"The cake was only half-baked"

Contrary to what some would have you believe, Portal isn't an entirely original concept. A few years ago some bright-minded fledgling programmers released their baby project, Narbacular Drop, for all to play - and it was free, too. Not having to pay a cent meant that they owed nothing to gamers and could get away with mediocrity. But as it turned out, Narbacular Drop was a wonderful - and innovative - piece of freeware that brought in a "portal in, portal out" concept like no other. Valve saw the talent of this small team of programmers and quickly hired them to join their ranks, and the result is this Source-powered successor that redefines (again) what the first-person perspective is capable of.

You have no knowledge of who you are and why you're apparently a prisoner of sorts in what appears to be a secret high-tech facility. There is a kind, womanly voice that echoes all around you from hidden speakers and by following her instructions, you slowly make your way from room to room piecing together what this "project" is all about. However, despite utilising the same graphics engine (Source) used in Half-Life 2 and its follow-up episodes, Portal isn't a first-person shooter. You only have one gun - the portal gun - but my god, the things it can do that no other gun will ever be capable of.

You can shoot two different portals - an orange rimmed one and a blue one - and when you enter one of them, you'll instantly pop out the other. That's about it as far as the principles of the game go. Make no mistake, though, things get rather complex very soon. Initially it may be as simple as shooting up a portal across an expansive pit, but later you'll have to use it to bypass obstructions as you glide across on a shuttling platform, activate switches by constructing a pathway for an energy bolt (which can fry you if you're not too careful), sneak up behind automatic gun turrets (which are voiced by a faux innocent child's voice), and even use your body's momentum combined with the acceleration due to gravity to fling yourself up skywards - it's absolutely crazy at times, but the physics (compliments of Source) make every puzzle incredibly logical, yet still heinous.

If you're looking for action, you're not going to get much here. Portal is a fairly slow-paced game. If you stuff something up, it's back to square one; rinse and repeat your strategies until you manage to succeed. Memorisation is the key to solving many of the puzzling rooms: knowing when an energy bolt will exit a portal you created and timing your portals to coincide with the precise moment your path is obstructed, etc. etc. You will die a lot because of unfamiliarity (or a particularly frustrating "airborne" challenge), but with frequent automatic checkpoints, you're not required to repeat whatever you have just accomplished. As such, the entire game is over pretty fast - less than 3 hours for most gamers, less than 2 if you're already familiar with Narbacular Drop. The first two-thirds sees you following the feminine robotic voice in a series of puzzle-based areas (comprising 10 chapters), but the last section is quite a turn of events.

Suddenly, you are on your own without anymore hints, and the focus is now geared towards escaping the complex alive (can you guess what happens?) instead of a standard puzzle-game room-by-room approach. It is here that the game really picks up with some more grimy, non-uniform environments that will test what portaling skills you have gained thus far. To be honest, before this twist occurs, the portal challenges aren't all that interesting - they are fairly straightforward (carrying it out your strategy is the most difficult part) and there's no tension whatsoever. I would go as far as to say that Narbacular Drop was more interesting, and one thing that I'm really disappointed with is the inability to shoot portals through portals - one of the most complex strategies seen in Portal's inspiration.

Narbacular Drop is a much shorter game than Portal is (takes less than an hour to complete), but it did offer a map creation feature to enhance replay value. Portal doesn't have this commodity; instead it offers advanced maps to go through on further plays. This does extend play somewhat, but it would have been nice if we could concoct OUR OWN fatal scenarios; that's what Portal 2 is for, I guess.

Portal on its own really isn't anything that special, especially if you have already played Narbacular Drop to death. As part of the Orange Box deal, there are no complaints there. The concept of portalisation is still new to most gamers and you owe it to yourself to have a look if you haven't done so already. The puzzles are satisfying to solve and the omnipresent guide utters some really hilarious dialogue that makes fun of a lot of FPS conventions and creepily hints at things to come. I personally found Portal to NOT be a lie, but Narbacular Drop (and the fan-made "Portal 2D" FLASH game) are just as good, if not... better. Let's just say that I can't wait to see what Valve has in store next, knowing that many gamers are now attune to the ways of portaling.

VERDICT – 7.0/10 If only the bulk of the game was like the final thrilling chapter.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/07

Game Release: Portal (US, 10/09/07)