Jump to content

Portal (video game)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Thalakan (talk | contribs) at 15:04, 11 October 2007 (Added link to Ellen McLain.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

For other uses, see Portal (video game) (disambiguation).
Portal
File:Portal Logo.jpg
Portal is bundled as part of The Orange Box.
Developer(s)Valve Corporation
Publisher(s)Valve Corporation (Steam)
EngineSource engine
Platform(s)Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
ReleasePC (Retail)

Russia October 10 2007
United States October 10 2007[1]
Europe October 18 2007
Australia October 18 2007
PC (Steam):
Template:Country data World October 10 2007
Xbox 360:
Template:Country data World October 10 2007
PS3:

November 2007
Genre(s)Puzzle, First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Portal is a single-player first-person action/puzzle video game developed by Valve. The game consists of a series of puzzles which must be solved by teleporting the player's character and other simple objects using a single handheld device, with the goal of getting to an objective point. The game was released in in a bundle package known as The Orange Box for for PC and Xbox 360 on October 10 2007, and will be released for the PlayStation 3 sometime in November. The Windows version of the game is also available for download separately through Steam.[2]

Gameplay

A typical Portal level with both the player's blue and orange portals opened.

In Portal, players control Chell, a test participant in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center. Gameplay revolves around the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" (also known as the "portal gun"), a handheld device that can create a portal between flat planes, allowing instant travel and a visual and physical connection between any two different locations in 3D space. Portal ends are restricted to planar surfaces, but if the portal ends are on different planes, bizarre twists in geometry and gravity can occur, such as the player walking into the portal through a wall and "falling" up out of the floor several feet behind where she started. Only two portal ends may be open at a time, one orange and one blue in color. If a new portal end is created, it replaces the previous portal of the same color. Either color may be used as an entrance or exit portal.

Guided by a female electronic voice-over of a supercomputer named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System) players use the "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" to perform a variety of tests, such as creating portals to knock over turrets and other objects or moving to a previously unreachable area. GLaDOS is voiced by singer/actress Ellen McLain.

In their initial preview of Portal, GameSpot gave an example of a gameplay scenario:

In other situations, you may be under fire by a gun droid. So all you need to do is shoot a portal open over the gun, then shoot a portal open beneath a crate, then watch the crate fall through the hole and crush the gun. It gets even crazier, and the diagrams shown in the trailer showed some incredibly crazy things that you can attempt, like creating a series of Portals so that you're constantly chasing yourself.[3]

Two additional modes are unlocked upon completion of the main game.[4] In Challenge mode, the player has to get through a floor in either as little time, with the least number of portals, or as few footsteps possible. In Advanced mode, the hardest levels of the game are made even harder with the addition of more obstacles and hazards.[5][6]

Story

File:PortalPlayer.jpg
The female protagonist the player controls in Portal. In the screenshot, the player, as Chell, is viewing herself through two adjacent portals. This second person view is only possible when looking through a portal.

Portal is set in the Half-Life universe,[3] and is presented to the player through the game's audio messages and visual clues seen throughout the game. At the start of the game, Chell wakes from a stasis bed. though how she came to be there is initially unknown. GLaDOS informs her of the test and proceeds to guide her through the introductory test chambers. At this time Chell lacks the Portal Gun altogether. As the tests progress she eventually acquires the first "portion" of the Portal Gun, allowing her to place blue portals but not orange ones; later she acquires an upgrade that allows her to place orange portals.

Initially the test chambers are clean, friendly environments. Chell is promised "moist, delicious cake" as a reward for successfully completing the tests, and this appears as an available (deactivated) component in the stage description. However, as Chell works through the stages, GLaDOS's colorful dialog begins to paint an unnerving picture of the type of research that occurs in the facility. She cheerfully informs Chell of various safety risks in each stage that could kill or seriously injure her. Glass walls in key areas of the stages allow observation of the subject by laboratory personnel, but the chairs are empty and no research personnel are seen. Some stages are broken, confirming Chell's suspicions by allowing her to explore behind the pristine test areas and into grimy areas which resemble a derelict factory. Prominent in these areas is graffiti from an unknown benefactor accusing GLaDOS of lying about the nature of the tests, and repeatedly claiming "the cake is a lie". GLaDOS becomes uncomfortable with Chell exploring these areas and begins to hint that Chell is ultimately disposable and will be dealt with.

