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Orange Box, The

EMAIL PRINT ps3

8.0 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 21 critic reviews
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Based on 77 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Electronic Arts / Valve Software

Developer: Valve Software

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter, Action, Compilation

Players: 16

ESRB Rating: M (Mature)

Release Date: December 11, 2007

Summary

Games included in The Orange Box compilation: The original Half-Life 2 - The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people - people he cares about - are counting on him. Half-Life 2: Episode One - The player reprises his role of Dr. Freeman, who must immediately face the repercussions of his actions in City 17 and the Citadel. Freeman reconnects with Alyx Vance and her robot, Dog, as they continue their support of the resistance's battle against the Combine forces. Half-Life 2: Episode Two -- the second installment in Valve's episodic trilogy advances the award-winning story, leading the player to new locations outside of City 17. Portal - a pioneering type of single player action game that rewrites the rules for how players approach and manipulate their environment – much like how Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun reinvented the way gamers interact with objects in the game. Team Fortress 2 - an all-new version of the legendary title that spawned team based multiplayer action games. The game's daring new art style features the most advanced graphics of any Source-based game released to date. [Valve Software]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Half-Life Half-Life 2 (PC) Half-Life 2: Episode One (PC)

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website Predict this Metascore

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

GamePro

There has been some criticism levied against the PS3 version of Orange Box for daunting load times and framerate issues and while they are present, it's easy to forgive these technical issues given the quality of the game itself. If you have a PS3, you can't afford not to own it.

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100

Playstation: The Official Magazine (US)

For Playstation gamers who might not have played these game on other platforms, The Orange Box is the best value package available on the PS3. [Feb 2008, p.72]

100

AceGamez

It is better than you could possibly imagine and it deserves all the praise that it has gained in its short life so far.

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My Gamer

If you don't already own this, you just…NEED to get it.

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Cheat Code Central

It would be hard to find a better deal anywhere and you definitely won't be disappointed by what is in the Box.

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Play UK

It's five games - every one of which is among the best of its type, if not the best - for half the price of one. Had Valve updated it for PS3 then it would have socred even higher. [Issue#161, p.76]

Game Informer

Half-Life 2 delivers stunning action and fantastic storytelling, while dramatically changing the tone of the gameplay at regular intervals, and its subsequent episodes only add to that formula.

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Gamer 2.0

When it comes down to it, The Orange Box is a must-have no matter what system you have, but if you’re a PS3 owner that has yet to play the game on either the PC or Xbox 360, there’s no reason to miss out on it now.

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Play.tm

It's a revolutionary title offering five times more than any other developer would dare. There are potentially infinite playing hours available here, providing you get hooked on Team Fortress 2's zany online experience (and there's plenty of players mainlining daily).

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Pelit (Finland)

The Orange Box is great and atmospheric fun on PS3, too. Only major gripes are the occasional slowdowns, which luckily don't make the game unplayable. [Feb 2008]

PSM3 Magazine UK

Overall Five ace games in one box. The slowdown shouldn't stop you having an Orange Christmas.

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Playstation Official Magazine UK

Innovative, imaginative and extraordinarily playable. [Jan 2008, p.110]

GameSpot

The Orange Box is one of the greatest values in gaming history, because it's jam-packed with a variety of world-class content.

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MEGamers

You will enjoy playing TOB no matter how bad the frame rate issues get but you can’t help but wish the full great experience was transferred over to the PS3, still a must buy if you don’t own other systems.

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IGN

All five games in The Orange Box are awesome, and even though we had problems here and there with some of the control choices, the experience of playing Half-Life 2 games should not be missed. Valve should be counted among the few that simply know how to tell a good story. However, the PS3 version is without a doubt inferior.

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GameDaily

The PS3 version runs slower than its Xbox 360 counterpart, but it's still a heck of a fun time.

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Eurogamer

Most of that score is attributable to the superb quality of the core Valve games rather than the shoddy conversion work which sees one game out of the five ruined, and another badly compromised. That being the case, if you own a PC, even a relatively lightweight one, that version will almost certainly be the better - and definitely cheaper - purchase.

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VideoGamer

If you love FPS gaming you owe it to yourself to get The Orange Box. Hell, if you love gaming, you owe it to yourself to get it.

