Video Game Ruminations - Portal (2007)

A few months ago, sitting in the pub with my good friend Rich (having spent the day smashing up his garden with a pick axe), the topic of video games surfaced. We discussed what we enjoyed about the medium, how modern practises have ruined them etc. (grumble...grumble...).

I said at the time that I'd send him a list of some of my favourite games from the last ten years or so (specifically more single player orientated). I never got round to coming up with a list, so I'll instead take the opportunity to present it here as a new series of posts.

I find myself playing video games less and less frequently in recent years; very rarely does a game come out now that I will actually devote time to sitting and playing from start through finish. The games I'll talk about in this series are those that met that quality. Not all of them are viewed as critical successes (though most will be), often times what I personally enjoy about a game will not necessarily lead to acclaim by reviewers. I will attempt to keep my thoughts spoiler free where possible.

Portal (2007)

Released alongside Hale Life 2: Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2 as part of the 'Orange Box', I had no inkling of what this game was at the time (I'd bought the Orange Box solely for Episode 2). I was subsequently surprised to find that this game was definitely the best of the collection.

Portal is a first person puzzle game; the player must solve a series of increasingly challenging  puzzle rooms using the titular portal gun - a tool capable of opening two linked portals, one blue and one orange, through which the player (and objects) can pass. The player may also 'see' through these portals, as long as both sides are linked.

Mechanics are slowly introduced to the player; initially the interaction between boxes (which can be picked up by the portal gun in a similar vein to Half Life 2's gravity gun) and buttons, to the concept of conservation of momentum through portals. Obstacles are also sequentially added; moving platforms, deadly acid pools, energy balls and disturbingly charming homicidal gun turrets.

 Whilst the puzzle aspect of the game is enjoyable in itself, it is reinforced by the environment in which it takes place and the characters (or lack thereof) found within. The player character, Chell, finds herself completely alone within a seemingly abandoned Aperture Science testing facility, save for the attentions of the sentient A.I. GLaDOS (whose dark humour I find particularly delightful). The game successfully creates an atmosphere of isolation, tension and foreboding; no-one is coming to help, there is no escape.

 The story is not overtly explained, it has to be pieced together via different clues: an abandoned office powerpoint presentation, letters, posters and, hidden in some of the test chambers, the insane scrawling of a mad man. This is one of my favourite types of narrative; you have to want to piece together the story.

A stand alone sequel, Portal 2, was released in 2011. Despite introducing many more mechanics and being arguably a superior game, it was ultimately flawed in comparison to the original. What made the original so great was it's lack of characters, it's sense of isolation. Portal 2 throws this out of the window; there is rarely a time where you are not accompanied by some type of companion character, the A.I. core 'Wheatley' being the prime culprit. Sometimes less really is more.


Well, that's my thoughts on Portal. Both Portal and Portal 2 can be found on Steam. They are both well worth playing for their rather unique gameplay. Oh, and remember:

The Cake is a Lie.