Cliffhangers are awful. When one episode of your favourite television show, book, or videogame series ends, all you want is the time before the next edition to speed along - although inevitably it never does. You might even try hibernating to pass the time, but with a life to lead and global warming messing with your body clock an' all that, for most of us that simply isn't an option.

Half-Life 2 fans know all about this pain, especially since the second episode of the game was supposed to be arriving in time for Christmas 2006 - well over a year after the first episode extension hit the shelves. This didn’t happen, but today EA and Valve have announced a winter 2007 release of two versions (Black and Orange) of Half-Life 2: Episode Two, which will ship worldwide for PC, Sony PlayStation 3 and Microsoft Xbox 360.

Each set will contain the title as well as Valve's new puzzle game Portal, and also Team Fortress 2 - the company's cel-shaded, team-based multiplayer first-person shooter.

More specifically, the 'Black Box' edition will ship for the PC, and it will include Half-Life 2: Episode Two, and also Portal and Team Fortress. The 'Orange Box' edition will ship for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and will include all of the above plus the original Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode One so that expectant fans can enjoy the entire experience with Gordon Freeman and co. from start to finish.

"The Black Box and The Orange Box represent a new approach to publishing multiple products, on multiple platforms and we know through our experience that no organization in the industry is better equipped to successfully launch new product types on multiple platforms than EA Partners," commented Valve co-founder Gabe Newell.

* Half-Life 2: Episode Two – the second instalment in Valve’s episodic trilogy advances the award-winning story, leading the player to new locations outside of City 17.

* Portal – a pioneering type of single player action game that rewrites the rules for how players approach and manipulate their environment – much like how Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun reinvented the way gamers interact with objects in the game.


* Team Fortress 2 – an all-new version of the legendary title that spawned team based multiplayer action games. The game’s daring new art style features the most advanced graphics of any Source-based game released to date.

Half-Life 2: Episode Two will be released on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in winter of 2007 - we'll hit you with the specific dates when we get 'em.