Containing Halflife 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2, the Orange Box promises a lot of content for a measly $60 on your Xbox 360. I was worried that it'd be an arm and a leg like most of the boxed sets with expansions, but every element of the Orange Box is a stand alone game. Yay!
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/792/792047p1.html
Most of yall have been all excited about Portal, which looks freakin' amazing, but I'm looking more forward to Team Fortress 2.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=FvC5aWrrSx8
I'd buy it over Halo 3 because I love the pure cartooniness of it all. It's a more light-hearted game than Halo 3 and the multiplayer looks a bit more frenetic. It's core is based on the nine classes;
the Soldier: Bread and Butter assaulter with a rocket launcher. The coolest part is the rocket-jump ability.
Primary weapon: Rocket Launcher
Secondary: Shotgun
Melee: Shovel
the Medic: Not hard to guess what he does, but he can auto target a friendly and beam a stream of health that charges up a gauge. When the gauge is full, it bestows invulnerability to the targeted player and the Medic himself.
Primary weapon: Syringe Gun
Secondary: Medi-Gun
Melee: Bonesaw
the Heavy: The requisite tank with a minigun, but a slow mover. A Heavy-Medic team will destroy everything. Best to take cover in those situations.
Primary weapon: Minigun
Secondary: Shotgun
Melee: FISTS
the Sniper: Best in open areas obviously, but also has the SMG for close combat.
Primary weapon: Sniper Rifle
Secondary: Submachine Gun
Melee: Machete
the Engineer: Can build turrets and ammo dispensors as well as upgrade the turrets by whacking them with the wrench.
Primary weapon: Shotgun
Secondary: Pistol
Melee: Wrench
the Scout: The fastest class in the game and has a double jump ability that allows for directional change mid-jump. Try shooting these buggers and they'll come up behind you with a bat and cave your head in.
Primary Weapon: Scattergun
Secondary: Pistol
Melee: Baseball Bat
the Demoman: Master of munitions, has a grenade launcher and loads of plastique, and is probably going to be one of the more favoured classes.
Primary Weapon: Stickybomb launcher
Secondary: Grenade launcher
Melee: A Bottle
the Pyro: Has a flamethrower with a shorter range than it appears to have, but it's just about an instant kill because, well... it sets things on fire. Running through tunnels into an enemy base only to find a few of these guys milling around is scary.
Primary weapon: Flamethrower
Secondary: Shotgun
Melee: Fire Axe
the Spy: He's a bad mofo that can cloak himself and come up behind you with a knife. He can also cloak himself to look like one of the enemy classes. The cool thing is that, when looking like the enemy classes, to the spy's team he looks like he does uncloaked but with a cardboard mask of the class he's masquerading as.
Primary weapon: Revolver
Secondary: Disguise kit
Melee: Butterfly Knife (with a really cool animation)
Each class has their own special abilities and such, but my favourite class is definately the spy. Every class can also perform amazingly in their own way, so all it comes down to is mastery and strategy, as well as personal preference. You can be sure there'll be the Deathmatch, TD, and Capture the Flag, as well as whatever Valve feels like including.
Expect it all to come together this October.
Linear Mode
