Rate The Last Game You FINISHED..

[Solidus]

The orange box didn't have the original game in it did it? I don't remember, I have them all on steam separately. It's hard not too absolutely adore everything about the franchise...

Oh yeah, sorry about that! It has HL2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. It doesn't have the original Half-Life.

Ah damn, I only have a Mac book that I use for work. I might be able to get the orange box but I do remember reading when they released it about the sub par quality. You think it's worth it to play on PS3 or should I just wait?


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I think it might be better to wait until you get a PC one day. I love the games too much, I just can't recommend anyone playing them on the PS3

Here's an excerpt from IGN.

Unfortunately, our complaints don't stop there. The remainder of our criticisms are to blame for the discrepancy in scores between the PlayStation 3 version of the game and the 360 version (the PS3 version, after all, wasn't handled entirely by Valve). The PlayStation 3 Orange Box performs far worse, and this fact just isn't up for debate. While framerate issues aren't as problematic in Half-Life 2 and Episode One, Episode Two suffers a great deal, especially during the episode's larger battles. We regret to say that some sections border on being unplayable because of the stutters, which often cause your aim to be thrown off and timing shots to be very difficult. The problem isn't persistent throughout, but when it hits, it hits hard.

More troubling still is the difference in load times. Almost all the PS3 load times are at least five seconds more than the 360, but loading a saved game/loading after death is particularly awful. These clock in at about two to three times as long as the 360 version, which slows down the gameplay considerably. Even though the PS3 Orange Box sports a quicksave feature, any benefit of this option is lost considering the overall abundance of loading.

Even in Portal, a short title that often requires a little trial and error, this problem is massive. The 360 version takes about three seconds to load your last checkpoint if you die. The PS3 version takes seventeen. It hurts.

We must also mention that during all of our Team Fortress 2 play sessions, there was a very startling delay when using explosive weapons like the Soldier's rocket launcher or the Demoman's grenade launcher. When you pull the trigger to fire, there's a very brief but noticeable delay between the recoil of the weapon and the actual delivery of the explosive. This can seriously screw up your timing when trying to lead a rocket shot, or similar attacks.

Furthermore, a few of our play sessions were laden with so much lag that they became completely unplayable. We were told that this was the result of a European server being used accidentally, as opposed to a US one which will be up and running when the retail version hits shelves, but be wary that this problem may pop up again.

Less dire but perhaps more puzzling is the difference in color throughout the games. While this may just be a result of using our particular monitors, the PS3 version seems darker than its 360 counterpart. The difference is slight and, again, could be an isolated incident, but it's worth noting nonetheless.

So is the PS3 Orange Box still good? Of course -- considering the content alone -- but these issues, especially in Episode Two, drastically hurt the gameplay. If you can tolerate these problems and work around them, we still recommend picking up a copy -- the overall experience is enjoyable. It's just sad to see such a wonderful game hurt so badly by the porting process.

The Verdict

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, so think carefully before investing the money (if you only own a PS3). The choice is yours, Mr. Freeman.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/12/11/the-orange-box-review?page=3

 

[RIDDICK]

StarCraft (single player) - 8/10

StarCraft II (single player) - 4/10

 

[GasparZizou]

I rate this review a 10/10!

Isn't it just the most perfect game ever created?! It really stands the test of time. I replayed a bit of HL2 Update a few weeks ago, and it was just as good as I remembered it (with prettier graphics, of course).

And yeah, Gaben needs to get behind HL3/HL2 Episode 3 already. I keep waiting for an announcement every year...

I even went I bought 2 NECA Gordon Freemans

I remember when Ep3 was announced for Christmas like 30 years go, and I had forgotten by now, I was living in peace, I shouldn't have played the episodes

I'm positive it's coming out one day, I'm sure they're just tempering the collective expectations of everybody and that's a good move, Valve is smarter than Kojima in that regard.

I've never got the chance play to any of the Half Life games but I always hear they're possibly the greatest games of all time. Are these games PC exclusives?

I was trying to temper my fangirling, but yeah, rightly so.

Btw, what are the specs of your macbook? At this point you can run HL2 on almost any laptop, I remember I even beat it once on a notebook with all settings maxed out

I'm with Solidus, don't play this on consoles if you can play it on a computer.

 

[pturtle]

Oh yeah, sorry about that! It has HL2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. It doesn't have the original Half-Life.



