I tried out Team Fortress 2 when I got the Orange Box on Xbox, but there weren’t many people playing and the game seemed way too crazy to learn without help. TF2 just went free to play on Steam, so I decided to try it again and give it a whirl. It definitely still is crazy, but a good kind of crazy. Medic!

A Shooter with Class
The most unique thing about Team Fortress 2 is it’s finely balanced class system. A lot of the big name shooters allow you to customize the way you play with loadouts and the like, but TF2 takes this customization to the next level. It features nine different classes split up into three categories: Attack, Defense, and Support.

The classes are incredibly well balanced: different classes can be used to counteract different strategies. There are typical classes like your soldier and sniper, and more interesting classes like the engineer, who can build turrets and other support devices. It’s tough to explain without playing it, but all you need to know is that everything seems almost perfect balance wise.

The drawback of having this many classes in a game is that it’s pretty hard to pick up what’s going on. A friend recommend that I just play as a medic and follow people around healing them, and doing so has given me a feel of what the different strategies for different classes is. The game on Steam also comes with some handy tutorials that help as well.

Learning the Ropes
The tutorials are pretty important, because there is a lot more to learn past just the classes. There are seven game types, and none of them are your typical death match. There is the popular 2 Fort, which is like capture the flag, and Attack/Defense which has one team defending certain control points. There are also interesting game types like Payload, which has two teams essentially racing mining carts against each other. It’s all quite fun.

With 10+ people per team, the games can get pretty hectic. It’s also important to understand the strategy behind the different game types. Needless to say, I don’t understand all of it, but I’m learning and having a lot of fun doing so. I can definitely see how people put 100+ hours into this game, it’s addicting and there always seems to be something new.

Characters Welcome
The last thing to note about Team Fortress 2 is that it has a lot of character. Each character has its own unique voice, and some of them are pretty funny. You also pick up a lot of drops, like hats (which you can also buy, accursed microtransactions!) and weapons which you can switch out to further customize your character.

The cartoony graphics are pretty different than most shooters, but don’t let that fool you: there’s still a lot of blood. The presentation is great and the gameplay feels very tight. All in all, Team Fortress 2 is a heck of a lot of fun to play, plus it’s free. What are you waiting for?

cmfl3x’s article this week had me thinking more about computer gaming lately. Not so long ago, I felt that a lot of game companies decided that they wanted to move towards the console market due to the inherent piracy involved with computer gaming. Yet today, computer gaming is stronger than ever. I’d love to use the term PC gaming instead of computer gaming, but the truth of the matter is, companies like Valve and Blizzard have really been supporting Mac gaming.

The current gaming landscape on the computer is strong enough that I could take a vacation from both my 360 and PS3 and still be quite entertained. Hit the jump for what I consider the games that are keeping computer gaming still relevant in this supposed “console age”.

Starcraft 2
Considering how many articles cmfl3x and I have put out on Leveling Down these past few months, it should come as no surprise how big a game Starcraft 2 is. This was the game that actually got me to come back to spend more than an hour at a time gaming on my PC. The campaign is excellent, the multiplayer addicting, and it works on a variety of different computer specs for both PC and Mac. Blizzard has been supporting Mac for as long as I can remember, with their retail release discs being playable on both PC and Mac.

Starcraft 2 is the sequel to the best RTS of all time. Is it better than the first? Time will tell, but it’s easy to say that it is at least the best RTS out on the market today. With Blizzard releasing the Zerg and Protoss campaigns hopefully sooner rather than later, perhaps we may see new multiplayer units as well in these “expansions” – keeping the game relevant for years to come.

Civilization IV & V
Making big news these days is the recent release of Civilization V. Reviews have been favorable, and while the game isn’t as complete as the current Civilization IV and all its expansions, fans of the 4x strategy games can have fun with the newer Civilization V or the more polished Civilization IV. Sadly, only Civilization IV is available on Mac at this time, but V should release in the future.

If you love strategy games but find it difficult to compete in the real-time nature of Starcraft 2, consider either Civilization IV or V. I remember discovering the Civilization series with Civilization III several years ago. I would play that game and suddenly it would be time for bed. Those of you that have yet to try out Civilization, definitely check out either Civilization IV or V. Steam often puts the complete Civilization IV pack on sale for about $15, so look for that if you can’t afford Civilization V yet or can only game on a Mac.

Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is in such an interesting position for me. This is a game I own on both the 360 and the PC, yet the only experience I really have with the game is from earning all of the Achievements on the 360 version. From what I’ve read, there’s no comparison between the console version and the computer version of Team Fortress 2. While no changes have been made to the original release of the console version, the computer version continues to get support and free updates. These updates include new maps, class changes, new weapons, new gear, random drops, crafting, and most recently, the ability to actually buy items with real money. What Valve has done is taken the computer version of Team Fortress 2 and added all sorts of MMORPG elements to the game for an even more addicting experience while not charging players anything. Some may grumble at the new storefront that Valve has created for selling items, but the strongest argument in favor of this is that without a store, players would just end up selling their items on eBay anyway so might as well let Valve make the money instead of the players themselves.

The Mac version of Team Fortress 2 was just released, and Team Fortress 2 continues to go on sale very often at the Steam Store – sometimes $5 and sometimes $10. Even its $20 price tag is well worth the price. For those gamers that miss the days of PC FPS gaming where you actually connected to servers and got to know the players on a server, the computer version of Team Fortress 2 is what you should call home. Console FPS games and even the PC version of Modern Warfare 2 do not allow for dedicated servers, so consider looking into the computer version of Team Fortress 2 if you want to be more social in your FPS gaming.

Left 4 Dead 1 & 2
Left 4 Dead 1 and Left 4 Dead 2 both continue to get new campaigns and updates on both the 360 and PC. However, while you have to often pay for this DLC on the 360, it’s always free on the PC. Valve just released the Mac version of Left 4 Dead 2, and is planning to release the Mac version of Left 4 Dead 1 by this Halloween. With them both on sale this past week for a little over $10 together, each game is practically cheaper than the DLC that you have to pay for on the 360.

There is no other FPS series out there that relies on co-op as much as the Left 4 Dead games, and only the computer versions allow players to continue downloading all sorts of new maps for free courtesy of the map-making community. While the difference between the console and computer versions of the Left 4 Dead games isn’t as stark as the Team Fortress 2 comparison, if you enjoy getting new content for free and playing on new maps created by fans of the game, the computer version of this series is the way to go.

World of Warcraft
How could I write an article marveling at how strong computer gaming still is today without the behemoth that has always kept computer gaming relevant? World of Warcraft is the most popular MMORPG in the world, and for good reason: it’s very well designed, enjoyable for gamers of all types, does not require high-end computers, is playable on both PC and Mac, and continues to provide new content. The newest expansion, Cataclysm, is set to launch on December 7, and with the expansion going back to changing the original gameplay world, many ex-World of Warcraft players such as myself are intrigued.

Seriously – the only thing holding me back from jumping back into World of Warcraft these days is that I don’t think I could maintain a good “game and life” balance were I to start World of Warcraft again. Considering you don’t have to really ever play anything else if you start playing World of Warcraft, I feel that the only way I could probably play World of Warcraft again is if I somehow won the lottery and did not have to work any more. My day job would probably end up being to play World of Warcraft. The expansion looks great, and having played the game for a couple years, I have to say that it’s quite addictive. Too addictive is the problem, and it’s not a game I recommend if you want to have a life outside of gaming as well.

Computer Gaming Not Dead Yet
So there you have it – the best RTS game, the best MMORPG, the best 4x strategy games, the best co-op FPS series, and arguably the most addicting teamplay adversarial FPS game are all either only available on the computer or are better supported on the computer. With this heavy lineup of computer games still going strong, if you were interested in playing 1 or 2 of these games, how would you have time to even play games on the console?

World of Warcraft & Team Fortress 2 continue to give PC gamers updates

It’s interesting for me to see the “evolution” of the PC gaming landscape. Growing up on Doom, Quake, and Duke Nukem, I’ve lived through the rise and decline of the PC gaming scene, from the introduction of first person shooters, real-time strategy games, online multiplayer, 4X strategy games, and now MMORPGs. If you’ve also grown up with fond memories of Doom & Quake, I highly recommend checking out the book, Masters of Doom. It’s a well-written book that chronicles how John Romero and John Carmack met, formed id Software, and completely shook up the gaming industry. Having said that, today’s entry will contain my more general thoughts on the PC gaming landscape, and why I’m still excited for its present and future.

It’s funny to see how the last twenty or so years in gaming went – PC games spawned new PC games such as FPS and RTS games, and introduced multiplayer gaming. I remember the days of 3DFX, Voodoo cards, and OpenGL. Since then, consoles have really grown up. FPS gaming and multiplayer on consoles have pretty much caught up to PC games, albeit the lack of certain extras among many of them such as free content updates, dedicated servers, etc. RTS games and 4X strategy games are still in their infancy on the consoles, and I can’t really see them taking off too much due to the fact that while the lack of a mouse for a FPS game is not nearly as bad as a lack of a mouse in a RTS/4X game where you’re just navigating around a map. Still, games like Halo Wars and Civilization Revolution are trying. I’ve yet to see a true console MMORPG yet on the 360 outside of Final Fantasy XI (ugh), so maybe we have a ways to go before that starts happening.

