Deja Fu

I mentioned yesterday I spent a good part of my birthday playing Portal and since the game still occupies time in my brain, I figured I’d write up a small review.

Portal is a first-person puzzle game that takes place within the fictional testing facilities of Aperture Science Laboratories. In it, you play a female protagonist who is tasked with moving through a series of levels utilizing various objects, switches and, most infamously, teleportation portals. This mechanic, being able to build portals that instantaneously move the character when they step through, is the heart of the game. For example, you might find yourself blocked by a chasm to large to jump across. With the portal gun, you can place the entrance on a wall on the near side of the chasm, the exit on a wall on the far side of the chasm, step through and viola! You’ve crossed the chasm.

However, as engaging as that might be for the gameplay, the story and dialogue are the real icing on this particular cake. You are constantly given feedback, instructions, and encouragement from the disembodied voice of GLaDOS, the artificial intelligence running and monitoring these tests. As the dialogue progresses, so does the story, which is also filled with dark wit and gallows humor. Eventually, the story and gameplay become more complex, incorporating twists in the plot and a surprising revelation.

It’s a short, very amusing and refreshing game. The only criticism that might be leveled is its length, but to be perfectly honest, I would rather a game too short and marvelously constructed, than a game filled with mediocrity to increase its playing time. Days later, and I’m still hearing the final song, “Still Alive” playing in my head occasionally.

As for cake and grief counseling? Those are available at the conclusion of the test.

-K