Portal

In 2005 the minds at the DigiPen Institute of Technology created a unique and innovative indie game called Narbacular Drop. Upon seeing their success the folks at the Valve Corporation snapped up the Narbacular Drop team and so work began on Portal. Originally released as part of Valve’s The Orange Box in late 2007 and later released as a standalone game in 2008, Portal is a genius first-person puzzle game that’s everything it’s cracked up to be.

Portal actually takes place in the Half-Life universe although all aspects of the game seem very different from what you’d expect to find in the world of Half-Life. In the game you play Chell, a woman who is being put through a series of tests at the Aperture Science Corporation, the rival company of Half-Life’s Black Mesa. These tests all revolve around the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, better known as the Portal Gun. The concept behind the Portal Gun is simple and yet at the same time somewhat mind-blowing; the gun can place two portals anywhere in the room within your line of sight (although you’ll initially only have control of one portal) and each portal acts as a direct link to the other. Say you placed one portal on a wall and one on the floor, if you jumped into the portal on the floor you would come out of the portal on the wall and vice-versa.

The portal mechanic is amazing in itself and upon first encountering it it’s very easy to simply lose yourself in the experience of just experimenting with these portals in as many ways as is possible. However not only does the game present a brilliant central gameplay mechanic but it uses it expertly as well. Upon first encountering the portals they are downright enchanting in their potential to boggle the mind and mind-boggling is something they do very well, but the game introduces all of its key concepts with such a pace and clarity as to always keep you thinking without it ever feeling like you are up against the impossible. Apart from the portals the game essentially introduces little that is that far different from anything you’d expect to find in any other puzzle-solver; switches you have to place weighted cubes on, buttons which will open doors for limited periods of time and other standard obstacles. Despite the simplicity of these concepts the game puts them together with impeccable level design. It’s one of those games where you may spend a good deal of time scratching your head about how to solve a puzzle but when work it out you will be in awe both of your own problem-solving skills and the ingenuity of Portal. Both the console and PC versions of the game also present you with an easy and practical control scheme.

Despite the game seeming to have a straight-forward premise the writing behind it is superb. Without giving too much away I can tell you that after some time you will learn that not everything at Aperture Science is what it seems and like the plots of the Half-Life games one of the most interesting things about the Portal storyline is that it leaves a lot of room for speculation at its conclusion. While Chell herself is mute you are guided through the test chambers by a sentient computer known as GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disc Operating System). It soon becomes apparent that everything’s not quite right with the mind of GLaDOS; she seems to have serious misconceptions about the thought processes of humans and in general is very confused. GLaDOS is a constant source of humour throughout the game albeit often dark humour and even the most minor sections of her dialogue can bring about great amusement. GLaDOS is never intrusive but is simultaneously helpful, hilarious, interesting and just a little bit creepy.

The Aperture Science tests are also populated by the turrets, immobile but naturally aggressive enemies equipped with powerful guns. The amusing thing about the turrets is that their personalities are completely at odds with the duties they have been given and they treat their attempts to ruthlessly rip Chell apart with live ammunition with a great deal of innocence. It’s hard enough to find games that are genuinely funny but Portal is not only funny, it is funny in a unique way.

Portal also presents a reasonably high-quality graphical experience. The odd asset from Half-Life is reused and, should you get very close to some textures, they may not look as good as they did from a distance but these are simply minor issues. The test chambers and testing equipment all have a sleek, clinical design to them with most walls and devices being coloured white, however shining black walls where portals cannot be placed can be encountered. You’ll soon come across rooms with large greenish-brown pools of acid and switches and buttons within the game show up a vivid red. The graphical style of the game both makes it clear what is what within the text chambers and gives the game a visually pleasing and defining look.

Much like the music of Half-Life, Portal’s soundtrack provides a subtle background for your gameplay which the large majority of the time you won’t even notice. Upon listening to the music closely you can hear that it actually has a forebodingly eerie tone to it and on occasion the game will let this shine through, making you feel like something’s not quite right. In appropriate situations the game will use somewhat more action-oriented tracks to accompany the events but never goes over-the-top with the way the music blends into the rest of its elements. The crowning glory of Portal’s soundtrack is an original track written for the game by soft rock comedy musician Jonathon Coulton, however against all impulses I urge you not to try and search this track out before playing the game; the experience of encountering this track in the game first-hand is second to none and is one of the absolute highlights of the experience.

One thing that should be noted about Portal is that it is an extremely short game, almost certainly one of the reasons it was originally packaged as part of The Orange Box. Of course play time will naturally be lengthened on your first run through due to time being needed to stop and think about the puzzles but after you have completed the game once or twice you can very easily run through the entire game again in a single sitting. I don’t think a game can be criticised for length alone but it’s something you should be aware of at the outset, however Portal never spreads itself too thin across the brief time it does give you within its world and the quality of the content more than justifies its price. After you complete the game though there is the chance to complete the later test chambers again using as few portals as possible, taking as few steps as possible or with harder chamber setups which provides a good challenge for anyone looking to return to the game with harder difficulty settings.

Great things can always be expected of Valve’s games and Portal is not only an excellent game, it is a game unlike any other game out there. With fantastically clever gameplay, a great sense of originality and a sense of humour which is not only smart but also brilliantly funny, Portal excels at what it does in every way possible. This will definitely be a game you remember for a long time to come and it’s earned every bit of praise it’s gotten.