The Orange Box edges out Halo 3 for game of the month

[8-bitNesMan]

So I'm looking at my new EGM last night and I was more than a little surprised at this. Halo 3 got scores of 10, 10, and 9 and The Orange Box got 10, 10, and 9.5. Is the Orange Box the long fabled "Halo killer"? I have yet to pick it up as I've never been much of a Half Life fan but maybe I should give it a rent. Thoughts?

[Mr.FoodMonster]

It is my opinion that everything about Half Life is better than everything about Halo. From the gameplay, to the soundtrack, to the people involved with the online community, it's just all better. There is no reason for you to not pick up Orange Box if you've got a PC that can play it or a 360 (and the PS3 down the road)

[heybtbm]

I think the reasoning for the higher score is that you are getting so much more "game" for your $60 with Orange Box. I don't think they're suggesting that it's a better game. It's certainly not because OB is a "Halo killer"...that's just absurd. TF2 isn't even in the same league as Halo 3 multiplayer, while the opposite could be said about the single player components of the two games. Both games have there pluses and minuses.

Plus, let's not forget that it's still "cool" to bash the biggest guy on the block. The "take them down a notch" mentality. People like to root for the underdog and Halo 3 is the exact opposite of an underdog.

[unwinddesign]

Plus, let's not forget that it's still "cool" to bash the biggest guy on the block. The "take them down a notch" mentality. People like to root for the underdog and Halo 3 is the exact opposite of an underdog.

And since EGM is the epitome of fruity, they pull this type of crap all the time.

[DrunkPollock]

TF2 isn't even in the same league as Halo 3 multiplayer

You're insane. Now I'll admit that it's much easier to hop on Halo and get a game going, but once you're in a game with a good host, Team Fortress 2 is leagues better than Halo 3.. hell COD 4 and Shadowrun are for that matter as well.

So I'm looking at my new EGM last night and I was more than a little surprised at this. Halo 3 got scores of 10, 10, and 9 and The Orange Box got 10, 10, and 9.5. Is the Orange Box the long fabled "Halo killer"? I have yet to pick it up as I've never been much of a Half Life fan but maybe I should give it a rent. Thoughts?

I think the only surprising thing about that is that Halo 3 scored so high. But that's EGM for you. Halo 3 is in actuality about a 7 or 8 and that's even stretching it, but no one will admit it.

Orange Box on the other hand is excellent, and every game in the package wipes the floor with Halo 3 in some form or another.

[Alucard79]

I think the only surprising thing about that is that Halo 3 scored so high. But that's EGM for you. Halo 3 is in actuality about a 7 or 8 and that's even stretching it, but no one will admit it.

I'll admit it. Halo is good, but not great.

[cyberfluxor]

Half-Life has always been better than Halo, period. Halo is a fun game but just because it's a popular franchise doesn't make it THE best game. Most everyone on these forums should have known this by now.

[8-bitNesMan]

I have to disagree with that. I am a big fan of Halo so I admit that I'm biased but if you compare Half Life 2 and Halo 2 on the original Xbox, Halo 2 is a much better game IMO. I don't game on the PC, so I honestly don't know how Half Life is in that department. I know it has its die hard fans but the console versions just never did it for me. I bought part 3 on day 1 and I don't even play it that much but to me the series is the epitome of the modern FPS.

[roushimsx]

Plus, let's not forget that it's still "cool" to bash the biggest guy on the block. The "take them down a notch" mentality. People like to root for the underdog and Halo 3 is the exact opposite of an underdog.

Afterall, after Half Life everyone was looking for the next "Half Life killer". It wasn't until Halo when people switched over to looking for a "Halo Killer". Half Life 2 has long since become the ultimate FPS on PC because of both its incredible quality and its remarkably strong community (both in the realms of modding and in dev/user communication and support). While it's a shame that the 360 owners are missing out on the modding community's work, they're at least getting the best single player FPS experience yet crafted and an addictive as hell multiplayer aspect.

Shame y'all don't get Half Life 2 Deathmatch or any of the numerous other multiplayer modes from the PC version, but hey...Team Fortress 2 is fucking ace.

Half Life 2 is pretty much the exact opposite of an underdog as well, considering the PC version is one of the highest rated games of all time (outscoring all three of the Halo games according to GameRankings) and Orange Box being the second best reviewed game of all time.

But yea, if you just want to dump on its fanbase because they're obviously just out to shit on Halo, then go for it. It totally makes a lot of sense. Really.

I have to disagree with that. I am a big fan of Halo so I admit that I'm biased but if you compare Half Life 2 and Halo 2 on the original Xbox, Halo 2 is a much better game IMO. I don't game on the PC, so I honestly don't know how Half Life is in that department. I know it has its die hard fans but the console versions just never did it for me. I bought part 3 on day 1 and I don't even play it that much but to me the series is the epitome of the modern FPS.

Halo 2 had better multiplayer than Half Life 2 on Xbox considering Half Life 2 didn't have any multiplayer at all. As a single player game, Halo 2 was a pile of disappointment and blandness with a slick engine while Half Life 2 was pure awesome and excitement with framerate issues and a lower resolution.

