Here it is, the first of our reviews of The Orange Box. Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode Two is an incredible game, and possibly the best single-player straight FPS to be released this year. Valve's design principles are more refined than ever, and the game introduces some of the most significant new elements the Half-Life series has seen yet--all in a game that's longer, denser, and packed with more variety than the already-great Half-Life 2: Episode One. Read our full spoiler-free review.

With neither length nor the release frequency of the Half-Life 2 "episodes" being particularly episodic, it has fallen to the narrative and plot elemets in Episode Two to live up to the designator. Episode One took criticism for lacking tangible plot relative to Half-Life 2; whereas Episode One was largely driven by a general sense of urgency, Episode Two is much more practically driven by concrete plot motivations in the style of Half-Life 2.

Valve's gaming cornucopia The Orange Box unlocks via Steam at midnight Pacific--that's 2:00am Central--barring any unforeseen consequences, so here's your thread to talk all about it. Surely many of you will also be picking up the Xbox 360 copy when it goes on sale in the morning, while those of the PlayStation 3 persuasion will have to wait a little longer until that version's December 11 release.

Check back at midnight Pacific for our in-depth reviews of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, and Portal--or, if you can't wait, go straight to our succinct summation of The Orange Box as a complete package.

Let's not mince words: Halo 3's multiplayer component is brilliant. Bungie has delivered a staggeringly complete package here, offering nearly anything you could want out of a console multiplayer experience, and plenty more that probably never occurred to you in the first place. Check out our multiplayer review.

If Halo 3's campaign is relatively unsurprising while still being a great third entry in a great series, Halo 3's multiplayer is a bona fide revelation that sets a new standard for complete, coherent, feature-packed multiplayer suites. It's just that good.
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At the core of the multiplayer experience is a better-than-ever party system. Now, you can access any part of Halo 3 from its party screen. After inviting your Xbox Live friends into a Halo 2-style lobby, you can launch any aspect of the game that allows multiple people--and, impressively, that really is any aspect of the game.
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PC gamers might scoff at the game's level editor, citing the PC platform's unique ability for users to create brand-new environments. True, Halo 3 does not offer anything nearly on that scale, but in limiting the extent of player customizability Bungie has offered something that is quite different and arguably much more fitting to Halo. More than anything else, the combination of Forge and the extensive gametype editor encourages players to create truly unique and new gametypes.

Plus, don't forget our campaign review!

Halo 3 is out in less than two days, and I've played through it some three times, which I think qualifies me to offer to you this full review of Halo 3's campaign. Fans won't be disappointed--this game has everything that makes the series great, with a number of new features that add a ridiculous amount of replayability to this value-packed offering.

Of course, that's not to say the game doesn't have its share of flaws, most of which are recurring pitfalls from earlier in the series. Go ahead and read all about it, then check out our appraisal of Halo 3's extensive and impressive multiplayer component.

For both good and ill, playing Halo 3 in single-player feels as though Halo 2 did not end in a bizarrely abrupt cliffhanger but rather instructed you to insert Disc 2 into an Xbox 360 console.
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The unique gameplay elements that make Halo as a series great are still relatively uncommon, so slotting them into new environments and situations is welcome. The thrill of cresting a hill or entering a large, cover-heavy arena to find a horde of Covenant aliens, and the knowledge that the battle could play out any number of ways--but you're going to do it this way--remains as tangible as ever.
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What makes Halo 3's campaign truly different from its forbears is in its almost stupefying level of playability. For those who enjoy Halo, the games have always been replayable simply by virtue of their very dynamic combat gameplay, but Halo 3 truly raises the bar here, not just for Halo but for replayability of single-player and cooperative FPS gaming as a whole--and, to be honest, it is unlikely anyone will catch up any time soon. Read more...

Wii owners, your hardcore, breathtaking adventure is here. Retro Studios' Metroid Prime 3: Corruption is an epic experience, a fitting end to a respected trilogy, and one of the finest uses of the Wii hardware to date. Read my full review.

Of course, we already know Retro can create gorgeous worlds, and here Corruption does not disappoint. After the visually conventional space station, Samus travels to the first of several new intergalactic locales. From there, the sense of wonder and discovery never lets up.

It is a magnificent return to form for the series; Retro's art team reinforces the assertion that it is among the best in the industry. Every location simply oozes atmosphere and personality--and, despite what the game's trailers might lead you to believe, the environment and atmospere are rightly the most present characters here.