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TheSixthAxis

It's true that the 360 versions run cleaner, with quicker load times and there's no force feedback for Dual Shock 3 owners, but it's still absolutely worth the money for PS3-only gamers.

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1UP

Despite several technical deficiencies in this port, The Orange Box is still one of the most rewarding gaming experiences of 2007. We do, however, recommend you steer clear of the PS3 version unless you don't own an Xbox 360 or a PC with a moderate graphics card.

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GameSpy

In spite of framerate drops, inconsistent online multiplayer, and other serious issues that weigh it down, there's little doubt that the five games in this package exude Valve's attention to detail and show off the developer's talent for making great titles.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 77 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Michael A gave it a9:
John S and Grant are both being fanboys. The Orange Box has 5 incredible games in it. The three Half-Life 2 games are superb with brilliant storytelling and interesting, varied gameplay that works great. Portal is an innovative puzzle games that challenges you to manipulate your environment and use a "Portal Gun" to (in a way) teleport you around a room. I haven't gotten the change to try Team Fortress 2 yet (my PS3 isn't online, and TF2 is online-only), but I hear it's an excellent multiplayer FPS. The PS3 version suffers from some technical problems, such as long load times (usually more than twice as long as the 360 version) and the rare framerate drop, but those problems are so minor that you won't even notice most of the time. EA didn't do a very good job with the PS3 port, and as a result the 360 and PC versions run better, but if you own a PS3 and not a 360 or PC, go ahead and bump the score up to 10.

Dan B. gave it a10:
Yes, opinions do vary, but the vast majority agrees that the Half-Life franchise is the apex of FPSs. Orange Box lives up to the expectations of those opinion holders. If you are a HL fan it won't matter which system you favor, PS3 or XB360 (no need to praise one and harp on the other), OB will give you a great experience in one great package. Being a PS3 owner, I found the single player games just as good as ever. If the load times were longer than normal, I didn't notice. The graphics & the game play is among the best I've played & the story is as compelling as any Hollywood movie; basically everything we've come to expect from a HL game. I will grant that TF2 isn't the best multiplayer out there, but it was of minor consequence to me. Whatever the system, Orange Box is a must.

Joshua B. gave it a10:
Amazing offer for a game. Half-life 2, possibly one of the best pc games out there, its sequels, episode 1 and 2, portal, a great puzzle game that'll blow your mind, and tf2, a crazy multiplayer game where you have different classes, resulting in different types of battle skills. This is portrayed in a cartoony style type of graphics. tf2 for the Ps3 sadly only has 5 maps from the, say about 50+ maps from the pc version, but were hoping this will change. Good news about it: It had better graphics than the pc (Special effects) until pc got an update... o well... It is a great package, and if I would say so myself, a bargain.

Roberto R. gave it a10:
Just Portal makes getting this game worth it. TF2 is loads of fun and Half-Life 2... well, there are great FPS games, then there is Half-Life.

John S. gave it a10:
This game is great the ps3 three version easly destroys the 360 in graphics and is much much more smoth on ps3. there is no reason to buy the 360 or any game on it cause of the ps3 unserpassive graphics free online play ps store larger HD + internet browser and much beter games soon coming.

Keaden C. gave it a10:
It was the first game I've ever layed on a ps3 and I have to say teamfortres is great.

Grant gave it a0:
Fun, but UNPLAYABLE, especially after the mid-March update. IF you can connect, expect frame rates in the single-digits. I got this for Team Fortess 2 and Portal. Played Portal for just a few hours (without a walkthrough) and got to level 18, then found out there's only 19 levels. It seems more like a demo than anything else. Some say it came free with Half-life and Team Fortress, but I paid money to play it without knowing how short it was. Team Fortress is a fun fps but it's annoying! There are only 5 (smallish) maps, and most of the time a quickmatch connects to the 2Fort map, which isn't that big. There are only a couple of characters, each with three weapons. TF2 problems: can't connect, much worse since mid-March frame rates worse since mid-March won't save your statistics long long load times (but what game doesn't have this problem lately?) a bunch of other little things UNPLAYABLE.

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Orange Box, The

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