The Orange Box is jammed packed will all sorts of first person shooting goodness. Valve has covered all the bases here and delivered what is without a doubt the single greatest bundle of games to date. When I was finally holding The Orange Box in hand, I knew exactly what I was going to be playing first. And while Team Fortress 2 had me most excited, I simply had to experience Portal. After all, it’s been over a year since it was announced and we haven’t received so much as a demo since. But as with all of Valve’s Half-Life deliveries in past, The Orange Box was well worth the wait.
At the start, Portal was exactly what I was expecting. It starts you off learning the basics of the physics engine while walking you through a series of test chambers. After a few, you’re given a limited Portal gun which can create a single portal. These steps might sound preliminary, but Portal really isn’t something you can just jump into without being shown the ropes a little. There’s far more to it than simply creating a couple wholes in the wall and walking through them. And you find that out pretty early on when you’re shown how momentum is affected, or rather, how it is not. 
Once you get the fully enabled Portal gun, the fun begins. Now you can create an entry and exit point wherever you please.
Each test chamber is a different puzzle you have to solve using portals and any objects you have access to. In some cases, there is a sequence that you must accomplish before moving on. Some times an object in the room may give you a hint as to what you need to do. Other times, you could spend quite a while trying to figure it out. Even when I was totally stumped, I never found that I was frustrated enough to resort to a walkthrough. Completing each test chamber really gives you a sense of accomplishment and I was more than willing to put the time in and figure things out for myself. Whereas, in some other games I’ve played recently, I quickly jumped online to figure out how to get past a troubling area.
One thing I didn’t expect from Portal was the pure charm it carries. It’s a very cute and funny game and in ways that really make it stand out from the crowd – not that it has any trouble doing that already. There were numerous times I found myself laughing out loud and even responding to what was being said in the game. Which is hella weird – I don’t think I’ve ever communicated back to a game before.
Upon completing Portal, a whole slew of additional game modes are unlocked for added replay value. Advanced mode is what you would expect – a harder version of the test chambers made difficult by fewer objects and increased hazards. The first time I attempted an Advanced chamber, I was fully stumped. But with my second attempt I was successful.
No matter what you’re playing right now, I would recommend pushing it aside and picking up The Orange Box.
I will play it asap.