Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this collection of four "Mature"-rated games and one "Teen"-rated game can be violent because you're using weapons (that range from pistols and machine guns to grenades to more sci-fi-like gadgets) from a first-person perspective. Expect explicit violence and gore with plenty of bloody human and alien causalities. Swearing is limited, but some combat sequences might spawn a line from your co-fighter Alyx such as "Damn it, Hunters!" or "S--t!" Games like Team Fortress 2 are played online, so players might be exposed to foul language spoken by other gamers.
Families can talk about whether a game collection like this is worth the money compared to a game like Halo 3. Should other developers or publishers take notice of what Valve is doing and give gamers more bang for their buck? When it comes to violence and gore, such as shooting down a person in front of you and seeing blood, parents could ask their (17+ old) kids if the game would be as much fun without the blood; would it take away from the experience if they just fell down?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Marc Saltzman
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 HALF-LIFE 2: THE ORANGE BOX from Valve Software.
Available now for Windows PC 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 (the only Teen-rated title here) 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 newest of the bunch, 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 multi-stage 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. The game 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.
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.
Other worthy shooters include Halo 3, Half-Life: Counter-Strike, and BioShock. For kids looking for an action game, try LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy.
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ViolenceExplicit violence and gore, including killing players in single and multiplayer modes. Human and alien victims fall to the ground and blood can be seen. |
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LanguageWhile not pushing the envelope, gamers might hear words such as "s--t," "hell," and "damn it." |
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Social BehaviorYou are the good guys taking out the sci-fi aliens. But you do with extreme force. |
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