The orange box really was something special.
It was one of the best value for money experiences I’ve ever had. Only beat out by The left 4 dead series based on hours played.
Yes it was legitimately insane what you got here in terms of quality. I played so much TF2 back in the day.
I missed the alternative timeline where survival versus was played competitively and the windfall of Evolve like games that spawned from the left 4 dead 2’s success.
Then, 15 years later, when I rejoined the world of modern PC gaming, those games were all still available for download from my Steam account just because I bought the physical Orange Box back in 2007.
One of my best gaming memories as a kid, what an amazing deal the orange box was. It’s a real shame we were left hanging with the gut-punching cliffhanger of HL episode 2, and never finished the story.
What made this cliffhanger so truly bad was the main game’s story was complete as is until Episode 1 unwinded it. And Episode 2, compared to Episode 1, was a much better game in most aspects for me.
I basically don’t remember Episode 1.
It was really bland, not surprised.
Especially since it was basically just…some more Half-Life 2. More time spent in City 17 fighting combine and headcrab zombies with a SPAS-12 or an MP7 or a USP Match. I wouldn’t bet against my memories of Ep 1 just blend into my memories of HL2. Ep 2 was distinct in having the antlion burrow and the countryside and the car and Dog ripping a strider’s brain out. It wasn’t merely more HL2.
In what world the main story was complete? Like sure you could argue it could have been a legitimate choice to end it in that way but by no mean it answered any of the lingering questions.
And then
Tap for spoiler
They retconned it
The Orange Box was the absolute GOAT when I was a kid. It still is, but it was back then, too.
I even went and bought it on the Microsoft store for my Xbox One a few years ago, but it’s weird because you can’t just buy it straight from your console. You need to sign in to your Microsoft account on your phone or PC and buy it from the website, then go and install it into your console.
Now for only $333.33 you can get the steamdeck 3 with the 3 pack; half life 3, team fortress 3 and portal 3. Only available 3/3/33 💀
For years I’ve been saying I will buy a new console just to play Portal 3.
Orange Box is GOAT, but what is that article? Just mentioning the games with barely any interesting backstories?
Need an Orange Box 2.
Then we’ll know there won’t be any Orange Pack 3
With HL3, L4D3, TF3, Portal 3
It’s funny. I have enjoyed all of those games now. TF2 isn’t for me, but every game in the Box was a certified classic. When it came out though, these games being bundled together under a generic label gave me the impression that it was low-quality, so I skipped it. I was from a rural area with essentially no internet access and there weren’t a lot of other PC gamers out there to correct that misconception, so I didn’t play these games for way too long.
it’s a bit weird that this is releasing after the thing about not being able to inherit valve games
Now that you point that out 🤔
Is this what you’ve been waiting for? Say “one, two…and four!”
I’m so glad I bought this in a store back when PC games were still available in physical releases. Even though I’m pretty sure this one was just a Steam installer on a CD, I love having an actual copy of The Orange Box on my shelf.
Played countless hours of TF2 between 2009 and 2012. Wild that in 3 years, it’ll be 2 decades old.
