http://previews.teamxbox.com/xbox-360/1659/HalfLife-2-The-Orange-Box/p1/

I can' t wait for this game. Here' s brief descriptions of what someone at Team Xbox thought of each of the 9 classes:

" The Heavy Weapons Guy: As I mentioned above, the HWG’s minigun (he can also use his fists a shotgun) takes a while to charge up, but once it does anyone within 10 meters or so is in big trouble. When firing (or charging up the barrel), your foot speed will decrease dramatically, so you’ve got to decide which is more important. After all, what good is that powerful gun if you keep getting smoked by quicker or stealthier enemies?

The Sniper: This character feels like your garden variety sniper, but one thing we really like is the inclusion of a power meter. Essentially, staying in a zoomed view will increase the power of your shot, which encourages the player to stay in one place and wait for enemies like a “real” sniper. No more running and quick-zooming for you!

The Engineer: I was never really that interested in these character classes in other multiplayer games, but The Engineer is actually one of the cooler support classes in the game. While you’ll have some basic weapons at your disposal, you’ll likely spend most of your time running around the map, setting up upgradeable turrets and dispensers (they give players health and dispense metal to engineers). Metal is the currency of the engineer, as he can use it repair and upgrade turrets and build more dispensers. If you want to construct stuff faster, just whack it with your trusty wrench!

The Pyro: The most powerful offensive class in the game, this character is also hindered by the shortest attack range. If you’re within 10 feet of a Pyro, you’ll be turned into charcoal within seconds. This makes him positively deadly in the tight corridors of the indoor areas, where he can also wield a fireaxe if he wants to get messy. He loves the smell of napalm in the morning…

The Demoman: This cigar-chomping explosives expert is a dangerous foe, especially if you run into an area that’s covered with his sticky balls of C4. While a standard timed grenade launcher is his primary weapon, I had more fun firing a bunch of C4 balls into an area and waiting for some poor sap to come running through. With a simple press of the left trigger, all that was left of my foe was a few limbs and a cloud of pink mist.

The Spy: There’s a lot to love about this character. He’s got a number of fun gadgets at his disposal, with the coolest being a device that let’s you indefinitely take on the form of any class on the opposing team. If your enemy isn’t paying attention, you can waltz right into their headquarters and complete the objective you’re tasked with. The Spy can also turn invisible for a little while, then sneak up behind an enemy and shank them with a blade.

The Scout: While I didn’t get a chance to play with this class, I did see a lot of them hauling ass around the levels. The Scout is very quick, so it’s close to impossible to get a good bead on him. Naturally, that makes this class the best suited for a snatch ‘n grab style of play (the game has a CTF-like mode that requires you to grab intel).

The Medic: Another support character, The Medic has the ability to heal any character on the battlefield, so it’s not uncommon to see one running along with a squad. You’ve only got to get near your teammates to heal them, and your “gun” will emit a stream of crosses (you know, like that famous red one?) to let you know it’s working. The character also has our favorite of the melee weapons, a bone saw that should lead to some gruesome kills.

The Soldier: Although these characters wield a rocket launcher as their primary, it’s not one of the overpowered ones that we’re used to seeing in many shooters. Sure, it packs quite a punch, but it’s actually the best way to get around in the game, as it’s seemingly been designed with rocket jumps in mind."

sounds cool

This is my most anticipated Multiplayer game of the year by far, heck, it has been for years now. TFC is one of the best multiplayer games of all time.

I love the art direction, as TFC was cartoony in its own way, and there are plenty of realistic shooters out there already.

As far as the review goes, its ok, but the guy seems to have never played TFC, or really known what it was all about. Which bugs me. Nobody that didn' t play TFC should be able to get a sneak peak hands on TF2 before the long time fans.

but it’s actually the best way to get around in the game, as it’s seemingly been designed with rocket jumps in mind

Damn right it is, it was that way in TFC and it damn well is in this one. PLAY TFC IF YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT TF2.

Argh, /rant off

Ive been saying this for ages with no feedback. The HL2 Orange pack is gona rock your world.

We don' t like fanboys.

I' m really looking forward to this, and the whole Orange Pack. It just oozes quality. Look, quality is getting all over the floor.

I' m really looking forward to this, and the whole Orange Pack. It just oozes quality. Look, quality is getting all over the floor.

This and portal are the only reasons Im buying the orange box

Ive been saying this for ages with no feedback. The HL2 Orange pack is gona rock your world.

Yeah, I even avoided buying Half-Life 2 when I found out about this. It looks like the best deal I' ve seen all year. I would buy this even if it only included TF2, the other games are gravy.

Half-Life 2
Episode 1 & 2
Portal
Team Fortess 2

I' ve been looking forward to TF2 for a while, should be as good if not better than Dystopia.

I want to like half life. But I cannot, I hate it[:' (]. I would like to get the orange box just for portal [4hour single player ftw] and tf2. but that seems kind of wastefull.

Fine, ship me HL2 when you buy it.

Agent, I take it you' re getting the PC version? This (along with a couple others) is a game I' ll be getting day one, so I' m trying to get some idea of who will have it on a 360.

Yeah PC version for me. I ordered a Razer DeathAdder mouse and a Logitech G15 keyboard, hopfully that will make it easier on me, if not I' ll just use a 360 controller.

There aren' t too many PC/360 games where I' ll get the 360 version over the PC version, if any at all. I think the only 360 games I' ll buy throughout the rest of the year are Halo 3, PGR4, Mass Effect, GTAIV and COD4. The rest are all PC games.

I' m getting UT III, Orange Box, Crysis (maybe), Bioshock (maybe) for PC, and a few others...

Well using a 360 controller wouldn' t be that bad on PC, but they don' t really spend much time tweaking the controller controls, so it kind of sucks using one.

You' re not doing COD:4 for PC? Good man. I' ll have somebody to nuke come November.

Nah I' ll have enough FPS for my computer. Besides the COD games on 360 have been a hit with my clan so I don' t have a choice, and of course I want to kick some ass with you Eddie.