[Trebuken]

Having played the Unreal Tournament 3 demo I am convinced that UT3 should be the Halo 3 killer...the demo itself almost trumps it (IMO).

[TheDomesticInstitution]

If you're not including the multiplayer aspect of Halo 2... then Half Life 2 is a much better game story wise. I'm not really an online or multiplayer type gamer... I haven't been since Perfect Dark on N64.

[BydoEmpire]

I think the only surprising thing about that is that Halo 3 scored so high. But that's EGM for you. Halo 3 is in actuality about a 7 or 8 and that's even stretching it, but no one will admit it.

Personally I agree, although I can understand why people love their Halo. I think you get a lot more for money with Orange Box, and it's a better set of games. EGM tends to inflate over-hyped games' scores (MKouble Dash's 9's being one more eggregious example).

[cyberfluxor]

Halo 2 had better multiplayer than Half Life 2 on Xbox considering Half Life 2 didn't have any multiplayer at all. As a single player game, Halo 2 was a pile of disappointment and blandness with a slick engine while Half Life 2 was pure awesome and excitement with framerate issues and a lower resolution.

And a memory leak I believe. A friend of mine would always have a slowdown over time and eventually a memory flow overload error forcing a hard restart. Although it takes around 2hrs of gameplay for it to actually take its toll it still crashes on multiple systems of his.

About the framerate though, depends on the system. He has a powerhouse laptop that runs super high resolutions at insane frames. It's like pure bliss and at higher than HD resolution on the 17" screen makes Halo 3 look like complete ass. One thing many console gamers forget is cutting-edge PC games are built to run at their peak years later once hardware finally catches up, and at that point there's another couple of killers.

[SkiDragon]

They came out in different months.

I think Halo 3 wins out a bit in most departments, mostly because of the online co-op, theatre, and forge modes. I'm sure you can do a lot more "forge" stuff with Half Life 2 on the PC, but, well, I don't have the PC version. Portal is pretty awesome though. And any company that neglects to add an option for legacy controls loses several points, in my book.

PS. Can somebody tell me what the hell is wrong with my avatar image? It used to be the Phalanx guy but now it seems to randomize every few days. It's kind of neat, really.

[roushimsx]

About the framerate though, depends on the system.

I was only talking about the Xbox versions in the post. The PC versions are obviously a totally different story (though the 360 port of Half Life 2 adds in some newer graphical effects from EP1 and EP2 that haven't been backported into the PC version).

The PC versions of Halo 1 and 2 have been abysmal...I really do hope they pull their shit together for the inevitable Vista release of Halo 3.

[Lothars]

I think the reasoning for the higher score is that you are getting so much more "game" for your $60 with Orange Box. I don't think they're suggesting that it's a better game. It's certainly not because OB is a "Halo killer"...that's just absurd. TF2 isn't even in the same league as Halo 3 multiplayer, while the opposite could be said about the single player components of the two games. Both games have there pluses and minuses.

Plus, let's not forget that it's still "cool" to bash the biggest guy on the block. The "take them down a notch" mentality. People like to root for the underdog and Halo 3 is the exact opposite of an underdog.

Can't help but say your wrong again

Orange Box is way better than Halo 3, it's the better value, includes the better games and has the better multiplayer.

The only thing Halo 3 has over it is the custom game types/forge and the coop but Orange Box blows it away in almost every way.

[MS-DAS]

I don't think it's that surprising that The Orange Box got a better score.

Seriously, The Orange Box is a whole series of kick-assery, while Halo 3 was what...about five-six hours of gameplay. Over hyped much?

I happen to be a fan of both series and I can easily say I'd recommend TOB over Halo 3. Though I'm not much into multiplayer, so maybe my rating scale is slightly off kilter. I know people love their Halo death matches...

[G-Boobie]

I think they're both good games, personally... But Orange Box is easily the most incredible deal in games so far. No matter what type of gamer you are, it's got you covered.

It's hard for me to judge Halo 3 on its own merits because I instinctively lash out against anything with that level of hype, but I enjoyed the single player campaign almost as much as the first Halo(I don't play on Xbox Live, so the multiplayer isn't a factor for me).

[kedawa]

Halo seems like a game made by talented people who are completely out of touch with the rest of the FPS genre, and I think that it's a double-edged sword. There are a lot of cool things that Bungie has added to the genre, but there's a lot of basic stuff missing from their games that PC fps gamers take for granted.
I haven't spent that much time with Halo 3 multiplayer, but the single player game just feels dated and stale. Co-op is really the only thing it has going for it.

[Cryomancer]

Timesplitters is better than Halo. Well amybe not Timesplitters 1 vs Halo 1, but 2 vs 2 and 3 vs 3, yes, I'd much rather play Timesplitters multi. That said, it's lack of any PC port hurts it.

THAT said, Orange Box is better than Halo 3 as well. Especially If you get the PC version. Mods out the ass, tools to make your own, if you have an ATI videocard you get lost coast and deathmatch for free, and uh...a peggle demo!!! But seriously, Team Fortress is fuckin fun, Halo bores me to death.