Amidst all the chaos of BlizzCon and QuakeCon, the Shack staff checks in with their take on three of the recent titles to hit Wii's Virtual Console service. This week, Chris Remo reviews Climax Entertainment and Sonic Team's classic Genesis strategy RPG Shining Force. Yours truly, meanwhile, becomes utterly infatuated with NAXAT Soft and RED's TurboGrafx-16 pinball escapade Devil's Crush, only to have the honeymoon rudely interrupted by Nintendo's lackuster NES puzzler Yoshi. Go ahead and start from the beginning.

Unlike nearly every similar game released these days, Shining Force simply lets you read the manual--presented, as with every Virtual Console game, in handy electronic form--or figure it out yourself. Have people gotten dumber in the last 15 years? Why do developers, particularly on consoles, feel so compelled to overexplain things these days?
Keep on reading...

Once again, we've got reviews of all three Wii Virtual Console games released this week. The recently hired Carlos Bergfeld checks out Namco's TurboGrafx-16 shoot-em-up Dragon Spirit, I take a look at Nintendo's much-discussed Super Mario Bros. 2, and Nick Breckon reviews Novotrade's dolphin adventure Ecco: The Tides of Time. Also feel free to check out our past VC reviews.

Burning baddies alive as a three-headed dragon in Namco's Dragon Spirit feels like a mixture of cocaine and fuck yeah--for the ten seconds it lasts. An old school shoot-em-up to the core, this TurboGrafx-16 port of a 1987 arcade title dangles the feeling of ultimate power in front of you as you die over and over, just before beating the second level.
Read the rest...

This week was a bit of a mixed bag for the Virtual Console. I've got an overview of the SNES version of Capcom's classic fighter Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting, Nick Breckon has an arguably uninformative but undeniably entertaining reflection on Nintendo's F-Zero X for Nintendo 64, and I have very few good things to say about Hudson Soft's pointless TurboGrafx-16 brawler China Warrior. Go ahead and start from the beginning.

The year is 1998, and John Houston is milling about in a video game store, staring at a brand new copy of F-Zero X. Houston is a discerning customer, and he carefully gauges the merits of each title via a thorough examination of the back of each box. While Skip the Manager rambles on about the superior nature of Wipeout, Houston harkens back to summer days spent zipping across neon blue highways, the oddly-named Mute City music blasting away, his old dog tripping over the extended controller cords; all this now almost a decade past. "Gee," Houston thinks to himself as he grabs the F-Zero X case, "This is going to be great!"

This week, the world of the Wii's Virtual Console saw three games of rather less notoriety than some batches. I've got a look at Data East's relatively uninspired by frequently unintentionally amusing TurboGrafx-16 "bad guys captured the president" game Bloody Wolf, Nick Breckon has a review of Hudson Soft's execrable TurboGrafx-16 sports collection World Sports Competition, and Chris Faylor has a piece on the surprisingly complete and engaging NES Open Tournament Golf. For our thoughts, just start from the beginning.

if you already know the enemies' jump patterns, you can mirror their jumps with your own and create the effect of being in some kind of guerrilla warfare ballet. Kill them with a grenade, and they will actually pirouette off the screen in all different directions, enhancing the effect.

The Shack staff is playing catch-up with Virtual Console reviews today. This week, Chris Faylor toys with Hudson Soft's NES puzzler Lode Runner, I take a look back at Sega's defining Genesis platformer Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and David gives us his take on the Sega Genesis hack-and-slash Golden Axe II.

Last week, Chris Faylor checked out Nintendo's misunderstood Zelda II: The Adventure of Link and got lost in Hudson Soft's NES adventure Milon's Secret Castle, while I was similarly confounded by Johnson Voorsanger Productions' Genesis platformer ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. David ran through Natsume's TurboGrafx-16 shooter Dead Moon to close out the bloated, belated week of reviews.

