"The Cake Is A Lie . . . but the Hype isn't!!!"

I get a little nervous whenever a game starts garnering nothing but praise. I've had letdowns aplenty before. But with Portal, I am glad to say the hype is well warranted. You just have to know what the game is first before setting your expectation level.

Basically, this is a puzzle game. It looks and sounds like Half-Life 2, but this is not a shooter. There is not really a story to speak of. Basically, you wake up in the middle of some kind of laboratory maze. Your goal is to pass through 19 obstacle courses using Portals that open space/time gaps. Basically, you step through one and come out the other, no matter where each one is. Using this building block, you essentially make your way from one elevator to the next, each separated by locked doors and other obstacles.

Sounds pretty basic, and it is. But as you progress, new layers are added each level. First, you simply step through a portal. Then, you get the portal gun (can't remember the game's name for the gun, sorry) that makes entry portals which link to the existing exit portals. A short time later, you will also gain the ability to make exit portals. And at this point, the game really becomes something of beauty! You can make portals in pretty much any wall or ceiling, with the exception of certain surfaces that are too dense to be affected by the gun. You then use these portals to get around obstacles. Later levels add objects that must be moved through the levels as well, such as crates to activate weight-sensitive buttons, and energy balls to power doors and platforms.

To add life to the game, you are monitored throughout by a female computerized voice that gives you basic instructions. These lines are peppered with a great sense of dry humor that brings the surroundings to life.

The thing that really sets this game apart from so many other is the pace. The difficulty increases at a perfect pace, so you never feel totally stumped, but you also don't feel like you are just being led through each level. By the time you finish the 19th level, you really feel like you've accomplished something, and not in the sense of enduring a barrage of difficult gameplay, but rather in using your brain to think your way through each level. Aside from a few timed areas, there is very little ACTUAL difficulty. Once you've reasoned out what you need to do, you'll always be able to figure out HOW to do it, and be able to.

This game is simply fun! I don't know what else to say! Even when I stopped trying to get through a level and just played around with the portal gun, I was grinning and laughing at all the unexpected ways you could have fun - like shooting a portal directly above another one and falling for infinity!

As I approached the 19th level, I began feeling sad that this was ending so quickly. How glad I was, then, to realize that the game doesn't necessarily end at the 19th level. There is still plenty of game to go afterwards, but I won't spoil the fun twists the game takes.

It is still a short game, however. I finished it in about four hours. Once you finish, you do get the option to replay six of the levels on a much harder difficulty, AND you can play some of the levels in challenge mode, which adds a time limit.

All told, this was a very pleasant and clever distraction from the norm. I highly recommend it, even if it is short. I hope we'll get to see this concept turned into a full length game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 03/06/08

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