Finally: Portal you say?

[jonnopon3000]

KILL HIM WITH FIRE!!!!!!!!!

*cough* anyway, I really enjoyed the game, and I don't get you saying you got to level 9 and finished it 2 levels later, since the first half of the game had 20 levels, and then you had the backstage portion of it after that.
I really enjoyed GLaDOS's dialog, and some of the puzzles did stump me for a while. If you want replayability, go download some map packs made by the community, some of them are really top-notch.
As for the companion cube, you are a cold, heartless bastard for not caring about it, didn't you hear it talking, pleading with you to not kill it? It cried so desperately when I finally brought myself to throw it in the fire...

I agree with this dude.

First of all, the game is 20 test chambers, then about the equivalent of 15 more and a boss fight after that, so either you haven't finished or you mis-counted. Somehow.

I love GLaDOS so much...IMO she is the best character ever. The humour is amazing, and there are so many little things to listen out for, I played again JUST to hear everything she says.

I was stumped by puzzles from about 10/11 onwards, and there is a really nice arena style turret fight in the backstage section that I keep playing again and again.


And yes. The companion cube.

Mine threatened to stab me, but then he realised I was a FRIEND to him, unlike GLaDOS. It tore me apart to hear his cries of death in the Aperture Science incinerator.


Plus, the length-do you really think it should have been longer? IMO, if they had added much more it would have become boring. I mean, it's not like there is scope for massively varied gameplay inside the game itself, so it would have become repetitive and unintuitive.

This ends my post.

Goodbye...my friend...the companion cube...*sob*

 

[dennyaaa]

For me, Portal is one of them "Games you must play" titles. The game itself are fun to go through, and some of the puzzels do take a little brains to overcome, but overall, it's a pretty straight forward game. People have different taste in gaming, and the reason Portal is such a popular game among millions of gamers is, that it brings creativity and uniqueness into the FPS genre. All of a sudden, the enemy is not one of flesh and blood you can blow to pieces, but test chambers where you have the power to "portal" your way through. I am not a fan of this game, and can easily understand your opinion, this game may not be the power of Christ we have all been waiting for, but it sure brings us a little closer to heaven.

 

[mikecoulter]

I've never really been that into Portal, I never even bothered finishing it, I had better things to do.

TF2 was my favourite out of the Orange box, but then my gold membership ran out. I can't be bothered paying for it again though.

And I've never bothered with Half Life.

 

[WrongSprite]

Agree. But then I don't like a single game on the orange box, so I don't get taken seriously.

 

[AnAnemicTurtle]

I certainly found Portal entertaining, but not groundbreaking. It doesn't need the practically-confirmed sequel in my opinion.

Ah well, you have Team Fortress 2 now, my friend

 

[irrelevantnugget]

Still, I got Team Fortress 2, and Half Life 2 outta it. So do you guys agree with me? Disagree?

I agree, except for the HL2 thing. I just bought the OB when it was ?10 on Steam, mainly for TF2. Portal was something I quickly ran over, and I pretty much agree on everything you just said. HL² is boring and overrated, no matter how hard I try to get into it. It just doesn't suck me in like e.g. Brothers In Arms did.
I plan on giving HL a 6th try, but meh.

PS: I thought there was this Portal fan-made mod, Prologue or Prelude or something. It adds more levels to Portal. I've yet to check it out, I'm still too busy playing 8 other games right now -.-

 

[Acaroid]

Hey there escapees. I started a thread a while ago about Portal. Regarding wether or not I should get the game. The masses spoke and it was a unanimous "YES!". Well I got the Orange Box a few days ago for my birthday. I was excited as hell, but I kept Internet Krakens words in my head, "Don't expect it to be godly" or something to that affect. Basically don't expect the second coming of Jesus. And I didn't. So I popped it in. Played it. And about 30 minutes ago, beat it with my final time coming in, JUST a little under 2 hours(like 1hr 58min) Well I must say.......Thats what all the commotion was about?

