I played Portal yesterday, a game that comes as part of The Orange Box, and it's amazing!

i think it's intended as a tester to see what people think and maybe, hopefully, they'll make a full length game version!

Its seems to fall into the genre of action as well as puzzle, although it requires a lot of logical thinking, and i thought it was so much fun i played it from start to finish in a 4 hour session! The first 12 levels seem more about getting your head around the concept and then the later levels are a lot more intensive.

There is a lot of sinister humour in it, quite comical in places.

I loved it!

I played portal yesterday too. I have to say, the game is amazing. I was psyched about it, and it really lived up to my expectations and all the high expectations placed on it.

However, I was sorely disappointed at the length. I beat it in 4.2 hours according to my steam tracker. I knew it was a short game, but I didn't realize it was that short.

As far a replayability (is that a word?), I really don't have any desire to redo any levels, as I know how to beat them. And doing the challenges don't seem as much fun as they seem masochistic.

Even the credits were fantastic.

But so short, so short... We're going to need a Portal 2 or an expansion pack of new puzzles. I'm almost out of "advanced" levels though it sounds like the challenge ones may be harder.

Portal wasn't just a puzzle game. . .

Its a story within the Half Life 2 universe. Don't be surprised when you find that character and her portal gun in either Ep 2. . . or most likely, in episode 3.

The game was really short but the amount you could do was awesome. I am pretty sure I'd have paid $50 for that one game alone.

P.S. BEST CREDITS EVER!

I am liking whats happening rescently.  Gaming is starting to be revolutionized again.  You got Spore, Damasi, and Portal now.  New types of gameplay are always great.

Anyway, whats portal about ? A girl testing a new gun or what or is it more too it.

Originally posted by dhartz

Anyway, whats portal about ? A girl testing a new gun or what or is it more too it.

I a nut shell, yes.

The plot, as far as I could tell, really doesn't get much deeper than some woman following orders from a rude computer who you eventually go against. And you happen to have a nifty portal gun.

Everyone claims it somehow ties into the HL2 universe, however after having beat it I could see no connections.

Went out and bought the Orange Box this morning. Truthfully Portal was the last game I was interested in playing, but it was also the first one I tried(Mainly so I could start simple). I played it through in just over 2 hours. The whole portal gun thing is really amazing, especially looking back on it. If they do make a full-sized game based around the portal gun, even without any other types of weapons, I would absolutely get it. If they could use that in an Online FPS without causing major lag I think they'd be able to bring about a major leap in the evolution of FPS Games.

Mainly I bought OB for Half Life 2. I spent $100 on it for the PC Version a few years back and was only able to play roughly the first 2 minutes of it. I had to buy 2 copies because the first was missing it's code-Key(Someone had jacked it in-store) and when I went to take it back, which just happened to be 2 or so days after Christmas, the line for returns was an hour long. Then I forgot to bring a replacement copy with me after reaching the front of the line. After I left the copy without the code-key at the Return desk I found it was an older version of HL2 and there were no more copies of that one left. So I just grabbed a new copy and paid another $50 to avoid standing in line for another hour. When I got home I removed the old copy and loaded up the new copy. Unfortunately the game crashed within 2 minutes of gameplay and would never work, though that cpu would run any other game out there perfectly.

I also wanted to give TF2 a shot since i enjoy Online Shooters but don't care for Halo 3. Unfortunately I am not really impressed with it yet. I haven't experienced the lag everyone else is talking about, but the game seems a little too... limited. Also I don't like the maps or the amount of damage needed for a kill. But I'll give it another shot or two.

Originally posted by Teddy3157

 

Originally posted by dhartz

Anyway, whats portal about ? A girl testing a new gun or what or is it more too it.

 

I a nut shell, yes.

The plot, as far as I could tell, really doesn't get much deeper than some woman following orders from a rude computer who you eventually go against. And you happen to have a nifty portal gun.

Everyone claims it somehow ties into the HL2 universe, however after having beat it I could see no connections.

None? Then you didn't pay much attention. It's mentioned in Episode 2. And for instance Black Mesa is mentioned in Portal. And several other neat details.

I'm still in the middle of the game, and though I'm moving really fast through it, it's still a load of fun. My favorite two things so far have been making portals in the floor and ceiling to fall eternally through them, and making a portal on each wall in a corner and chasing myself through them.

One question, and if the answer is a spoiler please say so and I'll eventually figure it out. What are the things on the character's legs? When I make a portal to look at myself, it almost looks like she's got bracelets on her calves that have long springs or pieces of metal that loop around behind her foot. It's kind of wierd looking.

Nevermind, I figured it out.

Originally posted by Sawtooth

One question, and if the answer is a spoiler please say so and I'll eventually figure it out. What are the things on the character's legs? When I make a portal to look at myself, it almost looks like she's got bracelets on her calves that have long springs or pieces of metal that loop around behind her foot. It's kind of wierd looking.

Noticed how she doesn't take any damage when hitting the floor from great heights? It's some sort of "android" springs or legs. That is my take on it.

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Originally posted by Teddy3157

I a nut shell, yes.
The plot, as far as I could tell, really doesn't get much deeper than some woman following orders from a rude computer who you eventually go against. And you happen to have a nifty portal gun.
Everyone claims it somehow ties into the HL2 universe, however after having beat it I could see no connections.

---

In several of the small office rooms there are windows into other rooms with projectors running showing a presentation about Aperture Science competing with Black Mesa for government projects.

Originally posted by Phoenixs

Originally posted by Sawtooth

One question, and if the answer is a spoiler please say so and I'll eventually figure it out. What are the things on the character's legs? When I make a portal to look at myself, it almost looks like she's got bracelets on her calves that have long springs or pieces of metal that loop around behind her foot. It's kind of wierd looking.

Noticed how she doesn't take any damage when hitting the floor from great heights? It's some sort of "android" springs or legs. That is my take on it.

That's kind of what I've been thinking. Who knows, she can take quite a few bullets before going down, maybe there's hardware than that. It's just extremely odd to look at.

Team Fortress 2 has me more excited...I'll have to examine my financial situation more in order to see whether or not I can afford to buy the orange box, when next month is going to be HUGE for 360 owners.

Originally posted by Draenor

Team Fortress 2 has me more excited...I'll have to examine my financial situation more in order to see whether or not I can afford to buy the orange box, when next month is going to be HUGE for 360 owners.

I've found the game to be nonstop awesome. I never played Half Life 2 so it was a pretty good deal. Portal is extremely short, so if you're going to get it I'd get the Orange Box. $20 for the standalone game seems like way too much, cool though it is.

And yeah, I pretty much bought the Orange Box for Team Fortress 2. I like the pyro most, there's nothing like screaming muffled insults at people as you burn them.