My Review of Portal

I’d like to start by establishing that this is not Portal: Still Alive on XBLA. Nor is this the original Portal on the PC. The version of Portal I’m talking about is the one found in The Orange Box for the Xbox 360. I thought about reviewing The Orange Box as a whole, but given the fact that I wasn’t going to play Team Fortress 2 (just not my thing), I thought it would be unfair.

So, Portal. Where to begin. The game itself is fairly simple. It’s a puzzle game revolving around a single mechanic: the ability to create two connected portals through which anything and everything may pass. It’s executed from a first-person perspective and it handles very much like Half-Life 2. At first I was a little apprehensive since I find platforming (which is how you solve the puzzles) tends to frustrate the hell out of me in FPS perspective, even in the Half-Life games. Valve, however, found some way to make Portal handle better. It’s either more precise or more forgiving. I seldom found myself dying because I didn’t quite know where my feet were.

The graphics are nice, but that’s not to say that they’re amazing. I think Portal is a good example of a game where the environment looks good because it is minimalistic. The sound is also good, but again there isn’t a lot to notice. The game keeps you immersed by leaving out the mood music. I didn’t notice the absence at all, but that’s probably because I was too caught up in enjoying the experience.

The game is a bit short. As in play-through-in-one-sitting short. I originally forgave this thinking “How much variety can you really create with these simple mechanics?”. Then I completed the game and saw the advanced levels, which seem totally fresh even though they’re just minor tweaks to original levels. The challenges also add fresh perspective to the puzzle solving (which is beyond me for the most part). In reality, then, the game isn’t really that short, and all the levels have the attention to detail that Valve use in their level design, providing the player with challenge without too much frustration. There’s lots of content there, and Valve has priced it really well.

I realize that others have already gushed about this game , but I found that most people simply praised the unique portal mechanics and immersive design, without really noting how technically proficient the game is. It is this technical aspect which allows Portal to really raise the bar. The precision of the platforming in this game makes me think that perhaps it can be done from a first-person perspective without the need to throw controllers. Unlike many others, I don’t crave a sequel to this game. No, instead I crave innovation taking this game forward. I think of a game like The Darkness, which took the FPS mechanics Halo perfected on the console and made an innovative game in a new world using those mechanics as a foundation. How long must we wait for a developer to take this new “FP” without the “S” and create something new?

Bottom Line:
Buy If: You like puzzling platformers and don’t get motion sick easily.
Rent If: I don’t really think this is an option here. Just buy it.
Pass If: Um … I guess if you’re not really a gamer and don’t want to ever experience anything new and fresh.