The Orange Box unlocked

Valve has finally released The Orange Box on Steam!

That means that if you have pre-ordered and pre-loaded all the files, you should now be able to fire it up, watch the decryption widget do its thing and then make the difficult decision about which to play first: Portal or Half-Life 2: Episode Two.

Of course you could just continue playing Team Fortress 2, also part of the bundle, except you will have been doing that nightly as part of the beta anyway.

Or, you could spend your time being friendly to strangers, since people who already own Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One - also included in the package - are given the option of gifting them to someone else.

But then again perhaps you overslept, and haven't pre-ordered Orange Box, which seems silly but we wouldn't put it past you - in that case you can plonk down a ridiculously slight USD 49.95 in Steam and get your download happening.

Other options are the Source Premier Pack (USD 79.95) or the Valve Complete Pack (USD 99.95), both of which feature a lot of other, older games and bonuses.

PC and Xbox 360 boxed versions are due out at retail shortly - Valve's been saying 12th October for a while, but EA and retailers are now listing 19th October unrepentantly, so we're having a word.

While we're doing that, why not read our just-published reviews of Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Portal? Or our Team Fortress 2 review?