Walk through Walls with the Portal"Chell, Chell, WAKE UP! It's test time! Go through this door!" GLaDOS says *Robotic Voice* Oh, oops... That was a little weird... Okay, you came here to read about a game? Well, jump through this Portal to find the brilliant game of Portal. Valve's test game/ masterpiece, is just around the corner now! But let me warn you, Don't get this game full price, it's short, so you want to get a good deal for it! Oh, you finally came through the portal! Here, grab this Portal Gun and follow me. I'll lead you through this puzzle.
Graphics: The graphics are amazing! You see that greenish water below? DON'T LEAN OVER! That's poison. Isn't it done beautifully? What? You don't like the Sewer Water? Oh, all right... Enough with Roll play... The graphics are just amazing. Each Panel and every molecule is just amazing and it's no wonder, as this is a Mod of Half-Life 2. It's a fun remake, but it focuses more on Mechanics and Puzzles than on Graphics... But that doesn't make the graphics terrible... It just makes it slightly worse than the rating could have been. The water I mentioned early on is okay from the outside, but if you fall in, you begin to see some of the problems that occur. It becomes a clear fluid, and has slight green tints here and there... But that's about the only thing that seems odd. The guns, the glass, the portals, the visuals, just everything is beautiful!
You smell that beautiful poison smell? Ah, oh, wait... Smell doesn't count... How about a 9/10 for Graphics? Sound: Okay, this is what the games seems to lack in. There are so few sounds during the entire game... You walk, jump and GLaDOS talks, but that's about it, outside of a few "soundtracks" thrown in here and there. But it's all made good by the song at the end, "Still Alive"
Aperature Science... I am Still Alive...
The most awesome sound there is in the game has to be the gun! I just love the deep, Thunk like sound it makes! But it's hard to describe.
Well, it may not be as good as the Half-Life 2 game, but the song at the end makes it all good. 9/10. Addictiveness: It's really fun to solve random puzzles, but sometimes there's that one spot where you just can't get any farther... That would take a little away from the game, but you still come back for more... Hard to explain, but you know it's true. The game is just too addictive. It's short but going around jumping through random portals and solving brain teasing puzzles is just fun, at least for me. I couldn't get enough of Portal. I think that about sums up this section.
It's just too fun! 9/10? Okay, I guess because of the frustration that could happen it'll have to be a little lower... Story: Well, this is the part that's odd. Have you ever heard the phrase, "Cake is a lie?" Well, that comes from this story. You are Chell, although she is never mentioned by name, anywhere in the entire story... It is true that you are a test subject for Aperature Science... Will you finish the test chambers? Is GLaDOS really a homicidal computer AI? Find out! I won't give more away, but that's just the beginning of the story. It's a good story, but it's still short, as this was really a demo, a test of a concept, and people just loved it. But Portal wasn't made with story in mind. For a game with story not the focus, they sure did a good job of making a good one though. Play the game to find out how good it is! Just buy the game! PLAY IT!
The story is good even though it isn't the focus of the game. I say that it gets a 9/10... I would give it a 9.5 if there were half ratings. Gameplay/Controls: This is where the game really shines. It was a test for a concept in mechanics and Physics. And you have to use Physics to solve puzzles. This sounds simple, but there is danger somewhere in every puzzle. Although you can't take fall damage, most of the game has some type of problem and that often focuses around turrets, poison, and various other things. Valve succedded in bringing interesting mechanics to life! The controls are actually the same as Half-Life 2 with the exception of a flashlight. You have all the light you need provided for you, but there is still great variety in the methods at which you complete each task. You can do so much with the few buttons you have to press, it's incredible. And I love every bit of the game! It's just so well done!
Gameplay and Controls get a 10/10. This should really be standard for a game. Depth: The game lacks in depth as Valve was just seeing if it could build a fan-base large enough to make it work a full release on a game. And, they were successful. But because it was a test, they didn't have as much put into this game as they could have. There are 10 tests, then there is a little something else thrown in. And, I won't say more, for sake of not spoiling the story. But you kind of get the idea. There are only a few ways which it is possible to complete each chamber, making it have an artificial depth. If you understand what I mean with that. There is not really much to it, just a few Physics elements, Dark Humor, a story, and an idea, but really that's about it. This game is one of the shortest I have ever played. It takes a skilled player 45 minutes to beat it, which shows how short the game really is. I would say more, but I think you get the idea, it's a really short game.
I give it an average rating as I really love the game, but this gets a much lower rating than any other category in this review. a lower 8/10. Difficulty: Remember when I said that it was frustrating when you get stuck on that one puzzle? Yeah, some puzzles are really hard. But it's only a few places. Not to mention the final boss at the end of the game. That one takes a while to figure out. But once you get a hang of what to do, it's easy. But this game has a hard learning curve. It's only because of this that it gets a high difficulty rating, but it's a nice change of pace. I just love the hard puzzle styles that are in this awesomeness! I just love the way they made it hard, it's not your typical I'm dead, now I have to start over again type of hard. It's a brain teaser!
Brain-teasing? Not your style, well tough luck. It's still getting a 9/10. Overall: The game is pretty awesome! I hope you got that idea when reading through it! I just love the mechanics, the story, and I have to say that despite a high price, it was still worth it. The game makes you wish for more, and you get that when you have the sequel Portal 2! They made the game to be one of the best in any PC collection! I would say that with it's good graphics, unique sounds, addictiveness and story it's almost unrivaled! It's just incredible! *Back to the tour guide* That concludes our Tour! Almost no one died, which is good! I'll give this ride a 9.5 of 10! Does everyone agree?
Graphics
9 Sound
9 Addictive
9 Depth
8 Story
9 Difficulty
9
User Notice 
