Well, it seems like a proverbial forever since I last submitted something, and my last Review was of Metal Gear Solid 4, a game so good that I believe that Solid Snake can kill gods with his awesomeness or something thanks to it. So, naturally I felt the need to stimulate my life by playing games, and lots of them.
After lurking for a long while on Internet message boards and looking at various reviews or padories of reviews, I eventually stumbled onto the Half-Life Orange Box. Half-Life is a series of first-person shooters with a very open-world style to them due to the incredible physics engine, wherein you can actually manipulate various objects around you and they will work like the actual objects. Half-Life was to the original First-Person Shooter frame presented by Doom as Halo was to the first-person partyfest seen in, say, Goldeneye: a quintessential reworking of the genre to reinvent the wheel and make something even better. So, naturally, the Half-Life series is one of the proudest and strongest PC shooting titles with multiple mods given to it to create newer tiles, like Counterstrike. After hearing all of this hype, being the stylish and tasteful gamer I am, I decided to pick up the Orange Box and see how it stood.
Now, the Orange Box is comprised of three games and two expansion packs: Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episode 1, Half-Life 2 Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. Unfortunately, Portal has been the only one that I've truly been able to play, as I'm horrible at first-person shooters in general and can't get past the part with the headcrabs and big red barn in Half-Life 2, I refuse to play the little expansions due to my insistence to keep with the story, and my computer can't really handle an online First-Person Shooter, making Team Fortress 2 unavaliable.
However, I went into Portal hoping for
a fresh and invigorating experience. From what I'd heard, Portal was a
short but sweet first-person puzzle title involving the manipulation of
the beloved Half-Life physics engine with a lot of rather dark humor and
a good deal of brain-teasing puzzles to boot. All in all, a great package
for anyone who wanted to go along for the ride. So, I went into the Aperture
Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center to see exactly what I was getting
myself into.
I'll rate this game on a scale of one to five stars, with five being a huge success and one being a failed experiment.
Portal is rated "T" for teen due to
delightful little turrets that shoot you to death as well as your hand
in murdering an inanimate object that never threatened to stab you. Or
something similar to that.
Story: ****
Your name is never given during the course of the game (it's Chell). You are guided through various puzzles involving portals in the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center by a computer voice whose name is also never given through the course of the game (it's GLaDOS). GLaDOS makes fun of you as you succeed in order to measure your psychological and physical capabilities in test chambers built around a gun that shoots portals. And a training course for androids. And areas with toxic waste deposits.
Truly, the entire story is carried on by GLaDOS, who feels like she's making the game up as she goes, just putting you in random test chamber after random test chamber to fuel her curiosity about how you'll react in those situations. And really, this is all a game like Portal needs: it gives you a straightforward premise in a creepy and empty environment and lets you go from puzzle to puzzle with this sense of "what happens next"? Really, it's only in a game like Portal, where your character is presented in a way where you know nothing of what's going to happen or the world outside of the area where you’re exploring, that this kind of story could work.
Imagine if in Metriod Prime there were no space aliens, no monsters, Samus had limited teleportation powers but no weapons, and you were trapped in a space station with Mother Brain's voice taunting you. That would be, essentially, what Portal would be like if it were presented in a rather dull way. GLaDOS doesn't seem to be a legitimately threatening figure until she goes out of her way to change the course of elevators to put you in front of gun turrets, all while delivering her congratulations and death wishes to you in a cool monotone. And really, this is where Portal drags you in - it's incredibly atmospheric, knows its boundaries, and works within them to create an experience that is incredibly enjoyable.
This is a staple for Valve's games - you don't know the story, you just slowly string events together via visual or audio hints or statements from characters, like in the pre-torture scenes from Metal Gear Solid. What makes Portal go a step beyond, however, is the fact that GLaDOS is an incredibly funny character. Take this line for example:
"You <subject name here> must be the pride of <subject hometown here>."
