So how much does all of that run? Only $99, and before you pull out your calculators, keep in mind that the package also includes Left 4 Dead itself, so you're basically getting all of the other games for $50 more. That's a savings of $134.82. The only way it isn't a good deal is if you already own all the other games, and that's just crazy.

Valve Complete Pack [Steam - Thanks Tenshigure!]

Team Fortress 2 Update Released [Steam]

We've met the engineers, scoped the beautiful graphics and heard about the 9 character balance to no end. Now we're left with one thing: actually playing the game. So hit the jump for our Frankenreview on Team Fortress 2: all the value you see in The Orange Box, squeezed into review form with way more disappointing content.

PCGamer
[A] Pixar comparison isn't fair. TF2's gurning murderers look better...It sounds like a small thing, to be able to tell what class someone is as surely and as clearly as you can...But stuff like this has an intensifying effect on your moment-to-moment experience: you feel, see and comprehend the game world in Technicolor. It makes all the relationships instantly clear and the importance of your actions explicit. In short, it makes everything you do 300% cooler.
1UP
Valve's rebalancing and outright revamping of key classes works; each actor in TF2's cast of nine owns his role with less overlap than ever. The football-like match flow is intact, too — Heavies and Soldiers wrestle at congested lines of scrimmage; now and then Scouts and Spies slither through for Hail Marys (expressive in-game taunts substitute high steps)

IGN
If nobody wins the game at the end of a round, TF2 transitions to an overtime round where teams are no longer allowed to respawn, health pickups disappear, and resupply cabinets no longer give out health. You need to instead rely on medics and dispensers to heal any damage. Strangely, if nobody wins in overtime or wipes out the other team, the round ends in a draw. Sort of defeats the purpose of overtime, doesn't it?

Eurogamer
The game also does a lovely job of framing your relationship with other players and nurturing them. If someone is dominating you, the game says so, and revenge is sweeter. The scoring system, of course, helps reflect this - if someone is dominating you, they get more points for continuing to do so. Valve also includes a range of Achievements...that - rather like celebrated Geometry Wars 360 achievement "Pacifism" - push you in the direction of new ideas as much as they celebrate or laugh along with your accomplishments.

Shacknews
So are there imperfections? Of course...There could be a few more maps. Of the included six, only a few truly capitalize on the subtle mechanics of the game, the rest often devolving into futile, tug-of-war stalemates or crushing defeats. The classic 2Fort map now feels somewhat stale, antiquated. Default respawn times seem a little high. The classes will never be perfectly balanced—such is the nature of class-based combat...[but] to sit and complain about such minor quibbles is tantamount to taking a magnifying glass to a great painting.
I'm picking this game up...as soon as we kick Gizmodo's whiny ass in Halo 3. Then I'm picking this game up.

... After sleeping on the question for a few days, this occurred to me: if we judge landmarks by their visual impressions, we tend to ignore what games are about, a large part of which is interactivity, and the player's understanding of the way things work within that game world. If locales are really going to be game landmarks, rather than fanciful imitations of real-world places that you could experience as well in non-game media, then the impression they leave needs to happen through gameplay; they need to be memorable because of the things they encourage to happen within them, not (just) because of the way they look.

So what makes a gaming landmark for you? I had a hard time thinking back to any sort of iconic structures, but I have plenty of games that have created such a strong sense of space that they would be included in my personal 'gaming landmarks.'

Landmarks, of sorts. [Braid]

In other TF2 news, stay tuned for a pretty big announcement next week. You're going to want to hold off on planning any vacations until you hear what we've got to say on Tuesday.

Anyone that is not currently shocked by this revelation, please raise your hands. PS3 owners sick of seeing games delayed, please extend your middle fingers and direct toward the appropriate parties.

PS3 Orange Box trailing 360, PC versions [Gamespot]

"You buy the product, you get the content," Team Fortress 2 designer Robin Walker told us. "We make more money because more people buy it, not because we try and nickel-and-dime the same customers."

Valve won't charge for DLC [Eurogamer]

Click the image to see full size, hosted here on Joystiq.

I love this. This is a fantastic new style and I am stoked for this game now. The distinctiveness of the different classes, the anatomy of the characters, the color palette and personality...the art department on this game is a winner. Look at the little touches like the athletic socks on the guy on the right, and the pants bunching under the kneepads of the engineer.

This is attention to detail, and characterization, and just overall excellent design. I can't wait to see them in action. Eliza gauger

So what's up next for Gordon Freeman? A rabid Half-Life 2 fan over at the Steam forums was kind enough to give us a summary from the preview of Episode Two in the latest issue of PC Gamer. We'd recommend you go buy it, but print's dead.

So what's happening in Episode Two? We're due to learn more about the Vortigaunts and the mysterious G-Man. About time. The Gravity Gun is due to get an upgrade... hopefully to rip enemies inside out by their sphincters.

The biggest news is the insinuation that a "new, yet-to-be-announced multiplayer game will ship with Episode Two." The author of the post hopes it's TF2 set during the 7 Hour War, but the "new, yet-to-be-announced" part seems to contradict this. Still, if anything could make people care about Team Fortress again, it would be that.

The worst news is that it looks like the release on Episode Two has been pushed back to Spring, 2007. A year between chapters? That's just not going to work as a model. Florian Eckhardt

PC Gamer World-Exclusive Episode 2 Article [Steam Powered]