For my initial thoughts on the game, see https://backloggd.com/u/RedBackLoggd/review/1086632/
When I first beat Portal all those years ago, it was on a 13x8 laptop screen capped at 1080p with built-in speakers. Thus, in replaying the iconic title on a significantly better set-up, part of me figured it would significantly bolster the experience ... .until I started thinking. See, no matter its revolutionary gameplay loop or ginormous rooms, the truth is Portal’s real strength lay in its fundamentals, fundamentals that wouldn’t drastically change no matter what kind of rig you launched it on.
And so that latter prediction came to pass. While some things were improved in my replay of the iconic puzzle game, it was ultimately more of the same, an aspect that, though inherently positive, did end up yielding its own negatives (more on that later).
Regardless, Portal deserves a proper review, and so we shall begin with the story. The premise is you’re a young woman named Chell stuck in a laboratory run by a malevolent AI named GLaDOS. The Queen Bee wants you to complete some tests utilizing a hi-tech weapon known as the Portal Gun, created by the building’s former occupants, Aperture Sciences, prior to the events of the game. The Portal Gun allows instantaneous travel between two manually-created points, and it’s an item you’ll want to master should you wish to survive GLaDOS’s many many chambers…..and that’s it. Though you get some twists down-the-line, the reality is they aren’t hard to see coming, and, more importantly, don’t mask the fact that Portal just isn’t interested in telling a story. From SHODAN in System Shock to AM in I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, we’ve seen these kinds of tales involving regular humans duking it out with super-intelligent agents, and GLaDOS, to Valve’s credit, certainly stands apart on her own merits. It’s just the narrative around her simply isn’t good enough for you to care about anything -- Chell has no characterization or reactions whatsoever despite her precarious situation, the background behind the desolation of the facility is relegated to brief jabs from GLaDOS, and there’s very little indication about the kind of society you’re in (even as this game reportedly takes place alongside Half-Life).
Fans may counterclaim that the sheer amount of dialogue is intended to make-up for these deficits -- that the point of Portal is its satirical jabs at corporate culture, and NOT the overarching dystopia. And that’d definitely be a fair point….were it not for the game being so dang tame. Don’t get me wrong, Portal does throw some nice quibs your way: the idea of employee safety being harped on whilst companies cut costs, the Orwellian-esque monitoring done by bosses on personnel, the nonsensical comp packages propped up by businesses for disgruntled workers, and so forth. That’s all well and good, and genuinely got a laugh out of me at times. The problem is it just doesn’t go far enough -- there’s nothing about mandatory OT, sexual harassment, office politics, unlawful terminations, the travesty that is HR departments, etc…etc…And yes, I get that Portal came out pre-#MeToo Movement; however, these were ideas strongly baked into the American consciousness well around/before the years of Portal’s release.
It’s especially disappointing as, graphically-speaking, Portal nailed that parody-corpo scheme to a tee: the dirty white tile framework highlighting Aperture’s tepid attempts at cleanliness/appearances, the padded cell bricking of the rooms symbolizing socioeconomic imprisonment, the rusty grimy interiors with their blood stains and spurting automatons indicating the true essence of the consortium, all do a fantastic job showcasing the type of rundown soul sucker GLaDOS is desperately trying to maintain. It’s a shame the writing couldn’t capitalize on these aesthetics in an efficient manner.
Beyond the environments, Portal’s artistic virtuosity stretches into other compartments, most notably the eponymous warp zones. No matter what chalken-surface you’re blasting, the transportation ovals always look like they’ve materialized out of said surfaces’ physical coating rather than a secondary skin plastered on-top. Coupled with the illumination effects for the portal device’s spark mechanic, and you’ve got a real testament to the strength of Valve’s artisans.
Like every game, there are drawbacks in the visual department, the lion’s share here ironically manifesting with the Aperture Science elevator. As you’ll quickly find out, this baby is (poorly+) used to disguise the game’s loading screens, and it seems to have been a last minute addition given the shoddy texturing of its interiors in comparison to literally every other environ. Adding onto this, liquid-based exteriors tended to not flow as fluidly as they naturally do in real life, often seeming like rectangular sludge, though I understand that was most likely a limitation of the Source Engine at the time.
