossman and Alyx et al.

Weirdly,

->Open Spoiler<-

Dr Mossman

was walking around unlit - whilst everyone else was properly lit, she was walking around in the dark.

[rmoxon]

OK sounds like your machine has gone stark raving mad.

[saturn-gamer]

Damned... Portal, so damn good. Unbelievable. I completed it. This might very well be the best game on a collection that already holds some of the best games ever made to begin with.

Its short, and it might lack extra content. There is the short storymode and a few challenges on old chapters. Therefore it might've been a ripoff if sold standalone. But this game is just so intelligent, just as the voiceovers are brilliant... not a single weak line! Not even in the damn credits. Its non stop fun, without ANY challenge that sucks. imo.

If I would give ratings to every game in this pack, none would score lower than a solid 9. Halo, Bioshock what?

[Brats]

I would like the gravity gun more if it were consistent. The amount of times I've been unable to pick up a rock or similar but the game didn't want me to use it as a weapon in some city sections (looking at you here Ep1... <taps foot>) is plain crazy. I'm not even talking about big rocks here either, deffo smaller than some I've been allowed to grab. Enter the mine in Ep2 and I'm lugging around massive bundles of metal now. Insanity! I may by picky, but it got my goat for a little while, as in all the time trying to 1 bullet Ep1

I know what you mean. There's a part in Highway 17 where just after you fight a gunship, you are supposed to move some wrecked cars out of the way with the gravity gun to let the buggy through. Except one of the cars (a small van) is unaffected by the gravity gun because it has a cache of rockets in it (because gunships always attack at that precise monent when there are infinite rockets nearby).

Unfortunately for me, I tried the gravity gun against that van first of all and decided that clearly the gun was too weak to move the cars, so I left the buggy and continued on foor down the road. It was only much later when I moved a car by accident that I realised the janky design had fooled me and I could have moved all of the other cars except that one I had testedthe gun on .

It's part of the point I was making earlier that the logic in HL2 is all over the shop.

[Charlie]

I don't get why you keep criticising the game. Fair enough, you don't like it, that's cool, and while everyone has the right to express themselves as they see fit, why, once you've made your opinion clear, is there a need to keep repeating it? A more suspicious mind might reach the conclusion you don't like seeing people enjoying the game and are intent on convincing folk to adopt your view.

[nonny]

I loved portal.

Short yes, but as a fusion of a puzzle/fps genre I thought it was incredibly well fleshed out and I was actually surprised with how well they progressively expanded on the whole idea.

Im sure the level design from a development point of view would of been a real head-scratcher and testing would of been an absolute nightmare!

Just a great little game and I loved the ending credits and that song... I was laughing all the way through and I think that for me was literally the icing on the cake.

Short, yes. Classic... definitely.

[domsalvia]

I don't get why you keep criticising the game. Fair enough, you don't like it, that's cool, and while everyone has the right to express themselves as they see fit, why, once you've made your opinion clear, is there a need to keep repeating it? A more suspicious mind might reach the conclusion you don't like seeing people enjoying the game and are intent on convincing folk to adopt your view.

My view was "am I missing something special here?" because I really can't see it. It could be one of those things were I'm just not getting it, and I'd hate to be robbing myself of a great experience. All I tend to read is how great it is with no real detail why I should be thinking that. Don't get me wrong, I have enjoyed it, but in now way to the same degree as I have enjoyed many of my recent purchases. A good, solid 7/10er in review speak, not that a number is that descriptive either, but deffo not ground breaking in 2007.

I'm not intending to be a whiney git, educate me!