Review: 'Orange Box' packs action, value

"Halo 3" might be all the rage these days among first-person shooter fans, but those looking for the most bang for their buck won't find a better deal than the action-packed "Orange Box" from Valve Software.

Available now for Windows PCs and the Microsoft Xbox 360, "The Orange Box" jams five games into one box: the previously released award-winning sci-fi thriller "Half-Life 2," the stand-alone episodic games "Half-Life 2: Episode One" and "Half-Life 2: Episode Two," the anxiously anticipated online multiplayer sequel, "Team Fortress 2," and the experimental "Portal" that lets players mess with the physics of the game world.

But it's not just quantity -- all five adventures offer top-quality experiences. On the PC version, you'll launch each game on its own from your desktop, while the Xbox 360 version lets you choose which game to play from the main menu.

Here's a brief synopsis of each game:

In 2004's "Half-Life 2," players once again step into the shoes of Gordon Freeman, a young scientist summoned to help rid the world of a nasty alien invasion. In the game, which is played from a first-person perspective, Freeman uses weapons -- including a gravity gun that can suck objects toward him and then shoot them back out -- as well as vehicles and allied characters, to aid in the fight. Valve Software created an authentic world with accurate physics. Nearly every item in the game can be manipulated.

In 2006's amazing but relatively short "Half-Life 2: Episode One" -- which can be downloaded on its own over Valve's Steam network (www.steampowered.com) -- you continue where "Half-Life 2" left off. Freeman and his attractive ally, Alyx Vance, survive a reactor blast in City 17, only to find the giant Citadel structure is about to self-destruct. As with its predecessor, the game features intelligent puzzles and plenty of gripping action, and pushes the envelope further when it comes to real-world physics, facial animation and artificial intelligence.

While it starts off a bit slow, the new "Half-Life 2: Episode Two" is even better than "Episode One," taking you outside City 17 for the first time. This story-driven action game once again stars Freeman and introduces new plot elements, tougher creatures and even higher-definition graphics. Vance is still your sidekick, but you'll split up more often and will find other helpful characters throughout this journey. No new weapons are introduced, but the vehicle sequences are better, the digital sets you play in are bigger and the overall story is longer, topping out at about six or seven hours.

By the end of the multistage tutorial at the beginning of "Portal," you will get the hang of the tremendous power you're wielding: a gun capable of creating a portal. Your primary and alternate fire buttons (left and right mouse buttons) are used to create blue and orange portals, the former is the one you jump through and the latter is where you'll appear from. As the game gets tougher, you'll need to send objects through the portals, mind the speed you're traveling when jumping through them and solve increasingly challenging tasks to finish the game.

"Team Fortress 2" is the sequel to one of the most successful team-based multiplayer action games and lets you take on one of nine distinct roles: demolitions expert, engineer, sniper, pyrotechnics specialist, spy, medic, soldier, scout and the tough but slow "heavy" (a fighter with arms as thick as tree trunks). By working together, you must play against another team on one of a half-dozen maps and in one of a few game modes such as the popular Capture-the-Flag. This time around, the graphical style is less realistic and more cartoon-like with its "cel-shaded" animation.

"The Orange Box" is well worth the money for both PC and Xbox 360 gamers (a PlayStation 3 version will be available by the second week of December). Its five highly polished titles -- each offering a different kind of action experience -- guarantees many hours of intense solo or multiplayer game play. E-mail to a friend