Portal is the best game that lies about cake that I've ever played.
It's also the only game that lies about cake that I've ever played. And it's lies about cake, and the overall personality this game brings to the table, that sets it apart from most other similar games.
Puzzle games are everywhere - from the classics like Myst and Riven that (when my brother got it, anyway) came with a notebook for keeping notes in - something almost essential to solving puzzles in the games - to modern, everygamer style affairs such as the Professor Layton games that keep you playing even if you get stuck by giving out hint coins during the game.
Portal isn't really a puzzle game, per se, but it's hard to label it as anything else. You are given a setting, you are taught the rules, and then you must work with these rules to overcome obstacles. The puzzle design is devious and just right, but I think what really makes the game shine is that charm that it brings to the table. It's funny; darkly funny in a sinister way. Where Monkey Island or Sam and Max games might have you laughing about one liners, Portal has a very innocent and yet oh-so-twisted sense of humour at the same time. It reminds me of the Milkman Conspiracy in Psychonauts (surely that game's finest hour) with the way it presents "characters".
For me, this is what makes a puzzle game worth playing, beyond simply puzzle design. Even the best puzzles are boring if experienced constantly without any character to back them up. Portal keeps one smiling as it keeps one thinking, and this seems to be it's greatest triumph. You're bound to remember the humour for far longer than you'll remember the puzzles.
Tie it all up with stylish graphics and, yes, an endearing song to finish with, and it's no wonder Portal took the gaming world by storm.
Recommended? Yes. If only to see what all the fuss is about.
4 comments:
Nice review, really cut to the heart of why Portal is so good.
Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks these are the game's real strengths!
I think the puzzles in Portal are not its greatest strength for the simple reason that overall they're very simple and repetitive. So I agree that the twisted humor (as well as the experience portal physics) are the main things that keep you playing.
Nevertheless, for Portal 2 the thing I'm looking forward the most is the puzzles getting much more complex and interesting - from the trailers it certainly seems like this will happen.
I think the puzzles in Portal being simple may have been one of the aspects that allowed it to gain such worldwide acclaim. Being so accessible and utilizing the same few rules make it a very playable experience for even those who have little desire to solve puzzles.
Had the challenge level been much higher, I think more players would have given up and missed the fine dénouement (if one can accuse Portal of being burdened with such a thing).
Certainly the more compelling sections of the game (from a comedy point of view) anyway, which fall at the game's latter stages.
I, too, would be interested in seeing what challenges can be added to the formula for the sequel, and hope that it retains the quirky charm of the original (which, from trailers, seems to most definitely be the case).
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