I'm getting The Orange Box in a month or so, and I was wondering if anyone here played 'it' already? What do you think about the games? Any favourites? Portal sounds fun, I heard it's a little short though.

No spoilers please.

Heh, one of my pals was generous enough to give me a Black Box key (includes Ep.2, TF2, DoD: Source etc.), since he had a spare one. The download isn't finished yet, but I'm intrigued to see the game(s).

I'll probably get TF2 in time for i32 where everyone will be playing it from the WoW guilds I am friendly with. Personally I'm not really an endorser of Valve products.

It was a triumph
I'm making a note here: huge success!

I think that Orange Box is very cool. Portal is a short, cool, and fun to play. TF2 is one of the funnest valve games I have played so far, I think you will like it. [They have started an achievement system for the Orange Box games "This shouldn't be a spoiler to you but If it is, I am very sorry."]

It looks really good. PCGamer had a cover story on the Orange box a few months back, and while it was a good issue (Orange is my fav color), I didn't feel anything telling me to buy it, interesting as it was. I think it lacks some of the "umph!" that Half-Life and Counter Strike had when they came out together.

wow. just wow. the orange box has to be one of the best combination of wonderfull games ever. if you have never played half-life 2, then you have to. your really missing out. it only got better from half-life and will not disapoint!! and the episodes are just as fun. in fact, EP2 is probably my favorite out of the four half-lifes. with the hunters and the new vehicle, plus the pretty fun and challenging final boss battle. i cannot wait for EP3. it's going to be awesome (hoping!! (though no doubt really)). and the thing about portal. after i played through it i decided to go through the commentary modes for the games and come to find out, portal is really just an experiment. valve is testing out that type of gameplay, possibly for EP3 (thats what i think anyway!) or maybe even a whole new game. portal may be short but it is way fun and hilarious! with the all mighty narative super computer GLaDOS and of course, "stay alive" the ending credits song sung by our very own GLaDOS, which i've seen Marxist ßastard coulnd't help but quote a part of it. that is a must play also. and team fortress 2 is pretty fun, i havn't been able to get online to play it but from what i played just by myself, it seemd like it would be quite fun to play online.

Plus it is the best value package this side of Xen.

The orange box is very fun!
I can reccomend you Portal and Team Fortress 2

I don't think I'll get it, I hate the idea of buying 4-5 hour episodes instead of full games.

Atleast they're cheaper.

And Portal's gotta be the game of the century.... a real masterpiece, even though it's an experiment.

Ditto. I'd rather just wait until they're all out.

What I find really stupid is the fact that it includes the original HL 2 (and Ep 1 IIRC) which pisses off a lot of people who already posses said game(s). If I bought it once I don't see why I must buy it again just to get 4 more hours of gameplay and 2 new (and quite short although from what I've heard very entertaining) games (Portal and TF 2). To be honest I feel it is an insult. It's OK to release a full-pack for those that didn't get the chance to play HL 2 (and a good idea for that matter) but why can't you release a pack that includes only Ep 2, Portal and TF 2?

The point is, it's only £20, which is cheaper than one new game anyway. So you are, effectively, getting 5 games for the price of 3/4 of a game. It's such a bargain, it doesn't really matter that you're getting a couple of games you already own, because they are, effectively, just bundled free with the new stuff.

They are FREE. You get Portal, TF2 and Episode 2 for $50.

I strongly doubt that... Valve giving away games? I think hell just froze over

Pretty much what they are doing... If you already own Half Life 2 and Episode 1 you can give them to someone who doesn't have them, for free. buying the 3 new games for the price of one is already a good deal, why complain if they bundle 2 more in with it?

I don't think they're actually free... My bet is that the pack would have been cheaper if they hadn't included HL2 and Ep1.

I love TF2! Nuff said .

Zero Punctuation - the orang box.
This guy says it all really - this is a great value even if you're like me and don't really like the Half-life games.