This is all delivered in a stark monotone,
and when GLaDOS begins calling you a murderer, a freak, and a battle android
in the same monotone, the results end up being very hilarious. Unfortunately,
as great as GLaDOS is, the story basically begins and ends with her. Unless
you count a singular invincible storage cube with a heart on it that you
can carry around, or the turrets that attempt to kill you if they see you,
there are no other characters in the game. This generally offsets the presentation,
as unless prompted by GLaDOS, you're really left with nothing but “finish
puzzle, escape room, enter area”. This is especially annoying in later
parts of the game, wherein GLaDOS stops being helpful altogether (even
with her threats) and the game seems to have little sense of direction,
yourself attempting to scramble through rather vaguely designed areas (though
the vague hints given are fantastic in style). Overall, however, the general
style of Portal's story is an instant and immediate draw, and makes it
- mostly - a very enjoying and engrossing experience.
Graphics: ***1/2
There's only so many ways that you can recolor stark white walls. Portal seems to be running on an engine similar to Valve's 2005 opis, Half-Life 2. That's absolutely fine, as Half-Life 2 still has respectable graphics by today's standards that would most likely blow most Wii games away with their attention to detail. Unfortunately, Half-Life 2 had rather vibrant environments and characters to accompany it, whereas Portal reuses the same textures and environments again and again. By no means am I saying that Portal has bad graphics - it doesn't and it really creates a wonderful atmosphere - it's just that they seem sort of grating and dull.
There are a few instances in which the graphical style changes to a grittier, more mechanical setting, but it almost always still appears to have the gloss and sheen of the normal Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center Testing Chambers. Also, the partical effects on a few of the electrical energy beams seem a bit... unnatural and awkward to me. Maybe it's just me, but the main obstalces just seem... awkward in their effects. Style can carry a game really far in graphics - just look at Psychonauts, which combines a level made out of black velvet with a Godzilla-esque environment, a spooky summer camp, and tons of other environments, all blending them together. Each one, even the ones that don't naturally appear to be trying to be outstanding or special, appears to have a set theme and atmosphere. Portal still relies on GLaDOS in that department, rather than its surroundings.
Excellent work on the end-game cutscene,
though. Very realistic, very nicely polished, VERY well-done.
Sound: *****
Silence. Is. Golden. You won't normally hear me complimenting a game that has about three memorable tracks in it, two of which are the same song remixed in different ways, but Portal pulls this off phenomenally. The lack of sound or song really creates a very eerie environment, authenticating the sense of loneliness you feel while advancing through the Enrichment Center. Not only that, the tiny footsteps of your character, the grating of metal, the sound of gunfire in the distance - everything just feels so ominous and well-executed. Echo is used to great effect, which I particularly enjoyed. And, for what little music there is, all of it is fantastic. The final boss/tension theme is legitimately climactic, and the game succeeds in creating one of the most catchy themes in videogame history... as sung by a homocidal computer.
I'd normally look down upon a game for relying mainly on a sole musical piece, rather than having one standout piece in a collection of great music (like Donkey Kong Country 2), but "Still Alive" is one of the most catchy themes since "DuckTales", "Inspector Gadget", or the other great themes of my childhood that most of you were probably too young to experience. BUT THEY WERE RELEVANT TO ME! BACK IN MY DAY, WE HAD CATCHY THEME SONGS AND NO YOUTUBE TO FREELY LISTEN TO THEM ON! AND WE LIKED IT THAT WAY!
Anyway, there isn't much in terms of
voicework... oh, right, besides GLaDOS. GLaDOS is absolutely fantastic.
Not only does she pull off insults in monotone, as well as compliments,
death threats, panicking, and many other statements... but she pulls off
SINGING in monotone excellently. Just as an AI would, GLaDOS pronounces
every repeated word in the exact same way it was presented. GLaDOS seems
to be the eerie deprived cousin of the HAL 9000, and I'll be darned if
she doesn't sound threatening. Is this Metal Gear Solid-quality voicework?
