Portal
Description official description
Aperture Science is a secret weapons research organization in competition with Black Mesa. Chell is a test subject at the "Enrichment Center" facility who awakens to find an A.I. construct called GlaDOS requiring some tasks to be completed. They are testing the Aperture Handheld Portal Device (aka Portal Gun) which is able to create portals in space, allowing Chell to move from one point to another without actually crossing the distance. Chell is promised cake should she be able to overcome the obstacles and perform the necessary tests.
She has to use her new gun to fling, jump and fall her way through 19 puzzles. These include obstacles but also androids that fire at her. Although the game is played as a first-person shooter, a large amount of strategy and puzzle-solving is involved. After completing the game, two additional game modes become available: Challenge where the game needs to be completed in either as little time, as few footsteps, or as few portals as possible. The other mode is Advanced, where levels are made harder through additional obstacles.
Portal is set in the Half-Life universe and it is considered the spiritual successor to Narbacular Drop, some of whose original developers worked on this game. The Windows game can be bought stand-alone, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are only available in The Orange Box.
Spellings
- ポータル - Japanese spelling
- 포털 - Korean spelling
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Credits (Windows version)
171 People (164 developers, 7 thanks) · View all
Reviews
Critics
Average score: 87% (based on 41 ratings)
Players
Average score: 4.2 out of 5 (based on 276 ratings with 6 reviews)
Interesting idea, but not much of a game.
The Good
I haven't seen a fresher idea for a game mechanism in years. And to find one that actually leaves much up to the player's imagination is rare. The portal weapons work like a charm, as does the physics in the game.
The Bad
However, I can't shake the feeling that I'm playing around with a tech demo. I have a hard time calling it a game. Most gamers will probably finish it in a couple of hours and that only adds to the demo feeling of the "game".
The story is thin, vague and not much to spur the player on. I got this game for free but had I payed money for it I would have felt even more cheated. It's fun to play around with and the gameplay is superbly executed - but I just don't see a whole game in there.
The Bottom Line
Imagine a typical 3D shooter without weapons. Instead you have the ability to shoot portals on almost any solid surface. If you shoot one portal on the right wall, and the other on the left and then go through the right one - you will come out of the left portal. These portals can be applied to ceilings and floors as well.
Now, the traditional shooter becomes a puzzle game where you need to use the portals - and your imagination - to get from point A to point B.
Windows · by Thomas Helsing (182) · 2011
An achievement in humor and game design
The Good
Portal will always be known as one of the best written games of all times. Every single joke lands on the spot because the voice acting of SHO... I mean GLaDOS is fantastic and she doesn't talk your ear off (a virtue Portal 2 unfortunately forgot).
This is one of the only puzzle games which have a very polished difficulty curve: the puzzles never feel too easy or too hard in context of the game progression. The mechanics are simple, but the designers found many approaches to make clever puzzles out of them.
The Bad
The downside of the polished difficulty curve is that most of the game feels like a tutorial. Only in the last chapter the game stops holding your hand, but just at that moment it also stops introducing more difficult or complex puzzles and only iterates. That's normal for puzzle games, but in this case it stands out negatively because the whole game is relatively short (at most three hours) and the previous chapters were exceptionally varied. In the end, it makes the last chapter a bit tedious.
The Bottom Line
I believe it is a hard challenge to find someone on MobyGames who hasn't played Portal before, especially because Valve regularly gave it away for free on Steam. If you are one of this rare species, you absolutely have to give it a try - it will only cost you a few hours of your life, but in return you receive one of the funniest games of all times.
Windows · by Patrick Bregger (301024) · 2021
The Good
The story was amazing, and the fact it used artificial intelligence as the main enemy of the game was exactly what I was looking for at the first time I played it. I would watch every lets-play on youtube as many times as possible as I waited to actually buy the game- and when I did I was so happy to get it that I beat it in a matter of three days. I love how the gameplay was, and how not every 'chamber', or test level, was easy and how you had to use your mind for quite a few of them.
The Bad
I really didn't like how short the game was in general. They could have added a lot more interesting things to the first game and still had it lead up to the seemingly even more popular sequel. Personally, I could play through this game with my eyes closed- I memorized the levels since I played it through so much, and over time it just got flat out boring.
The Bottom Line
Personally, this game is one of the coolest games I've played in awhile. Sure, it has some pros and cons about it and its not all completely amazing. Sure, it gets boring after awhile for people like me, but it is definitely worth getting.
Windows · by Mae Spencer (4) · 2011
Discussion
Subject | By | Date |
---|---|---|
Free until May 25th, 2010! (on Steam) | Patrick Bregger (301030) | May 23, 2010 |
Valve re-writes the ending. | Starbuck the Third (22606) | Mar 5, 2010 |
Steam can't so I can't play | Arachia Botanical | Nov 20, 2009 |
Incorrectly grouped | vedder (70810) | Feb 17, 2009 |
The Device Has Been Modified | xroox (3895) | Jan 17, 2009 |
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Portal appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
German version
In some German versions, the colour of blood was changed to grey.
GLaDOS
According to a boardroom projection in the game, GLaDOS stands for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System.
Awards
- Eurogamer (UK)
- December 28, 2009 - Game of the Year 2007* Games for Windows Magazine
- March 2008 - #1 Game of the Year 2007 (PC Game Awards)* GameSpy
- 2007 – Best Puzzle Game of the Year
- 2007 – Best Character of the Year (for GlaDOS)
- 2007 – Best Sidekick of the Year (for The Weighted Companion Cube)
- 2011 – #8 Top PC Game of the 2000s
- GameStar (Germany)
- March 28, 2008 - Most Innovative Game Mechanics in 2007
Information also contributed by jean-louis and LepricahnsGold.
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Related Sites +
-
A Piece of Cake
An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Portal (May, 2010). -
ApertureScience
website of the fictional Aperture Science company with an alternate reality game -
Design Language: The Portal Paradoxes
Noah Falstein presents a comprehensive design critique of Portal - from intro to 'Still Alive'. -
MacGamer Review
A review of the Mac version of Portal by the news and review site, MacGamer (May 18th, 2010). -
Portal Is for lesbians
A look at the female cast and the influence on the theme, on Heroine Sheik (17th October 2007) -
Portal flash pack
A pack of custom maps for the game, based on the unofficial 2D flash version.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Dakota Bob.
Android added by GTramp. Linux added by Sciere. Macintosh added by Kabushi.
Additional contributors: PCGamer77, Sciere, Foxhack, Zeppin, lee jun ho, Patrick Bregger, FatherJack, Harmony♡.
Game added October 16, 2007. Last modified February 21, 2024.