Portal Review: Enrichment
Portal is a game released by Valve and it has an interesting concept at its core: solve puzzles by using portals. Portal certainly achieves this, with 19 puzzle chambers in its main game and 6 advanced maps to play after completing the game. What I didn't expect from Portal was a smart and well written story, and it definately has one. Portal begins with the protagonist waking from a sleep in the Aperture Science Enrichment centre. An automated voice tells you that you will undergo a series of tests, and soon after you acquire the portal gun. As the game progresses an ingenious narrative unfolds which slowly reveals that something sinister is happening in the facility. Portal's story is astonishingly well paced. While many games cannot wait to show you there story cards and get you into the action, Portal takes its time and reveals events in a smart way that seems more plausible considering the turns that the game takes. There are no dialogue wheels in Portal, no cutscenes, the player is told about events and story points while in full control of their character and via the state of the game world itself. Valve even directly link Portal into the Half-Life setting, leaving the series open to many possibilities in future. The script and writing in Portal also needs to be mentioned. There are 2 characters in the game, and only one of them ever speaks, but the game has some of the funniest dark humour I have ever heard and actually made me laugh a few times. All the script is delivered at suitable times and in a natural way and it all fits together perfectly.
Graphically Portal is a good looking game. Its aesthetics are simple, as the whole game occurs inside a science facility. The rooms and puzzle chambers you are in are all clinical and predominantly white, yet everything has a shine and the lighting is brilliant. This gleaming and white environment at times gives way to a rusty and dark area outside of the labs where most of the game happens, mirroring the happy and safe pretext of the facility with its dark truths. The water effects in the game are good, and the portals themselves look natural, which is a serious accomplishment considering how complex the concept can get on paper. The sound in the game is also fantastic. The music really sets the tone for the game, especially in later sections. Sci-fi staple sound effects add a sense of mystique to the facility and the voice acting is perfect, and the end credits song has to go down as one of the best game songs ever.
The meat of the game is the solving of puzzles by using the portal gun. The gun allows you to fire a blue portal onto a point in a room and also an orange one. If you walk through either portal you emerge through the other one. Its a simple concept yet its used to create some devilish puzzles in this game. There are 19 puzzle chambers to go through, and while the first few are very easy they get harder towards the end. Its a great sense of achievement to solve a puzzle you were stuck on, and the puzzles are paced as brilliantly as the games narrative.
The design of the game is truly extraordinary. The puzzles often have more than a single solution, and the use of weighted cubes, portals, physics problems and placement of objects in this game is amazing considering its all flawless from a technical perspective. The game is very short, barely passing the 3 hour mark, but its all so tight and well made. This game is a design gem and shows that Valve really know how to make a game with a purpose in mind. The game has a very small scope, and has fairly small production values, but what is in this game is perfect.
Portal draws you into its premise, subtly creates a believable world with every new room and then begins to slowly draw back the curtain through its narrative. Its a magical experience that can easily be completed start to end in a few hours. The stark visuals of the game and the excellent voice acting and great ambient music enhance the experience. The game is balls tighteningly good and a complex difficult to implement game concept was truly made good in this game. Portal does so much with so little, and its a design beacon for other games. If only it was longer....
Pros:
- Sleek, minimalist menus which are easily navigated
- Some of the best written and delivered dialogue in any game
- Great ambient music
- All the rooms look nice and shiny
- The portal gun is GENIUS
- Story is told in a natural way
- Brilliant pacing which pulls you right in
- Developer commentary and advanced maps are a nice touch
- Links into the Half-Life universe
- Companion cube
Cons:
- 3 hours long
- Lacking in production values and major events
Wtf:
- Why kill companion cube
Score:
- 9/10
