Portal

You go through different rooms solving puzzles; it kinda is that simple, but it really isn't. Where are you? Why are you held prisoner? And who is the disembodied voice guiding (taunting[?]) you along? Excellent dialog and dark humor are enough to propel you through challenges that range from fun to tough-as-nails.

Puzzle games and first-person shooters: never been a big fan of either, but both are combined here into a mind-bending journey through a high-tech lab. The portal gun itself is a fun game mechanic, but it's really all you have to make your way past machine-gun robots, lasers and electrical fields. There's also a companion cube which, oddly enough, becomes sort of a sidekick.

Technically there's running, shooting and a boss fight; but in the end, it is unlike any video game I've ever played and it is a must for anyone who can get their hands on it. It is short, but I can hardly consider that a negative - because as soon as I finished, I started over and did it all again. Twice.

This game is awesome; on the short side, but still amazing. It's basically a puzzle game with state of the art graphics and physics. You're a test subject in an "Enrichment Center" and you're using this "Portal Gun" to clear various obstacle courses; for example if you're standing in front of a pit of acid, you can shoot a portal on the wall on your side, then shoot the connecting portal on the wall on the other side, and simply walk through your portal to get to your goal. It gets much more complex as the game progresses; it's a first person game, but really tests your intelligence and reasoning abilities. It also has a simple but excellent plot, and great characters which you may find cute, creepy, funny, or all of the above. Totally original, and exceptionally fun, you have to play it!

As an avid gamer, I pride myself on the diversity of games that I play. Though I'm not a big fan of puzzle games, (I usually tend to prefer the more violent games) I decided to buy the Portal bundle from the Steam Store. I had heard of it over the years and always blew it off because it looked like a really poor idea for a game. I started playing Portal as soon as it finished downloading and the mystery and obfuscation right from the start hooked me and pulled me right into it. As I said before, I'm not really a big fan of puzzle games, but Portal just seemed to grab a hold of me and didn't let go until it was over. The levels started of simple and easy, but as you progress through the game they seem to get exponentially more difficult. Valve took a minimalist approach to the gameplay and managed to weave an extremely intricate story to back it up and leave you guessing about everything outside of the Enrichment Center.

When I say minimalist, I mean they used very few characters, very few environments, and a very limited number of use-able tools. The characters and story, despite this minimal use of characters, both showed a lot of depth and made you actually like all the characters. As for the environments and tools, they rearranged them for each level to make each situation more and more difficult to solve. I was amazed by the depth of the story and characters, and also of how well they put the puzzles together. I played through the game in one sitting but it took me a whole night to do so. Even though it was pretty short lived, it was a memorable and enjoyable experience that I would recommend for anyone that calls themselves a gamer. Just remember that the cake is a lie!

Now Portal is one of these games that its hard to say things against because its incredibly neat. Even if its not the best game in all categories. For example, its puzzles are good but they're not has good has other famous games such as The Legend Of zelda series. Or then, the story is great, but there are many games with a better story than Portal. Nevertheless, this game is good on pretty much every angle. Its neat in all the ways it can be, from start to finish. Which is why I find this game deserves a tone of praise. It also has a couple of unique elements to it, such as the portal mecanics or the funny dialog from the AI character. I think this game is better than many other games that focus on one single element but fail to make other elements great. There is a lot of great things to experience playing Portal and I highly recommend it to everyone. Even if you haven't played any story games before I think this is a good place to start.

I wasn't a person who enjoyed puzzle games much, due to there not being enough innovation in any of them. Then I played Portal and I was truly blown away. Yes, the game's length is something that should be considered, even being completable in one or two sittings, taking only three hours. But its what it does in that time that really seals the deal. The portal gun is an incredibly well-designed and very interesting concept, and you'll be hard-pressed to not muck around it at least once in the campaign. Throughout the game, new concepts such as turrets are added in to make more a challenge. The humour is great, with GLADoS' dialogue being written nice, but the game also knows where to stop itself, a large reason why the game is so hilarious. The game looks pretty good for a 2007 game. It's not bad looking by any stretch of the imagination, and you shouldn't be playing this game for its visuals. To rap things up, Portal is a must-play due to its unique take on the first-person shooter genre, and while you might be scared of its short length, picking it up in the Orange Box is a brilliant idea.