The puzzle never gets old.
On New Year’s Eve, I really wanted to play something native. I chose Portal: back in 2007, it became a favorite from the Orange Box, despite the impressive competitors in the face of HL2 Episode Two and Team Fortress 2. Portal immediately sunk into my soul, and when replaying, I even got confused and knocked out the «Signal received» achievement — where you need to look for the radio at the levels and catch the signal.
The puzzle still plays great even after 15 years!
The concept of the game will not become obsolete even after 100 years
The secret of Portal is in its simplicity. The design of the whole puzzle looks very minimalistic: nothing distracts from completing the task to complete the level and move on to the next one. There are few tools, so the puzzle is suitable for everyone, and not just fans of the genre who love complexity and a large selection of tools.
In fact, there is only a portal gun, a companion cube and energy balls. Shoot portals, put a die on the button to open doors and drive energy balls into the pocket. Enemies will appear later: small standing robots that will add suspense and make you act very quickly a couple of times per game.
The concept is so simple that it is suitable for children. I think that at the age of 7-8, a child is already able to complete levels and move along the plot. The game makes you think, but there are no hardest puzzles. Somewhere you need to study the level, somewhere — to act quickly, somewhere — to get into the timing.
And for teenagers, Portal is great because of the physical puzzles. Here you need to regularly accelerate in order to move further in the level: this way you can get acquainted with the concepts of inertia and kinetic energy in practice.
Portal is mysterious and captivating
Every brilliant game is bound to capture. Portal has no problem with this: at first we go through simple puzzles and get acquainted with the logic of the game. After that, we gradually go to difficult levels, where it is easy to die and you need to think before pressing the buttons.
GLeDOS is responsible for humor and plot intrigue — artificial intelligence, which at first gives hints and comments on our actions. However, after a while we realize that she does not want to help at all.
The cold comments of GLeDOS are intriguing and give the game an aura of mystery. We pass test levels, we find old graffiti on the walls «The cake is a lie!» And we understand that getting out will be very difficult!
GLaDOS is one of the best antiheroes in video games.
If in the first half of the game about GLeDOS you could say “something is wrong with her”, then the action turns into almost a thriller. Gradually, we understand that AI is brazenly lying and does not want good at all.
After completing both Portals, GLaDOS wants to put it on the same level with such iconic anti-heroes as the Joker, Trevor from GTA 5 and Handsome Jack. She is cynical, completely insane and always gets things done. Don’t fall under her charm!
It’s got great sound and the perfect ending song
The strength of all Valve games is the chic sound design: what were the Half-Life games worth! Portal keeps the level, although it has a much more modest budget. Every item and action has a recognizable sound that doesn’t get boring even if you play all day.
The voice of GLaDOS Ellen McLain perfectly plays out a wide range of AI emotions: amazement, disappointment, resentment, anger, anger and even fear! Surprisingly, she didn’t do much voice work outside of Valve games. But she can be heard in the English version of Cyberpunk 2077: she voiced one of the versions of Delamain.
The final chord of Portal was the song in the credits. Still Alive is not only funny, it also reveals the lore. We get to know the mysterious personality of GLaDOS and its relationship to us better.
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Portal will never get old — take the time to replay this masterpiece. RTX card owners can even enjoy modern features in an old game. The best two hours straight from 2007!
