"I'm making a note here, HUGE SUCCESS."
The title and above quote come courtesy of the most amazing game to cross my path this year, p
Ortal.
p
Ortal first wowed me from the first trailer I ever saw. The concept was amazing, and while the idea was utilized to some degree in Prey, it was presented in p
Ortal as a much purer concept. This game isn't about using your native american heritage to defeat aliens, with some portals thrown in - this game is about bending the fabric of space-time, and doing all the ridiculously cool things that come possible as a result.
p
Ortal comes as part of "The Orange Box" from Valve, a tidy sum of Half-Life 2, with additional Episodes 1 and 2, as well as Team Fortress 2 . It's available for the XBox 360 and PC.
If you haven't finished p
Ortal yet, and plan to, read no further, as spoilers follow.
While the original premise of p
Ortal could have been enough, for me it has a great story. I really enjoyed how the story is subtly interwoven into the gameplay: first, through the guidance of the disembodied voice walking you through the tests, and later in the messages scrawled on the walls as you make your way through the testing complex. I loved that the narrator proved unreliable, a la "usual Suspects", although telegraphed quite a bit more, and really enjoyed how in the process of the game, you end up breaking down the fourth wall in a way, as you end up moving through the areas behind the testing centers.
On top of all that, there was cake.
posted @ Saturday, October 13, 2007 9:46 PM