Game Review- Portal

I have had the pleasure of playing a very different video game called Portal. Made by Valve back in 2007, Portal was designed as a test to see if any of the gamers out there will actually like it. They did, and so, a few years ago, the sequel Portal 2 was released. Portal is a very unique game in that there is no guns or death involved, but is actually meant to stretch your brain by giving you problem solving challenges. Portal is available exclusively in The Orange Box, a collection of Valve's best games.

Portal begins with you being in a very clean and white walled room, with a robotic voice awakening you and telling you that you will be doing some test for her. The robot, GLaDOS, (picture on the right) is an artificial intelligence that seems very determined for you to die, even though she promises you cake if you survive till the end.. She then directs you into a room where you pick up the Aperture Science Portable Quantum Tunneling Device, or Portal gun as it is commonly called. With this gun, you can shoot a blue portal on the wall or floor, and an orange portal on another surface, and then proceed to walk through the portals like walking through a doorway. With this you must open doors, activate buttons, and dodge little robots with machine guns. All the while GLaDOS is harassing you and taunting you, which turns out more comical than anything else.

The Verdict

I started Portal thinking that it would be boring and way to challenging. Boy was I wrong. Portal has a way of making things fun, easy and simple but also making you think outside the box. And to do it with absolutely no curse words or suggestive themes, well that is just great.

The Abbott Abacus: