The Orange Box: Portal (PC)

Through a door brightly...
1/31/2008 12:00 AM | 0 Comments | Page 2 of 2

In the background is the corpse of another character: the defunct Aperture Science Inc. The corporation is glimpsed mainly as a series of test chambers or rooms seen through indestructible glass. It finds its way into the Half-Life universe, although a significant part of the puzzle is found in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. But it's nearly as vivid a character as GLaDOS with its sinister combination of nasty and nice, ruthless and pleasant. These are juxtaposed to great effect, from the polite turrets to the clean sterile look of the test chambers. Although Portal imagines itself breaking out of this environment before the game ends, it doesn't quite achieve this end. As the "man behind the curtain" is revealed, the gameplay is as rigidly controlled as ever. A little more chaos would have been a welcome touch at the end of Portal.

But it's hard to complain when so much has been accomplished so well, in so little time and with such minimal exposition. Portal is a game that people will talk about for years to come, and it's already a doorway to enduring inside jokes. This means there are two kinds of people in the world: those who know whether the cake is a lie, and those who haven't played Portal. If this doesn't make sense to you, don't ask. Just play Portal.

This review was based on a retail copy of the game provided by the publisher.