
Ravenholm in Half Life 2. Survival horror at its best.
Inspired by this week’s show, episode 137, I thought I would take a second to extol the virtues of one of the greatest gaming compilations ever put together – The Orange Box. The Orange Box consists of three games and two expansions from developer Valve. Portal is an action puzzle game that must be played to believe. Team Fortress 2 is a team and class based shooter that is great fun when you have friends to play with.
The gem of The Orange Box, however, is Half Life 2 and its two expansions. Half Life 2, in my opinion, is the greatest game ever made. It was voted so by PC Gamer Magazine as well. When you play it, keep in mind that Half Life 2 was released in 2004. I believe the graphics still hold up, which is impressive. I still remember playing this game on my PC in 2004 and being flabbergasted by the graphics at the time. Gameplay is second to none. This game was an innovator in many ways, especially how it integrated fast paced first person shooter action interspersed with puzzle solving. This game has it all, great weapons, varied enemies, vehicles, puzzles, hair raising suspense, and creepy look behind your back survival horror.
Possibly the greatest weapon ever used in a shooter, the gravity gun, is one of my favorite parts. You just need to fire a saw blade through three zombified head crab beings, cutting them in half as they slowly march toward you. Just something that everyone should do. And the change that the gravity gun goes through at the end of the game is epic. EPIC.
The Orange Box is less than $20 new. Go get it if you haven’t played it. Please.