I knew about the Cake joke, and the "Im trying science" joke, but now I understand them. I must say.......disappointment is the only word that describes how I feel. It might be because Im a veteran of Flash Puzzle games, or what, but there was only 2, maybe 3 puzzles that had me stumped for more than 25 minutes. I will admit the idea was cool, and the incorporation of the Portal gun in a game was cooler then I expected. I like the part of the game where a "difficult" puzzle is presented before you, and the satisfaction that comes with solving it. However......I was extremely upset when around level 9 when the puzzles started REALLY making me think, the game ended about 2 levels later. I was very mad that it was so short, but not because it needed to be longer, but because the last 3 puzzles were the only challenging ones.

The writing, it was comical. I wont say funny, because it didn't make me laugh. What it did was make me chuckle once, about every other level. The whole side story about other "convicts" Im guessing, was cool. About how they try to help you by leaving the writing about the cake being a lie, or the bloody signs of where to go. Also, I liked the lines given by the turrets. Those were comical, but they got repetitive quick.

The companion cube. I am confused. Most of the art I see only, or even in GAME show everyone loving the companion cube. Was the joke that I killed a friend? Cause it was just metal. Was the fact that the earlier convicts might have been insane the reason why GLaDOS was so surprised when I killed the cube so fast? I dunno, but hey, I got an achievement out of it.

I will end by saying that it was a fun game. I understand why people say the game has immense replay-ability, especially when they throw in so many challenges afterwards. However the game did not live up to expectations. It was hyped by most of you and Yahtzee himself so I had to keep a level head while playing. I will finish by saying That it was enjoyable and I will probably go re-do some levels just for the challenges but I could have gotten the same amount of enjoyment from a flash game.

Still, I got Team Fortress 2, and Half Life 2 outta it. So do you guys agree with me? Disagree?

I think you basically summed up what most people thought about the game, but really as games go, it is still one of the overall better ones to come out for a long while,and now with some decent map packs for it (portal: prelude is a good challange if you want to give it a try) it extends the life of the game and doesnt make it seem so short anymore.

 

[Amarok]

Hype is the ruiner of so many things - what made Portal so successful in the first place was the fact that nobody heard of it and nobody expected anything from it.

Now that Portal has - quite wrongly, I might add - been elevated to god status, it can only possibly come as a dissapointment to those who have heard the hype.

Portal is a fun little game and a decent way to spend 2 hours, but not much more.

Also, I've never understood why "The cake is a lie" is supposed to be funny.

 

[boholikeu]

Ill leave you with this thought. I understand an over hyped.....thing. But how can a game thats only mediocre at best be that over hyped? The game is unique and different but its not THAT good as to deserve as much hype as it got.

The game is only mediocre? Huh? How do you figure that? I can understand if you didn't particularly like the game, but I haven't seen many other titles out there with such a good mesh of story/pacing and innovative game play (if you know of any, please speak up). I realize that's not everyone's idea of a perfect game, but for those of us that do like that sort of thing Portal stands out as one of the best.

Hype is the ruiner of so many things - what made Portal so successful in the first place was the fact that nobody heard of it and nobody expected anything from it.

Now that Portal has - quite wrongly, I might add - been elevated to god status, it can only possibly come as a dissapointment to those who have heard the hype.

Portal is a fun little game and a decent way to spend 2 hours, but not much more.

I think the problem with hype is that people have a lot of different ideas about what makes a good game, so when they hear good things about something their mind starts filling in the blanks according to their idea of a "perfect game". Some people want a good story, some people want something that's challenging, and some people only want something that will keep them busy for 50+ hours of game play. Then when people finally get around to playing the game they start judging it on things the game was never even meant to do in the first place.

 

[jebussaves88]

I never thought it was that brilliant. It was a cool idea, but wasn't executed to its full potential. To be honest, I enjoyed the Flash Map Pack much more than the original game.
In 2007, I think there were some much better games released. Heck, I even rate Halo 3 above Portal, and thats saying something.

 

[Lord Thodin]

KILL HIM WITH FIRE!!!!!!!!!

*cough* anyway, I really enjoyed the game, and I don't get you saying you got to level 9 and finished it 2 levels later, since the first half of the game had 20 levels, and then you had the backstage portion of it after that.
I really enjoyed GLaDOS's dialog, and some of the puzzles did stump me for a while. If you want replayability, go download some map packs made by the community, some of them are really top-notch.
As for the companion cube, you are a cold, heartless bastard for not caring about it, didn't you hear it talking, pleading with you to not kill it? It cried so desperately when I finally brought myself to throw it in the fire...

