The Orange Box

For Playstation gamers who might not have played these game on other platforms, The Orange Box is the best value package available on the PS3. [Feb 2008, p.72]

It is better than you could possibly imagine and it deserves all the praise that it has gained in its short life so far.

It would be hard to find a better deal anywhere and you definitely won't be disappointed by what is in the Box.

If you don't already own this, you just…NEED to get it.

It's five games - every one of which is among the best of its type, if not the best - for half the price of one. Had Valve updated it for PS3 then it would have socred even higher. [Issue#161, p.76]

Half-Life 2 delivers stunning action and fantastic storytelling, while dramatically changing the tone of the gameplay at regular intervals, and its subsequent episodes only add to that formula.

When it comes down to it, The Orange Box is a must-have no matter what system you have, but if you’re a PS3 owner that has yet to play the game on either the PC or Xbox 360, there’s no reason to miss out on it now.

It's a revolutionary title offering five times more than any other developer would dare. There are potentially infinite playing hours available here, providing you get hooked on Team Fortress 2's zany online experience (and there's plenty of players mainlining daily).

The Orange Box is one of the greatest values in gaming history, because it's jam-packed with a variety of world-class content.

Overall Five ace games in one box. The slowdown shouldn't stop you having an Orange Christmas.

Innovative, imaginative and extraordinarily playable. [Jan 2008, p.110]

The Orange Box is great and atmospheric fun on PS3, too. Only major gripes are the occasional slowdowns, which luckily don't make the game unplayable. [Feb 2008]

You will enjoy playing TOB no matter how bad the frame rate issues get but you can’t help but wish the full great experience was transferred over to the PS3, still a must buy if you don’t own other systems.

All five games in The Orange Box are awesome, and even though we had problems here and there with some of the control choices, the experience of playing Half-Life 2 games should not be missed. Valve should be counted among the few that simply know how to tell a good story. However, the PS3 version is without a doubt inferior.

The PS3 version runs slower than its Xbox 360 counterpart, but it's still a heck of a fun time.

Most of that score is attributable to the superb quality of the core Valve games rather than the shoddy conversion work which sees one game out of the five ruined, and another badly compromised. That being the case, if you own a PC, even a relatively lightweight one, that version will almost certainly be the better - and definitely cheaper - purchase.

If you love FPS gaming you owe it to yourself to get The Orange Box. Hell, if you love gaming, you owe it to yourself to get it.

Despite several technical deficiencies in this port, The Orange Box is still one of the most rewarding gaming experiences of 2007. We do, however, recommend you steer clear of the PS3 version unless you don't own an Xbox 360 or a PC with a moderate graphics card.

It's true that the 360 versions run cleaner, with quicker load times and there's no force feedback for Dual Shock 3 owners, but it's still absolutely worth the money for PS3-only gamers.