The following was originally posted on
Al Menconi's web site, is the opinion of the reviewer and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions held by Plain Games.
Game Summary
The Orange Box is actually 5 games in one box. Those 5 games are Half-Life 2, HL2-Episode 1, HL2-Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Here is a quick summary of how these games break down.
Half-Life 2, HL2-Episode 1 and HL2-Episode 2:
Even though The Orange Box is marketed as 5 games, these three games actually make up one game. (Episode 1 and 2 should be thought more of as expansion packs to Half-Life 2.) Half-Life 2 is a science fiction story about an alien invasion and man's fight for survival. In these three games you play as the game's hero Dr. Gordon Freeman. As Dr. Freeman the object of the game is to advance through each level of the story by fighting a totalitarian alien threat known as the Combine. Not only will you have to use weapons to fight through each level, but there are many puzzles throughout the game that will cause you to have to use your mind as well. Half-Life 2 is a very engaging game that sci-fi fans will really enjoy. There are some things in the game, however, that parents will want to be aware of.
Portal:
Of the 5 games, Portal is the least violent game in the box. In Portal you play as a person who is taking part in an experimental training course. There are 19 levels and in each level you are basically trying to get from point A to point B. There are all types of obstacles in the room ranging from moving platforms to gun turrets that will fire on site. The only thing that you have to help you get through each level is a portal gun. The portal gun fires orange portals and blue portals. You can only have one of each colored portal out at a time, but by walking through the orange portal you will exit out the blue portal and vice versa. So for example if there is a high ledge that you need to get to, you would shoot a blue portal up high and an orange portal down low. Then you would walk through the orange portal and come out of the blue portal up on the ledge that you were trying to get to.
Team Fortress 2:
This is a multi-player team warfare game where you can play "Capture the Flag" and "Control Point." (Control Point is where you try and capture control points on a map. It is very similar to Star Wars Battlefront.) The player can choose his character from three different categories (Offense, Defense and Support) and each category has three different classes of soldier. By having nine different soldiers to choose from, this helps to create some very interesting scenarios. For example one of the classes you can play as is a spy. As a spy the player can disguise himself as member of the opposite team, but the moment he shoots at the opposing team then his cover is blown.
What parents should take into consideration when deciding if this game is appropriate for their child:
- The Half-Life 2 games are very violent and very bloody. Blood sprays on the walls when an enemy is shot. There are also times when the player will encounter dead bodies covered in blood. There is also a weapon called a gravity gun that allows the player to magnetically draw an object in and then hurl it outwards. One such object that can be used with the gravity gun is a giant saw blade. When the saw blade is hurled at an enemy, the enemy is sliced in half.
- There is some bad language in the Half-Life 2 games. Most of the words are words that you would hear on television (such as hell and damn). The word s**t is used a couple of times and God's name is used inappropriately at times.
- As I said before, Portal is the least violent game of the 5, but if you get shot by a gun turret and you turn around you will see some of your blood on the wall. Also, as you go deeper into the game you will discover messages left by another person who was used in the experiment such as yourself who has left some messages that are written in blood.
- In Team Fortress 2 (as with all multi-player games) you might encounter other players online who do not feel the need to control the language that comes out of their mouth.
Conclusion
There are many parts of The Orange Box that I liked. I especially enjoyed the story in the Half-Life 2 games and the puzzles in Portal. There were also parts of The Orange Box that I did not like. Portal and HL2-Episode 1 are very short in length and I personally did not care for the amount of blood in the Half-Life 2 games. It is because of the violence and blood in Half-Life 2 that I cannot recommend The Orange Box for children. Most of the games on The Orange Box are rated M and I would agree that these games are best left for a mature audience.
--
Reviewed by Matt Yaggi of
Al Menconi Ministries. Originally posted Nov. 6, 2007. Re-published with permission.
» By Plain Games, Plain Games. Published 11/8/2007 2:07:46 PM.
