Portal

So I picked up Valve’s Orange Box, which includes Half-Life 2 Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2, and some other mini-games that nobody cares about. I got Orange Box for basically three reasons: 1) I wanted to play HL2 Episode 2, the continuation of the Half-Life 2 serial saga, 2) I’ve heard a lot of good things about Portal, and 3) I enjoyed the amusing TF2 trailers, plus Yellow said he’d played it, which I assume means it can’t be all that bad. In any case it’s a good value for three games, and it’s downloadable so I didn’t even have to leave my chair. (That part kinda rules.)

Thusfar I have only played Portal. I can confirm that the rumors are true: Portal really is the greatest thing since sliced bread. It’s the most inventive use of a first-person shooter engine I’ve ever seen, because it’s not a shooter, it’s a puzzle game. It’s impossible to describe, so you’ll just have to play it. If you enjoy challenging your spatial relations and problem-solving skills, you’ll love this game.

The bad news is that it’s a very, very short game. It took me two nights to finish it, maybe 5 hours total. Perhaps that’s a good thing, though, because I could see Portal becoming a bit tedious after a while. You’re basically performing the same task on every level, after all.

I also have to mention the end credits. Usually when a game is over there’s a big let down and you think, “Is that it?” Not so with Portal. I can’t remember any other game where I was glued to the screen after the game was finished. That silly “Still Alive” song is still stuck — or should I say, still alive, hyuk hyuk — in my head. Anyway, it was an incredibly creative and satisfying way to end a game. Good job, Valve.

I give Portal a 5… out of 5.

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