At some points, yes. It's not in the way that Cam Clarke can make Liquid
Snake whining about how he's genetically inferior to Solid Snake still
sound menacing, but it's consistantly excellent throughout. Great effort
was put into really drawing out emotion with not only music, but sound
effects and voice work.
Gameplay: *****
Really, above all else, this is where Portal shines. If you look at my Metal Gear Solid 4 review, you'll see that I complimented each minor little detail of the gameplay and loved the huge variety. While those still hold credence with me, Portal is the exact opposite - very few gameplay mechanics polished to a mirror shine. And really, Portal executes just what it wants to absolutely perfectly.
I suppose I could describe Portal best as what Wikipedia called it, a first-person puzzle game. This basically gives you Samus's arm cannon or Master Chief's uber-awesome lazah gun or whatever you kids are into these days, and instead uses it for the sole ability to solve puzzles. This is fine, and great in a lot of instances; pure fun is what makes Tetris a great game, or Donkey Kong, or The Oregon Trail (though death by cholera helps for Oregon Trail). The main concept is that you're equipped with a portal gun that can shoot a technicolor portal that leads to another technicolor portal that you can leap through. Eventually, you learn how to use both technicolor portals at once and manipulate them at will. Really, this is where the game begins to shine. Puzzles are incredibly well-developed and require use of the portal gun in unique ways. For example, you may be required to use the portals to guide a laser ball to a charging station by reflecting it off of a wall, through a laser grid, and then using another portal to change its course directly to the recharge station the moment it passes through. Portal gives you a sense of urgency without giving you a time limit or anything else. It's like Tetris; you can mess around as long as you'd like and make funny mustache faces if you want, but you eventually have to precisely time your abilities in order to pass a room. And really, Portal pushes this concept to its limit.
Valve is known for its excellent physics
engine, the "seesaw" puzzle being a staple and running joke in Half-Life,
and Portal continues this trend of games with great physics. A good amount
of puzzles require shooting a portal down a pit, shooting an exit portal
at a higher wall, and using the momentum from your jump into the portal
in the pit to bounce over a wall. Portal refreshes this concept often to
the point where it never feels forced or overdone, instead feeling intuitive
and unique each time. And really, that's what shines about Portal's gameplay
- nothing ever feels like a rehash of a previous puzzle. The developers
at Valve have spent a while creating unique and exciting puzzles that have
very different elements from each other, some requiring quite a lot of
thought from the player. I'm willing to admit that I did get stumped on
a few puzzles toward the end, and that's what made Portal function incredibly
well as a puzzle game. Everything just clicks and works incredibly well
for Portal.
Levels: ****
As I stated before, the level design in Portal is excellent, with multiple puzzles that always feel unique and leave you desiring more. The twenty test chambers in Portal all feel just right, creating an enjoyable scenario for each individual "level". I've already cited exactly why I loved these levels in the gameplay section, so scroll up there if you've forgotten or something.
My issue, however, comes toward the
end of the game, where you get to experience areas outside of the test
chambers. Now, I will admit that these areas were very well put-together,
requiring a lot of precision on the player's part in a very creative environment,
and creating a lot of tension during some “action” segments. The problem
I have with this, however, is that it's rather easy to get lost or lose
your sense of direction in these areas. Portal gives you a few subtle hints,
but these hints can only get you so far. It's also very difficult to describe
exactly WHAT to do in these segments, making following a guide rather difficult.
I don't blame this on the level designers, but rather, just the concept
of the levels. I feel that it could've been better pulled off if the environment
around Chell was more threatening, if GLaDOS seemed a bit more threatening
during this part, or if the areas just were generally more coherently put
together. Then this section would've also had a perfect score and included
in gameplay. Unfortunately, these areas seem like the choppy remnants of
what the development team couldn't fit into the main 20 test chambers,
and while certain parts of this section are good, most of it was detrimental
to my enjoyment of the game.