Be sure to start reading from the beginning, and don't forget to check the master list for past Virtual Console writeups. ... Read more

The Shack staff returns once again with a look at this week's Virtual Console releases. Chris Remo and I team up to discuss Interchannel's hilariously bizarre TurboGrafx-16 platformer J.J. & Jeff. Nick Breckon tackles Sega Technical Institute's Genesis platformer Kid Chameleon, and David Craddock chimes in with his take on Quintet's Super Nintendo side scrolling sim ActRaiser. Be sure to start reading from the beginning, and don't forget to check the master list for past Virtual Console writeups. ... Read more

Released to the public today, NCsoft's Dungeon Runners is unusual amongst MMOs--it's free. Offering randomly generated dungeons and streamlined gameplay along with its lack of necessary financial investment, it aims to offer a lighter massively multiplayer experience. Nick Breckon has been playing the game, and has written his full review, sizing up Dungeon Runners' free offerings as well as its optional $5 monthly subscription. ... Read more

This week's slate of Wii Virtual Console reviews is unusual in that all three are positive, with three endorsements across three separate genres and three separate systems. I reviewed Compile's excellent TurboGrafx-16 shoot-em-up Blazing Lazers, Chris Faylor is relieved to find a solid brawler in Sega-AM7 and Ancient's Streets of Rage 2 on Genesis, and David Craddock confirms his happy memories of Rare's Super NES platformer Donkey Kong Country 2.

If you've missed any of our past Virtual Console reviews, check out the full list.

Each weapon can be upgraded to a maximum of six levels, increasing its power and complexity. The gridlike laser weapon is particularly entertaining in this regard, as the laser field it emits grows more and more far-reaching and complex as it is leveled.

Blazing Lazers' enemy distribution and level design is varied enough that it actually becomes hugely beneficial to strive for certain weapons and bonuses rather than to attempt to grab everything indiscriminately. At times, I even found myself trying to keep certain weapons at specific stages rather than leveling them up, because a particular configuration suited a given level well.

Having played the game for almost a month since its debut, I feel I am finally qualified to give the final word on The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Turbine's newest entry in the heavily populated MMORPG genre. How does it fare against others, especially Blizzard's reigning champion? Read our review to find out. ... Read more

This week's Virtual Console features two Ninja-centric games, and David took the opportunity to review both of them. Irem's Ninja Spirit, originally released on TurboGrafx-16, proved to be a consistently solid and engaging sidescroller, while Tecmo's original Ninja Gaiden (originally released on NES) did not hold up so well. Finally, new writer Nick Breckon has a somewhat reluctant--but genuine--nostalgia trip with the NES version of Namco's classic Pac-Man.

This week, by popular demand, we have also added a central list linking to all of our Virtual Console reviews to date. Enjoy.

Yet, the more I played, the more I realized that the frantic spirit of Pac-Man is still intact. There is something basically compelling at the core of the game, the tension and release of the relentless chase punctuated by a turn of the tables on the hunter. The sinking feeling of being caught in the middle of two ghosts, like a runner between first and second base. Even the rudimentary cutscenes after each round become charming after a while. Yes, I suppose it's true: Pac-Man won my heart, all over again.

As usual, this week sees three new titles available through the Wii Virtual Console service, and we've reviewed all three. I review Tecmo's NES platformer Mighty Bomb Jack, Chris Faylor looks back on Capcom's SNES version of its brawler Final Fight, and David Craddock gives his thoughts on Namco's shooter Ordyne.

Those looking to boost their GDV can surely do so by uncovering some of the game's hidden rooms. If you are interested, note this helpful hint from the manual: "If you carefully chart your route, taking each screen to represent one square on a piece of graph paper, you should see a labyrinth approximately the shape of a pyramid start to form. Study your map well and you might just be able to deduce where some of the hidden rooms in the pyramid are located!"

David Craddock and I return yet again to bring you the word on this week's Wii Virtual Console releases. This time around, David checks out Konami's action-centric SNES The Legend of the Mystical Ninja and the company's classic NES Castlevania, whereas I dig into NCS' bizarre Mega Man-esque Shockman, which first appeared on the TurboGrafx-16. What's good and what's frustratingly difficult? Start reading and find out.

Mystical Ninja's humor is the first element of the game that grabbed my attention. The opening shows Dr. Yang and Kid Ying discussing the haunting of a cave somewhere in their village. As the camera zooms in for a dramatic shot of Kid Ying's reaction to the terrifying news that a ghost has been tormenting the villagers, Kid Ying turns to the screen and says, "Hey! No close up!" Added to the scene's up-beat music screeching to a halt when the news is delivered, and gamers should quickly realize that this is a story that is meant to be taken lightly, and one that willingly takes a backseat to the gameplay, which is phenomenal.