Portal – Review

Shoot two portals onto a flat surface and walk through one to appear out the other. This reasonably straightforward game premise is destined to go down alongside "form horizontal lines to make blocks disappear" and "avoid missing ball for high score" as one of the most deviously, deceptively simple in the medium's history.

But unlike Tetris and Pong, where the simplicity of the game rules ensured instant mastery, Portal's richest puzzling gameplay only really begins at those brick wall, progression-stopper moments where most other games grind to a halt, which is itself a bit of a perspective paradox. A shame, then, that those moments only begin to appear about three quarters of the way through the game's 19 training tests. But there is plenty to admire before you get there.

Although a science testing facility is hardly the most imaginative setting for a game like Portal, the drab labs and white-tiled walls of Aperture Science belie an engaging and entertaining atmosphere, ensured primarily by the robotic female narrator, GLaDOS, who guides you through the tests. Through her hopeless attempts to inject humour and humanity into the testing despite her dense corporate-speak and exaggeratedly broken photo-booth voice, the show-stealing GLaDOS (already achieving a notoriety that threatens to overshadow the portal mechanic) ironically does succeed in injecting humour and humanity into Portal. Skilfully appropriating the ‘robot with logical emotions' archetype, she soon becomes the deadpan conduit for just about any kind of humour Valve wish to throw into the mix, be it a boorish reference to organ donation, a sly gaming euphemism ("unstationary scaffold" gets my vote) or a totally incongruous Smash TV sample.

The tests themselves are for the most part of the satisfying and smart, but not very challenging mould. There are even instructions prior to each test giving the player a pretty good idea of what lies ahead and how it ought to be tackled (although once you know this they're pretty easy to ignore). Tests are designed as much with visual flair in mind as puzzle ingenuity, but it's a symbiotic relationship for the most part; when you find yourself falling into the floor and launching out of the wall across a chasm, the fun factor is hard to dispel just because the puzzle solution was a little too quick in coming.

But the remarkable extended coda demonstrates the possibilities of the portal gun in a more traditional Half-Life level design, and redeems the game's underwhelming length and difficulty with a fascinating glimpse of what could be. Not only does it show just how completely the player has adopted the portal logic from the training sections, but it's a fluid, narrativized final level that, as one may have expected with hindsight, exploits Valve's design prowess much better than the lab tests. And it all winds up with a memorable, funny and oddly touching resolution that manages to achieve satisfying narrative closure in a game with the most threadbare of narratives.

Flaws? Well for starters it breaks the first rule of first-person platform gameplay (that is, ‘For the love of God do not try first-person platform gameplay') and compounds this potential for frustration with moving platforms, deadly floors, time-based beam puzzles and, obviously, the disorienting portal conceit itself. Also, the 'rusty innards' visual design of the final stretch feels a little misjudged and ugly, which is a shame seeing as that is when the game really kicks into gear.

Perhaps we can forgive the aforementioned soft difficulty curve, however, as I think it helps make Portal absolutely the kind of game you'll want your non-gaming friends to try. Intelligent. Non-violent. A reasonably accessible setting. Genuinely humorous. You have to hand it to Valve for adopting and adapting Narbacular Drop (the student project on which Portal is based) into something that not only adds a new dimension to their ‘kill bad guys' Half-Life gameplay, but at the same time makes their work feel more cutting edge than ever. It's Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun all over again.

So Portal does its job within the Orange Box compilation, taking a brilliant left-field idea and successfully merging it with Valve's universe over an entertaining few hours of gaming. And in its own right the game lives on a little longer in the taxing Bonus Maps and the Achievement targets that will no doubt prove furiously addictive to those with the requisite gaming genes. Disappointment that the puzzles are not as labyrinthine and mind-bending as the original trailer suggested they might be, and that this is perhaps not the definitive exploitation of such a wonderful game mechanic, should be tempered with the knowledge that once the experiment is complete, there actually looks to be more life (or should that be half-life?) in Portal than we might ever have imagined. [Rating: 9 out of 10]

Disclaimer: This review is based on the PC version of the game.

Portal – Consumer Guide

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Mild Violence

Parents should know that the only blood and violence in the game, and that to which the ESRB rating refers, is when the player finds themselves in the firing line of a sentry gun. The only hands-on violent act the player themselves can perform is, hilariously, to gently push over one of the sentry guns so it becomes inoperable. More subtle adult content can be found in the occasionally sinister and suggestive humour of robot narrator GLaDOS, but it is not explicit enough to warrant an ESRB warning. The thinking must have been that if you are mature enough to understand the joke, then you are old enough to have heard it.

While the game plugs into the Half-Life universe (and for that matter the great value Half-Life bundle The Orange Box) enough for it to be essential for fans of Valve's legendary shooter series, the most fitting audience for the majority of Portal's gameplay seems to be those who enjoy stage-based puzzle games and lateral-thinking challenges. It is one of the few first-person titles that I would recommend to a gamer who is unfamiliar with the format, or unreceptive to the first-person shooter archetype. Although some control skill and speed is required later on, the vast majority of Portal can be enjoyed by thinking logically and methodically about how to overcome the problem in hand. And if that sounds boring, rest assured that the humour, flair, and satisfaction that come with progress make playing Portal an absolute dream.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing gamers will find Valve's well-respected subtitle support in full effect. The 'Closed Caption' option allows every incidental noise and sound effect to be transcribed onscreen (if sometimes unavoidably quickly), with colour-coding to aid comprehension.

