Portal

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!

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!

I should note that this game is part of the Orange Box, So I will conclude the whole thing here.

Let's start off with the Half life 2 thing. I didn't play the Half life before But I can say after playing this, I wish to Buy it! The Game offer's Unique character's and fantastic models that will make even the most well played gamer say ' what the ****!' the maps are extensive and are hard and satisfying to explore and conquer. But the enemy's are the only thing I have to say went a bit wrong. There good to battle and it's great to fight, But I see a repetition of enemies that make you tired of playing Half life 2 for a bit. But the Orange box solves that problem for a bit.

Let's look at Portal. Yes portal, You probably heard ( or about to) that the game is probably a revolution in puzzle games since Russians invented Tetris...they are right. The game is probably one of the best games I had ever played. Very different then Half life franchise, with only two characters, making this game very comfortable to new people who are uneasy to playing puzzle games. With GlADIS, the only speaking role in the game, is played wonderfully and you will antipate when she will speak next. But what about the game play? It's AMAZING! something I never seen is you can actually travel great distances without even using anything but a Portal gun. You have to understand that trying to even do this with the graphic's it shows is almost next to impossible for the playstation 2 or even playstation 3! The only thing bad I can say about this game is...well nothing! The game show's that you can still play a good game without bloodshed or going around a place rounding thing's up to make a star.

Not much to say about Team fortress 2. But I really wish I had Xbox live while playing this. The game is mainly online based so I can't say much.

Developer commentary's are in all the games and are easy to read. Buy this Game right NOW! 10 out of 10! Go out to your nearest best buy and buy this game! You will never be sorry!....Oh ****, I got to buy it!

Portal is a work of genius, hands down. Only genius can use cake as a philosophic standpoint, argue to kill an inanimate object, and give you sufficient reason to love things out to kill you (much less call them cute). Further more, what kind of game is this? is it a first-person-shooter? a puzzle game? a comedy? It is (more or less) all three...

Without giving too much away, you play as a character (later on named Chell) that receives a device capable of producing portals. These portals allow you to travel across a room, walking in one portal and out the other instantly. You are guided through an expanse of testing and experimentation by a computer known simply as "GLaDOS", or Generic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. Things are not quite as they seem while you make your way through the Aperture Science Enrichment Center.

This game is worth the attention, and probably the most inventive thing I've seen out of the gaming world in my life. Get it. Now. =)