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With part 3 of the Half-Life saga in the horizon, this collection brings you from the start so you're ready to take on the third episode of this exciting trilogy. Half Life earns its popularity and reputation at being the first First Person Shooter game to use aq lifelike, realtime plot that pits you in the action as well as behind the trigger. Created by Valve Software, each episode employs advanced technologies for better, more realistic play. In Half-Life, you assume the role of Dr. Gordon Freeman, a recently graduated theoretical physicist who must fight his way out of an underground research facility whose teleportation experimentations have gone awry. The second part of the trilogy of episodic expansions for Half-Life 2, Episode Two picks up where Episode One left off?with Gordon and Alyx traveling out of City 17 and into a vast new environment.
The player again picks up the crowbar of research scientist Gordon Freeman, who finds himself on an alien-infested Earth being picked to the bone, its resources depleted, its populace dwindling. Freeman is thrust into the unenviable role of rescuing the world from the wrong he unleashed back at Black Mesa. And a lot of people people he cares about are counting on him. Intense, real-time gameplay of Half-Life 2 is made possible only by Source, Valve's new proprietary engine technology

Amazon.comPortal is an action/puzzle video game from Valve, creators of Half-Life 2 and Counter-Strike. The winner of over 40 awards, including 15 Game of the Year honors, it is one of the most original games on any platform in years and offers gamers hours of unique gameplay. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories, Portal is designed to change the way players approach, manipulate and surmise the possibilities in a given environment; similar to how Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun innovated new ways to leverage an object in any given situation. Players must solve physical puzzles and challenges by opening portals to maneuver objects, and themselves, through space. The new physics of fun Use the portal gun to create your path. Every portal has two ends. Toss companion cubes through portals. The Story Portal contains only two characters, the player-controlled Chell and GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), a computer AI that monitors, directs and misleads Chell in a kind of twisted experiment. It's not exactly a match made in heaven Regardless, Chell must rely on information provided by GLaDOS to survive as she navigates through a series of mostly doorless rooms using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device ("portal gun"). The portal gun creates two portal ends, one orange and the other blue. Both are simultaneously a potential entrance and exit and objects, alive or otherwise, that travel through one end will exit the other at the same speed. In addition, portals create a visual and physical connection between two different locations in 3D space. Their ends are restricted to planar surfaces, but if the portal ends are on nonparallel planes, bizarre twists in geometry and gravity can occur as the player character is immediately reoriented to be upright with respect to gravity after leaving a portal. Chell can pass through open portals at will, but barriers, known as "Material Emancipation Grids" or 'fizzlers' prevent players from carrying objects beyond them. Luckily certain objects, known as 'companion cubes' can be tossed through. Once through these can then be used as the player wishes. Passage through these fields also closes any open portals, so it's important to look before you leap. It's Chell's challenge and yours to survive the hazards of the portals, including bobby traps, hidden gun turrets and the treachery of GLaDOS in the search for eventual freedom. Features Award-winning, innovative gameplay. The first first-person puzzle action adventure game. Two bonus games introduce new play challenges. Support for level editing and mod creation – build your own Portal puzzles. Hours of single player gaming. Makes you feel smart! System Requirements: Minimum Specifications: Recommended Specifications: OS: Windows Vista/XP/2000 Processor: 1.7 Ghz Processor Pentium 4 Processor (3.0 Ghz or better) RAM: 512 MB RAM 1 GB RAM Video Card: DirectX 8 level Graphics card DirectX 9 level Graphics card Other: DVD-ROM Drive/Mouse/Keyboard/Internet Connection

Amazon.comSet in a modern day survival-horror universe, the co-operative gameplay of Left 4 Dead (L4D) casts four "Survivors" in an epic struggle against hordes of swarming zombies and terrifying "Boss Infected" mutants. Developed by Turtle Rock Studios and Valve, creators of the Counter-Strike and Half-Life games, the latest AI technology allows for multiplayer games of one to eight players.

A new and highly virulent strain of the rabies virus emerges and spreads through the human population with frightening speed. The pandemic's victims become grotesquely disfigured widely violent psychopaths, attacking the uninfected on sight. As one of the "lucky" few apparently immune to the sickness, you, unfortunately, are also trapped in a city crawling with thousands of the bloodthirsty Infected. Alone, you're dead. But together with a handful of fellow survivors, you might just fight your way to safety.

Players can play as a Survivor or as one of four types of Boss Infected, each of whom possess a unique mutant ability, such as a 50-foot tongue lasso or a giant belly full of explosive methane gas. The gameplay of L4D is set across four massive campaigns. The zombie population of each mission is choreographed by an AI Director that monitors the human players' actions and creates a unique and dramatic experience for them on the fly.

Half-Life spawned a franchise of best-selling, critically acclaimed single and multiplayer action games. This amazing collection offers three of those games in one package! The originalHalf-Life, Half-Life: Deathmatch, plus Team Fortress Classic - one of the most popular online action games of all time!

