The Orange Box: Half-Life 2 Review

Released about three years ago on the PC to mass acclaim Half-Life 2 is now available on the Xbox 360 as part of The Orange Box. If you've not played either the PC game, or the Xbox port released back in 2005 then you're in for a treat.

In the first game Half-Life, our protagonist Gordon Freeman was involved in an incident at the "Black Mesa Research Facility" which resulted in a dimensional portal being opened to an alien world. Half-Life 2 kicks off an unspecified amount of time after the events of the first game as Gordon finds himself on a train on route to City-17 and learns that the world has been conquered and humankind enslaved by an alien force known as the "Combine".

What follows is a series of story driven events split into a number of seamlessly merging chapters as Gordon tries to escape the Combine forces that are hot on his heels, and help the resistance movement fight back against there alien oppressors.

Although I've summarised the story rather succinctly I don't want to give too much away. The unfolding story line, witnessed first hand without cut-scenes and narrated though dialog and characterisation is excellent and certainly one of the highlights of the game. Even though Half-Life 2 is now a few years old I still found myself very impressed by the emotional expressions shown by non-player characters and struggle to name another FPS game that can show the same mastery.

The world that the developers, Valve, have created is both believable and full of interesting locations. The urban setting of City-17 and its network of canals compliment locations outside of the city like the abandoned settlement of Ravenholm, or the hideouts along the coast-line, ensuring that repetitive locations are kept to a minimum.


Unlike a number of recent games where the player can only carry up to two weapons, Gordon can carry all the weapons he comes across during the course of the game. Although the actual number available just runs into double figures there's a good assortment, including the trusty "crowbar", sidearms and fully automatic weapons. The much touted "Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator" also known via the much catchier name of the "Gravity Gun" is the key innovative weapon and can be used in a variety of ways both defensively and offensively to grab, throw and manipulate environmental objects.

Throughout Half-Life 2 not only will your reactive shooting skills be tested but also your grey matter will be called upon to solve puzzles that stand in your way. The puzzles nicely act as a change of pace, sometimes allowing for a breather, but always keeping the game feeling fresh and stopping the action from becoming monotonous.

I've not mentioned much about the look of the game up to this point, but even though the "source engine" is now a few years old this port is still looking great today. As an an extra benefit this (Orange Box) version features HDR (High Dynamic Range) imaging to further enhance the visuals. Audio is yet again decent with good voice acting for characters, although Gordon is once again silent throughout, and some pumping background music kicking in at key moments. The radio calls between Combine troops as they relay information to one-another, or the audible radio "white noise" and monotone beep as they're killed are excellent examples of how sound effects when used correctly enhance a games atmosphere.

The greatest negative I can say of the game are the "loading" points. Although they're not poorly situated they do detract from the game as suddenly everything comes to a halt for the 20 or so seconds it takes to load the next portion of the map.

It took about 16 hours to play through Half-Life 2 and as part of The Orange Box represents incredible value for money as this game alone is first class. Highly recommended!

See also: The Orange Box: Portal Review