After the final test, Chell is sent to receive their cake, but is plunged into a furnace. She manages to escape into a maintenance area and GLaDOS begins to show agitation, claiming first that it was the real final test, and then that it was a joke. It tells Chell that there will be a party held in her honor and urges her to "assume the party-escort submission position" on the floor. Chell flees into the facility's numerous maintenance corridors, and GLaDOS becomes increasingly agitated. Roughly the second half of the game continues behind the walls of previous stages and the inner laboratories of Aperture Labs as Chell follows eerie notes written on walls and uses the Portal Gun to work her way upward to the top of the facility.

Finally, Chell confronts GLaDOS, a large machine hanging in a cylindrical shaft. As Chell destroys various components of the machine, GLaDOS's personality disintegrates. When it is completely destroyed, the facility begins to shake and fall apart, and Chell is lifted high into the shaft, blacking out. She wakes on a pile of debris during the light of day behind the fence of Aperture Labs.

The credits roll as GLaDOS gives a concluding report about Chell in the form of the song "Still Alive". It reveals that GLaDOS enjoys the companionship of the test subjects and that it felt a particular fondness for Chell. The final scene shows the promised cake surrounded by various metallic "eye" components similar to those that were on GLaDOS. Some of the eyes activate and a robotic arm puts the candle out. After this, the title screen appears with a new background: a cake on a desk next to a radio and a Weighted Companion Cube.

Some details of the Portal story were revealed through ApertureScience.com [1], a viral marketing website for the game.

Soundtrack

  1. "Subject Name Here" - 1:44
  2. "Taste of Blood" - 3:06
  3. "Android Hell" - 3:45
  4. "Self Esteem Fund" - 3:30
  5. "Procedural Jiggle Bone" - 4:34
  6. "4000 Degrees Kelvin" - 1:01
  7. "Stop What You Are Doing" - 4:00
  8. "Party Escort" - 4:21
  9. "You're Not a Good Person" - 1:24
  10. "No Cake For You" - 4:05
  11. "You Can't Escape You Know" - 6:24
  12. "Still Alive" - 2:56

Development

Portal is Valve's professionally-developed semi-sequel to the freeware Narbacular Drop, the 2005 independent game released by students of the DigiPen Institute of Technology; the original Drop team are now all employed at Valve.[7][8] Certain elements, like the orange/blue system of identifying the two different portal ends a player can have open at a time (one connecting to the other), seem to have been retained.

The Portal team worked with Half-Life series writer Marc Laidlaw on fitting the game into the series' plot. Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek of the classic gaming commentary/comedy website Old Man Murray had been hired by Valve and put to work on the dialogue for Portal.[8]

Portal, like Half-Life 2: Episode One, includes a commentary feature.[2]

Regarding future Portal developments, Kim Swift said that it will depend on the community's reactions, saying "we're still playing it by ear at this point, figuring out if we want to do multiplayer next, or Portal 2, or release map packs."[5]

Critical reception

As of October 10, 2007 on the review aggregator Game Rankings, the Windows version of the game had an average score of 89% based on 5 reviews.[9] On Metacritic, the Windows version had an average score of 87 out of 100, based on 5 reviews.[10]

Dan Adams of IGN awarded Portal an 8.2, praising its unique gameplay, but criticizing its short length.[11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Remo, Chris (2007-06-15). "Valve confirms Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 launch date". Shacknews. Retrieved 2007-06-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  2. ^ a b c "Steam - Portal". Steam. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  3. ^ a b Ocampo, Jason (2006-07-13). "Half-Life 2: Episode Two - The Return of Team Fortress 2 and Other Surprises". GameSpot. Retrieved 2006-07-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  4. ^ Craddock, David (2007-10-03). "Portal: Final Hands-on". IGN. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b Bramwell, Tom (2007-05-15). "Portal: First Impressions". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Francis, Tom (2007-05-09). "PC Preview: Portal - PC Gamer Magazine". ComputerAndVideoGames.com. Retrieved 2007-10-05. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Things are heating up!". Narbacular Drop official site. 2006-07-17. Retrieved 2006-07-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ a b Berghammer, Billy (2006-08-25). "GC 06:Valve's Doug Lombardi Talks Half-Life 2 Happenings". Game Informer. Retrieved 2007-09-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ "Portal Reviews (PC)". Game Rankings. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  10. ^ "Portal (pc: 2007): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 2007-10-10.
  11. ^ Adams, Dan (2007-10-09). "Portal Review". IGN. Retrieved 2007-10-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Wikiquote has quotations related to Portal.
Official
Press

Template:Half-Life games

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Portal_(video_game)&oldid=163816042"