Counter-Strike: Source kicks up the action in the world's most popular online game. It's the same Counter-Strike you've played and loved, but with theenhancements of the Source engine. With the Source engine, you get high-resolution textures, detailed character models, realistic physics and lighting, support for up to 64 players, shiny water effects & better objects - creating a more realistic gaming experience.
Become a squad leader in an elite counter-terrorist operative, use new intel and weapon skills to complete an incredible collection of single-player missions. Lead your team in increasingly challenging scenarios -- from harsh jungle environments to severe arctic terrains, unforgiving deserts to dangerous international city streets. Rescue hostages, escort VIPs to safety and locate and defuse bombs. It's all in a day's work, for the world's deadliest soldiers. Downloadable content and new maps for extended gameplay

Four classic shooter games in one tremendous collection! / Features Half-Life and Counter Strike / Rated M: Mature

Counter-Strike: Anthology 1 lets you enter the dark and dangerous world of terrorist & counter-terrorist operations, where every move can be your last! As a squad leader in an elite counter-terrorist operative, use new intel and weapon skills to complete an incredible collection of single-player missions. Lead your team in increasingly challenging scenarios -- from harsh jungle environments to severe arctic terrains, unforgiving deserts to dangerous international city streets. Rescue hostages. Escort VIPs to safety. Locate and defuse bombs. Official CS bot allows for skirmish play Includes deleted scenes & bonus single player missions

Amazon.comTeam Fortress 2 (TF2) is the sequel to the game that put class-based, multiplayer team warfare on the map. A long time coming, TF2 was first announced in 1998, but in the years that followed went through various concept and design changes, which left it looking less and less like the beloved original release. Luckily by the time the final version came off the presses and was bundled as part of EA’s 2007 release, The Orange Box, it had returned to something very close to the original game. The return of a classic Meet the full team. Heavy dropping a few shells. Pyro bringing the heat. Scout catching some air. Gameplay Built around multiplayer battles of two teams, Reliable Excavation Demolition (RED) and Builders League United (BLU), representing competing construction teams, players choose between two game modes: capture the flag (CTF) and a control point mode. In CTF the objective is to obtain a briefcase of intelligence from the enemy team's base and return it to their own base while preventing the opposing team from doing the same. In the control point mode the objective is similar, only related to holding particular territories. To be successful in either the most important thing is to understand and use each character class in the best way possible. A Game That's a Class Operation Unlike other "class-based" games that offer a variety of combat classes only, Team Fortress 2 features a wide variety of classes which provide a broad range of tactical abilities and personalities, and lend themselves to a variety of player skills. All nine playable character classes from the original game are available and although a few of these, like the Medic and Heavy generally work well with any mix of characters, overall each have particular strengths in offensive, defensive and support capacities. Each also will respond dynamically with different comical dialogue when in combat. The full character classes include: Pyro - An offensive class with average damage tolerance, Pyros are armed with a flamethrower, shotgun and a fire axe. Engineer - A defensive class with a low threshold for damage, Engineers can upgrade weapons and equipment and are armed with a shotgun, a pistol and a wrench. Spy - Used for sabotage the Spy carries a revolver, a butterfly knife, an electronic zapper and a diguise kit. Heavy - Tough on offense and defense the Heavy's weapons are the minigun, the shotgun and his fists. Sniper - A support class with low damage tolerance, the Sniper is armed with a sniper rifle, a submachine gun and a machete. Scout - The Scout is fast but susceptible to damage. His weapons are a sawed off shotgun, a pistol and a baseball bat. Soldier - A slow, but a powerful offensive class, the soldier wields a rocket launcher, a shotgun and a spade. Demoman - A defense class with an average amount of protection, the Demoman is armed with a remotely detonated sticky bomb and a bottle of Scotch. Medic - Medics keep other characters alive and are armed with a healing 'medigun,' a syringe-firing launcher and a bone saw. The importance of the abilities of particular classes aside, far and away the dominant factor in Team Fortress 2 and the secret to its popularity, is its clear dedication to fun. This is seen in its rejection of realism in favor of cartoon-style art in the game's graphics, the inclusion of super weapons like lasers and missile launchers hidden within the six standard maps and the attention given to each character's incidental trash talking functionality. Combined, these simply make for fast-paced, over-the-top fun which are the building blocks of any multiplayer shooter. System Requirements: Minimum Specifications: Recommended Specifications: OS: Windows Vista/XP/2000 Processor: 1.7 Ghz Processor Pentium 4 Processor (3.0 Ghz or better) RAM: 512 MB RAM 1 GB RAM Video Card: DirectX 8 level Graphics card DirectX 9 level Graphics card Other: DVD-ROM Drive/Mouse/Keyboard/Internet Connection

Amazon.com With Team Fortress 2, you'll experience the thrill of battle while performing as part of a team or battle squadron. This approach more closely approximates real-life battle and enables new and experienced players to play together in a way that challenges each individual and enhances the overall experience.

When you first log on for a game, you'll be recruited immediately by a team and cast in one of nine roles, or character classes, such as medic, spy, or even the machine gun-toting heavy infantryman. Once you join a team and pick a class, you'll function in that class as part of the team, working together to complete any number of map-specific objectives. The success of your team depends not just on the skill levels of each individual, but on your squad's cohesiveness and team play.

The map objectives range from traditional capture-the-flag styles of play to spy missions and beyond, including complex missions similar to those found in real-time strategy games.

Team Fortress 2 builds on the technology advancements that first appeared in Half-Life. For example, while Half-Life was the first game to use skeletal animation for realistic character movement, Team Fortress 2 pushes the envelope with parametric animation. This technology gives characters completely lifelike moves, such asheads that turn in the direction they are looking and leg strides that adjust depending on stance and condition.

Half-Life 2 Collector's Edition delivers a new level of realistic action and excitement. Players return to the world of Gordon Freeman, as he returns to the Black Mesa research facility. The aliens are pouring into our world, and Freeman becomes part of a resistance group to stop them. New weapons, new enemies and new characters are waiting -- along with major enhancements in animation, artificial intelligence and graphics.