As you are no doubt already aware, Portal was recently made free for a limited time by Valve in celebration of the launch of Steam on the Mac. Which is a great deal as this is really a fantastic game.
I won't talk too much about the game here as, to be honest, there's not much point in doing so. Considering how famous this game is, if you don't know about the gameplay by now, then its probably something you wouldn't be interested in.
Anyway, I was actually over at my brothers place when we found out that it was free for download. We immediately fired up Steam to verify (my bro, being the cynical git that he is was convinced that it was only free to play for the weekend) and then downloaded it. We managed to get to around testchamber 18 (out of 19) while I was there but I promptly finished off the game after I got home.
As already noted in reviews, the game is incredibly short (although a bit longer than the 19 testchambers which I thought it initially consisted of). However, considering the type of game it is, the length is probably just right. The short length gives you just enough time to get familiar with the gameplay elements and then apply that knowledge in a variety of fiendishly designed levels.
But what makes this game stand out is the superb level of humour prevalent throughout the game. From the moment you wake up in the very first chamber through to the end of the game, you are accompanied by the disembodied voice of GLaDOS. Her various comments throughout the game fit the mood perfectly as you try and puzzle your way out of the various rooms and traps and is topped off with a fantastic song during the end credits.
PS if you liked the song Still Alive, then you should also check out Re Your Brains (also by Jonathon Coulton).
4 comments:
Finished it last week as well. Must say, superbly designed from start to finish. Having to battle the psychotic AI at the end was interesting, esp. as you had to do it using the portal dynamics.
Loved the final song too - as you stated, the humour throughout was a definite high point.
Will be interesting to see what they do with Portal 2...
The thing is with Portal being as good as it is, will Portal 2 be able to live up to the hype? The expectations on the next Portal game must be huge.
Also, have you tried any of the challenge maps? I went through a couple of them - fun but some are really tough.
Not yet - been playing freedom force :)
Btw: now I know where the phrase "Where is the cake? The cake is a lie!" comes from...
recognise it?
:)
Oh, I knew "the cake is a lie" came from Portal. I just didn't know the context.
Of course, it also meant that I knew GLaDOS was lieing when she said that there would be cake if you completed the test. Spoilers - such dangerous things...
Post a Comment