GamesRelay

Name: Portal

Portal was an enigmatic addition to the Orange Box. While its astounding puzzle mechanics were made very visible before release, it was the only true unknown quantity in Valve's box of goodies, with the other games being sequels. Even against the refined competition on offer on its very disc, Portal shone brightest of all. Like a ruby nestled in a bed of diamonds, Portal grabs your attention and becomes the most valuable gem in the trove.

Valve is pretty well-known for telling great stories in unconventional ways. Much like Half-Life 2, Portal is seen through the eyes of a mute protagonist who, under the supervision of a computer named GLaDOS, must go through a string of obstacle courses to test a device called, quite simply, the Portal Gun. This is a mechanism that fires two separate rifts in space and time, allowing the user to place an entrance and an exit on walls, floors and ceilings, and pass through them, no matter what distance separates them. This seemingly simple setting soon becomes anything but, and the plot is swimming with wonderfully black humour that keeps everything upbeat, as well as inherently malicious. While GLaDOS is the only speaking character in the game, her personality is enough to keep the plot moving and the final result is a very compelling, terrific and amusing tale that never fails to hold your attention.

All the puzzle elements are fed to the player very gradually, with the first few chambers being solved quite simply if you have a basic grasp over how portals operate. Anyone with any Zelda experience can pick up these things almost instantaneously, playing on the ingrained instinct of placing a weighted cube on a button, for example. Very soon, things get more complex, such as utilising the momentum of falling from seemingly lethal heights in order to launch yourself across gaps, to manoeuvring lethal energy bullets in order to use their power to open doorways or raise platforms. The craft that these were created with shows under Valve's own commentary, which can be accessed through interacting with rotating speech bubbles when the feature is activated. This is a great addition in itself as it illustrates the designer's methods and helps you appreciate the minutiae of what it takes to create something like this.

There can be no denying that the portals add a new element to puzzles that hadn't been addressed before. The sight of looking and leaping through two holes you made in the environment is one difficult to forget. Bending your mind to utilise this isn't as hard as it could be, thanks to the slow start, and the ways it is developed throughout the test chambers innovate what is already a fresh concept. There are a number of situations, particularly in the closing chapters, that require you to manipulate multiple portals not with tactical patience, but as you're soaring across a room or plummeting towards the ground. Having to solve puzzles while under such pressure is a thrill, and the penalty for failure is usually just to try again. Or you die, but auto saves are very frequent.

The most startling negative in this is the length of the game. Coming in at only four or five hours, it's very possible to be completed in one sitting with little perspiration. Coupled with the lack of difficulty settings, even considering the game is without ordinary enemy encounters, there's little to come back to after a single completion. Since most will get this as part of The Orange Box with other, longer games, this can be forgiven from the value standpoint, but with a game this brilliantly conceived, more would have been very, very welcome.

There is also the option of challenge rooms - rearrangements of existing test chambers usually with a previously useful part of the puzzle now missing. Figuring out the old chambers with a new twist proves to be just as enticing as the main game, though the lack of extra narrative is its only caveat. There's also the option of community-made maps, something that could potentially blossom into much extra longevity if the community rallies behind it. There's no multiplayer or any form of ranking system - it's a short single-player game that fails to outlive its welcome, leaves the party too soon and takes the celebratory atmosphere with them.

Portal feels like it could be a downloadable title due to its length, and will be the fastest thing that you'll finish in the Orange Box. However, it's also the most memorable, the most ground-breaking and the most inventive thing Valve has made since Half-Life 2. Its only fault is its length, and every other aspect has been constructed with such care and talent, lacking almost any flaw, that this reality becomes its only major sticking point. Portal is one of the best games made this generation. Just play it.