Ah yes, the wonderful world of Portal. While some may classify this game as a shooter, I tend to put it in the Puzzle genre. The only thing you're shooting with is...well...a gun that creates 2 different kinds of portals (one you go into and the other one you come out from.) Anyways, from what I've experienced with Portal, it wasn't bad at all.
Requirements:
Minimum:
- Operating System: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7
- Processor: A processor capable of 1.7ghz (doesn't list a brand name)
- Memory: 512MB of RAM
- Graphics: A card capable of DirectX 8.1 (must support SSE)
- Storage: Approximately 1.7GB of hard drive space
Recommended:
- Operating System: Same as above
- Processor: Intel Pentium 4 3.0ghz processor (or AMD equivalent)
- Memory: 1GB of RAM
- Graphics: A card capable of DirectX 9.0
- Storage: Same as above
Story: Uhhhhh...well, the story behind Portal is uhhhh....well, you're basically a human guinea pig in a laboratory studying something called Aperture Science. Basically, you have a total of 19 different obstacle courses that get much more difficult each time you progress and test how well you can complete each course with the resources you have within your environment. However, THERE IS a story in Portal but I don't wanna ruin the fun.
Gameplay: Portal is a very unique game because it's a shooter but then again, NOT a shooter at the same time. Sounds a bit confusing eh? Well if you had to choose a genre to put Portal in, I'd say Puzzle Shooter. Early in the game, you're given a gun-like uhhhh...device thingy that shoots out portals. The gun shoots out 2 types: 1 for entrance and 1 for exiting. The people at Valve who created Portal really put a good amount of time (or at least, I think so) to create an awesome game that also gives your brain a good workout. These puzzles aren't like a jigsaw puzzle (meaning that they are easy) and every piece of the puzzle fit so seamlessly together that I really had a great time with this game. First 3 levels, I kind of gave up since puzzle games aren't my favorite but the puzzles in Portal didn't make me angry and they weren't easy also. Each time I progressed, I learned something new about the game and how to utilize my surroundings to get to the end. Seriously, creating portals all over the place just to get to the finish line hasn't been more fun than this.
Graphics: Just by reading the requirements above, you definitely know you're not going to need an all-balls-out computer system to play. Nowadays, the graphics chip onboard the motherboard is enough to play Portal and that's definitely a plus. Hell, I'll bet you can even use the Core I3 and Core I5 dual core CPUs' integrated graphics chip to play this game (there are some reports that the embedded graphics chip on the 2 brands of CPUs can handle WoW.) Not only that but the recommended graphics requirement calls out for a DIRECTX 9 graphics card and right now, we are up to DirectX 11. Anyways, my point is that this game isn't heavy at all.
Sound: The sounds of Portal mesh great together to give you the feeling that you are some guinea pig trapped in a science lab. Sound effects range from the tapping of the floor as you walk to the "whoosh" sounds from doors opening, uhhhh...energy balls flying around, to the weird "thump" noise that your portal gun makes, and then to the metallic noises of lead perforating steel floors and so forth. The computerized voice that tells you of your progress throughout Portal is spectacular and whoever the voice actor is, KUDOS to you!
Misc: One thing that this game has that many games are starting to lack is humor. Throughout your time progressing through each obstacle course, you'll be given some funny ass dialog from the computer. The jokes are absurd but are well thought-out and don't sound silly like some kindergartner telling you a "knock-knock" joke. Also, this game really does make you stop for a minute and think out your strategy on how to complete the course BEFORE you begin to tackle it. Well the start of the game isn't much but the later courses are and you'll be spending a good amount of time pausing to think about how to reach the goal.
My conclusion: Aside from being a game with NO action (aside from solving puzzles), Portal manages to do well to capture my attention for being what it is. No, you don't shoot your enemies down (well kind of) and no, you don't blow shit up but what you do get is a game that was crafted excellently by Valve. Seriously, the only gripe I can find with this game is that: A) No action and no blow-shit-up action and: B) It makes you think. These 2 factors will probably make the younger audience shun it but for those that know how to use their brain for more than just blowing shit up on the Internet, this game will tickle your fancy. Portal was a good game.....nah, Portal was a GREAT game and to me, I feel it deserves a 8.75/10.0.
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