I Think With Portals!

Advantages: Original game design, masterful storyline, truly immersive, new ideas
Disadvantages: Short

...Valve Corporation's Portal has been called one of the greatest games of all time. This is quite a lot to live up to. After all, the list of 'greatest games of all time' includes Super Mario Bros, Chrono Trigger, Monopoly and Naked Simon Says. Even if it doesn't make that list for you, it's undeniably a modern classic. But what is it all about? All I heard for months from my friends was "Portal is this, Portal is that", so eventually my curiosity was piqued and I picked up a copy in the hope of understanding what the heck they were all on about. You see the game through the eyes of Chell, a young female silent protagonist who wakes up in the abandoned Aperture Science Enrichment Centre. Clean and futuristic-looking, the centre would be a nice place if it wasn't for the eerie silence and... that voice. A deadpan, female voice which...

RayWhitney 08.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

It's Still Alive- Portal

Advantages: Unique gameplay and creepy robots
Disadvantages: Outdated graphics and fairly short

...The game portal, is the most imaginative and incredibly simple idea for a game I have ever had the joy of playing. The game is set in the Half-life universe developed by the American company Valve, which has a very in-depth storyline that is a great read but not necessary to know to play portal. It all starts with you in a glass enclosure with a creepy computerised female voice explaining the idea behind the enrichment centre activity that you have been specially selected for. From then on its merely about surviving Glados' (the computer) rooms and get to the end, where she has promised you cake. To complete the many complicated challenges in front of you, you must make full use of the portal gun given to you which allows you to fire a blue and an orange portal, by stepping in one you come out the other. The physics in Portal are...

sim721 10.11.2008 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

Portal, Chester - good but not great

Advantages: Modern, comfortable with leisure and golf facilities
Disadvantages: Intrusive golf parties in restaurant and bar. Not a special experience

...Decided to have some "staycation" breaks this year with my wife, and selected the Macdonald Portal for 3 nights. Got a good deal at around £400 for DB&B. Hotel is in a very quiet location near Tarporley village. Plenty of car parking but entrance is not impressive, or even easily found. Reception process friendly and efficient. Our booking request for a "country view" was quickly noted and our room switched to a very comfortable (and larger) one at no additional cost. Room was very well equipped and quiet. Leisure facilities excellent with very large pool of constant depth throughout. Steam/sauna etc were also available. Breakfast was excellent, with buffet cold selection and made-to-order hot selection. Restaurant menu for dinner was surprisingly "plain" and more like that for a golf bar. The reason was soon obvious when a table...

mashpuma 06.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Macdonald Portal Hotel Golf And Spa, Tarporley

Portal - "I'm doing science and I'm still alive."

Advantages: Using Portals, storyline, graphics
Disadvantages: Short Game.

...Portal Storyline Portal is the newest generation of puzzle games, you, a science lab rat, use a Portal Gun to solve puzzles, where you are guided along a computer voiced sound. Along the way your trust in her deteriates as you progress. You finally realise that when she has used you she says that "All aperture equipment stays safe up to 4000 degrees" This is when you realise that you were never going to get any cake, which was promised earlier on in the game *sniffs* After you finish the puzzles your new objective is too find G.L.A.D.O.S, You are guided by messages on the wall that have been written in red, possibly blood. And along the way G.L.A.D.O.S. tries to reassure you that is was merely just another test, and tells you to lay down and 'promises' you that you will recieve your cake. Ofcourse no one is that...

AnSiB 08.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

Wont run for certain onboard chips

Advantages: It looks pretty and its easy to start playing
Disadvantages: The game crashes some onboard graphics chips

...Portal, brought to you by Valve who also created Half Life. Portal was made using the same design engine used to create Half Life 2 but don't let that fool you into thinking your PC will play this because it can play HL2. Would that it were my FPS playing friends but sadly its untrue. Portal is badly designed but its implementation is even worse, installing the game for the 1st time is nice and simple. It'll install Steam (Valves INCREDIBLY annoying copyright authentication system that insists you MUST be online to register the game, possibly the worst game authetication idea since the lenz lok in the 80's) then it'll install the game from the dvd, verify your Steam account and the validity of your game then it'll let you play it. Well I say "let you play it" but sadly Valve decided to do something to the game engine since they...

atytyut2434 22.04.2009 (01.08.2009) · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

My favourite game of all time!

Advantages: freaking awesome, innovative, fun
Disadvantages: It is pure WIN, but I wish it lasted longer

...Frequently hailed as the best game of all time, portal will certainly live up your expectations!! The game is so unique and thought provoking you will be left wondering why hadn't bought it earlier! The game involves using your logic and wit to solve a series of puzzles with portals (something that enters one portal exits from the other portal). While this element is awesome, it is the memorable characters, the mindgames and storyline that will leave you in awe. Only one thing stops this game from being perfect. It is short, and once you have played it once there is little replay value. However, I seriously think you should get this game. It is immense and an amazing experience. P.S.. RIP the companion cube....

rozenxmaiden 29.05.2009 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

One of the best mind games ever, one of the shortest games ever

Advantages: One of the best puzzle games ever!
Disadvantages: Just so happens to be the shortest game ever to!

...Generic Info Man, when i first got this i remember instantly sitting down and installing it. I then remember making a sandwhich and going back upstairs. I was really anxious to play this game for i had heard a lot about it from my friend. When it was finally done installing, and loading i starrted. The beginning of this game is very confusing and boring, like in most games, but later on it gets diffucult and exciting, like with the addition of turrets and such. This game stretched my mind in many ways i didnt think possible. On one stage i remember i spent a day and a half thinking about, but in the end it turned out to be just a simple 2 portal win. The thing about this game that is so interesting is how its played. Gameplay You are a test subject being guided by a machine (i have nightmares bout this machine) you, the test...

zantatu 04.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

Keep on trying until you run out of cake.

Advantages: Fun to play, innovative, vivid storyline
Disadvantages: Too short

...Portal, the hidden gem nestled within the treasure chest of The Orange Box can now be purchased as a standalone title, allowing a whole new wave of gamers the opportunity to revel in one of the most innovative productions the industry has seen in a long time. The game is set amidst the sprawling network of the Aperture Science Laboratories, a research corporation running experiments on the Handheld Portal Device or 'portal gun'. This gun forms the backbone of what makes the game so special; it is a very clever concept. The portal gun allows you to make a gateway, or portal, between two points. Whatever passes through one portal will come out of the other, while retaining the same momentum. GLaDOS, an AI computer, acts as a narrator and guide, taking you through a number of challenges that make clever use of this portal gun, from...

southy787 03.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

If it was longer, it would be the best game ever!

Advantages: Original and innovative
Disadvantages: Too short

...Portal is something of a rarity in this day and age - a game with some truly original ideas. It is from Valve, the creators of the Half Life series, so you can be sure that it is going to be a polished and slick creation. Built using the bespoke Source engine, it has the same excellent graphics as the Half Life 2 games, along with the amazing physics engine, which is where I suspect the inspiration for the game came from. Within Portal you are a test subject in a laboratory, and you are presented with a series of puzzles to solve. As they increase in complexity as the game progresses, you are introduced to the concepts of portal in a nice gradual manner. The graphics are well polished throughout, but the maps are a little sparse, but they are supposed to portray a clinical testing environment, they are perfectly suitable. As...

scola_p 24.10.2007 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)

Be sure to save some room for the cake

Advantages: Great writing, amazing level design.
Disadvantages: Abit on the short side.

...What an amazing experience! Well done to Valve the makers of Portal, this stand alone game based in the half life universe is an spectacular original mix of first person perspective puzzle action laced with some great writing which will have anyone laughing aloud. As I said Portal is a Puzzle game, the game begins with the main unnamed protagonist (you) in some kind of cell from where you are quickly released, the player soon discovers the portal gun which is pivotal in your progression through the 18+ brilliantly designed levels on the path to freedom. The mind bending portal gun essentially allows the player to place 2 portals around the room from which you can enter and exit so long (as they are placed on the correct surface), the positioning of the portals is vital in over coming various obstacles which block the path to the next...

Cyberpunk2199 26.09.2008 · Read review
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Review of Portal (PC)