Overview:
First person physics based puzzle platforming, with a twist in the regular run and jump game mechanics. Portal 1 is short and sweet with Portal 2 extending the gameplay and story to become a classic among many gamers.
Why I have never played
Right first things first I never played the Portal franchise because I had stopped gaming on my PC just a few years earlier after I had blown up my PC. Also this was a time where my parents had decided I had enough consoles I had to now buy my own, which at 14-15 meant I had no income of my own to afford any of the modern systems, so they ended up just passing me by.
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Once I finally had my own income though I purchased my Xbox 360 and was to busy playing Batman Arkham Asylum to care about going back to games I had missed in the years prior. Until... now
Portal 1
You play as Chell an aperture science test subject who has to complete a multitude of different puzzles to reach the end goal of cake and ultimately not be killed by the rouge AI (GLaDOS) controlling the testing.
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So I am playing Portal 11 years after it first come out (in 2018), and I was thoroughly disappointed. I know... I know I just basically called for my own head on a pike but hear me out.
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After all hype I had heard for this game series over the years and listening to how its some peoples favourite collection games ever, I was massively underwhelmed. I found it to be mush shorter then I anticipated and a lot easier then the internet had lead me to believe, as I only got stuck on the puzzles once in test chamber 18 (there are only 19 levels and a boss fight) and I finished it in 2 hours flat. Another part of the gam that was disappointing to me was the finally boss fight, unfortunately for me as I was so late to the party I had already seen how to defeat the boss on the internet years before which meant I also beat her incredibly easily and it took any tension out of the last battle. But that was my fault not the games.
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Overall the story mode felt more like a demo for the full game, but after I finished the campaign and played a couple of the levels again with commentary mode on. It basically revealed that this was pretty much the case, as the game was developed out of a student project. This helped me to apricate more what the game actually achieved.
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What I did like about the game was that it does a great job of showing the player how to play the game without to much telling. it builds the difficulty of the game slowly and stably enough so that there is no massive difficulty spike but also progresses at a steady enough pace so that progression never feels to slow or hand holdy and although I never got stuck I did have to stop a few time to come up with the solution to a few of the later puzzles.
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Once you finish the game there are a few advanced challenges to complete, but there are only a few of them which only ramp the difficulty up slightly but it was a welcome addition to the game. In the end I did really enjoy portal but I wished it was longer, luckily for me I could just load up portal 2 and carry on my experience, I didn't have to wait 3 years.
Portal 2
Okay if portal 1 was the demo then portal 2 is the full game, and I get it, I get why people love this game. I haven't laughed so hard at game ever, Stephen Merchant as Wheatley was an inspired choice, I could barely hold it together for more then a few minuets at a time and he played brilliantly against Ellen Mclains straight laced GLaDOS.
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Everything about this game is more refined then the first, the visuals have had an upgrade, the game runs smoother, and now the game contains awesome set pieces which helps to make the game fell less static and more like an actual adventure rather than a linear path through connecting rooms. However with all of these visual and story upgrades the basic gameplay remains mostly unchanged from the first with just a few new gameplay elements added. The same can also be said for the difficulty of the game as I once again only got stuck once on one of the puzzles and had to look up the answer online.
The game starts with Wheatley waking you up and taking you back to the first few test chambers from Portal 1, but this time the test areas are overgrown and falling apart as the game is set some time after the first one. I really enjoyed playing through these first few levels and surprisingly I got a real sense of nostalgia even though I had only play the very same levels like 2 hours earlier, I can't explain it but it just felt good to see the first test chamber again after the more complicated later levels of the last game.
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After these initial levels the games story takes a twist which throws the established norm from the first game on its head. This took me completely by surprise and showed a different side to the sadistic GLaDOS from the first game. After these first few chamber the games environment moves to a new atheistic, namely the old back corridors and old test facilities of Aperture Science where old video recordings of J.K SImmons characters voice over replaces GLaDOS and Wheatley's. This change in atheistic makes the game fell more like Bioshock rather than Portal but it was defiantly a welcome one as the clean and bright white corridors of the first game and the rebuilt second game can get visually quiet grating after a while.
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Portal 2 also offers a two player co-op campaign, now I didn't get to play this for my review as I had no-one to play it with but I watch a couple of videos online and looks to be a good brain teasing time, with both players controlling a testing robot and having to complete test chambers together. As I haven't played it I can't really say much more about it but it does look like an interesting concept that I hope to try at some point.
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Overall
As a series it is defiantly unique in its premise and mechanics, creating a puzzle game series unlike any other and although I had a great time with both games I would not recommend buying the first portal unless you where going to buy it bundled with Portal 2, yes for story purposes you need to play both to fully understand the world and appreciate the first 3rd of portal 2's levels but it just doesn't feel like enough of a game to warrant paying the full price for, even if it is only £7 on steam, especially with how much more you get it in the second game. And with it also being £7 I personally think you should buy the second game first and if you absolutely love it then go back and play the first game or wait for one of the many steam sales like I did where I got both games for £1.50 each.
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Until next time... Toby
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