So...portal.
It's pretty good, I guess.
I went in knowing about portal based puzzles, a funny robot lady, and cubes. Not confectionery though, because the confectionery is a falsehood or however that line goes.
First off, the puzzles. Mostly pretty good, with all being interesting takes on the portal mechanics that make you think until you figure out a task that looks daunting at first. What I didn't like were the momentum based puzzles, because I swear the portals are smaller than they seem, as I was pretty consistently falling just short of the portal and having to redo a section of the puzzle. That one puzzle at the end of chapter 18 where you had to chain portals onto platforms in particular I hated doing. Like its a reaction test that barely qualifies as a puzzle, just put some damn stairs there. Granted, I don't play a lot of first person games so maybe it's a me thing? But anyway, all the puzzles that didn't require quick movement or reaction times were great, the ones that did were ehhhhhhh.
Next up, glados. Funny robot girlboss. And yeah, the humour was also pretty good. I get that I exist in a world of internet humour that portal played a big part in establishing when it came out that probably would have been the funniest game ever in 2007, so most of the lines early on were just me thinking 'yeah, that was funny' with a few audible chuckles later on at lines like android hell and near the end where you break everything and she keeps panicking over what's going on.
And I might as well mention the ending. Pretty good as well. Final sequence had the same frustrations I mentioned in the puzzle part but the general vibe of the broken facility and connection to half-life (which probably would have blown my mind if I had played half-life) was great.
Also yeah, the cubes were cool. Top tier cubes in gaming, just under the square Tetris block.
So overall... it's pretty good. All I have to say. I can imagine it being pretty mind blowing for what was basically meant to be a small side project for the half-life team that became a global phenomenon, but this game turns 17 this year, so I guess it passed me by? But 2 is the one everyone hypes up, so I guess I'll be trying that next.
It's pretty good, I guess.
I went in knowing about portal based puzzles, a funny robot lady, and cubes. Not confectionery though, because the confectionery is a falsehood or however that line goes.
First off, the puzzles. Mostly pretty good, with all being interesting takes on the portal mechanics that make you think until you figure out a task that looks daunting at first. What I didn't like were the momentum based puzzles, because I swear the portals are smaller than they seem, as I was pretty consistently falling just short of the portal and having to redo a section of the puzzle. That one puzzle at the end of chapter 18 where you had to chain portals onto platforms in particular I hated doing. Like its a reaction test that barely qualifies as a puzzle, just put some damn stairs there. Granted, I don't play a lot of first person games so maybe it's a me thing? But anyway, all the puzzles that didn't require quick movement or reaction times were great, the ones that did were ehhhhhhh.
Next up, glados. Funny robot girlboss. And yeah, the humour was also pretty good. I get that I exist in a world of internet humour that portal played a big part in establishing when it came out that probably would have been the funniest game ever in 2007, so most of the lines early on were just me thinking 'yeah, that was funny' with a few audible chuckles later on at lines like android hell and near the end where you break everything and she keeps panicking over what's going on.
And I might as well mention the ending. Pretty good as well. Final sequence had the same frustrations I mentioned in the puzzle part but the general vibe of the broken facility and connection to half-life (which probably would have blown my mind if I had played half-life) was great.
Also yeah, the cubes were cool. Top tier cubes in gaming, just under the square Tetris block.
So overall... it's pretty good. All I have to say. I can imagine it being pretty mind blowing for what was basically meant to be a small side project for the half-life team that became a global phenomenon, but this game turns 17 this year, so I guess it passed me by? But 2 is the one everyone hypes up, so I guess I'll be trying that next.