Strangely, my worst criticism resides with an aspect you’re not liable to seeing often, that being Chell’s character model. Be prepared to reinject the phrase “uncanny valley” into your vocabulary as this is an utter monstrosity: the way she walks, turns, jumps, and blasts the portal gun are some of the ugliest, jankiest animations I have ever had the misfortune to witness. I don’t know how she got the short-end of the stick given how easy Valve’s made it for players to see her (simply place two portals adjacent to each other), but nonetheless you’ll be glad she’s largely out-of-sight for your playthrough.
On that note, the gameplay is obviously Portal’s core hook, and there’s nothing I can say that summarizes the experience best other than that it’s incredibly well-developed. It would’ve been very easy for Valve to fall prey to difficulty spikes or outright gimmickry, yet that’s not the case here: each level builds upon its predecessors’ tenets, adding new systems you get the hang of very quickly in time for their successor’s new obstacle(s). Whether you’re utilizing gravity for a linear momentum burst or redirecting lasers, it’s smooth, it’s organic, and, most importantly, more than earned its merits among the gaming community.
In my initial observations, one of my points of contention was a pacing issue that afflicted the game in its final act, a critique I no longer hold in this full-fledged write-up. While Portal’s been criticized for having too little content, I found it near-perfect in scope (though those wanting more are entitled to try the optional Advanced Chambers post-completion).
SFX-wise, Portal is surprisingly deep for a game that doesn’t employ extensive object interaction as, while you’ll only ever really have to grasp drones and blocks, every single grabbable item was still granted its own unique din which you can hear courtesy of smashing said item against the nearest wall (e.g., computer towers are a heavy metal vs chairs boast a lighter thin tinge). Voice acting, on the other hand, is a bit more mixed- it should come as no surprise that the bulk of it rests with Ellen McLain as GLaDOS, and though she does a great job, her first bout of screentime sees the editors overlay her performance with some awful misophonic effect that makes Rubik’s the Amazing Cube sound normal by comparison. I get that they were trying to digitize GLaDOS initially as a way of disguising her personified traits (proven by McLain sounding more and more “human” as the game progresses), but those initial stages were definitely rough on my ears.
Still, I can’t deny McLain nails the dark sarcastic tone, and during the final level, is even given a chance to indulge in some of the AI’s hidden personalities. Given her talent, it’s kind of sad McLain never went on to do much outside of Valve projects.
All that said, the real star of Portal rests in the turret drones, mini armed sentries Chell will occasionally have to bypass throughout the abode, as OMYLORDARETHEYSOF%CKING ADORABLE. Pardon my French, but I’ve never encountered an entity in a video game that was simultaneously this dangerous and ABSOLUTELY HUGGABLE (their polite lines upon defeat adding to the cute factor). The voices are technically attributed to McLain too; however, given the overly-computerized filter put on them, it’s not something I can astutely claim came from her aptitude.
Last in the sound trifecta is the music by Kelly Bailey and Mike Morasky, and it’s quite good, balancing that exploratory and office horror atmosphere the game blatantly generates throughout Chell’s journey. Interestingly, though, listening to the OST separately yielded a much more lackluster experience, and I believe that had to do with its implementation within the game. The way the composers designed the tracks, they’re intended to bleed over into one another between levels, said bleeding concurrently synchronizing with the advent of new themes or storybeats, and that’s just not something you can replicate in a standard music album (basically the compositions aren’t as good a listen outside the game, the exception of course being the Still Alive end credits song).
But in the end, what matters most is the game itself, and Portal more than succeeds. As mentioned in the introduction, Valve mastered the art of fundamentalism: focusing on the perfect ingredients needed to bakea cake the perfect video game recipe. Portal does lose some of its charm in repeat playthroughs; however, for those of you experiencing it for the first time, prepare for an enjoyable treat.
NOTES
+You’ll still have to go through loading buffers between the majority of rooms.