Well mostly because Last time i checked the level selector it had only about 11 levels sir. AND I got it for the 360 sir, so the extra levels are not there for me to play with. Also about the companion cube; I didnt hear it because its survival of the fittest and the damn cube couldn't carry its own weight. Hell it wouldnt even hold the portal gun...

Hmmm... I do believe there was 20 test chambers, but maybe only 11 chapters, not sure on how many chapters. But definitely 20 test chambers and the behind the scenes levels.
And as for the companion cube, no, it never talks, I was being sarcastic about that. You are right, the whole deal about the companion cube has been created solely by the community. And I must say that buying it for the 360 was not a good move, unless there was no way your computer could handle it.

Yeah my comp couldnt handle it due to its nonexistence factor. You might be right about chambers. Do you mean that in separate chapters, there are alot of different rooms with challenges? If so, then yes. Still, the last 3 total were the only challenging ones.

Good cause i didnt hear a damn thing come outta that cube. Also, what are the behind the scenes chapters? Are they on the 360 version too?

I mean the ones after you escaped GLaDOS's little "surprise". Which WASN'T cake. I mean that there were 20 separate chambers with puzzles, each time you took a ride in an elevator, you switched chambers. There were 20 if my memory serves.

You are correct, there are 20 chambers, but only 11 chapters. I was reffering to the chapters friend.

 

[Lord Thodin]

HEY EVERYBODY! Appreciate everyones input, and their own input against mine own. I am actually going to go try to enjoy some of the other things the Orange Box has to offer. HOWEVER if you quote me, i will respond, so dont be afraid to leave questions.

Ill leave you with this thought. I understand an over hyped.....thing. But how can a game thats only mediocre at best be that over hyped? The game is unique and different but its not THAT good as to deserve as much hype as it got.

To that I'll simply say 'to each their own', if you thought the game was only mediocre that's fine, I thought it was above, and I never give into hype (always determined to call people wrong) so it met my expectations, actually it exceeded them. Perhaps we judge games to different standards that's all.

Anyway I hope you enjoy TF2 or HL2 so that the purchase was not a waste.

thanks. I started playing TF2 online. God i suck. Regardless. The purchase wasnt a waste just because Portal wasnt the mind-humping that i expected. It was still fun, but it was just not that good. In my own opinion.

 

[Lord Thodin]

HEY EVERYBODY! Appreciate everyones input, and their own input against mine own. I am actually going to go try to enjoy some of the other things the Orange Box has to offer. HOWEVER if you quote me, i will respond, so dont be afraid to leave questions.

Ill leave you with this thought. I understand an over hyped.....thing. But how can a game thats only mediocre at best be that over hyped? The game is unique and different but its not THAT good as to deserve as much hype as it got.

Everyone has their own opinion, right?

What are you getting at thar?

You have the right to believe the game is mediocre at best and I have the right to believe that its one of the best games ever created (neither of which I'll debate). To explain why its "over-hyped" it could just be that it has more fans then it does critics and the fans are louder then the critics.

Would you mind explaining why you think its the best ever? Im not looking for a flame war, or a arguement, but I just want to know what YOU thought of it. What made it so amazing to you?

 

[Lord Thodin]

.

The companion cube. I am confused. Most of the art I see only, or even in GAME show everyone loving the companion cube. Was the joke that I killed a friend? Cause it was just metal. Was the fact that the earlier convicts might have been insane the reason why GLaDOS was so surprised when I killed the cube so fast? I dunno, but hey, I got an achievement out of it.

The companion cube is Glados's attempt at expoiting the protagonist's emotions, using her limited robotic assumptions about human attachment, friendship and love.

That's why it is funny... it's just a metal cube but Glados assumes that you will form a deep emotional attachment to it.

Hahaha good insight you got there. I hadnt actually looked at it from that point. However she says that you destroyed it faster than any other test subject. Wouldnt that lead you to believe that she had actually had test subjects who HAD formed an attachment to the cube? In which case her assumptions of you loving the stupid hunk-o-metal would be validated, right?

