Snarky Robots and Puzzle Solving Portals! What more could a girl ask for?

Hey everyone,

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I actually injured my back last week and it has been killing me. They finally gave me meds on Monday, so I am back! Today we are going to talk about Portal. I finally played and beat the first one last night. It was amazing and GlaDOS, while making me feel like a complete idiot half the time, was well...you'll see.

PROS: 

1. The whole idea of Portal was amazing. It is entirely a puzzle game and it gradually becomes more and more diffficult as you go through the levels. There were times where I sat there for a few minutes with baffled looks on my face. It was awesome. The level designs were amazing and none of them had the same solutions, which is amazing.  

2. Companion Cubes. These cute little guys were invaluable solving tools. I now understand why everyone I know is obsessed with them. I mean look how friendly they look and GlaDOS assures us they will never stab us! Which leads me to my next point....

 

3. I should put a disclaimer here. I love robots. Like seriously love robots - Giant robots, small robots, Mecha. In fact I chose my path in SWOTOR, specifically so I could get a Droid. I'm not ashamed. Also R2D2 measuring cups that build up into an R2D2, I'll save that for another time though. These adorable little guys will shoot you to death faster than you would believe. BUT, they're super cute and have sweet little playful voices. They are also super forgiving when you knock them over and they die. I'm going to get a tiny one for my desk I think. 

AND FINALLY....

4. GlaDOS herself. I mean for a robot bent on killing people, she is hilarious. Everything she says is a dig and she gets extremely personal in the end. One of the best things about her is she isn't just a boss you hear from at the end. You get her snarkiness from the moment the game starts essentially AND she sings a song while the credits are rolling. DO NOT SKIP THE SONG! It's great and was written by Johnathan Coulton, so its also hilarious. 

CONS: 

Portal is a fantastic game, but it does have two major cons in my book. 

1. It's a very short game. I beat it in about 2 and a half hours last night. It was challenging at points, but it is an extremely short game. 

2. While it does have bonus maps, there is little replayability. Once you've played the game, you've played the game. It's a puzzle game so you kind of already know the solutions. It takes out half the fun of playing the game. You can always help others though when they're playing through for the first time. 

3. The ratio of how far Chell (your character) can jump versus how high she can jump is a little off. She could jump pretty far, but couldn't jump very high at all. 

In Conclusion: 

I give Portal a solid 4.5 out of 5 companion cubes. [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3] [<3. I loved the game design and the concept. There were major boons to the game and I can't wait to play through the second one. Despite the cons, I felt it was strong and I now understand everyone's obsession with it. What do you guys think about Portal and when did you play through it first?