In any case, it looks like the PC gaming scene has changed drastically, forming silos around specific companies and their storefronts. Whereas the 360 has the Live Marketplace and the PS3 has the PSN store, there is no real unifying Windows store. Microsoft finally released a Windows Live Gaming store this past week, but it’s far too late and the Windows “Live Gaming” scene is practically dead anyway. I’m appreciating what each of these major PC companies are doing to not only keep PC gaming alive, but to really set themselves up to be the saviors of PC gaming.

The first and most prominent company to keep things going is Valve. If you’ve played Half-Life, Counter-Strike, etc. then you’re probably someone that  can’t dislike the company. Nowadays PC gamers have Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 to play, and while Valve has not quite delivered what they promised in their support for the Left 4 Dead franchise, Team Fortress 2 just continues to ridiculously grow. You can pick up Team Fortress 2 for only a couple dollars these days on the PC, and yet the developers keep adding more and more content. I played through Team Fortress 2 on the Xbox 360, and that was just a barebones version. On the PC, new updates come out all the time, with new weapons and customizable gear for each class, maps, hundreds of new Achievements, and all sorts of gameplay/balance changes. With the newest update, Valve is giving players the ability to customize their hats and weapons for their equipment slots, bringing this FPS game more and more into the realm of MMORPG. It’s fantastic and if you’re a Team Fortress 2 PC gamer, this is a game that just keeps on giving. Kudos to Valve, as Team Fortress 2 on the PC really demonstrates the difference between a PC FPS and a console FPS.

The other company that has been keeping PC gaming relevent for as long as I can remember is Blizzard. People still play Starcraft, Diablo II, and Warcraft III today, and excitement continues to build for the future releases of Starcraft II and Diablo III. While I’ve mentally moved on past World of Warcraft, the newest patch and the upcoming expansion are really making me reconsider jumping back into the game, as the most recently released patch adds full-on matchmaking for dungeons, which means you can easily find a pickup group through an easy to use in-game interface rather than going to town and shouting “LF1M healer”. The upcoming expansion has the developers revisiting the core gameplay world and changing many aspects of that rather than adding in a new continent like Lich King did. In a sense, it is going to bring the WoW population back to the core world, which has been a ghost town since the Expansions. Perhaps when the Cataclysm expansion hits, I may have to check WoW out again.

Stardock is a company that isn’t as strong as Valve or Blizzard but still has PC gaming relevance. In fact, outside of Blizzard, Stardock may be among the last major PC gaming companies that has not started making console games. I’m playing through Galactic Civilizations II Ultimate now, and while it’s not exactly a new game, it’s one of the best 4X strategy games I’ve ever played and I can’t imagine seeing a game of this depth and strategy on a console. The competition that Stardock’s Impulse store gives to Valve’s Steam storefront is a boon for us gamers, as it not only makes the two storefronts compete for our gaming dollars, but each store continues to introduce new features that make you feel more like part of its community. While I didn’t feel that Sins of a Solar Empire had as much depth as Galactic Civilizations II, Stardock continues to work on expansions to this game, to the pleasure of its many fans.

Another company that seems to support the PC gaming scene surprisingly is EA. Of course, the entire Sims franchise has been a huge moneymaker for EA, so they can’t be that against PC gaming. I have the new Command & Conquer 4 Beta installed on my PC, perhaps the last of the franchise that will be coming out in March. Also in March is Battlefield Bad Company 2, a PC FPS game that will support servers – something that the Modern Warfare 2 PC version took away. Let’s also not forget about Dragon Age: Origins, the new RPG game that supposedly plays a lot better on the PC than either of the console versions. So as much as anyone may dislike EA, we can see that the company is still keeping the PC hardcore gaming thriving with their string of varied PC titles: a RTS game, a FPS game, and an RPG game.

Finally, this past week I’ve written about a couple different DotA games, and aTOM boomb has shared his impressions on a couple as well. In any case, I feel like the DotA genre will continue to grow like the Tower Defense genre did. Both genres originated as custom mods in Blizzard’s RTS games, and they will most likely do quite well for PC gaming. I would be interested in seeing a FPS + DotA combination game on the 360, but that may be a few years out.

In any case, while I do tend to spend more time on the 360 than the PC for my gaming, the PC gaming scene is far from dead and I have not only these major companies to thank, but all of the others that still recognize PC gaming and continue to provide us with solid titles that not only play best on the PC, but make use of the PC’s strengths as a gaming platform as well. 2010 looks to still be a big year with PC gaming, as Starcraft II has to come out…right?!

