Halo 3 might be all the rage, but first-person shooter fans get a bigger bang for their buck with Orange Box, which jams five games into one package: the previously released sci-fi thriller Half-Life 2; the stand-alone episodic games Half-Life 2: Episode One and Half-Life 2: Episode Two; the anxiously anticipated online multiplayer sequel Team Fortress 2; and the experimental Portal, which lets players mess with the physics of the game world. All five adventures offer top-quality experiences.

The new story-driven action game Half-Life 2: Episode Two once again stars Gordon Freeman, with the sexy Alyx Vance as your sidekick, but introduces new plot elements, bigger environments (now outside of City 17), tougher creatures and even higher-definition graphics.

In Portal, you wield a gun capable of creating an inter-dimensional door. Your primary and alternate fire buttons (left and right mouse buttons) are used to create blue and orange portals; the former is the one you jump through and the latter is where you will appear from. As this action-puzzle game gets tougher, you'll need to send objects through the portals, mind your speed when jumping through them and solve increasingly challenging tasks to finish the game.

Team Fortress 2, the sequel to one of the most successful team-based multiplayer action games, lets you take on one of nine distinct roles, such as demolitions expert, engineer, sniper or medic. By working together, you play against another team on one of a half-dozen maps and in one of a few game modes such as the popular Capture-the-Flag. This time around, the graphical style is less realistic and more cartoon-like with its "cel-shaded" animation.

Orange Box is well worth the money for all platforms. Its five highly polished titles guarantee many hours of intense solo or multiplayer game-play.