Silent-Q.com

I’m not a huge fan of FPS on consoles mainly because controllers don’t quite lend themselves to the precision that a mouse does. Maybe it’s just me. At any rate, I caved and bought the Valve Orange Box (VOB) for the PC. One thing that helped to entice me is that Valve actually did something magnanimous. I already owned Half Life 2 and Episode 1, both of which which come with the VOB package. Originally that meant wasted money but this time around they’re letting me gift those two games to someone. That’s right, I can give them to anyone. So I got 3 games I wanted and two I can give away for a total of $50. Not bad. So how do the games stack up?

Half Life 2: Episode 2

Previously, on Days of our Halflife… Well, that’s basically how it opens. Flashbacks. Given the long periods between installments, you probably need them. The world is still in dire peril and seems wholly unable to save itself without Gordon Freeman. Once again you start with nothing but your Gravity gun and work your way up to the good stuff. As usual, there’s puzzles galore and they are meticulously crafted to make you think. It’s pretty much what put the Half Life franchise on the map. It even avoids making you feel like you’ve played this game before (because you have. Twice). Sometimes. Some areas feel rehashed (really, the mass ambush thing with techno adrenaline music is tired).

What sets HL2E2 apart so far is the introduction of a new enemy: the Hunter. It’s a three legged automaton that shoots exploding darts with wicked precision, rams you and has a ton of hit points (roughly 3-4 times what a normal soldier has). You’ll grow to hate them with a passion by the end of the game, especially when you get to the final fight and have to take a ton of them out.

There’s no new weapons per se (save for the item they have you using in the final fight) and the story really drags in this one. Worse, Valve is notorious for having bad endings and this one doesn’t disappoint. The problem is that this one you can see coming a mile away whereas in HL2 and HL2E1 it really blended in with the story. It’s almost like they went out of their way to make this one end badly and it’s also a blatant setup for the next installment (whenever and whatever that is). There’s no teaser for it like in HL2E1, tho, and that’s probably because Valve is rethinking their whole release schedule on this: more 4 hour episodes or less 8 hour ones. If they’re gonna end them all like HL2E2 I’d say8 hours of play with less suck in between.

Overall, not a bad game but nothing groundbreaking and certainly not the best way to tell a story thus far.

Portal

This game is a hit. It’s basically the “freebie” in VOB (if you bought TF2 and HL2E2 separately you’d pay as much as VOB and not get Portal). It’s so popular it’s even spawned it’s own catch phrase: The cake is a lie. Props to Valve for having a running gag thrown in. In fact, unlike the HL2 series, Portal is far more light hearted despite having the same grim stuff as a backdrop.

Portal is best described as all the puzzles of HL2 without having to worry about all the “extras” like your HP gauge, ammo, etc. You don’t have any of that here. In fact, you can only die if you fall into the toxic sludge, are smashed or are shot too many times in a row (somehow, if you are only shot a few times, you miraculously recover). Instead you have the Portal gun. The portal is a unique device to make the game work. You go through the blue one and come out the red (or vice versa). As you progress through the game you are given the tools to make your own portals and that’s where the game gets to be interesting. You learn quickly how to exploit where you put your portals and how to time them to get the desired effect.
The first half of the game is simply trials. You vs the puzzle with a defined goal. The second half is less intuitive but makes for some very interesting gameplay as you wind your way through a maze that doesn’t quite look like a maze. It’s another 4 hour game but what a game.

What makes this game so good is the computer. Not your machine but the voice talking to you (think HAL from 2001). The script is well written and when you start to take the game to seriously the computer says something amusing. The ending credits are even set to a song sung by said computer. I want a Portal 2 with the computer from this one. I think Valve has another hit on their hands if they can keep the puzzles fresh.

Teamfortress 2

In 1996, a mod for Quake was released called Teamfortress. Unlike previous mods, TF gave you 9 classes and changed the course of gaming by eschewing the model at the time of “Collect weapons and ammo, frag, rinse, repeat”. You spawned with all the weapons for your class and you had a one stop shop for reloading. Where Quake multiplayer had become “Remember where the rocket ammo spawns and camp it”, TF became more of a FPS multiplayer strategy game.

I still feel Valve missed opportunities by not releasing TF2 as it was in 1999, when it was Best Game at E3. Team Fortress Classic was a cop-out. It gave some limited life back to TF but without new content to draw new players, it languished. It was sad to see such a promising game mothballed.

The wait for TF2 is over, however, and I couldn’t be more pleased. Valve got it right and gave it its own look and feel. TF2 does what any good sequel should do: it builds off the strengths of the original and gets rid of some of the weaknesses. Gone are the lame grenades which let people get cheap frags. The game pushes strategy now and does so in grand fashion. Some changes:

The Spy - Hands down the coolest idea from TF, now given a whole new form. The spy’s greatest asset is the disguise which lets you look like a member of the other team. The problem was trying to pull that off. They’ve rectified it with the cloak which gives you limited invisibility. You cloak, disguise, run to the other side, and decloak, Now you’re one of the boys, except that instakill knife is in some people’s backs now and some engineers are out a few sentries. Few things in multiplayer are better than pulling off a good disguise, sabotage and backstab.

The medic - One of the weaker offensive classes, the original medic had an axe that healed teammates and infected enemies. You could be evil with that axe but it was limited. The new medic has a healing gun that tracks your target as long as you’re in range. No more infections but now you get ubercharge. You heal enough HP and you get a limited invincibility for you AND your target. Coupled with a Heavy and you’re talking serious devastation.

The pyro - Probably the most underpowered class in the original TF, the Pyro is now a force to be reckoned with. The flame thrower is now a powerful AE weapon and the flames keep doing damage even if you leave or are killed.

While multiplayer servers are slow in coming online, it’s definitely a home run for Valve. This game made people sit up and take notice and it’s really the cornerstone of VOB. Well balanced with few exploits and loads more in the tactical dept and it should prove fun for all types of gamers.