Difficulty: **
Portal is a bit on the easy side, but
not TOO easy. I honestly blazed through over half of the game, though later
test chambers are much longer than earlier ones. There really isn't much
to say here - Portal provides super easy gameplay toward the start and
steadily progresses to harder and harder gameplay. Unfortunately, the game
never gets incredibly hard toward the end, which leaves me feeling that
learning how to properly utilize the Portal Gun was a bit of a letdown,
especially in the more action-oriented areas in the game. I suppose this
goes with the “everyone should be able to finish and enjoy this game” idea
that I got while playing through this, but I just don't feel a great amount
of satisfaction at the end for mastery of the controls. However, for what's
there, it's still a great game, and several test chambers are rather challenging
on the first go.
Replayability: **
Unfortunately, this is where all of the great things about Portal must end. Portal is a very short game, able to be finished in two hours if it's your first time and you're exceptionally good at it, or up to five hours if you make as many mistakes as I do. However, even with all of the mistakes I did end up making, Portal is a very short game. The game extends to twenty test chambers, some of which I finished in about a minute, an ending sequence, and a final boss. Some people may argue that Portal is meant to be taken in limited doses so that the game doesn't become too repetitive, but that goes against the addictive edge that the game creates and the fact that very few of the puzzles are, in fact, repetitive. I understand keeping the length under specific parameters so that the user doesn't get bored, but this stops Portal from feeling like an actual game to me. No, what Portal feels like is more of a technical demo for the Portal Gun - a very, very good technical demo, but one nonetheless. In Half-Life 2, there was a weapon that most players greatly enjoyed - the Gravity Gun. The Gravity Gun allowed players to manipulate objects and sling them around at foes, which was especially satisfying when zombie + sawblade = cleared room. Fortunately, the gravity gun wasn't overused through the game and felt like a fresh and exciting concept throughout.
See where I'm going with this? Portal
has enough substance and an excellent theme to carry on its own for a while,
but it just doesn't feel like a complete package because it is not supplimented
by other items or another mode or something similar. Make no mistake, Portal
is incredibly fun, but its length just isn't cutting it for the jaded obsessive
gamer inside of me. Replayability is also greatly stinted due to Portal
being, in fact, a puzzle game. Knowing what to do after accomplishing all
twenty puzzles doesn't exactly make for a thrilling replay, aside from
hearing GLaDOS again. But, hey, that might be worth a replay in and of
itself!
Fun Factor!: ****1/2
Portal is just an incredibly fun game.
The atmosphere is very forboding and easy to get drawn into, GLaDOS is
excellent at providing humor, and in general, this is just a very satisfying
game to play. I didn't like the segments at the end, as I stated before,
but they did have an excellent atmosphere that made me desire to continue
playing until the very end. With the exception of a few level design hitches
toward the end, I can safely say that I enjoyed almost all of my time with
Portal.
OVERALL: **** out of five
Portal succeeds as an incredibly fun little project, created from the very elements of fun. Its dark charm, enjoyable environment, and very well-polished gameplay make it stand out greatly. It's a fan favorite on the Internet, as well as a favorite among critics, for a very good reason, and that's because Portal is REALLY, REALLY GOOD. It's probably the closest thing to an absolutely perfect game that you're going to get outside of <enter your favorite nostalgic game here> or Metal Gear Solid 4. The only problem would be a bit of faltering toward the end and the fact that Portal FEELS like an add-on rather than a full game. Portal was meant to be developed in a collection so that it could be widely enjoyed alongside a rather long game, two expansions to that game, and an excellent online game as just a fun little slice of puzzling perfection. In that respect, Portal succeeds.
Really, I do reccomend going out of your way to get this in some form - the package the game comes in, The Orange Box, contains some of the highest-quality games I've picked up in the last decade. As a stand-along product, though, this isn't worth much more than a Wii-Ware title. An absolutely exceptional and awesome Wii-Ware title, but a Wii-Ware title nonetheless. If you desire a slice of Portal's absolutely delicious cake, you're just going to have to live with the tiny carving that GLaDOS gives you. Enjoy it while it lasts, though - it's incredibly savory.
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