-One thing I did appreciate about Chell’s model were the addition of leg braces, explaining how she’s able to survive long drops/lunges.
-You’ll inconsistently find a radio that emits a really annoying tune.
When I first beat Portal all those years ago, it was on a 13x8 laptop screen capped at 1080p with built-in speakers. Thus, in replaying the iconic title on a significantly better set-up, part of me figured it would significantly bolster the experience ... .until I started thinking. See, no matter its revolutionary gameplay loop or ginormous rooms, the truth is Portal’s real strength lay in its fundamentals, fundamentals that wouldn’t drastically change no matter what kind of rig you launched it on.
And so that latter prediction came to pass. While some things were improved in my replay of the iconic puzzle game, it was ultimately more of the same, an aspect that, though inherently positive, did end up yielding its own negatives (more on that later).
Regardless, Portal deserves a proper review, and so we shall begin with the story. The premise is you’re a young woman named Chell stuck in a laboratory run by a malevolent AI named GLaDOS. The Queen Bee wants you to complete some tests utilizing a hi-tech weapon known as the Portal Gun, created by the building’s former occupants, Aperture Sciences, prior to the events of the game. The Portal Gun allows instantaneous travel between two manually-created points, and it’s an item you’ll want to master should you wish to survive GLaDOS’s many many chambers…..and that’s it. Though you get some twists down-the-line, the reality is they aren’t hard to see coming, and, more importantly, don’t mask the fact that Portal just isn’t interested in telling a story. From SHODAN in System Shock to AM in I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, we’ve seen these kinds of tales involving regular humans duking it out with super-intelligent agents, and GLaDOS, to Valve’s credit, certainly stands apart on her own merits. It’s just the narrative around her simply isn’t good enough for you to care about anything -- Chell has no characterization or reactions whatsoever despite her precarious situation, the background behind the desolation of the facility is relegated to brief jabs from GLaDOS, and there’s very little indication about the kind of society you’re in (even as this game reportedly takes place alongside Half-Life).
Fans may counterclaim that the sheer amount of dialogue is intended to make-up for these deficits -- that the point of Portal is its satirical jabs at corporate culture, and NOT the overarching dystopia. And that’d definitely be a fair point….were it not for the game being so dang tame. Don’t get me wrong, Portal does throw some nice quibs your way: the idea of employee safety being harped on whilst companies cut costs, the Orwellian-esque monitoring done by bosses on personnel, the nonsensical comp packages propped up by businesses for disgruntled workers, and so forth. That’s all well and good, and genuinely got a laugh out of me at times. The problem is it just doesn’t go far enough -- there’s nothing about mandatory OT, sexual harassment, office politics, unlawful terminations, the travesty that is HR departments, etc…etc…And yes, I get that Portal came out pre-#MeToo Movement; however, these were ideas strongly baked into the American consciousness well around/before the years of Portal’s release.
It’s especially disappointing as, graphically-speaking, Portal nailed that parody-corpo scheme to a tee: the dirty white tile framework highlighting Aperture’s tepid attempts at cleanliness/appearances, the padded cell bricking of the rooms symbolizing socioeconomic imprisonment, the rusty grimy interiors with their blood stains and spurting automatons indicating the true essence of the consortium, all do a fantastic job showcasing the type of rundown soul sucker GLaDOS is desperately trying to maintain. It’s a shame the writing couldn’t capitalize on these aesthetics in an efficient manner.
Beyond the environments, Portal’s artistic virtuosity stretches into other compartments, most notably the eponymous warp zones. No matter what chalken-surface you’re blasting, the transportation ovals always look like they’ve materialized out of said surfaces’ physical coating rather than a secondary skin plastered on-top. Coupled with the illumination effects for the portal device’s spark mechanic, and you’ve got a real testament to the strength of Valve’s artisans.
Like every game, there are drawbacks in the visual department, the lion’s share here ironically manifesting with the Aperture Science elevator. As you’ll quickly find out, this baby is (poorly+) used to disguise the game’s loading screens, and it seems to have been a last minute addition given the shoddy texturing of its interiors in comparison to literally every other environ. Adding onto this, liquid-based exteriors tended to not flow as fluidly as they naturally do in real life, often seeming like rectangular sludge, though I understand that was most likely a limitation of the Source Engine at the time.
