The Orange Box summaries

Summaries for each game in The Orange Box:

The collection includes Half Life 2 (the complete first-person shooter masterpiece once released only for the PC), Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 (both expansion packs released for the original game), Portal (an original game developed exclusively for The Orange Box), and Team Fortress 2 (the sequel to a popular, multiplayer-based shooter).

In Half Life 2, the player takes on the role of Gordon Freeman, a gun-wielding scientist out to save humanity from the oppression of the extraterrestrial Combine and their human lackeys. The plot thickens as loyalties are tested and the negligible human resistance turns into open rebellion with Gordon leading the charge. Half Life 2: Episodes 1 and 2 continue the story as Gordon and his companions flee the condemned City 17 and defend humanity’s last stronghold against a Combine counterattack.

In Portal, the player assumes the role of a nameless woman who is inexplicably trapped inside an abandoned science facility. Over the course of the game, the player is asked to complete strange tasks at the behest of GlaDOS, the facility’s computer, using a device known as the portal gun. The game consists of multiple puzzles that increase in difficulty, and deadliness, as the game progresses. Eventually the player must use the portal gun against the building’s defenses in order to escape once and for all.

Team Fortress 2 is a team-based, multiplayer-only game that contains no single-player mode. You can only play Team Fortress 2 through a local area network or Xbox Live, which requires an Internet connection. The game consists of several maps and modes of play including capture the flag, attack and defend and several others. At the beginning of each game, the player is required to select a “class”. Each character class specializes in a different type of weapon and is designed to fill a certain role.