 

[Lord Thodin]

-snip-

Try getting the Portal Flash pack which is far more challenging then the actual game
Or maybe going through the advance maps which are also far more challenging then the actually campaign which is so ridiculously easy
Also I think the joke with the compainion cube was that she was making a big deal out an inanimate object, I didn't really find the joke that good either

Thank god im not the only one. I cant get the flash back maps, unless they are downloadable off the the XBLA. However, i have started playing the advanced maps. They are incredible. They are the challenge i was looking for............kinda. I can tell what elements were removed, so its not that hard to improvise a new solution.

 

[Lord Thodin]

HEY EVERYBODY! Appreciate everyones input, and their own input against mine own. I am actually going to go try to enjoy some of the other things the Orange Box has to offer. HOWEVER if you quote me, i will respond, so dont be afraid to leave questions.

Ill leave you with this thought. I understand an over hyped.....thing. But how can a game thats only mediocre at best be that over hyped? The game is unique and different but its not THAT good as to deserve as much hype as it got.

You have to remember the context in which Portal launched. Most people had no clue what the fuck Portal even was. They bought Orange Box for TF2 and Half-Life, not for some rinky dink add on thing called Portal that no one ever heard of. Even early reviews of Orange Box rarely mentioned Portal.

Then all of a sudden people play it, see that it's something really fun/unique and it just blew up. Sure there were puzzle games before Portal and yeah Portals regular 20 puzzles rooms/backrooms weren't too hard to figure out but it was something most gamers had never been exposed to before. The black humour and overall atmosphere were awesome as well.
Then you wrap that all up with a catchy endgame song that went viral and BAM thats what happened to Portal.

From there all the references and bad jokes sprouted and the games hype and cult status exploded. =)

Edit: Basically what I'm saying is that if you went into it without any knowledge of Portal or any of the references and jokes you probably would have liked the game more

Got it. Mind = understanding. See what i did there?

 

[Lord Thodin]

[...]and the "Im trying science" joke,[...]
The companion cube. I am confused. Most of the art I see only, or even in GAME show everyone loving the companion cube. Was the joke that I killed a friend? Cause it was just metal. Was the fact that the earlier convicts might have been insane the reason why GLaDOS was so surprised when I killed the cube so fast? I dunno, but hey, I got an achievement out of it.

I can agree with most of what you said, but there are two things that I feel the need to express. I'm pretty sure the "I'm trying science" thing existed long before portal. I can't even remember where it was referenced in portal. Also, a bit about the companion cube:

Spoiler: I suppose this could offend someone out there, but I feel the need to be blunt

The whole loving the companion cube thing was largely in itself a joke. You had it for one level and it was essentially just a shield and paperweight, something any other weighted cube could have been. The joke was in that Glados, being the computer that she is, thought that a sane person would have grown some sort of attachment to the cube(the other inmates were definitely not sane). They then made a big deal out of you killing it. It was a joke and most people have a fixation with it for the sake of the joke. Anyone who does have a fixation to it and doesn't realize it was essentially a giant joke is a tool.

Other than that, the only interesting part of the companion cube is that it now serves as one of the major symbols of the game for having been included in that one solemn level.

If someone disagrees with this, please explain why you were expected to have grown an attachment to a cube that looks exactly like all the others(with the exception of the heart in the center of it's faces), that didn't do anything other cubes couldn't, and that you spent a grand total of what, 12-24 minutes with.

Thanks for the info. I get the jist of the whole idea after reading all of what my fellow Escapees have to say. However, the Im trying science joke. I know NOTHING about its origins. I just saw a line in the end song. Something to the affect of "there will be more to try science on" or something.

 

[Lord Thodin]

Hey there escapees. I started a thread a while ago about Portal. Regarding wether or not I should get the game. The masses spoke and it was a unanimous "YES!". Well I got the Orange Box a few days ago for my birthday. I was excited as hell, but I kept Internet Krakens words in my head, "Don't expect it to be godly" or something to that affect. Basically don't expect the second coming of Jesus. And I didn't. So I popped it in. Played it. And about 30 minutes ago, beat it with my final time coming in, JUST a little under 2 hours(like 1hr 58min) Well I must say.......Thats what all the commotion was about?

