The Orange Box: Portal -- All In One.

The Orange Box is being billed as the greatest value ever put to disc. While it's not quite that, it's a great deal. Five games in one as they say. They are Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. I'm not going to play through The Orange Box all at once. One game at a time with numerous other games in between each one is the plan. I never played Half-Life, which is what kept me from Half-Life 2, which kept me from Half-life: Episode 1 and so on. I intended to play the Dreamcast version of Half-Life but a couple months before the release of the game SEGA officially killed the Dreamcast. Valve's reaction was to not release the finished Dreamcast version of the game with the logic being their future potential sales were pulled out from under them so why even bother. The PC crowd has always clamored away saying Half-Life 2 is the greatest first person shooter ever. That's always been in the back of my head. I still never intended to buy The Orange Box. I really had no interest in Team Fortress 2, the now officially Valve produced online team versus game that started out as a modification for Half-Life. It was Portal that actually caught my eye and made me buy The Orange Box. It took me just one minute over three hours to complete the main game of Portal. The game mixes puzzles and first person action. The gimmick here is a gun that creates a portal. Portals you'll need to use in order to solve the puzzles and advance the game. Portal's portals actually offer up something new. And for that it's worth it alone. The game has just the right mix of challenge in both the action and the puzzles. And it takes both to get through the game. The action is good, the puzzles great, but the real stars of Portal are the humor and the writing. While it's essentially one joke carried over three hours, it's so very well done, and really funny. And it does culminate in one of the best boss battles I've experienced and one of the best end credit songs in history. The song is so very They Might Be Giants. I really enjoyed Portal for what it is, and as short as it is. Portal doesn't overstay its welcome. The game's length is augmented by some advanced challenges and some achievements to chase if you feel the need for more. Portal is awesome. I'm giving Portal a 9.