Recently, the good people over at Valve graced us with the much anticipated “The Orange Box” a package containing 5 different titles: Half-Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode One, Half-Life 2: Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal. While all of these titles are contained with the same “game” this review will concentrate solely on “Portal.”
The game starts off similarly to Half-Life, basically throwing you into its world with little to no background information about how you wound up in your current predicament. During the first minute or two of the game you are locked inside a glass chamber with nothing more than a sleeping chamber, a table, a radio and the soon to be ever present computerized voice, GLaDOS, which is at times narrator, guide, and annoyance. GLaDOS goes on to explain that you are about to take part in a test (for what they never really tell you) and if you complete this test, you will be rewarded with Cake! It is at this time that a blue portal appears on one of the walls in your chamber and you are releases you unarmed and under prepared into their Aperture Laboratories Test Chamber like a rat in a maze in search of cheese (or in our case. Cake.).
As you might expect the first chamber is rather basic and is mostly there to supply you with the Blue portal launcher/gravity gun while introducing you to the way that portals works. As you progress through the remaining 18 chambers (this is no spoiler as the game clearly informs you that there are 19 chambers) you are presented with increasingly difficult obstacles and eventually the orange portal launcher merges with your existing blue portal launcher. Surprisingly there are very few limitations to the portals and truly the game itself. You may only have 1 blue portal and/or 1 orange portal active at any time during the game (serving as entry and exit portals), Portals can only be created on walls and floors made of a light gray material. You are not allowed to create them in water, glass, mesh walkways and screens, energy fields or the dark (metallic) type walls. Also, your portal launcher will not fire through energy fields and will be removed when you pass through an energy field. Sounds simple… Right?!?!
Depending upon how you look at this, “Portal” is really nothing more than a mini-game built on the Half-Life 2 engine. To be honest, it’s difficult to argue with that thought when the game can be completed within 3 hours of picking up the controller. That being said, Portal is quite possibly one of the most interesting and challenging games I have played in quite along time. What makes “Portal” so cool is the fact that you must truly think (and problem solve) three dimensionally. An improperly placed portal could lead to your demise faster than you think. Conversely, with proper timing and placement your portals can assist you in doing some rather incredible feats.
To be quite honest with you, I think that “Portal” in and of itself is worth the $60 it costs you to buy “The Orange Box”. I know its short (which is why it didn’t score 10) but the originality and humor incorporated into the game make it worth it in my opinion. If you weren’t planning on picking up the orange box because you’ve already played Half-Life 2 and Half-Life 2: Episode 1 you may want to reconsider as the other bundled titles truly make this the best value in gaming. If you are a fan of FPS games and enjoy solving puzzles as I do. Portal is definitely the game for you.
As a side note, take your time exploring the world of portal, there are some nice little easter eggs that just may make it worth your while. Also if you do happen to complete the game make sure to stick with it all the way through the credits as there is a pretty cool surprise waiting for you.
