BEETLE'S GAMER REVIEW: PORTAL

Portal is by far one of the most painfully original games I have had the pleasure of playing in years.

Brought to us by Valve (The people who also brought us the Half-Life Franchise, Team Fortress, and the Left 4 Dead Franchise), Portal is the story of Chell, a volunteer at the Aperture Science Center who is chosen to test run a hi-tech new gun capable of producing portals, and GLaDOS, the sentient computer that guides Chell through each test.

As we make our way through the testing rooms as Chell we begin to unravel an ever deepening mystery that Chell has become an unwilling part of. That's about all I can go into for story because if I say much else I take the risk of ruining this game's superbly crafted plot that is spoon-fed to the player throughout the game.

Portal is a puzzle-game first and an action adventure game second. The puzzles that can be found in Portal are challenging and mind-numbing, constantly teasing the player with complex brain-teasers and near solutions. Often split-second decisions must be made quickly and precisely as one mis-step or false move could send players falling to their death. Portal gains points for challenging players to use their brains and think in unconventional ways that open players minds in what is otherwise a market that is perfectly content allowing players to mindlessly mash buttons until their digits fall off. In Portal players must think fast on their feet if they are to survive.

While the puzzles are quite difficult, they aren't impossible to complete. The amount of time it takes to reach the Grand Finale differs depending on the skill of the player, however most will probably find themselves finishing the game after three or four days. I completed the game in a day and a morning with the game's data explaining it took me a total of around 4 hours to successfully complete it.

This takes me to one of the only downsides to the game: It is incredibly fast. If you like your games long, then Portal isn't for you. In fact if you don't like Strategy games, First Person games, or puzzle-games there's a good chance you may not enjoy Portal...but back to the subject at hand. Portal is very short. However, I don't consider this a downside, seeing as that if the game went on much longer I probably would have tottally lost my mind. Even though the game only took me around two days to finish the end result had me feeling like it was alot longer than it actually was. In the end, Valve successfully packs so much fun into such a short time span that most should come out feeling satisfied and like they actually accomplished something.

Portal is a game that starts out as a puzzle-game but once players reach the final level it quickly morphs into something else entirely in a way that is both thrilling and terrifying. Did I mention that the end credits song is also one of the most addictive and original that I've heard? In the end, all the pieces fit together to create one damned-near perfect game and one of the most fun I've had the pleasure of playing in a while.

10/10

Portal 2 is set to come out December 2010.