One of my friends asked me last night if I was going to trade in Halo 3: ODST now that I had the 1000 in it. He was saying it gets something like $35, which is pretty good considering we ended up getting it for around that (or even less) when it first came out. In the past, I used to trade in practically any game I got all the Achievements I wanted in and moved onto the next game in my queue.

Over just this past year alone, I’ve started winding down on my gaming tendencies (yes, it’s hard to believe but I’m less hardcore today than I was years ago), and actually started missing games I had gotten rid of. So I started rebuying games that I knew I would want to replay again at some point, just for fun. Looking at my 360 collection today, I’ve realized that more than half of the games I currently own I’ve sold and reacquired.

Nowadays, I’ve decided that no matter how good of a deal it is to trade in/sell a game that I enjoyed, I won’t get rid of it since the amount of work it takes to reaquire the game just doesn’t make up for the nice little “deal” I got when I sold it. What majorly sucks is that several of the games I end up wanting to reacquire turn into Platinum Hits titles, and I hate that design. Therefore, I’m forced to scour used game bins or find people online to buy from that can get me non-platinum hits versions that are not all scratched like crazy. I feel like I’m in some sort of game rebuying netherworld where I’m paying for my mistakes. I owned these games in mint condition and now I’m spending time trying to track these same games down that will no way be in as good condition as when I owned them. Why couldn’t I just have been happy with my original copies and not sell them in the first place?

Currently, I’ve been spending the last few weeks trying to rebuy the following games:

Mass Effect – I actually want to replay through this before playing the sequel coming out early next year, but the tough part is of course finding a non-platinum hits version in great condition.

Assassin’s Creed – Like Mass Effect, I do want to play this game again before the sequel releases next month but have to find a non-platinum hits version in great condition.

Fable 2 – Platinum hits was announced to be released in January, so I still have time to reacquire this game and I know I will want to play through it again before Fable 3 releases.

The Orange Box – I actually have cravings from time to time to play Team Fortress 2, and while I own it on the PC, people on the PC are too hardcore (clans and whatnot) so I just want to play it casually with my 360 controller. Plus, I figure I will want to play Portal again from time to time.

Once I successfully repick up these titles, I’ll only have a few left to go. Good thing I didn’t sell Halo Wars since I do have cravings to play that game too. In any case, that’s my simple warning to you – if you feel like at some point you may want to replay a game (just because it was amazing, you’ll miss it, or a future sequel gets you to want to replay its predecessor, etc.), consider holding onto it. I want to spare you this ordeal that I’m going through today…

The stock market has dropped below 7000 points, people have less disposable income, and video game studios all over the country are filing for bankruptcy or shutting down altogether. Though video games have been touted as “recession-proof”, that really isn’t the case; consumers are buying less titles and taking less risks, staying away from question marks and sticking to sure-fire franchises.

In this first of a two part feature, espion4ge and I have compiled a list of our favorite mainstream titles that you can get under $30 now. If you’re trying to save money and haven’t played these games yet, I’d definitely recommend picking some of them up. In many cases you can buy two of these games for the price of one new title today so if you’ve missed out on some of them, there are great deals to be had.

At my job I often receive questions about what game or games to buy if one only wants to spend X amount of dollars. Usually they come up in the form of, “I can only afford one game, should I buy Fallout 3 or Left 4 Dead?” As always, the answer is “it depends.” But what I really try to recommend for those who can’t spend as much cash on entertainment is to look for the games that are the best value, games you can get on the cheap and get a lot of playtime out of. Or if you don’t have a lot of time to play games, then I’d recommend cheap games that are shorter but still offer excellent gameplay, “short but sweet” games.

Mass Effect
[360: $19.99 , PC: $16.99 on Amazon] [espion4ge's review]
espion4ge isn’t into sci-fi as much as I am so I’m not sure if this title will make his list, but I think Mass Effect is a great value at $20. The game definitely has some problems as alluded to in his review, but I found the storyline incredibly engaging, especially the sequences towards the end. There is a lot of gameplay to be had due to the numerous choices you can make in the game, optional sidequests feel more unique than in other games, and there is some great character development. You can spend anywhere between 10 to 100 hours on this game, depending on how many times you choose to play it (and how), so at 20 dollars it’s a steal.

Bioshock
[360: $23.99 , PS3: $36.99 , PC: $19.99 on Amazon] [espion4ge's review]
If you’ve never set foot in Rapture, 2K Boston’s underwater dystopia, you’ve missed out on one of the best gaming experiences out there. I waited to pick up this game because I generally can’t handle scary games, and even though I had to play Bioshock in the daylight, I loved every minute of it. Rapture feels perfect; like Liberty City, it is a setting that has been meticulously crafted in such a way that it transcends all of the characters in the game. In Bioshock, your character is trying to escape Rapture, while you as gamer never want to leave.

