Portal

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Description

Aperture Science is a secret weapons research organization in competition with Black Mesa. Chell is a test subject at the "Enrichment Center" facility who awakens to find an A.I. construct called GlaDOS requiring some tasks to be completed. They are testing the Aperture Handheld Portal Device (aka Portal Gun) which is able to create portals in space, allowing Chell to move from one point to another without actually crossing the distance. Chell is promised cake should she be able to overcome the obstacles and perform the necessary tests.

She has to use her new gun to fling, jump and fall her way through 19 puzzles. These include obstacles but also androids that fire at her. Although the game is played as a first-person shooter, a large amount of strategy and puzzle-solving is involved. After completing the game, two additional game modes become available: Challenge where the game needs to be completed in either as little time, as few footsteps or as few portals as possible. The other mode is Advanced, where levels are made harder through additional obstacles.

Portal is set in the Half-Life universe and it is considered the spiritual successor to Narbacular Drop, some of whose original developers worked on this game. The Windows game can be bought stand-alone, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions are only available in The Orange Box.

Screenshots

Alternate Titles

• "ポータル" -- Japanese spelling
• "포털" -- Korean spelling

Part of the Following Groups

• 3D Engine: Source
• Games with in-game developer commentary
• Half-Life universe
• Portal series
• Protagonist: Female

User Reviews

Fun but extremely overrated casual-type puzzle game	Windows	Ferragus (48)
perfect design, but the fun only lasts a few good hours	Windows	Pixelspeech (943)
A fun game, but way too short	Windows	Mae Spencer (5)
An exercise in how to tell a story without cutscenes	Windows	snuf (2915)
Interesting idea, but not much of a game.	Windows	Tom Hell (170)

The Press Says

Tap-Repeatedly/Four Fat Chicks	Windows	Nov, 2007		100
GamesCollection	Windows	Feb 27, 2008	9.5 out of 10	95
Gamernode	Windows	Oct 16, 2007	9.5 out of 10	95
Pelit	Windows	Nov, 2007	92 out of 100	92
Cheat Code Central	Windows	Apr, 2008	4.5 out of 5	90
Eurogamer.net (UK)	Windows	Oct 10, 2007	9 out of 10	90
PC Games (Germany)	Windows	Oct 10, 2007	89 out of 100	89
IGN	Windows	Oct 09, 2007	8.2 out of 10	82
Meristation	Windows	Oct 19, 2007	8 out of 10	80
Avid Gamer	Windows	Dec 17, 2007	8 out of 10	80

Forums

Topic	# Posts	Last Post
Free until May 25th, 2010! (on Steam)	14	Adzuken (691) May 23, 2010
Valve re-writes the ending.	2	Adzuken (691) Mar 05, 2010
Steam can't so I can't play	3	Foxhack (12491) Nov 20, 2009
Incorrectly grouped	5	Sciere (231181) Feb 17, 2009
The Device Has Been Modified	2	DJP Mom (11121) Jan 17, 2009
Portal and Steam	14	hydra9 (3853) Apr 29, 2008
Some glitch videos... if you want to look at 'em.	3	Pseudo_Intellectual (43889) Apr 15, 2008
2D Flash version of Portal	1	Pseudo_Intellectual (43889) Jan 28, 2008
Still Alive	15	St. Martyne (3562) Nov 07, 2007
Portal != Portal	4	Pseudo_Intellectual (43889) Oct 25, 2007

Trivia

German version

In some German versions, the colour of blood was changed to grey.

GLaDOS

According to a boardroom projection in the game, GLaDOS stands for Generic Lifeform and Disk Operating System.

Awards

• Eurogamer (UK)
  • December 28, 2009 - Game of the Year 2007
• Games for Windows Magazine
  • March 2008 - #1 Game of the Year 2007 (PC Game Awards)
• GameSpy
  • 2007 – Best Puzzle Game of the Year
  • 2007 – Best Character of the Year (for GlaDOS)
  • 2007 – Best Sidekick of the Year (for The Weighted Companion Cube)
  • 2011 – #8 Top PC Game of the 2000s
• GameStar (Germany)
  • March 28, 2008 - Most Innovative Game Mechanics in 2007

Information also contributed by jean-louis and LepricahnsGold.

Related Web Sites

• ApertureScience (website of the fictional Aperture Science company with an alternate reality game)
• A Piece of Cake (An Apple Games article about the Macintosh version of Portal (May, 2010).)
• Design Language: The Portal Paradoxes (Noah Falstein presents a comprehensive design critique of Portal - from intro to 'Still Alive'.)
• MacGamer Review (A review of the Mac version of Portal by the news and review site, MacGamer (May 18th, 2010).)
• Portal flash pack (A pack of custom maps for the game, based on the unofficial 2D flash version.)
• Portal Is for lesbians (A look at the female cast and the influence on the theme, on Heroine Sheik (17th October 2007))
• Wikipedia: Portal (Article in the open encyclopedia)