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4.35 out of 5 It's Still Alive When one hears the phrase “first person action puzzle game”, what comes to mind? No matter what can be thought of, Portal is definitely a game that defies expectations. It combines brain-breaking spacial puzzles, first-person shooting, and unexpected and thrilling action to make a memorable gaming experience. Not only that, it provides one of the most memorable characters ever to come out of a videogame.Storywise, the game is pretty simple. The narrative is pretty much nonexistent; as player character Chell (who is a girl), you awaken in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center and must navigate increasingly difficult puzzles with the titular portal gun. Comments on your progress are made by the AI GLaDOS, a female voice that monitors your every move with occasionally mocking and sarcastic comments. Since the story is so simple, it’s impossible to discuss it further. However, it culminates in a highly satisfying final encounter with a definite sequel hook. The gameplay is the gem of this piece. The concept sounds quite simple: You acquire the portal gun and must navigate the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. Using these portals, you move cubes onto door switches, bypass deadly traps, and navigate increasingly complex testing chambers. The portals themselves are also quite simple: your gun can shoot blue and orange portals. When you go into one portal, you come out of the other. Thus you can cross gaps that are too far to jump by simply shooting one portal across the gap, then shooting the other in the floor in front of your feet. Physics are also preserved; as GLaDOS so eloquently puts it, “Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.” So, jumping into a portal from a distance causes you to come out at great speeds. Also, and perhaps most reassuringly, you don’t die if the portal you’re in closes for any reason (example: you’re standing in the blue portal and you shoot the blue portal elsewhere). Instead, you’re harmlessly ejected from the portal. You must be asking by now, “Where does the action part come in?” In several chambers, you are assaulted by turrets, requiring fast reflexes to avoid becoming a splatter on the wall. In addition, the solutions to several puzzles require quick thinking and not a bit of luck; trying to shoot a portal into the ground you’re plummeting towards is harder than it sounds. The first person perspective makes it harder for people without skill at aiming to advance, thanks to the abovementioned action bits. The final confrontation, without giving anything away, requires great dodging skills. Despite everything great about this game, there are a few downsides. The game autosaves at sometimes unpredictable moments. If you launch yourself right at a pool of acid at one of these autosave points, well, you’ll keep spawning into the acid and have to restart the testing chamber over. There’s also once instance in particular that I remember, where jumping into a portal caused Chell to get stuck outside of the scenery and required me to restart from a (thankfully not far back) autosave point. Otherwise, there were no other errors. The game ran smoothly even when portals were stacked on top of portals and there were turrets everywhere on the screen. Overall, Portal, while only about six hours long, is a great game. Even for one who wasn’t into either puzzles or first person games, this game was a great play. An engaging AI made the campaign mode exciting, and the puzzles were at the same time mind-breaking and satisfying. The few glitches mentioned really didn’t impact the overall enjoyment of playing the game, and finally beating it was met with a cheer. I would recommend this for even those who don’t think they like puzzles or first person games. |