The Orange Box wants my money!
Wow, I apologize for the long absence. So let’s get right to some griping, shall we? ^_^As you may recall from a previous post, I have been pretty enthusiastic about Valve’s puzzle title Portal, which started life as a freeware game made from a group of students titled Narbacular Drop. I’m also a big fan of the Half-Life series. I don’t really like many first person shooters, but Half-Life 2 completely sucked me in, which is a testament to how immersive and enjoyable a game this is. When Valve first released the next installment, Half-Life 2 Episode 1, I was anxious to try it, but the $20 price tag seemed a bit steep to me. Thankfully, CheapAssGamer.com discovered that Circuit City was selling Episode 1 for only $7.99! Now that’s more like it!
So today marks the release of the Orange Box. In case you weren’t aware, the Orange Box contains Half-Life 2, Episode 1, Episode 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, all for $60. All in all a good deal. But I already own Half-Life 2 and Episode 1, and while Team Fortress 2 looks really great, I’m not really itching to play it. I only want Episode 2 and Portal. So I went on Steam to see how much they are individually, and I couldn’t believe it. Episode 2 is $30! And Portal is $20! While I’m normally not one to complain about a game’s length in terms of price or what we should expect from it, Portal is only supposed to last about three hours Now that’s a pretty expensive three hours. And it looks like there’s no chance of getting a good deal on Episode 2 the way I did Episode 1, because they’re not being sold individually in stores!
So I guess I’ve got to re-purchase two games that I’ve collectively spent $60 on already! Not cool, Valve. If your games weren’t so freaking brilliant I’d have half a mind not to support it with my hard earned money.