Portal Review

[Mr. Analog]

So, last Saturday I *finally* played Portal. What did I think of it? Well, I played through the game start-to-finish in just over four hours straight. That's not to say I don't have my gripes, but we'll get to that later.

Summary
Portal is a rather fun little game that shipped with Valve's "Orange Box" a few months ago. The game itself involves a very basic concept, you have a device that can make two doors; one you enter and one you exit. You can put these doors on anything, so you could put one on the ceiling and one on the floor and fall forever through them (if you wanted). You walk around a 3D world armed with this device. That's all there is to it.

It doesn't sound like much of a game mechanic but that's where the genius of Portal lies. The game gives you a tool and a variety of problems and it's up to you to figure out how to use the tool to achieve things.

The game premise is that you are part of corporate sponsored testing that involves said gun and the subject's (you) ability to use it to solve increasingly complex puzzles.

Don't let the puzzle nature throw you though, a story is definitely told as you play through the game.

Pros

The puzzles are addictive and well thought out. The difficulty increases organically and in many cases can be solved in multiple ways. Boffo.

The story and setting is both immersing and entertaining.

A significant limit on video game clich?s (not one crate containing a "power up" to be found).

Cons

The game is short, ~4.5 hours is not a great deal of time.

The final encounter, while humorous, was a tad protracted as far as I am concerned.

There was one part of the game where I had to stack stuff to reach an opening, I thought this lame.

Technical Stuff
I found some clipping in areas, this game doesn't do a lot of fancy graphical stuff but it would have been nicer to see more polish in the graphics department.

Final Thoughts

Portal is a great game. It has revitalized my interest in computer gaming and proves that good things can still come in small packages.

Worth the price of admission and more.

[Darren Dirt]

XKCD: nice!

I can't remember where the recent thread that included a number of video links re. the Portal ending song "Still Alive" happens to be, so maybe one of you memory-skilled admins can help put this where it belongs?

(I'm talking about a more recent one than this thread.)

[Mr. Analog]

Not sure where it would be, maybe it's in the games forum, maybe it's in the video forum...

All I know is that you should play the game and earn the ending credits / song. It's that much sweeter when you do

[Darren Dirt]

Not sure where it would be, maybe it's in the games forum, maybe it's in the video forum...

All I know is that you should play the game and earn the ending credits / song. It's that much sweeter when you do

fyi, I've watched a dozen or so clips of gameplay in Portal so I "get" many of the references in the song, but I agree, it's like watching the 3 endings of "Deus Ex" without getting attached to the characters and the storyline that they go through...

PS: Still Alive in "Audiosurf"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZPdwXgwf1Y


neato game, sounds like worth the $9.95 to buy it, for those of us getting hooked on the "music/puzzle" genre of games...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audiosurf



PS:

XKCD: nice!

on an XKCD-related note: obv. C&H fan!

[Mr. Analog]

You can't have more fun for $10.