So I just finished Half Life 2 along with episodes one, and two on the PS3. These games are part of “The Orange Box” compilation produced and published by Valve Corporation. The Orange Box was released late last year, and as everyone probably already knows EA is responsible for the PS3 port. Apparently from what I understand the guys at Valve software either don’t know how or don’t want to program for the cell processor, in fact Gabe Newell of Valve says the PS3 is a waste of time for developers.

All three games look amazing and are fairly challenging. There are a some interesting vehicles and some pretty cool weaponry including the Zero-Point Energy Field Manipulator or what is more commonly known as the gravity gun. The environments are awesome and the physics of the game are decent. Though a few times Gordon got stuck on top of objects and couldn’t move… but other than these rare anomalies all is good.

There were a few glitches in the PS3 port though that I was unhappy about (though I don’t blame Valve for these glitches, it’s obviously on the shoulders of EA). One of the most annoying things that happened to me during this game was a constant system lock up in one particular area of the Citadel just before Gordon comes face-to-face with Doctor Breen. I had to reset my PS3 at least 3 times before actually being able to finish the level. In addition to the occasional lock up of my PS3 there was also a lot of frame rate issues… especially in areas with water, but these frame rate issues were tolerable. The loading time was terrible, hopefully this will be improved in episode three (if it’s released).

Overall The Orange Box is a must have.