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 – Review

Half-Life 2 was for me a little bit of a letdown. It was an epic game of grand scope with superlative storytelling, and I did think it was one of the best first-person shooters I'd ever played. But I couldn't help but be a bit bothered by the game's stubborn adherence to rather dated genre clichés-one man carrying a small arsenal, breaking open crates to find bullets and medicine, and the contrived placement of various weapons, exploding barrels, and magical crates of infinite ammo. So when the episodic content was announced, I was sincerely hoping that Valve would use it as an opportunity to improve the game by playing on its strengths and getting away from some of the contrivances that hold the series back from being a true masterpiece.

Episode 1, however, was not that game. Not only did the exploding barrels and randomly scattered ammo crates make an unwelcome re-appearance, but the game eschewed most of the large-scale set pieces of the original, settling on dark, claustrophobic corridors littered with lumbering headcrab zombies and physics puzzles that seemed mostly recycled from the original game. Half-Life is at its best with large set pieces, tight scripting, smart enemies and big scary cyborgs; conversely, it's at its worst when it devolves into a run-and-gun corridor shooter filled with lumbering zombies. A total lack of new enemies and weapons also hurt the game, and while it was a decent five-hour diversion, I finished the game wishing Valve had aimed higher.

So it was with a bit of apprehension that I approached Half-Life 2: Episode 2. Again I had high hopes for the game, but I was afraid that Valve would again merely ride the series out on its established conventions rather than make substantive improvements. Fortunately, my fears were unfounded, and Episode 2 has exceeded my expectations in nearly every respect.

Continuing the story right from the end of Episode 1, Episode 2 finds Gordon and Alyx in the wreckage of the train on which they had narrowly escaped from City 17 as the Citadel's reactor exploded, leveling the entire city. The Combine are now trying to open another massive inter-dimensional portal that will spell certain doom for all of Earth, and Gordon must make his way to a rebel base where survivors are planning an attack that will destroy the portal before it's too late.

Unfortunately, the game starts off with a whimper. The first act felt far too much like Episode 1, as Gordon makes his way through a massive antlion nest that is-big surprise -also infested with headcrab zombies. The repetitive attack patterns of the antlions and the slow predictability of the headcrab zombies would have rendered the first act of the game a complete wash were it not for a handful of tightly-scripted battles and some good storytelling saving the day. I spent the first hour or two of the game wondering when the real action was going to start, and feeling like the game was destined to end up much like Episode 1.

Once Gordon escapes this bug-filled, zombie-infested underground labyrinth however, the game takes a stark turn for the better, weaving through one exciting gameplay sequence after another as it builds toward an epic finale that kept me on the edge of my seat and ended the story with a cliffhanger that was satisfying while perfectly setting the stage for Episode 3. The game expands on the Half-Life mythology far more effectively than Episode 1 did, providing great character development and intriguing insights into the complex web of Gordon's past, and even granting some insights into the influence of the perpetually mysterious G-Man. Gordon and Alyx seem to be growing closer (proving that if you want women to like you, don't say anything!), and we witness some dramatic moments that have genuine emotional weight to them.

The action is one clever battle sequence after the next, as Gordon and Alyx are pursued by the Combine through the alien-infested countryside. While Gordon still carries enough ammo to supply a small battalion and the game still stubbornly clings to the dated crate-smashing cliché, most of its other contrivances are either gone or expertly hidden. From battles with the new Combine Hunters to the grand spectacle of the final battle against an army of Striders assaulting the Resistance outpost, Episode 2 has a truly epic energy brought to life with a stunning use of physics and masterful scripting. Encounters with the Striders and the Combine Advisors are genuinely tense, and executed with remarkable visual flair. The Half-Life series has always excelled by using expertly crafted storytelling to briskly move the player from one battle sequence to the next, rarely falling on recycled gameplay and always presenting players with unique new challenges; Episode 2 is no exception, as it propels players through a brilliant narration encompassing numerous unique battle scenarios that require players to use their wits as well as their trigger finger.

Despite its lackluster first act, Episode 2 ends up showing more of the kind of progressive gameplay I have been wanting to see from the series. A few dated clichés remain, but the remainder of the game is so tautly scripted and uniquely challenging that I almost forgot how ridiculous it is to be finding crates full of bullets in radioactive swamps. There are still no new weapons and only a few new enemies, but between the brisk pacing and character-driven storytelling, Valve has given me only higher hopes for Episode 3. Rating: 8.0 out of 10

Disclaimer: This review is based on the PC version of the game.

Half-Life 2: Episode 2 – Consumer Guide

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language

Parents need not be overly concerned; while not intended for children, the game is not gratuitously violent or profane; it's mostly on par with any PG-13 action movie. Parents may even find the story and characters substantive enough to enjoy the game with their kids.

PC gamers may purchase the game either standalone or as part of the five-game Orange Box compilation; XBox 360 gamers do not have the luxury of purchasing it standalone, but the Orange Box is a phenomenal value with Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress all for $60. An added incentive for PC gamers is that if you already own Half-Life 2 and/or Episode 1 and you purchase Orange Box, you can give a free copy of the game to a friend via Steam.

Episode 2 is a must-have for first-person shooter fans and fans of Half-Life. It has everything that is great about the genre and the series, and very little of what is not. It's especially a visually excellent game that will look great on a high-definition TV or a high-end gaming PC.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing gamers may miss out on some useful positional audio cues such as enemy chatter and gun fire, but as with all Steam games, closed captioning is available. Subtitles are available for all dialogue, and are distinguished between characters with italicized font.