Publisher: Sierra
Developer: Valve
System: Xbox 360
Genre: First-person shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ryan Asher

It’s been dubbed the best deal in videogame history by some. And with five neatly packaged games rolled into one convenient orange box, that would be a hard proclamation to argue against. Whether you want to save the world from an intergalactic menace, or think logically by solving various mind bending puzzles or just not think at all and blast your online buddies in the face with shotguns in a Looney Tunes-inspired deathmatch, The Orange Box has you covered.

In case you’ve been stuck in a resonance cascade for the past six months, you probably know The Orange Box is the ultimate Half-Life series compilation. It comes with Half-Life 2, Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2, the new puzzle game, Portal, and the long-awaited online frag fest, Team Fortress 2. Gamers get three completely new experiences with this package, as well as two finely crafted classics for good measure.

In Half-Life 2, which is the meat of The Orange Box, you’re put back into the HEV suit of Gordon Freeman, our favorite Black Mesa scientist. When you boot up the game, the mysterious Gman is stuttering out a soliloquy to Freeman as your ironically familiar train car arrives at its destination. I’d say you’re fresh off your defeat of the Nihilanth, the ugly S.O.B. you sent back to Xen’s version of Hell in the original Half-Life, but it appears it’s been a couple decades since the events at Black Mesa.

A lot has changed while you’ve been in limbo. Your destination, City 17, is an Eastern European inspired dystopia where your fellow humans are ruled by an intergalactic military regime known as the Combine. It’s implied the rest of the world has fallen under the same fate, after the events of the Seven Hour War. Your interactions with the forlorn souls of City 17 will reveal feelings of despair and anger toward their cruel oppressors. But now that you’re back, there’s hope. As you make your way through the dingy, routes-less-traveled in City 17, you’ll find that you’ve returned a legendary figure. To call the man who survived Black Mesa by just his given name would be passé, which is why you’re now commonly referred to as “The One, True Free Man.” You’ll soon notice the weary citizens look at you with a spark in their eyes, as you could be the key to igniting rebellion that saves humanity. But are you prepared to save humanity?

Even if you’re not ready to carry that burden on your shoulders, there are still two other, completely different games to enjoy that come with The Orange Box!