The Orange Box
[360: $19.99 , PS3: $19.99 , PC: $27.99 on Amazon] [espion4ge's review]
When the Orange Box came out, it was championed as “the best deal in gaming.” For 60 dollars, one could play 5 different games: Half Life 2, Episodes 1 & 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. A lot of people had already played Half Life so it wasn’t the best deal for everyone, but now at $20 the Orange Box truly is one of the best deals in gaming. The Half Life series is classic, so if you haven’t played through it it’s definitely worth checking out. For my money, Portal alone is worth this price of admission. For those interested in multiplayer, the only thing Team Fortress 2 is missing is matchmaking, other than that it’s a great experience. I strongly recommend picking this box up, there’s something for almost everyone inside.

Battlefield: Bad Company
[360: $27.99 , PS3: $19.99 on Amazon] [espion4ge's review]
For those looking for more of a light-hearted shooter, Battlefield: Bad Company might be the way to go. The single player is pretty short (7-8 hours) but it is amusing in a lot of sections and the gameplay is pretty decent. The multiplayer offerings are actually a lot of fun. At first they seem simplistic, but if you have a few friends to play with you can actually get a lot of replay value out of it. Bad Company isn’t the deepest game out there, but it definitely is a lot of fun as long as you have the right expectations.

Braid
[360: 1200 MS Points/$15 on Xbox Live Arcade] [cmfl3x's review]
I was debating whether or not to put downloadable content on here, but after thinking about it, I’d rather have a short and sweet game for $15 than a long, drawn out game that costs $15. After all, time is money. Take a look at my review – it’s probably one of my 5 favorite games on the system. It only seems expensive because it’s an XBLA game, but in reality it’s a great deal. Check it out.

Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
[360: 800 MS Points/$10 on Xbox Live Arcade]
Another great XBLA title that you can get a lot of playtime out of is Geometry Wars 2. The original dual-stick shooter has spawned a legion of imitators. The sequel features the same addictive quality that the original had, along with a bunch of new game types that really prolong the experience. It’s the kind of game you can pick up and play when you have 10 minutes to kill before going somewhere. Just make sure someone is around to actually make sure you go where you’re supposed to go, otherwise you might never leave.

What’s funny for me is that for me I tend to always be gaming on the cheap. I love buying games at inexpensive prices, and sometimes I even question whether I like buying games on the cheap more than even playing them, as is evidenced by my huge backlog.

But for me to really think about it, if you have a tight budget but still want to play 360 games, it’s best to buy games that have either lengthy single player or an enjoyable multiplayer experience to allow you to continue returning to that game night after night. I’ve been playing the 360 longer than cmfl3x, so I will be able to reach even further back into the 360′s library. Here we go…

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition
[360: $27.99 , PS3: $29.99 , PC: $19.49 on Amazon] [espionage's review]
Oblivion was my game of the year for 2006, followed by BioShock in 2007, and then Fallout 3 in 2008. One thing that all three games shared in common was not only their presentation and gameplay mechanics, but their immersiveness and attention to both scope and detail. For those that have played Fallout 3, you realize that the game ends at about 50 hours or so, but in Oblivion, there is no ending. Even after finishing the main questline, you are free to continue exploring the land searching for new sidequests, enemies, and treasure. It’s a game that you can get lost in and play over and over and possibly the best RPG you can buy on the cheap for the 360.

Saints Row
[360: $19.99 on Amazon]
For those that were disappointed with Grand Theft Auto IV, consider Saints Row. While it’s a knockoff of the GTA games, it retains one of the most important aspects that made the GTA games popular in the first place: humor. Saints Row doesn’t take itself anywhere as seriously as GTAIV, and at the same time, allows for dozens of hours for you to wander the city like your own playground while also allowing you to step online to play adversarial as well.

Rainbow Six Vegas
[360: $19.99 , PS3: $29.99 , PC: $18.99 on Amazon]
While there is also a sequel out to Rainbow Six Vegas, the first one is still the better of the two. Not only is its level design a lot more attractive and enjoyable, its single player is about 15-20 hours long compared to the 6 hour sequel. On top of that, the first Vegas game supports 4-player co-op (the sequel does not), while both have Terrorist Hunt mode for up to 4 players on Live, allowing you and your buddies to spend countless hours just hunting down randomly spawned terrorists on various levels. Skip the sequel if you’re on a budget as the first one is better.

Crackdown
[360: $18.98 on Amazon] [espion4ge's review]
If you enjoy sandbox games and superhero games, Crackdown definitely scratches that itch. While it doesn’t have the depth and humor of other sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto and Saints Row, it makes up for it by implementing an addicting level up system that allows you to become more of a superhero as you leap from building to building and hurl cars to take out criminals. The game also supports 2-player online co-op, allowing you to have even more fun playing the game with a friend.

