Cy4n has 13 chronicles

1. A Blue Thought: Dueling Portals
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Aug 17 2008

   I just finished Portal for the first time a few minutes ago, and I thought I should make up an entry about it since I have a slightly more... unique... view of the game than some people, I'd say. Because I've played it before.
   
   Before it was Portal.
   
   When I first heard about the game being released, saw the screenshots, I started to think back to an odd little freeware game I'd come across a few years back with a funny name. It too had the basic elements of Portal, but it was set in a more demon realm, with lava pits and giant boulders a-la Indiana Jones, with the same basic puzzle elements of this new game packaged with the oddly-named "Orange Box." The game was called Narbacular Drop: you played as a young girl who had to escape her captors by creating a two-way gateway to manipulate the environment around you. A very interesting idea, to be sure... but it was implemented fairly mediocre fashion.
   
   The "gateways" were obviously demon-inspired, as they were basically made to look like a face, horns on the top and the mouth where the player entered/exited. The environments were something out of an older Doom or Wolfenstein in terms of color pallet, with most of them being very scarce in objects and enemies. You could place your gateway nearly anywhere, but there wasn't that much to it in the early goings.
   
   And the later levels? Well, I don't remember much of them, as they were so over-the-top difficult that I couldn't pass them. What I remember was that the player had to put a gateway up over a small platform, then jump through a second gateway and land on said platform. It was damn near impossible; the angles were odd, the platforms were too small (just slightly wider than the character) and it was made incredibly frustrating.
   
   But as soon as I heard about Portal being an "evolved" version (in more ways than one) of ND in the commentary offered in the very first level, it all clicked into place in my head. I thoroughly enjoyed Portal; the ambiance, the voice-acting of the central computer "enemy", even the final boss fight (which was easy enough, though took me several tries to complete), it was all perfected over their student project. I'm so happy I finally have had a chance to play the game, especially after hearing about the roots of the title... it really is one of the most beautiful games I've ever played.
   
   Sure, it's a little short, but making it longer wouldn't make it a better game. Everything in the script fell into place so well, artificially making it longer would just ruin the whole bit.
   
   I would recommend this game completely to... just about anybody, to be honest. It's not a "puzzle game," it's not a "first-person shooter," it's some combination of the two that just confuses me as to what I should call it. Is it a first-person puzzle game? Is it a puzzle-shooter? Does it ever matter? BUY THIS GAME.
   
   DO IT! YOU KNOW YOU WANNA!

   
   

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Cy4n has 1 comment on this chronicle.

1. BEN
   Posted On Aug 17 2008

   Great video game review here!
   
   I've heard overwhelming positive comments from this one. I'm glad you enjoyed it as well and this is one that I've got to try out asap!