I think it might be better to wait until you get a PC one day. I love the games too much, I just can't recommend anyone playing them on the PS3

Here's an excerpt from IGN.



https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/12/11/the-orange-box-review?page=3

Well, you made up my mind

I think I'll hold off for now until they possibly remaster them on consoles or like you said I end up upgrading to a gaming PC. I wouldn't want to ruin the experience, especially not after Gasper's review

I even went I bought 2 NECA Gordon Freemans

I remember when Ep3 was announced for Christmas like 30 years go, and I had forgotten by now, I was living in peace, I shouldn't have played the episodes

I'm positive it's coming out one day, I'm sure they're just tempering the collective expectations of everybody and that's a good move, Valve is smarter than Kojima in that regard.


I was trying to temper my fangirling, but yeah, rightly so.

Btw, what are the specs of your macbook? At this point you can run HL2 on almost any laptop, I remember I even beat it once on a notebook with all settings maxed out

I'm with Solidus, don't play this on consoles if you can play it on a computer.

I'm not sure, I'm really really not tech savvy which is why I use apple products in the first place since they're more user friendly. I bought my MacBook Pro in 2011. If I can run both games on it I'll download it tonight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[GasparZizou]

Well, you made up my mind

I think I'll hold off for now until they possibly remaster them on consoles or like you said I end up upgrading to a gaming PC. I wouldn't want to ruin the experience, especially not after Gasper's review




I'm not sure, I'm really really not tech savvy which is why I use apple products in the first place since they're more user friendly. I bought my MacBook Pro in 2011. If I can run both games on it I'll download it tonight.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

2011? You have a good chance that they'll run properly, worst case; you'll have to run it at a slightly lower resolution, no big deal considering the downgrades you'd have to endure if you play it on consoles.

Also, if you can, play the Portal games too, they're part of the canon and have some important elements in the story, but as games, they're lighthearted and soooo damn fun, equally as well designed as the HL series.

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

The Half-Life is strong with Gaspar.

I *just* finished TOMB RAIDER 2013 (PS3); 3 years after I bought it, & umpteen intermittent plays.

It said I completed the story, but only 84% of the overall game, so now I have the pleasure of going back through the map sections & finding all the crap I previously missed. Acquiring the salvage points alone to upgrade my weapons will be fun, & all the trinkets & hidden challenges I missed will be fun to look for as well. I've already started going back a bit, & it's surprising to see how much I've actually missed. Entire sections with overflowing bounty, & camps with enemies I hadn't stumbled on yet. Lots of innocent animals to.. use for points too.

Ok, here's my attempt at a review. All up, I actually really like the game; it has elements of the classic series woven in, but regardless it's not the same. I loved the game play, the graphics, & the actor voicing Lara was great. I was impressed by the vastness of the different areas, & the attention to detail for a lot of things was excellent. I found the combat mechanics easy enough to get the hang of, & although earlier I did give a little stick about Lara's 'intuition' mechanic to locate things & establish certain objectives being a lazy hand holding inclusion, it was actually pretty helpful.

What I didn't particularly enjoy though, was the brutality of some of the combat & the 'survival trauma' angle of the game. I can handle fictional simulated violence as much as the next person, but in a situation where you're at a climactic point in the game, getting swamped with enemies & the odds are overwhelming you, & you're watching your character getting brutalized repeatedly because you need 30 attempts to make it through that section; the combination of getting let's say 'frustrated' with seeing that over & over left me feeling wound up & just plain pissed off.

That said, it's precisely why I need to space out my visits to these kinds of games. I get irate enough with the PG & under cutesy ones! I really like some of the newer generation games, but that relentless realistic violent component some of them have, is the kind of thing I can only sit down for short periods & tolerate.

I'll likely get the latest one at some point, if it ever makes it to the PS4.

 

[ShadowX81]

Gone Home : C-

What starts out as a truly creepy and atmospheric tale of a girl that comes home to her parents house for the weekend only to find everyone mysteriously gone, soon devolves into a mundane tale of discovering her little sister's sexual awakenings.

Boy, am I ever sick of these anticlimactic PSN games whose big twist is that there is actually absolutely nothing at all interesting going on.

 

[GasparZizou]

The Half-Life is strong with Gaspar.

You're a fan of the one free man too?

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

I haven't played it yet, I was just making an observation on your hearty endorsement there.

I'm actually watching a couple of copies of the first game on eBay as we speak.