Burnout Paradise
[360: $18.49 , PS3: $19.99 , PC: $36.99 on Amazon]
This game is still sitting in my backlog, and the only reason why I haven’t even opened it yet was because I’ve been telling myself that I need to finish Burnout Revenge first. But for those of you wondering – Burnout Paradise is THE racing game for the 360. It changes the formula a little bit in that it has a more sandbox style feel where you drive around a city in order to take on races, but the developers of the game continue to pour in content for the game and with multiplayer racing, it’s a game that can last you possibly forever. At first I was wondering if this was considered a niche game since it’s a racing game, but if you’ve driven a car before you will most likely enjoy any Burnout game. They’re that fun.

Bully: Scholarship Edition
[360: $19.99 , Wii: $19.99 , PC: $19.99 on Amazon]
Originally released on the PS2, Bully: Scholarship Edition was re-released on the 360 and Wii for the rest of us to enjoy. It follows a very similar mission style format to the GTA games, but with it taking place at school, the violence and explicitness is a lot more toned down. That doesn’t mean the game isn’t any less enjoyable or amusing. Pretty lengthy and worth a look if you don’t mind the antiquated last-gen graphics.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition Colonies Edition
[360: $27.99 , PS3: $16.95 , PC: $29.99 on Amazon] [espion4ge's review of the regular edition]
Lost Planet was originally released back in January of 2007, but then the Colonies “gold edition” of the title was released more recently, containing more single player modes, multiplayer modes and options. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the single player in the original title due to the time pressure, but the multiplayer was relatively enjoyable and it may be worth checking out again now that Lost Planet 2 was recently announced. If you like mechs and huge bugs though, definitely worth a look.

Stay tuned for next week when we present part 2: niche titles that can be enjoyed on the cheap, provided you are a fan of the genre.

Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 Premier Edition
Crysis
Crysis Warhead
EA Sports 08 Collection
FIFA Soccer 09
The Orange Box

Since all of the titles retail for $29.99 each, that makes them $9.99 after coupon. You only need one coupon and it is good for all of the games in one transaction, but not more than 3 of one title. Use the in-store locator to find games you’re looking for, as the deal is only good in-store and requires a Reward Zone membership and the coupon print out. Reward Zone membership is free and you can sign up right on the website.

For those worried about DRM on some games like Red Alert 3 and Crysis Warhead, EA released patches to allow you to deauthorize the DRM on the games so you can have your installs back. In short, the games are still worth picking up for $10 each if you are interested.

I picked up Crysis & Crysis Warhead last night myself (Crysis still even had the $49.99 sticker on it but rang up for $29.99). I was considering double dippping on the PC version of Red Alert 3 as well, but it wasn’t in stock at my local Best Buy.

$20 Off Select PC Games coupon [Best Buy Reward Zone]

Mercenaries 2 (360) – Heard the game was sort of glitchy, but for $9.99 at Best Buy this week it was cheap enough to throw into my backlog.

The Orange Box (PC) – I wanted to pick up Team Fortress 2 for the PC since it continues to keep getting new content and maps, but didn’t want to pay $20 for it. I was hoping Valve would put it on sale on Steam for half price like they did with Left 4 Dead, but when I found it for The Orange Box for $15 at Circuit City during its liquidation this past weekend, I sprang for it. Then what happens? Team Fortress 2 goes on sale for $10 during the week right after I just bought Orange Box. I would have preferred to just buy that instead but what can you do.

Company of Heroes (PC) – Also at the same Circuit City liquidation, I was able to find Company of Heroes Collector’s Edition for a little under $10. I remember playing this game years ago but lost my copy so I sprang for it again. I can’t really remember the mechanics behind it, but I certainly enjoyed it. I figure it’ll be good training for Dawn of War 2.

Infinite Undiscovery (360) – The majority of my gaming time for the last month has been spent playing this title, but now that I’m on the hardest difficulty playthrough, there is light at the end of the tunnel! I’m putting together a guide to Infinity mode as I play through it as well.

