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    Portal

    Game » consists of 8 releases. Released Oct 10, 2007

    A first-person puzzle game developed by Valve and graduates of DigiPen, Portal forces a human test subject to run a gauntlet of grueling spatial experiments administered by a malfunctioning, psychotic artificial intelligence named GLaDOS.

    c_rakestraw's Portal (PC) review

    Avatar image for c_rakestraw

    They say the cake is a lie; I argue otherwise

    I'm gonna go ahead and make a harebrained statement: The cake referenced in the popular Internet meme, and line from Portal, "the cake is a lie," isn't actually a lie; rather, that cake is Portal itself. My basis? Like cake, Portal is a treat -- a very special treat. One that doesn't last long on account of our tendencies to quickly devour it (or in Portal's case, quickly play through it). While it lasts, though, it's exquisite. Portal's like that, but better (in some ways).

    Portal is a game about solving mind-bending puzzles from the first-person perspective (a first-person puzzler, if you will). You're cast as Chell -- a test subject in an enrichment program held by a group known as Aperture Science, who's been experimenting with portal technology. As Chell, your goal to move through 19 test chambers that each present numerous puzzles of varying difficulty using the power of portals with the hope of retrieving your promised prize: a delicious, moist chocolate cake. A more than worthwhile reward, wouldn't you agree?

    The real reward, however, comes from solving puzzles. On a fundamental level, Portal's puzzles are basic. Each test chamber presents a simple objective: open the door to the next chamber. How you do this, a lot of the time, involves transporting storage cubes onto a big red button that opens the door using portals or by using portals to direct a small ball of energy toward a receiver of some sort that powers up certain devices or opens doors. Simple enough, right? Right. However, it's the underlying logic within these puzzles that make them challenging and, subsequently, rewarding.

    That logic is commonly referred to as "thinking in portals," though never within the game itself. Portals are mind-bending business. Wrapping your head around all the game's concepts is, at first, a little perplexing since your essentially dealing with a whole new dimension of movement. Disorientation is common while getting the hang of it all. Walking into a portal placed on the floor to end up coming out onto a raised platform through a portal on a wall right next to said platform, for instance, is incredibly disorienting the first few times you do it -- it's also really, really cool. Even cooler is using two strategically placed portals to build momentum so that you may propel yourself across long gaps or over tall barriers. Building momentum through portals is also a key component of the "thinking with portals" concept -- additionally, it's what helps make Portal successful at handling platforming from a first-person perspective, which in an achievement in and of itself.

    Once you've gotten the hang of "thinking in portals," everything clicks almost instantly. (I say "almost" because there's still some challenge involved in discerning the solution.) It's then when the rewarding nature of solving puzzles truly shines, for you see, Portal, unlike most games, has the singular ability of making you, the player, feel like some sort of super genius.

    That feeling of intellect comes from the way the puzzles are designed. Something about them instills a great sense of gratification upon their completion, even on the simplest of puzzles. Because your constantly getting a better grasp on how portals work in Portal, you feel more and more intellectual as you learn through solving sometimes mind-bending puzzles. It's essentially an extreme amplification of the usual sort of satisfaction you'd get from solving any mundane videogame puzzle. Only here it's better because you feel like you're learning some new high form of science all the while. I wish I could provide some examples to support and illustrate those points, but doing so would only spoil some of the fun to be had in Portal.

    With only 19 test chambers total, though, all of which can be beaten in only a few hours, you'll wish there were more. Bonus advanced chambers and challenges provide some extra entertainment by changing the lay of the rooms (in the case of the former) and by placing restrictions on you, such as the number of steps that can be taken or portals used (in the case of the latter). They're fun, but they don't quite satisfy the same way the puzzles in the campaign do. Finishing them all is sure to keep you preoccupied for quite some time, though.

    On top of all the excellent puzzle solving, Portal houses an interesting narrative. Though the initial set-up doesn't imply such, its surprisingly deep. While moving through Aperture Science and its white, sterile aesthetic, your accompanied by the omnipresent voice of a computer AI named GLaDOS. She's the only other presence in the game aside from yourself (Aperture Science is, interestingly enough, deserted). As your only companion, though, she's an excellent and delightfully witty one. All the while during your attempts at solving puzzles, GLaDOS makes many comments on both the test rooms themselves or you and your performance using good number of sarcastic comments, which is quite incredible, actually. GLaDOS speaks in monotone, yet she is able to convey all sorts of nuances though her deadpan delivery. She's a very well voiced character. Her attempts to belittle your achievements, however, come off more as humorous rather than antagonistic. In fact, her dialog consists mostly of humor, or at least pepper it in somewhere. Heck, you probably won't even hear the whole breadth of dialog from her on your first run through Portal, which is good incentive to re-play it. That she delivers so much comedic dialog makes her very likable.

    The narrative itself, though, is effective because of its adept use of the ole "show, don't tell" story technique. Aperture Science is very much a mystery. It's a constant enigma whose mysteries are never fully answered -- though you can certainly make some inferences. The deeper you move into the complex, the more is hinted at, and the more your thirst to learn increases. Again, I wish I could provide some examples, but the unknown is a huge part of the narrative's mystique.

    That's the thing about Portal: its something that needs to be experienced for yourself knowing little to nothing about it going in, because reading too much into it -- a review or two is really all you need -- could potentially ruin it. Not completely, of course -- just enough for some of the magic of the experience to be lessened by a sizable margin. Portal is still sure to entertain, however, regardless of your level of knowledge concerning the game prior to playing it. It's just that good.

    Other reviews for Portal (PC)

      The Cake is a Lie. 0

      Valve really do not do much to innovate any genre of games they make, at least in the gameplay aspect. Sure, they may have created the most innovative gaming service when they released Steam, and created a great way of story-telling in first person, but how the games they create play haven't really been something they've been too inventive with. Well, now, that Portal has been released, you can no longer say that. Portal is genius. Pure genius. If you jump into the game not knowing or have seen ...

      12 out of 13 found this review helpful.

      Mind-bendingly clever, superb fun, and hilariously funny. 0

      Tucked away within The Orange Box, Portal at first doesn't appear to be anything particularly special. Considering that Half-Life 2: Episode Two and Team Fortress Two got most of the press coverage beforehand, it is somewhat surprising that Portal has been the most well received and critically acclaimed game included in the package. However, it deserves every bit of credit it has got. The game may be short, but is incredibly sweet, in a humorously dark and twisted kind of way.Set somewhere withi...

      6 out of 6 found this review helpful.

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