So I'm working through The Orange Box and Half Life 2 was next on my list. I had actually played Half Life back when it came out, so I've been meaning to play the sequel for some time. (A Mac Book Pro running XP under Boot Camp turns out to be a half-decent gaming machine, it turns out. Better than my actual PC, anyway.)
So, am I going to be the guy who comes along 3 years later and says "naw, that game isn't that great"? No, I am not. Fun stuff. I was a little surprised by the abruptness of the ending, but unlike someone playing the game in 2004, I can immediately load up Episode One. And that's just what I'm off to do.
Dan Telfer
I just started playing Half-Life 2 off Orange Box (which I got with gift cards after your review of Portal).
It's awesome! Though I've been running through the sewers forever. I'd kind of hoped to spend some time "getting by" or "laying low" in a dystopian world after the very cool beginning of the game. So I'm a little bummed there's not more than that (I never played the first Half-Life and only had vague preconceptions about H-L2's content). But I'm having a ton of fun!
Fuzzy Gerdes
There's a rather odd jump between the two games -- in Half Life, the research facility you work at has opened a portal to another world and let loose monsters. You fight to survive that facility, and eventually go to the other world and fight there. The game ends with that mysterious figure ("G-Man") sucking you out into space and offering you an unspecified job. Half Life 2 is set 10 or 20 years later, but for Gordon Freeman it's just been a few minutes.