To celebrate the new free Scout update on the PC version of Team Fortress II, Valve has put it on sale for $9.99 on Steam from now until Friday. This new update brings new weapons, maps, and 35 Achievements for the Scout class alone! Expect others classes to follow. Also of note is the new Dawn of War II game on sale for $35.90 as part of GoGamer’s Madness sale. Ugh…my backlog now extends to PC games too -_-

Team Fortress II [$9.99 Steam]
Warhammer 40k Dawn of War II [$35.90 w/ free shipping GoGamer]

I haven’t written up a review in a while, and that’s most likely because I’ve been spending a good chunk of game time playing both Call of Duty 4 and Rock Band multiplayer. And now with my attention slowly switching over to Devil May Cry 4 and Bladestorm (not to mention going to go pick up Lost Odyssey after work tonight), I don’t know when I’ll actually be able to go back and finish all of the single player Achievements of The Orange Box. I will someday though – I’ve gone through a pretty sizeable chunk of the game already: completed Half-Life 2, Episode 1, and I beat the regular “campaign” of Portal. All I plan to do next is complete Episode 2 (should I just suck it up and try to complete all the annoying Achievements), spend a bit more time messing around with Team Fortress 2, and finish off the rest of the Portal Achievements before calling it quits on The Orange Box.

Intro
The Orange Box is considered by many to be the best “deal” in gaming. It contains five seperate games: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The original Half-Life 2 game was released to critical acclaim in November of 2004, and was ported to the original Xbox one year later. From the release of Half-Life 2 in 2004 until now, Valve has been at work developing smaller subsequent “episodic” sequels of Half-Life 2 as well as Team Fortress 2 and a “secret” little project named Portal. Episode One was completed and released on the PC in June of 2006, while Episode Two, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 were released with The Orange Box . Realizing that it would be tough to sell each of these three new games on their own (especially on consoles), Valve decided to release The Orange Box, a compilation of all three games as well as Half-Life 2 and Episode One.

When Valve originally made the announcement about The Orange Box, Valve also announced that it would release The Black Box as well for the PC, a compilation containing only the three new games at a price $10 cheaper. There was no Black Box for the consoles, as Half-Life 2 and Episode One were never released for the PS3 or Xbox 360. Eventually, Valve decided to not release The Black Box, opting for The Orange Box only on all systems while the PC versions of the various games could be bought individually off Steam, Valve’s game distribution service.

Even though some people went so far as to claim The Orange Box was the best game of 2007, the numbers spoke differently, as the 360 version of The Orange Box sold a measly half million. With new games like BioShock, Assassin’s Creed, and Call of Duty 4 selling from 2 to 3 million copies each, The Orange Box’s numbers show that it seems to be more of a niche title, pulling in US sales equal to about Viva Pinata. If you’re pulling similar numbers on a hardcore gamer system equal to a kid’s game, that’s quite startling. America tends to love FPS games on the 360: both Tom Clancy games, BioShock, all of the Call of Duty games, and Halo 3 all sold millions. Something about The Orange Box didn’t pull people the same way on the 360.

Throughout Half-Life 2, Gordon will be working with Dr. Kleiner, Eli, and his daughter Alyx.

Half-Life 2, Episode One, Episode Two
The Half-Life 2 series continues on from Half-Life 1, but like most FPS games, the storyline isn’t too important. For those wondering what was in Half-Life 1, the player controls Gordon Freeman, a scientist at the Black Mesa research facility. The scientists accidently open a rift to another world where aliens come through and attack them and Half-Life 1 revolves around Freeman trying to combat the aliens while trying to escape the facility.

Half-Life 2 begins with Gordon on a train to City 17, a city controlled by Combine soldiers that ruin peoples’ lives and enforce their authority. Gordon goes through the game fighting against the Combine, as well as aliens that have returned from Half-Life 1, all in order to take out the leader. Episode One details how Gordon escapes from the facility that he infiltrates at the end of Half-Life 2, and Episode Two has Gordon going through more expansive environments to get back to base. While the first game is supposed to take place in a city, the world itself seems lifeless and deserted. I guess maybe technology back in 2004 wasn’t as good as it is now, but Half-Life 2 definitely looks a little antiquated. The game’s age is also clearly evident in the fact that it has to pause for several seconds in the middle of a level to load the next area throughout the game, which can be very annoying.

While the original Half-Life 2 game was about 8-10 hours long, Episode One (and presumably Two) are about 3 hours each. Considering a FPS game that is about 10 hours or more to be of decent length, so the three Half-Life 2 games/episodes included in The Orange Box are certainly not short. The game has the very traditional (and arguably antiquated) non-regenerating health bar (along with health and armor packs to fill up), but makes innovative use of a “use button” for opening doors, switches, picking up objects to either stack or throw, etc. There are also some minor FPS puzzles in the game here and there, introduced often with the use of a gravity gun.

Besides the general FPS fare of managing weapons, ammo, and life while combating enemies, Gordon also spends a lot of Half-Life 2 driving a buggy. I personally disliked that a lot, as I did not buy a FPS game to spend most of the time driving a car. It also doesn’t help that the dang thing is difficult to control. Fortunately, Valve has reduced the amount of driving in Episode One and Two as a result of many people complaining, but it’s unfortunate that you will still have to drive a good amount in Half-Life 2. Compile that with the fact that the controls and response of the vehicle are quite poor, and that was almost enough to make me not even play through Half-Life 2.

