If Valve’s The Orange Box was the gaming equivalent of Voltron, Portal was its giant robotic heart. Sardonically humourous and possessing some of the best puzzle-based gameplay to ever grace gaming, the success of Portal was both unexpected and unprecedented. Portal is such a milestone in its field that if you consider yourself a connoisseur of the medium, and you have yet to play the game, you are literally missing a core ingredient in your répertoire.
Spatially astounding, Portal appealed to the more cerebral of gamers; fans of gameplay that was simultaneously smart and fun. Controlling Chell, the player must solve ingenious puzzles with the use of the portal gun or Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, invoking dimension doorways through which Chell and objects can be transported. The game presented a starkly basic yet ultimately multifaceted premise. The idea is simple, its execution, however, proffered a myriad of possibilities and non-linear lateral thinking. It may be short, but Portal is a triumph; a gem of gaming that any self-respecting fan of this industry simply must play. Still waiting for trophy support? You’re not only missing out, you’re missing the point entirely of what it means to play a great game.
Portal 2 was announced back in March at the end of an ARG (alternate reality game) via patches released for the original game. Such a creative endeavour is just another one of a multitude of ways of how Valve expresses themselves and interacts with their fans. When it comes to dealing with us, the press, Valve are probably the only developer on the planet who can issue a release about a delay to one of their highly sought-after products and actually make it a pleasurable experience. Such an announcement was made back in June, pushing Portal 2’s release fractionally forward to April 22nd 2011 in Europe.
As a sequel, Portal 2 promises to be bigger, longer and more spectacular that its experimental predecessor. Set hundreds of years after the first game, Chell is awoken by one of GLaDOS’ cores. Unhappy at Chell’s reappearance, GLaDOS proceeds to test her again in what is now a dilapidated facility. The title introduces new elements such as gels that can increase momentum, as well as two-player co-op using self-aware robots who must team up together to free themselves from GLaDOS’ control.
Not only looking like a deftly created masterclass of game design and smart gameplay, punctuated along the way with dark humour (and probably more cake recipes), Valve’s ex-resident PS3 disparager Gabe Newell has said that Portal 2 on the PS3 will be its “definitive version”. Whether such a bombastic claim turns out to be true remains to be seen, but what can’t be disputed is Portal 2’s own immense, and unique, gravitational pull. And that is not a lie.
bunimomike
I’m not the biggest Portal fan (only because I was late to the party and had listened to enough internet chatter to diffuse it somewhat), however, that is a wonderfully written article, Lee. It gives Portal exactly what it deserves. Absolute respect.
Regardless of how I feel about the sequel personally, I’m fascinated to see what they come up with and what everyone thinks.
gideon1451
Cannot wait.
Tried to preorder it, but no avail so far D:
retro_
Try Shopto, I preordered a few days ago.
rht992
oh man i’m going through the first one again. turned it on to show a friend and now i’m utterly hooked again.
bigwhiteyeti
I have to admit, I’m must be more excited than I let on about this game. I just checked my play stats for the original Portal in Steam, and I’ve logged more than 16 hours on that 3 hour game. This sequel looks brilliant, although I’ll probably want to throw my keyboard at the wall while attempting co-op with my girlfriend.
bunimomike
You’ve got a perfectly good girlfriend to throw your keyboard at. Don’t be silly! :-)
BIGAL-1992
Portal was such an engrossing game, that I’ve lost count on the number of hours I’ve put into it. Can not wait for Portal 2. Will be looking forward to the additions they’ve made to the puzzles.
DuffyBox
The key part of what Gabe said was that Portal 2 would be the “best version on any CONSOLE.” Valve’s home is on the PC, and the resounding shock of a Valve game being better on a console than native pc would probably be sufficient to shatter the dimension gates and collapse the space-time continuum.
Furthermore, doesn’t Microsoft forbid the release of a game on its platform if it is even a slightly inferior version to the one Sony gets? Correct me if I’m wrong folks. I want to believe, but I can’t really see this happening.
TSBonyman
Indeed, the words ” best version on any console” would seem to exclude pc what with it not being a console. If Gabe had said “best version on any platform” that would be quite a shock alright.
I think all versions of the game will have a fairly consistent look across all platforms, pc will obviously have the edge in graphics but there won’t be much in it and that the PS3 version will be closer to Valves ideal for all consoles simply by virtue of the fact that it implements their own steam system. I’m not sure what the advantages of steam are – perhaps they can publish updates etc whenever they want without having to clear them for release on PSN?
Anyway, i’m really looking forward to Portal 2 but really the game i want is Half Life 3!
BIGAL-1992
@Duffybox Mate, if mircosoft did have such a policy, then why doesn’t sony do that as well? I seriously doubt that such a policy exists.
DuffyBox
I was totally sure it existed. They implemented it in an effort to prevent multiplatform comparisons from showing the 360’s shortcomings compared to PS3 (BD compared to HD-DVD etc.) Sony doesn’t have such a policy because they generally don’t need it as much as Microsoft. If you call the following proof, “enough content to create an entire new game” was cut from FF XIII when it was announced for 360.
lukieboy1981
This is going to be amazing. Nice article too.
ElGuason
i watched the trailer and i knew then that this was going to be a hell of a game!!!!
kevatron400
Deservedly high ranking for this gem of a game. Can not wait for portal 2. One of my most highly anticipates games of the whole year. Zing.
tonycawley
Lol, I almost feel like those comments about trophies were aimed at me, though that’s probably a little vain! I’m still adamant I wont play it til they patch it, as I’m hopefuly they’ll include the original Portal in the Portal 2 game.
TSBonyman
Do you know something the rest of us don’t? :)
It would be awesome if they did that but i think it’s unlikely as they contracted out the work for the original on PS3.
Does this mean you haven’t played the rest of the Orange Box either.. or maybe you have played Half Life series on Pc? If not you’re missing out on one of the most engrossing FPS out there!