|
 |
|
| | Title:
Portal
..............................................
System:
PC
..............................................
Genre:
First-Person Shooter
..............................................
Publisher:
Valve
..............................................
Developer:
Valve, LLC
..............................................
Release:
TBA 2006
..............................................
Online:
Yes
..............................................
ESRB:
Mature (M)
..............................................
 |
Portal is a standalone game that was released in and along with Valve’s Orange Box. The Orange Box includes HalfLife 2, Episode 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. All these games are also available separately online through Steam. Portal is a single player game that is very loosely tied to the story line of HalfLife 2. The main idea behind the game is that you are a test subject inside of a science facility and you are being tested on how you use a new technology, which is the portal gun. What is interesting is that the portal gun is just as cool and fun to use as the gravity gun in HalfLife 2. I think that Valve created this miniature Portal game to introduce the portal technology and gun that will be used in future HalfLife games (this is just purely speculation though).
The Portal game is very short and can easily be completed in about two hours. The game starts out very slowly by introducing you to what a portal is, how it works, and how you can place them. Once you get the portal gun you are able to shoot an entry and exit portal. The portal simply teleports you from entry point to exit point. You can place the portals on just about every surface (certain surfaces can spawn portals, otherwise the game would be way too easy) and they can be either really close together or spawn across the entire stage.
Portals are somewhat new to video games, but they have been used before in other games such as Prey. Portal takes the concept much further though and really perfects it. The engine that the game runs on (the same that was used in HalfLife 2) is very realistic, especially when dealing with physics. After about the first 12 of 19 tests/puzzles, the game starts to get much more advanced. One of the more advanced portal techniques is using momentum to propel yourself through a portal and come flying out the other side to reach a certain area or ledge. This is usually done by jumping off a high ledge into the entry portal and then placing the exit portal at the top of a wall. It can get even more complicated though! In other parts of the game you have to fly out of a portal and then shoot another portal while flying through the air!
This may sound pretty complicated, but the game overall is quite easy. Once you understand how the portals work, you will probably think of solutions to the puzzles in the game very quickly and then you just have to have good control over your character to do it. The first dozen test chambers are extremely easy and there are only 19 total. Even though there is only 19 total, the bulk of the game is played in the last few chambers and this is where the small story of the game starts to come to life.
Although the portals are extremely fun and the puzzles are pretty cool, the best part of the game is the computer voice that instructs you what to do. The computer’s voice sounds like a woman, but it is supposed to be a computer so it almost sounds like Microsoft Sam. Not only does it sound funny, but some of the things that are said are outright hilarious. For instance, on one test the computer says that the test is impossible because they made a mistake and didn’t finish that room yet. She then says that you should probably quit right now, and if you do there will be cake! Of course, once you figure out the puzzle, she says that she was just trying to trick you and you succeeded under extreme pessimism. This is just scratching the surface of some of the random, bizarre, and hilarious comments that are made by the computer. She references to cake being served after the test throughout the whole game, tries to trick you in some areas, yells at you in others, and informs you of random and complicated information in others. As you go on, the comments get even more and more bizarre and funny. This is something new for Valve since most of their games have a serious and epic storyline. The humor reaches its height in the final boss fight. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone, but I was literarily laughing out loud through most of the final boss fight.
After finishing the game in about two hours, there really isn’t much else to do. There are about 6 advanced stages, but these are just previous stages with minor changes that make them more difficult. There are also challenges where you have to beat stages within a certain amount of time, with a very small amount of portals, or within the fewest steps. These challenges can be extremely hard and do add some replay value to the game, but again you are just playing on the same exact levels that you have already seen.
Portal is an amazing game overall. The portal technology along with HalfLife 2’s great physic engine makes the game extremely realistic and definitely not cheap feeling. There are numerous ways to solve each puzzle, it just matters how you think and this is what really makes the game so cool. The voice is hilarious and done very well; you will be laughing just about every time it talks. What isn’t that cool though is the fact that the game is very short. Luckily it comes packed in with the Orange Box for just $50. You can also buy Portal on Steam for $20, but I would definitely recommend just getting the Orange Box, even if you already have HalfLife 2 and Episode One, because it comes with Episode Two and Team Fortress Two, which are definitely worth playing.
| The Core Score |
Overall
9 |
| Fun |
|
9 |
| Gameplay |
|
9 |
| Graphics |
|
8 |
| Audio |
|
8 |
| Replay |
|
6 |
|
| | | |
