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2021-04-18
My wife and I have been playing through both Portal games for the past while. Well, really it's her playing for her first time while I reminisce about my first time playing and give a hint every now and then. It's still lots of fun for us both and watching my wife play is almost like seeing the games with fresh eyes. It's giving me a new appreciation for the series -- which is saying something because Portal is arguably the series that got me into PC gaming over a decade ago (if you don't count me playing Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Quake as a toddler).
So here's a sort of retrospective review of Portal 1 and 2. Spoiler: both games are among the greatest of all time and deserve to be played by everyone.
Released in 2007 by Valve, Portal is a first person puzzle game that has you navigating test chambers filled with puzzles designed around the portal gun mechanic. You can place two portals on any light colored surface and then move naturally between those two portals as if you were walking through a door. Momentum is conserved between portals which allows for a lot of interesting gameplay. For example, place one portal on the floor, the other on a wall, jump into the floor portal from a height and you'll come flying sideways out of the wall portal at the same speed that you were falling at.
The idea of portals sounds simple at first but using them really takes an entirely unique way of thinking. Mastering that way of thinking is what makes the game challenging but also extremely fun and rewarding. Even until the very end of the game you're still coming up with new ways to use portals. Seriously, I don't think I've played any other game where a single mechanic is as deep and consistently fun.
The story is simple but is told in such a way that gets you really interested in it. A lot of it is told through environmental details (a method of storytelling which video games excel at) and it keeps you speculating.
There's some moments of the game that require quick timing which will probably be challenging to someone who's not familiar with first person games. But these are few enough where I don't think they'd get in the way of completing the game.
Overall, the first Portal is worth every single moment of the few hours it will take someone to complete on their first playthrough. If you've somehow managed to go without playing it before now, know that:
The sequel was released in 2011 and polishes the ideas introduced in the first game to a brilliant shine. The portal gun mechanic of course makes a return, along with many of the testing elements from the first game. So many additional elements have been added though that even if you've completely mastered the first game, the second will still be a unique challenge.
The gameplay is very similar but a little more refined. The first Portal was slightly more about figuring out the portals themselves and movement between them while Portal 2 seems to focus more on how to use the portals effectively with the other testing elements. I think for most people this will make the puzzles in Portal 2 more interesting and also more accessible since the sections which require quick timing are far fewer and more forgiving.
The new mechanics are also a ton of fun even on their own. You'll literally be zipping and bouncing around the test chambers.
The story really gets a lot more focus in Portal 2. Several great voice actors like Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons have been brought on and Ellen McLain returns as GLaDOS. The result is fantastic and gives the game unique, hilarious character that was only starting to emerge in the first game.
The length of Portal 2 is also greatly expanded over the first. It never feels like it drags on though thanks to the excellent pacing and constant introduction of new mechanics.
There's also a new co-op mode that's almost just as good as the main single player mode. Both players have their own portal guns which control their own sets of portals and you have to coordinate and work together to get through unique sets of co-op test chambers. Or you can just screw around and try to get each other killed -- that's a lot of fun too.
Did I mention there's also an extremely easy to use built-in map maker?
Everything that the first Portal did well, the sequel sets out to perfect and succeeds -- and then some.
I know the Portal games have been around for a while and are already extremely popular, so it should mean something that I've bothered to type up a post like this. If someone asked me to introduce them to video games in general by showing them three games, Portal 2 would undoubtedly be one of my picks. Seriously, play these games if you haven't.
- moddedBear