The weapons are pretty typical, although both the rocket launcher and the gravity gun are by far the most enjoyable weapons to use in the game. The rocket from the launcher homes in on where you target the laser, so you can fire it near an enemy ship but as long as you move the laser reticule to the ship, the rocket will fly and hit the ship. The gravity gun is a unique “weapon” in the Half-Life 2 games that allow Gordon to pick up heavy objects and throw them with ease. You can pick up items that are out of reach (they fly to you almost like you’re using a “Force pull” from Star Wars) and you can throw items like saws, boxes, and toilets with great strength at any enemies to kill them. The gravity gun can also be used to push cars along, so it’s possible to even kill enemies with cars. The gravity gun is probably the most innovative weapon to come out of Half-Life 2, and demonstrates the strength of Half-Life 2′s physics engine.

The companion cube, a popular item in Portal

Portal
Unlike Half-Life 2, Portal is a puzzle game with a FPS camera. In Portal, the main character sort of wakes up in a lab and hears a robotic voice encouraging her to continue through each level in the facility. Each level contains puzzles of various types that must be solved in order to move on. The unique and fun aspect of Portal is that the game’s puzzles are generally solved through the use of portals.

Controlling the main character, you are able to create an entrance and exit portal pretty much anywhere in a room in order to solve it. Creating such portals allow one to push a box into an entrance portal on a floor and for it to come out of an exit portal laid on the ceiling. The player herself can also go through the portals, and in later levels more ingenious puzzles are created such that the player has to use the law of gravity by falling through several portals to achieve free-fall speed in order to cross a giant horizontal chasm or to get on top of a much steeper vertical ledge. The game does a good job of slowly introducing more puzzle elements to you, and the last level in the game is also perhaps my favorite since it feels like a full FPS level rather than just a lab room. It is on the short side however – clearing Portal will probably take about 3-4 hours.

Many Portal fans will often talk about a “Companion Cube” or a lying cake – both references to this game. The Companion Cube is utilized in the puzzles on some of the levels of the game, and due to its usefulness in pushing buttons, blocking turrets, etc. it has amassed quite a fan following. To me it felt like I was some hamster in a lab with a toy that I enjoyed. Maybe that’s why people like it so much – they also felt a bond with it not unlike Tom Hanks and Wilson from Cast Away. “The Cake is a lie” is a line that fans of Portal quote as well, the quote often being found scribbled in hidden areas in the levels that are littered with dead bodies. (Throughout the game, the computer voice promises cake if you continue to go through the lab’s puzzles.)

The unique classes in Team Fortress 2 are what make the game most interesting.

Team Fortress 2
The main multiplayer component of The Orange Box is Team Fortress 2. For those that aren’t aware, Team Fortress 2 is the sequel to the original Team Fortress game, a popular Quake mod back on the PC. The gameplay mechanics haven’t really changed much from the original game to the sequel (except for the notable comic-like art direction): each player is able to choose from one several classes: the pyro, the engineer, the spy, the heavy, the scout, the soldier, the sniper, the demoman, and the medic. The player is able to change to any class between deaths, and each class has unique aspects such that all nine classes play differently. However, certain classes, such as the engineer, lend themselves better towards playing defensively while other classes, like the soldier, are more suited for offense.

There are several gameplay modes in Team Fortress 2, split up over the six multiplayer maps. The most prominent mode is capture the flag, where both teams compete to try to steal the opposing team’s briefcase and bring it back to their own in the base. The other modes revolve around both teams trying to secure nodes on the map, with some gameplay types set up so one team is only defending, or others where both are trying to secure the opposing team’s node.

While the gameplay can be pretty enjoyable for Team Fortress 2, it is not without its problems. First of all, there’s no matchmaking, stat-tracking, or any sort of online innovations that we’ve grown used to as console multiplayer gamers. This means if you want to play with two of your friends on the same team, you can pretty much forget it since Team Fortress 2 rooms autobalance so it becomes quite difficult for you and your friends to join a game already in progress and play together. Second of all, with room hosting comes its own set of problems – notably hosts that set a max limit on players for their games at a much higher number than their bandwidth can handle. What happens is maybe four people join and everything is ok, but once a fifth person joins and the host can’t handle it, the lag kills the game for everyone until people just leave. And finally, there are a lot of exploits that people have figured out but Valve has not released any patches to fix them on the 360. It’s like Team Fortress 2 on the Xbox 360 was simply released and forgotten about by the developers and players alike.