I knew about the Cake joke, and the "Im trying science" joke, but now I understand them. I must say.......disappointment is the only word that describes how I feel. It might be because Im a veteran of Flash Puzzle games, or what, but there was only 2, maybe 3 puzzles that had me stumped for more than 25 minutes. I will admit the idea was cool, and the incorporation of the Portal gun in a game was cooler then I expected. I like the part of the game where a "difficult" puzzle is presented before you, and the satisfaction that comes with solving it. However......I was extremely upset when around level 9 when the puzzles started REALLY making me think, the game ended about 2 levels later. I was very mad that it was so short, but not because it needed to be longer, but because the last 3 puzzles were the only challenging ones.

The writing, it was comical. I wont say funny, because it didn't make me laugh. What it did was make me chuckle once, about every other level. The whole side story about other "convicts" Im guessing, was cool. About how they try to help you by leaving the writing about the cake being a lie, or the bloody signs of where to go. Also, I liked the lines given by the turrets. Those were comical, but they got repetitive quick.

The companion cube. I am confused. Most of the art I see only, or even in GAME show everyone loving the companion cube. Was the joke that I killed a friend? Cause it was just metal. Was the fact that the earlier convicts might have been insane the reason why GLaDOS was so surprised when I killed the cube so fast? I dunno, but hey, I got an achievement out of it.

I will end by saying that it was a fun game. I understand why people say the game has immense replay-ability, especially when they throw in so many challenges afterwards. However the game did not live up to expectations. It was hyped by most of you and Yahtzee himself so I had to keep a level head while playing. I will finish by saying That it was enjoyable and I will probably go re-do some levels just for the challenges but I could have gotten the same amount of enjoyment from a flash game.

Still, I got Team Fortress 2, and Half Life 2 outta it. So do you guys agree with me? Disagree?

What puzzles had you stumped for 25 minutes? If anything had you stumped for that long, I'd say you got your moneys worth. Now go back and see if you can do all the challenging stages with the set conditions. Don't come crying to me for help.

Appreciate the blunt honesty. However, I never said that i didnt get my moneys worth. However the ones that actually had me stumped for 25 minutes were so obvious, that when i saw the solution i smacked my forehead out of idiocy. It was sort of a "How did i not see that?!" sort of thing.

 

[Lord Thodin]

Ill leave you with this thought. I understand an over hyped.....thing. But how can a game thats only mediocre at best be that over hyped? The game is unique and different but its not THAT good as to deserve as much hype as it got.

The game is only mediocre? Huh? How do you figure that? I can understand if you didn't particularly like the game, but I haven't seen many other titles out there with such a good mesh of story/pacing and innovative game play (if you know of any, please speak up). I realize that's not everyone's idea of a perfect game, but for those of us that do like that sort of thing Portal stands out as one of the best.

Hype is the ruiner of so many things - what made Portal so successful in the first place was the fact that nobody heard of it and nobody expected anything from it.

Now that Portal has - quite wrongly, I might add - been elevated to god status, it can only possibly come as a dissapointment to those who have heard the hype.

Portal is a fun little game and a decent way to spend 2 hours, but not much more.

I think the problem with hype is that people have a lot of different ideas about what makes a good game, so when they hear good things about something their mind starts filling in the blanks according to their idea of a "perfect game". Some people want a good story, some people want something that's challenging, and some people only want something that will keep them busy for 50+ hours of game play. Then when people finally get around to playing the game they start judging it on things the game was never even meant to do in the first place.

Believe me, i appreciate unique things. And i appreciate good games. Portal was both. However, what it was NOT was GODLY, AMAZING, OUT OF THIS WORLD, and Unimaginably good. It was just alright. You want an example of an amazing game? In my opinion Call of Duty 4. They arent REALLY comparable, and that may lead to the "well puzzles arent your thing" but they are, and they are more comparable than you think. If you break the games down to bare bones, they are both new, cool ideas. Great character development, and amazing voice acting, setting so on and so forth. However, Portal just doesnt seem to blow me away as CoD4 did.

 

[Megacherv]

I first played it on the PS3, found it good. Bought it again recently on PC for so I could play on Gmod, and I found it a lot more fun. Compared to most modern FPS games, it was an (almost) original concept, required thought, and had excellent writing (as standard for Valve not including Left 4 Dead). I'd like a game that incorporates both shooting and Portal gameplay.