Is The Orange Box still the best deal or did Halo MCC beat it?

[NANA]

So I'm playing the master chief collection on PC and I was looking at the install menu and then it hit me.. This is the best collection of games in the same package since The Orange Box.

Now the biggest difference that gives TOB a slight edge is that three of TOB titles, Team Fortress 2, Portal, and Half-Life 2: Episode 2, were new, launching with the release of the collection. Versus one in the MCC, Halo 2 Anniversary remaster.

I know I'm so LTTP but I don't see this point brought up often in recent times, so I'm wondering what Era thinks about this. Now before you say no it's the Uncharted or Mario collection or whatever, think about the quality and the quantity of titles in these two packages. TOB has 5 games (4 SP, 1 MP) and launched at $50, MCC has 6 games (5 SP/co-op/MP, 1 SP/co-op) and it's $40. Not counting discounts of course.

For me personally when thinking about the titles in these collections, it comes down to Half-Life 2, Episode 2, and Portal, versus Halo CE, Halo 2, Halo 3, and Halo Reach.. Gotta go with Halo MCC.

Bonus article: How Valve released five of its greatest games in a single day

 

[CannonFodder52]

The Orange Box had three brand new games in it, that pushes it ahead for me.
Both packages are super impressive though.

 

[CloseTalker]

When you consider MCC as an overall package and the work they put in to make them look so much better, it's that easily.

 

[Huey]

I think for the pound for pound quality and diversity of the games, the orange box still takes the... cake.

 

[Butch]

Both really good to be honest, hard to choose.

 

[j7vikes]

I think for the pound for pound quality and diversity of the games, the orange box still takes the... cake.

Click to shrink...

What you did there. I see it.

 

[Plywood]

This demo disc > your faves

 

[bounchfx]

a bunch of great, but ultimately similar halo games vs three of the best games ever, each very unique from one another

MCC has worked itself into a great package but my money is still on TOB overall, especially for it's time

 

[Lothars]

The Orange Box is the easy choice but they have finally turned the master chief collection into a worthwhile product that is easily recommendable. Very little can beat the Orange box though.

 

[Mauricio_Magus]

Orange Box still wins.

 

[TheDinoman]

It took years for MCC to get to where it is today, whereas Orange Box was good out of the box, so that.

 

[DailyCalmSpirit]

MCC is good value for money, but, that VS a collection with three of the greatest games of all time and it's not even close.

 

[Perkin_Warbeck]

The Orange Box had three brand new games in it, that pushes it ahead for me.

Click to shrink...

This is it for me too.

Also Portal was one for the ages.

And I know a lot of people who sank hundreds of hours into Team Fortress 2. That was a massively influential game for stuff like Overwatch I think.

 

[JigglesBunny]

It's frankly impossible to top the MCC in terms of value. You get four of the best video games ever made and Halo 4, all running at 4K, 120 FPS on Series X, and the game can regularly be snagged for less than $20.

 

[DrForester]

Orange Box.

3 brand new games, each very different from the other.

 

[Sabretooth]

MCC is a better deal if you are into Halo or interested in it, but The Orange Box had vastly different games packed together, and three of those were brand new, so it's kinda hard to top that.

In an industry where publishers would sooner release two simultaneous versions of a single game (cough cough Pokemon), a publisher combining three brand new games into one package was practically a steal.

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

MCC is a great product in 2021, but it was a very bad product at launch and took years to get better.

Even if MCC had worked as advertised out the gate, you could still easily argue that getting 3 brand new games + 2 old ones was a better deal than getting 4 old games in one package (eventually 5/6 old games with ODST and Reach).

In terms of which collection has better games, that's highly taste dependent naturally. I think Portal is the best game out of both collections.

 

[Apathy]

Orange box worked on release date

 

[Smash Kirby]

I world love to get the Orange Box on newer platforms, but for what it is, it is a good collection of games. I still really like the MCC and all that it is bringing to the table? The two are similar but to me MCC is better.

 

[Strings]

 

[LiC]

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This was put on sale for $10 once. There has never been a better deal in gaming history than that, but even the "full" price is competitive for the top spot.

 

[Reyes]

Orange Box

 

[TripleBee]

Orange Box required you to rebuy HL2 and episode 1 just to get episode 2.

 

[Butch]

Click to shrink...

Oh, this is a good answer. All amazing collections.

 

[steviestar3]

MCC isn't even close lol. Era sometimes...

 

[Chettlar]

For Diversity maybe Orange box but

Orange Box required you to rebuy HL2 just to get episode 1.

Click to shrink...

Yeah this.


I think you just get way way more game and time for your money with MCC, which is the question in the OP. If it was just, which did you like better, I can see Orange Box winning. But in terms of what was the best deal? Man I gotta go with MCC.

 

[Avitus]

The Orange Box actually worked

Still the goat.

 

[turbobrick]

My vote is Orange Box.

This demo disc > your faves

Click to shrink...

This is the one that came with my ps1. Well, 3.5 to be specific which had a couple more games I guess.

Orange Box required you to rebuy HL2 just to get episode 1.

Click to shrink...

What do you mean? Or do you mean episode 2? Because episode 1 was definitely sold by itself, because that's how I originally got it.

