[GAME ADVICE] COD4 or Half-Life 2:The Orange Box?

I've realised that my aging PC will actually run both these titles, and I feel like getting a FPS. They are both the same price. Which one should I choose?

My favourite FPS was Doom, until I purchased Far Cry. I know some people hate Far Cry, but I loved the freedom you had to do things your own way. My disappointment with the original Half-Life was what led me to give up on gaming for many years - I didn't hate it, I played it through to the end, but it didn't grab me like Doom did (and I hated starting off with no gun). In terms of other FPS that I've played, I like Republic Commando, though I find it a bit linear.

I also remember lots of people complaining about the Steam copy protection on Half-Life 2 (they made it sound like malware), but I know from glancing at a few threads here that a lot of users don't seem to be finding it a problem. Was all the complaining a lot of fuss about nothing, or have some gamers here had problems? I do have a broadband connection, though it does have a 10 gig per month limit. Does HL2 have to be constantly in connection with Steam via the net?

I've tended to shy away from multiplayer, so the single-player aspect is what I'm interested in.

Anyone who would like to chip in with an opinion on these two games, it would be appreciated.

One game vs five games for the same price. Orange Box, dude.

I've never had any problems with Steam at all.

You will need to connect to the internet to play Half Life 2 but you can always choose to have Steam not run on start up and then shut it down when you've finished playing. That said, I've never had a problem with leaving Steam running. Yeah it is always connected but there's no continual traffic from it.

Half Life 2 is a great game and I loved it
Half Life 2: Episode 1 was another great game, picking up where HL2 left off and continuing the story
Half Life 2: Episode 2 was a bit harder but the ending is 'wow'
Portal is one of the most inventive first person games ever and is more fun that a box of frogs
Team Fortress 2 adds a lot of humour and awesomeness to the original and makes it a whole lot better. It is multiplayer only but it's well worth trying out.

Also, there's a Steam group for these boards so you can play Alien Swarm with us, which is a free game.

This. Seriously, it's not constest. Orange Box FTW. Don't buy into the overhyped COD:MW hype.

Valve are always doing deals on their stuff, so if you're happy to wait for a deal on steam, then wait for a deal on steam, (otherwise it seems like its a deal in itself)

This. I don't even buy games outside of Steam anymore.

Also: The Orange Box.

Thanks for the info, people. I shall get The Orange Box.

Actually you can log into Steam and then go into Offline mode, which will allow you to play all of your Steam games without needing any connection to the net whatsoever (this of course means you wont be able to connect to your friends list or play any multiplayer, but these both go without saying)

What he said.


Also perhaps you could get both?? They will both be damn cheap by now.

The Orange Box arrived through my letterbox yesterday. Half-Life 2 is great.

Awesome. Enjoy!

Bah! Skip Half-Life 2 ang go straight to Portal

Nay, nay, everything in TOB is good. But arguably, Portal IS the jewel of this particular crown.