Through The Portal

I love Portal. No, I simply adore it. A simple game, perhaps. A short game, yes. A great game, without a doubt! Since I haven't posted in quite some time, I guess I'll have to do a compendium of all my favorite Portal resources on this single posting. Shipped in the Orange Box, it expertly keeps up Valve's high quality gameplay (as Zero Punctuation, a hilarious and fascinating find of mine, notes below).



The basic idea of Portal is you are a test subject for Aperture Science, a stereotypical high-tech company that is developing technology that allows one to create two portals that interconnect space regardless of the distance these portals are from one another. It is a genius twisting of physics, and is made even better by the clever storyline. Based off the Half-Life universe, it is amazing how much plot is jammed into just a little bit of dialog and occasional hints. Overall, complete genius.

Now you may find some spoilers below, so beware:

I found the ending song to be as satisfying as the story itself, and yet another credit to the amazing game. You can see the ending screen below. Another version is available here, expertly animated by Scott from VG Cats.



The game itself is based on the freeware game Narbacular Drop (download), which I had, around the release of Half-Life 2, played. It is certainly a clever concept from the start, but Valve takes it to a whole new level. In a way, Valve has taken advantage of my natural affinity for all things AI with their use of GLaDOS, who is just a downright amusing and lovable character (as are the turrets), and, of course, the companion cube.


On a final note, I just received the t-shirt from VG Cats with companion cube and Portal catch-phrase today. I cannot wait to wear it around campus and see what reactions I get!