Portal

[Occulus]

Having played through Half Life 2 and much of Episode 1 (although not completely), I was already familiar with the gameplay and the engine behind the game. I've also done some map editing and a very very small slice of modding, and so had some high expectations when I fired up Portal for the first time. This is especially true given the fact that I've seen all the media surrounding this addition to Valve Software's Orange Box prior to its release.

Portal scores a grand slam. Far from being the run-and-gun, kill-everything-in-sight shooter the very same game engine powering the Half-Life 2 juggernaut gives us (the Source engine), Portal is a mindbending assault of logic. There aren't any real weapons, but only hazards; this first-person logic game is remarkably not violent. Instead, the developers used clever puzzle design and wit to put together a game that, for all its abbreviated length, is brilliant in every respect.

The game centers around a gun that can shoot a pair of portals on any receptive flat surface. When the player walks through one portal, she comes out the other. I say 'she' because the model is female, which apparently (although I myself haven't played that far in Episode Two) plays a role in the newest addition to the Half-Life 2 story. In any case, this woman is a detainee test subject in the Aperture Sciences laboratory is directed at the whim of a creepy, electronic, disembodied female voice that spouts forth ever-increasingly ridiculous and hilarious "advice" (at one point, you are told that "'Bring Your Daughter to Work Day' is an excellent opportunity to have her tested.").

I haven't yet finished it, although I'm well on the way to the end, and knowing it's so short, I have to say that just for originality, Portal is the gem of Valve's Orange Box, and while not worth the sticker price all by itself, when in company with the rest of the games that come with the O.B., it and its companions (some of which I've played and enjoyed a great deal) are well worth the money.

If I can get to Portal's assets via the SDK, I'll be in serious business. I love the sort of logic puzzles Portal provides, and I'm hoping we'll see more added as time goes by.