Quality gaming for under $20 (#1)

January 13, 12:48 AMWilmington Console Game ExaminerJoey Davidson

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Every Monday, look here to catch a quality gaming title that’s available for less than $20.  At around $60 a pop, contemporary gaming gets extremely pricey.  Why not play something with a year or so of fermentation beneath its belt?  All of these games are great, so keep coming back and save a few bucks.

The prices shown in this article for this product reflect the date of publication.  Over time, video games tend to get cheaper.  However, games that are considered ‘rare’ go up in price; like anything else.

Why not start this weekly feature off with one of the greatest video game deals of all time?  Valve’s Orange Box sports five amazing games in one package.  This game was originally released on October 10, 2007.  It garnered an instantaneous following and massive amounts of critical acclaim.

The games you’ll get within are some of the finest ever developed by Valve; Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal.  Half-Life 2 and the subsequent episodes are a joy to experience.  They’re storylines are solid, but they do contain a few hiccups here and there.  Although they do not possess amazing graphical prowess, they do come with the standard Valve FPS mechanics.  Those three games alone make this package worth way more than $20 already.

Then there’s Team Fortress 2.  Team Fortress was a mod created around the same time as the original Half-Life.  Players join a team, pick a class and then work towards completing an objective.  Team Fortress 2 possesses a cartoony style unlike anything other shooter, perfectly balanced gameplay and an addictive stat-tracker.  The Xbox LIVE version has been none to roll with a little lag, but find a good host and let the games begin.

Finally, the greatest draw for The Orange Box, Portal.  Portal was an instant classic.  It’s a puzzle game built around the principle of creating inter-spatial portals on flat surfaces.  Sound mind-blowing?  It is.  You’ll be given a gun that opens portals.  Open a blue portal on one surface and an orange portal on another and you’ve got a gateway to help you (or objects) advance towards the goal.

Couple the mind-warping puzzles with an incredibly hilarious script and you have one of the best games of the decade.  You need to experience this game first-hand.

Recommendations cannot be piled up high enough for The Orange Box.  Valve created one of the greatest gaming experiences and deals in recent history.  For under $20, you can’t go wrong.  It’s currently available at both Gamestop.com and Amazon.com at the amazing price of around $19.