Strangely, my worst criticism resides with an aspect you’re not liable to seeing often, that being Chell’s character model. Be prepared to reinject the phrase “uncanny valley” into your vocabulary as this is an utter monstrosity: the way she walks, turns, jumps, and blasts the portal gun are some of the ugliest, jankiest animations I have ever had the misfortune to witness. I don’t know how she got the short-end of the stick given how easy Valve’s made it for players to see her (simply place two portals adjacent to each other), but nonetheless you’ll be glad she’s largely out-of-sight for your playthrough.
On that note, the gameplay is obviously Portal’s core hook, and there’s nothing I can say that summarizes the experience best other than that it’s incredibly well-developed. It would’ve been very easy for Valve to fall prey to difficulty spikes or outright gimmickry, yet that’s not the case here: each level builds upon its predecessors’ tenets, adding new systems you get the hang of very quickly in time for their successor’s new obstacle(s). Whether you’re utilizing gravity for a linear momentum burst or redirecting lasers, it’s smooth, it’s organic, and, most importantly, more than earned its merits among the gaming community.
In my initial observations, one of my points of contention was a pacing issue that afflicted the game in its final act, a critique I no longer hold in this full-fledged write-up. While Portal’s been criticized for having too little content, I found it near-perfect in scope (though those wanting more are entitled to try the optional Advanced Chambers post-completion).
SFX-wise, Portal is surprisingly deep for a game that doesn’t employ extensive object interaction as, while you’ll only ever really have to grasp drones and blocks, every single grabbable item was still granted its own unique din which you can hear courtesy of smashing said item against the nearest wall (e.g., computer towers are a heavy metal vs chairs boast a lighter thin tinge). Voice acting, on the other hand, is a bit more mixed- it should come as no surprise that the bulk of it rests with Ellen McLain as GLaDOS, and though she does a great job, her first bout of screentime sees the editors overlay her performance with some awful misophonic effect that makes Rubik’s the Amazing Cube sound normal by comparison. I get that they were trying to digitize GLaDOS initially as a way of disguising her personified traits (proven by McLain sounding more and more “human” as the game progresses), but those initial stages were definitely rough on my ears.
Still, I can’t deny McLain nails the dark sarcastic tone, and during the final level, is even given a chance to indulge in some of the AI’s hidden personalities. Given her talent, it’s kind of sad McLain never went on to do much outside of Valve projects.
All that said, the real star of Portal rests in the turret drones, mini armed sentries Chell will occasionally have to bypass throughout the abode, as OMYLORDARETHEYSOF%CKING ADORABLE. Pardon my French, but I’ve never encountered an entity in a video game that was simultaneously this dangerous and ABSOLUTELY HUGGABLE (their polite lines upon defeat adding to the cute factor). The voices are technically attributed to McLain too; however, given the overly-computerized filter put on them, it’s not something I can astutely claim came from her aptitude.
Last in the sound trifecta is the music by Kelly Bailey and Mike Morasky, and it’s quite good, balancing that exploratory and office horror atmosphere the game blatantly generates throughout Chell’s journey. Interestingly, though, listening to the OST separately yielded a much more lackluster experience, and I believe that had to do with its implementation within the game. The way the composers designed the tracks, they’re intended to bleed over into one another between levels, said bleeding concurrently synchronizing with the advent of new themes or storybeats, and that’s just not something you can replicate in a standard music album (basically the compositions aren’t as good a listen outside the game, the exception of course being the Still Alive end credits song).
But in the end, what matters most is the game itself, and Portal more than succeeds. As mentioned in the introduction, Valve mastered the art of fundamentalism: focusing on the perfect ingredients needed to bake
NOTES
+You’ll still have to go through loading buffers between the majority of rooms.
-One thing I did appreciate about Chell’s model were the addition of leg braces, explaining how she’s able to survive long drops/lunges.
-You’ll inconsistently find a radio that emits a really annoying tune.