I never ever ever mention gaming on my blog, partly because I haven’t been doing it for ages - not really because or revision for my GCSE’s but because I didn’t really have any games that were truly awesome, and amazingly fun to play.

So, a few weeks ago I bought The Orange Box. I’ve been using the Steam platform for ages to play games such as Counter Strike: Source, which I hate because it is boring as hell. I like games with a storyline; and fun online games. The Orange Box provides amazing games that are really fun to play, and will be for several years to come.

Half Life 2 is the best game ever. Period. The storyline is absolutely brilliant - and the way it’s implemented into the game using the beautifully designed levels and an amazing physics engine, along with the advanced graphics, Half Life 2 knocks the socks off any game that is around even now. I’m currently playing my way through Episode 2, as i’ve completed the original game and the first episode. It’s really addictive; the puzzles on each level help break up the action and keep the player involved in the game, whilst helping explain certain events. The whole game is like an interactive film, the storyline is so interesting and amazingly cool. The acting is awesome too, both with voice actors and the movement of the models in the game, and the amazing Source engine that powers all of Valve’s new games ensures the richest experience available to players.

I would happily call Team Fortress 2 my favourite online game ever, and this opinion probably won’t change for ages. If you enjoy hanging back and sniping from afar, or running forward with your oversized machine gun called “Sasha” Team Fortress is for you. There are a total of 9 classes you can play from - varying from a disguised spy to a caffeine filled scout. You don’t need to be particularly skilled to play the game either, making it awesome fun for new players. The cartoon style of the game makes it really enjoyable to play too, and the differences between classes are very obvious from a far. Don’t get in the way of a Heavy if you’re a sniper - or likewise don’t get in the way of a Sniper as a Heavy. The game also let’s you build stuff as an Engineer, making the game fun for people who like to stay back and defend with their Sentry. I keep going back to this game, and the graphics just own.

I’ve never played a puzzle game before where you have a small gun that fires portals, but with Portal you can do just that. There is a character guiding you through the levels of the game called GLaDOS; the artificially intelligent computer that is trying to murder you, the main character, Chell. The game is one big logic puzzle which you solve by creating portals to get around the Aperture Science Labs many puzzle rooms. Although this game is a first for Valve, they have written a great storyline for the game and created loads of levels for the game with increasing complexity. As Gabe Newell says in a commentary track at the start of the game, if this game is successful they may find themselves onto a new type of game concept, and I hope Valve make more games like Portal.