 

[GasparZizou]

Oh cool :

 

[Jameson Rook]

The Half-Life is strong with Gaspar.

I *just* finished TOMB RAIDER 2013 (PS3); 3 years after I bought it, & umpteen intermittent plays.

It said I completed the story, but only 84% of the overall game, so now I have the pleasure of going back through the map sections & finding all the crap I previously missed. Acquiring the salvage points alone to upgrade my weapons will be fun, & all the trinkets & hidden challenges I missed will be fun to look for as well. I've already started going back a bit, & it's surprising to see how much I've actually missed. Entire sections with overflowing bounty, & camps with enemies I hadn't stumbled on yet. Lots of innocent animals to.. use for points too.

Ok, here's my attempt at a review. All up, I actually really like the game; it has elements of the classic series woven in, but regardless it's not the same. I loved the game play, the graphics, & the actor voicing Lara was great. I was impressed by the vastness of the different areas, & the attention to detail for a lot of things was excellent. I found the combat mechanics easy enough to get the hang of, & although earlier I did give a little stick about Lara's 'intuition' mechanic to locate things & establish certain objectives being a lazy hand holding inclusion, it was actually pretty helpful.

What I didn't particularly enjoy though, was the brutality of some of the combat & the 'survival trauma' angle of the game. I can handle fictional simulated violence as much as the next person, but in a situation where you're at a climactic point in the game, getting swamped with enemies & the odds are overwhelming you, & you're watching your character getting brutalized repeatedly because you need 30 attempts to make it through that section; the combination of getting let's say 'frustrated' with seeing that over & over left me feeling wound up & just plain pissed off.

That said, it's precisely why I need to space out my visits to these kinds of games. I get irate enough with the PG & under cutesy ones! I really like some of the newer generation games, but that relentless realistic violent component some of them have, is the kind of thing I can only sit down for short periods & tolerate.

I'll likely get the latest one at some point, if it ever makes it to the PS4.

I'll be frank and say that I honestly tried to like the reboot. While it's objectively a fine cover shooter, it's at the end of the day, doesn't transcends beyond that. What I really loved about the Tomb Raider series was the exploration and clever puzzles, which is a throwaway feature in this game. Gone are they jaw dropping vistas, smart level design and hauntingly beautiful music, all replaced with cover shooting action that we've all seen done in every game for the past 5 years.

I know the reboot was made because the declining sales of the previous games, but in doing so robbed the series of its' identity. I don't mind people disagreeing, but quite honestly I would much rather play Uncharted, which is essentially the same game with a much better script.

 

[Snake Plissken]

The Half-Life is strong with Gaspar.

I *just* finished TOMB RAIDER 2013 (PS3); 3 years after I bought it, & umpteen intermittent plays.

It said I completed the story, but only 84% of the overall game, so now I have the pleasure of going back through the map sections & finding all the crap I previously missed. Acquiring the salvage points alone to upgrade my weapons will be fun, & all the trinkets & hidden challenges I missed will be fun to look for as well. I've already started going back a bit, & it's surprising to see how much I've actually missed. Entire sections with overflowing bounty, & camps with enemies I hadn't stumbled on yet. Lots of innocent animals to.. use for points too.

Ok, here's my attempt at a review. All up, I actually really like the game; it has elements of the classic series woven in, but regardless it's not the same. I loved the game play, the graphics, & the actor voicing Lara was great. I was impressed by the vastness of the different areas, & the attention to detail for a lot of things was excellent. I found the combat mechanics easy enough to get the hang of, & although earlier I did give a little stick about Lara's 'intuition' mechanic to locate things & establish certain objectives being a lazy hand holding inclusion, it was actually pretty helpful.

What I didn't particularly enjoy though, was the brutality of some of the combat & the 'survival trauma' angle of the game. I can handle fictional simulated violence as much as the next person, but in a situation where you're at a climactic point in the game, getting swamped with enemies & the odds are overwhelming you, & you're watching your character getting brutalized repeatedly because you need 30 attempts to make it through that section; the combination of getting let's say 'frustrated' with seeing that over & over left me feeling wound up & just plain pissed off.

That said, it's precisely why I need to space out my visits to these kinds of games. I get irate enough with the PG & under cutesy ones! I really like some of the newer generation games, but that relentless realistic violent component some of them have, is the kind of thing I can only sit down for short periods & tolerate.

I'll likely get the latest one at some point, if it ever makes it to the PS4.

Did you get any further in Silent Hill 2?

