rigelkitty: Portal. Meh.

Rigel (

rigelkitty) wrote,
@ 2008-04-13 03:23:00

Current mood:

tired

Portal. Meh.

So I'm finally getting around to playing Portal. It's turning out to not be nearly as exciting, comedic, or revolutionary as word of mouth made it out to be. It's a cute puzzle game in the form of a stripped-down FPS with a gimmick and light, dry humor. Yes, it's simple fun and there's some interesting ideas, but I'm missing the "wow" factor that caused the game to receive so many A+'s and 5-star reviews. It's like a Sokoban FPS - there's enough content to support a simple version, but one wonders why so much effort was put into making something so basic look like Half-Life. I'd say 7/10 so far. After an hour, I'm on level 14, should finish it in another session or two. Maybe the "wow" is on levels 15-19...

(Post a new comment)

	rabitguy 2008-04-13 07:47 am UTC (link)
	I came to the exact same impression up till about that same point. Then it quickly changed. :) (Reply to this)

	halfelf 2008-04-13 02:06 pm UTC (link)
	The wow factor is just after that, yes. :) (Reply to this)

	I think you waited too long tulan 2008-04-13 03:16 pm UTC (link)
	Too many Portal things are now well known all over the net. You most likely already knew most of the interesting things that were going to happen. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: I think you waited too long rigelkitty 2008-04-13 03:37 pm UTC (link)
	So you're agreeing that the game's positive reviews were all based on hype? The prior respondents seem to suggest I just haven't gotten to the good parts. I guess I don't read the same parts of the net that you do, I only know snippets, and they're just in-jokes. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: I think you waited too long tulan 2008-04-13 03:40 pm UTC (link)
	I wouldn't say that. I still think its a good game. I just think it's like going into a good movie already knowing all the good parts. The impact isn't going to be as strong as if you didn't know it was coming. Furthermore, your expectations are very high, which is the exact opposite of what most people felt when they first played Portal in the Orange Box. (Reply to this)(Parent)

jinxtigger
2008-04-13 04:13 pm UTC (link)

I haven't played it but I enjoyed the walkthroughs- my feeling is that if you were going to get into the personality of the game you'd have noticed it by now- though yes, there is a major twist in store. The reason I'm charmed by Portal is the personality and writing. It's not unlike classic Bungie game writing, some of the humor is rather twisted and dry- like if you were playing the classic Bungie Marathon, focussed on winning the game, and suddenly you're reading a terminal but instead of relevant information you're reading an incredibly long hallucinatory essay about killing a rat with your bare hands.

It's like that- stuff that's there to knock you out of your 'solving the game' mindset and make you go WTF. I suspect Portal is more effective that way if you buy that GlaDOS is your helpful computer guide to testing the new items and will always give you useful and trustworthy information... then every step of the way, this assumption is sabotaged :)

(Reply to this)

pholph
2008-04-13 06:46 pm UTC (link)

Having played through it, I have to agree, the first 14 levels are not the pure gorgeousness that the reviewers make it out to be.

Of course, it doesn't help that the internet has latched onto "The Companion Cube" and force meme'd it into a six sided Jesus.

However, there are more than a few moments of gorgeousness to come, and while Portal is not causing liquid sex to ooze out of your computer, it was quite a blast for me, and I've no non-happy memories of it. I won't spoil it for you, but I had more enjoyment in lvl 18-19 than any others.

I do enjoy the whole, well, 'self-training game' aspect. I do wish it was much longer, or that there was a "50 levels" pack coming.

(Reply to this)

	arcykittah 2008-04-13 09:28 pm UTC (link)
	The first 10-15 levels are all about teaching you how to complete everything that follows. It's everything that follows that is golden. That, and the companion cube. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	rigelkitty 2008-04-13 10:22 pm UTC (link)
	See new post. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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