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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 26, 2007

System: Microsoft Xbox 360
Also available for: Windows PC

Publisher: Valve

Reviewer's rating: ****

ESRB rating: Mature

Game type: First-person shooters

Kind of like: A thinking gamer's shooter - times five.

Best feature: Five games in one box makes it the best deal in gaming right now.

Worst feature: Long load times.

The bottom line: Valve breaks the industry rules with 'The Orange Box,' cramming five games into a single package - with no price premium, to boot. The anthology chronicles the evolution of a game, including 'Half Life 2' and its progeny, 'Episode One,' 'Episode 2,' and the brand new 'Portal' and 'Team Fortress 2.'

'Portal' is the jewel of them all, introducing gamers to an innovative, first-person puzzle game. It's what would happen if David Bowie taught physics and decided to make a video game about it. The premise is simple, with the player navigating a series of intricately designed 'testchambers' with a gun that creates two kinds of portals - go in one, come out the other. Add a splash of gravity and dash of inertia, and a simple concept becomes a complex study in motion.

'Team Fortress 2' is the multiplayer component, abandoning the traditional deathmatch modes in favor of class-based, objective games. With nine classes available, the game emphasizes balance between offense and defense, and requires a group of competent players (which is asking a lot from Xbox Live). When that happens, it's one of the finer - and funnier - multiplayer experiences out there.

Surprisingly, the weakest part of the package is the 'Half-Life' series. Granted, 'HL2' did come out three years ago, but to see how it improves visually into 'Episode 2' is a testament to how quickly gaming technology has progressed since then.

Kelvin Ma

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