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The Orange Box and Team Fortress 2 Beta

TF2 - Heavy Weapons Guy
You can now pre-purchase The Orange Box from Valve Software via Steam. The Orange Box is a bit of a bargain as it contains 5 whole games to play:

  • Half-Life 2
  • Half-Life 2 – Episode One
  • Half-Life 2 – Episode Two
  • Portal
  • Team Fortress 2

The Orange Box costs £22.36 ($44.95) via Steam. However, I actually paid £26.28 ($52.82) after the UK sales tax was added. Also Steam only accepts credit cards. However, I did find a retail (boxed) version advertised for £26.99 (inc. p+p). So I’ve only saved myself a few pennies by buying off Steam. But wait, there’s more to come!

I also get to participate in the Team Fortress 2 beta from the 17th Sep 07, because I pre-purchased. Yes, in 3 days I get to play the game that’s been in development for 7 years. A game that people thought would never see the light of day, rather like Duke Nukem Forever. Oh, nearly forgot, there’s a free game called Peggle Extreme (Peggle Deluxe + Half-Life 2 graphics) with every pre-purchase. Not played it yet, so I’ve no idea if it’s any good or not.

If you’re wondering what all the Team Fortress 2 fuss is about, then check out these fantastic character videos:

Ok, so I love everything that Valve Software make, release, re-release and update. Even though they take years to make their games, they are all brilliant. Roll on the 17th Sep 07, and no touching Sasha (watch the Heavy Weapons Guy video, you’ll see what I mean).

The Orange Box is released on 10th Oct 2007 for PC and Xbox 360. The PS3 version will appear a month later.

Update 17th Sep 07: It’s 18:50, and there’s still no official word on when Valve will unlock Team Fortress 2 and let us play. Come on Valve, hit the giant red TF2 code unlock button (I bet there is one, you know) and lets get blasting.

Update 18th Sep 07: At 8am, the TF2 pre-load on my PC started unlocking. After this was finished (took a few mins) the game wouldn’t start. In fact, no one could start the game. Agggghhhhh! Valve then patched the Steam client 15 mins later and we are away! Finally, after all these years, TF2 actually exists and is playable. Woo hoo and my team won!