Portal

"Are you alive? Then this game is for you."

The Aperture Science Enrichment Centre welcomes you <<Name>> to the game of portal. Presented by Valve and running on Steam with the Half Life engine, it's an interesting game. As the name would suggest, Portal has to do with portals. You and your portal gun will be running through them in this crazily funny puzzle game. The graphics are nicely tuned up. They really shine and show their worth. There is not much complicated things in the game in order for it to show off, but it does still look very pretty on high settings. Along with an ever changing mood and music, the game gives off a nice atmosphere where you really never know what to expect, even for such a short game. The games only really about 3 hours long, but WELL worth it.

The gameplay is what really attracts people. But what I found the most enjoyable aspect of the game is the humour used through the voicing. Just odd lines the overhead instructions will give you through the game. And the poor turrets and their cries for help, but not getting mad after when you shut them down. It's not really a style I can say without giving just about everything away. But lets talk about the physics of the game. As you may already know, you are able to make a portal with your Aperture Portal Gun. Two portal will link you seamlessly together. When you walk through one, you'll walk out the other. You can see clearly through the portal, so you can spy on things, surprise things, time jumps, or just plain see where you're walking. There's no big flash or achievement for portaling yourself, you simply will go through it like a door, and come out the other end without anything between the two. It's like making a hole in the wall, but you simply don't exit the other side of the wall. You keep all momentum when going through because there's no wormhole to slow you down. So jumping from up high, onto a floor portal, will launch you far off from a wall portal.

There's custom maps and commentary. But even with that, the main story is the best, and all together it's not a very long game. Main story is 3 hours tops, while the rest may let you have an hour of fun. Who knows, there could be an update... However a commentary did say this was only going to be the first one. So expect a sequel! The sheer uniqueness of a game, giving is such popularity even with such a simple goal, and simple ideas, and a short playtime, gives this game such a high and deserving rating.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/17/07