Being the good little Valve fanboy that I am, I went out and picked up The Orange Box at Circuit City Wed evening after work (it’s currently on sale for $37.99 btw). Although I could have pre-ordered the bundle on Steam, I generally like to wait and pick up the discs. I’m not sure why this is, but I imagine it has something to do with the need to have some sort of physical reward for my purchase. Something that can sit on my shelf and collect dust instead of just a digital representation of the money I spent (or flushed down the toilet in my wifes opinion). As a fanboy though, I purchased this bundle with high hopes, and so far, I’m gleefully delighted.
Like many of the rest of you who rushed out to buy this bundle, I’ve already beaten Portal. My initial impressions… I NEED MORE!!! This was a very refreshing romp through a world with physics and graphics that we’re all used to, but with a new twist. Source still looks gorgeous after all these years and I found myself being blown away by this new space-bending aspect they’ve introduced. Like all truly great games, this one has begun to bleed over into my reality and I’ve found myself studying any white wall I encounter to judge whether or not a portal would fit there and where I might place the other end.
In short, Portal is one of the best PC games I’ve played in a good long while. In fact, it’s good enough to have torn me away from Phantom Hourglass these last few days. The only downside to the entire experience was how short it was. The gameplay mechanics, environment and generally humorous tone were all pretty much perfect. Incorporating the Portal gun into the final sequence proved to be a bit challenging and quite rewarding when finished. I don’t want to give anything away here, but the closing credits made it all worth it as well as making me hopeful for another installment. What we really need now are some good old fashioned mod community maps.
In closing, if you currently own the Orange Box and haven’t tried Portal yet… shame on you. Get your butt home (or wherever you happen to game) and give it try right now. You won’t be disappointed.
I have on good authority that Rudeboy was up into the wee hours seeking the help of a mutual friend. I’d like to think the 2 AM playtime had something to do with the just-short-of-perfect puzzle-solving skills. Bwahaha.
My reply for Zarch is that until you’ve beaten it with zero help from either our mutual friend (hey there vicious) or from the interwebs, then I don’t want to hear it. Some of the puzzles are a tad difficult to wrap your head around.