 

[Storminormin]

MCC being half broken for years will forever taint my impressions/feelings on it.
They f'd up bad and took almost 6 years to make it right.

 

[Rosebud]

Orange Box is almost free every Steam sale

Click to shrink...

These are great deals too, but I'm salty that it's cheaper to rebuy every old KH game AND KH3 than to only buy 2.8.

 

[Kr1spy]

Maybe if 343i hadn't completely broken the MCC last year and destroyed the framerate in all the campaigns. It was a locked 60fps when it came out in 2014 on Xbox One and yet in 2019 on an Xbox One X, I was getting drops down to 30fps. This situation persists and is only fixed by purchasing an Xbox Series X. I want to like the MCC but man they don't care at all about fixing these issues.

Also, the Orange Box has at least two of the greatest games ever made, so it'll probably never be topped by another collection.

 

[TripleBee]

My vote is Orange Box.



This is the one that came with my ps1. Well, 3.5 to be specific which had a couple more games I guess.



What do you mean? Or do you mean episode 2? Because episode 1 was definitely sold by itself, because that's how I originally got it.

Click to shrink...

Sorry. You're right. I meant episode 2.

Valve originally announced Black Box, which was just the new stuff but for cheaper - then cancelled it and only released the more expensive orange box.

 

[Doom Of Shadow]

Both collections Day 1: Orange Box
But now: MCC

 

[Yamajian]

Orange box included 3 BRAND NEW games, all of them amazing and still talked about and played to this day.

Can you guys imagine getting 3 brand new games from a super respected AAA dev in one package these days?

Also, it fucking worked.

No contest.

 

[Clay]

The Orange Box had three brand new games in it, that pushes it ahead for me.
Both packages are super impressive though.

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Exactly what I was going to post after reading the thread title. MCC undeniably has more hours of content, but it's pretty ridiculous looking back that the Orange Box featured three brand new games, one of which is still getting support today, all three of which were absolutely fantastic. Pretty nuts. MCC was in a pretty sorry state at launch, and while it's neat to have all the games in one place I personally never got around to actually replaying all the campaigns. It's a shit ton of content on paper, but not all that much that I'm actually excited to play.

 

[Dusk Golem]

I think Halo MCC is good, but I still think Orange Box trumps it. What seals the deal for me is the Halo games are all one type of game and none were new (but were remasters) when released. Orange Box not only were mostly new, high quality games when it hit, but I think the variety of the Orange Box pushes it ahead. The Halo collection you'd only like if you liked Halo, but Orange Box I'd say Half-Life 2 and its episodes, Portal, and Team Fortress 2 all were excellent games that also each were close enough but different in style to provide a broader experience.

 

[Kittenz]

At launch?

On console?
Halo without a doubt. And it's not close. Other than Portal, by the time it launched and with the ports, playing through HL2 was more a curiosity than a great experience

On PC? I'll listen to other arguments.

If you're talking right this second? It's definitely Halo everywhere


portal was an absolute revelation when it dropped though.

 

[Deleted member 76797]

for my personal taste i like mcc better but it's wild how many people are STILL playing tf2

 

[Shades]

Orange Box for me

 

[Windu]

Well the orange box has the vastly better games, so that one is still tops. Although stuff like Super Mario All Stars on the SNES is probably up there with it.

 

[EggmaniMN]

Rare Replay's been like $10 or less.

 

[Arklite]

Orange Box. OP already mentions 3 of them were new, and all of them had a long lasting impact.

 

[Deleted member 1839]

Orange Box was like a collection of GOAT tier games. TF2 especially was utterly fantastic.

 

[CommodoreKong]

Well I bought The Orange Box for $25 from Best Buy on Black Friday about a month after it came out and I've played Team Fortress 2 for over 2900 hours and still play it a few times a month with some of the friends I made on the NeoGaf TF2 server so I'll go with that option.

 

[BasilZero]

I have both (though I didnt realize what the Orange box was until now) - cause I had gotten all of the games at different times.


Also I bought the Halo MCC just last month but havent played it yet.


Though I would say Metal Gear Legacy was a good collection of games (MGS1, MGS2, MGS3, MGS4, MGSPW, MG1 and MG2).


Personally, my favorite is the Kingdom Hearts All in One (though I have the 1.5+2.5 collection and 2.8 separately) - think its the best value for what it contains - 6 games and 3 movies/VNs.

 

[btags]

I love halo like crazy but I could easily see people arguing the orange box just because of the variety of games, all of which are excellent.

 

[Skyebaron]

Eternal TF2 Multiplayer

GOAT games Half Life 2 + Eps and fucking Portal.

3 of them NEW. This was not just no old game collection.

Orange Box cant be beat. Probably wont.

 

[TigerBrownie]

Xbox Games Pass is probably gaming's greatest deal.

If we are only talking about physical games, then the KH collection is the best deal imo.

 

[Butch]

Should we take into account the work that was put into the Halo remasters? Cause some of them look like a new game

 

[GamerJM]

The actual best deal in gaming right now is Rare Replay. At the time of the Orange Box's release it was probably Sega Genesis Collection (on PS2 and PSP).