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

What I really loved about the Tomb Raider series was the exploration and clever puzzles, which is a throwaway feature in this game. Gone are they jaw dropping vistas, smart level design and hauntingly beautiful music, all replaced with cover shooting action that we've all seen done in every game for the past 5 years.

See.. now that I've actually played the whole game, I don't agree entirely with you Ryan.

Sure, it's got that 'Uncharted' shooter thing going on - & I can totally see the similarities to that series more generally, but the landscapes & environments are bewilderingly beautiful at times in TR13; from the forests to the beaches & everything in between. Some of the village & ancient ruin / temple sections were gorgeous.

You do indeed also spend quite a lot of time exploring without an enemy or threat in sight for long periods, & I actually thought the music & score were brilliant. Still, I'll always love the old games more.

Did you get any further in Silent Hill 2?

No mate, not yet. I basically just popped it in for a test run to begin with, & got up to just past the cemetary sequence with Maria(?) & traversed around the blocked underpass or whatever it is.

 

[Snake Plissken]

See.. now that I've actually played the whole game, I don't agree entirely with you Ryan.

Sure, it's got that 'Uncharted' shooter thing going on - & I can totally see the similarities to that series more generally, but the landscapes & environments are bewilderingly beautiful at times in TR13; from the forests to the beaches & everything in between. Some of the village & ancient ruin / temple sections were gorgeous.

You do indeed also spend quite a lot of time exploring without an enemy or threat in sight for long periods, & I actually thought the music & score were brilliant. Still, I'll always love the old games more.



No mate, not yet. I basically just popped it in for a test run to begin with, & got up to just past the cemetary sequence with Maria(?) & traversed around the blocked underpass or whatever it is.

That's Angela, the most ****ed up person I've seen in gaming

 

[Jameson Rook]

See.. now that I've actually played the whole game, I don't agree entirely with you Ryan.

Sure, it's got that 'Uncharted' shooter thing going on - & I can totally see the similarities to that series more generally, but the landscapes & environments are bewilderingly beautiful at times in TR13; from the forests to the beaches & everything in between. Some of the village & ancient ruin / temple sections were gorgeous.

You do indeed also spend quite a lot of time exploring without an enemy or threat in sight for long periods, & I actually thought the music & score were brilliant. Still, I'll always love the old games more.

That's awesome! I just wished I could sit back and enjoy it as much as everybody else.

No mate, not yet. I basically just popped it in for a test run to begin with, & got up to just past the cemetary sequence with Maria(?) & traversed around the blocked underpass or whatever it is.

You mean Angela, my ex girlfriend?

That's Angela, the most ****ed up person I've seen in gaming

Well, if you saw what she saw..

 

[Snake Plissken]

That's awesome! I just wished I could sit back and enjoy it as much as everybody else.



You mean Angela, my ex girlfriend?



Well, if you saw what she saw..

Well her whole backstory is incomprehensibly ****ed up. You can see the toll it took on her since she looks like she's in her thirties but is still a teen.

 

[Jameson Rook]

Well her whole backstory is incomprehensibly ****ed up. You can see the toll it took on her since she looks like she's in her thirties but is still a teen.

You really ought to finish the entire series now that you have a PC to play/emulate them. Sure, the series never reached the heights of SH2 but they all have their moments, and their moments are very, very good.

The only SH I didn't played was Downpour, simply because Akira Yamaoka left producing and composing the series so it wasn't Silent Hill anymore. He was truly the backbone of the series.

And I'll say another thing that people are probably gonna hate- I never thought Kojima was the right man to save the franchise either. His sensibilities is so incompatible with the subtlety of Silent Hill.

 

[Snake Plissken]

You really ought to finish the entire series now that you have a PC to play/emulate them. Sure, the series never reached the heights of SH2 but they all have their moments, and their moments are very, very good.

The only SH I didn't played was Downpour, simply because Akira Yamaoka left producing and composing the series so it wasn't Silent Hill anymore. He was truly the backbone of the series.

And I'll say another thing that people are probably gonna hate- I never thought Kojima was the right man to save the franchise either. His sensibilities is so incompatible with the subtlety of Silent Hill.

Agreed. Everything that made PT frightening was all Del Toro IMO.

 

[VintijDroidGutzz]

Either Snake is a Rick James fan.. or a Chappelle fan.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Either Snake is a Rick James fan.. or a Chappelle fan.

Spoiler