Portal - A Review

After much cajoling from many of our friends, my husband and I finally broke down and bought the Orange Box. Granted we only ended up getting it because WoW was being serviced and was down for a few hours, nonetheless, we bought it.

So far the only game we've played was Portal. It was refreshing and definitely something different. We enjoyed it, though there were times when I was frustrated not having a gun - bad habit I suppose. I am, after all, the girl that prefers to blow things up with rocket launchers to the stealth attacks.

Game pluses - Originality. I love the concept and execution - chances are everyone makes it through the game a little differently - it is very open to variety in accomplishing the stated goals. The somewhat creepy sing-songy female computer voice that antagonizes you throughout the game is one of greatest "game characters" in recent history. The black humor provided throughout is worth the time spent in-game alone. The song at the end of the game is worth the money spent to purchase the Orange Box - trust me, you will listen to it over and over and over. I want to get it on my iPod.

Game minuses - Too short. Yes, now we can go back and try to finish all the accomplishments and the bonus maps, but I would have preferred having more game levels right off the bat. Other than that, I would have liked to have heard more from our computer "friend."

So, now that we've tackled portal, I imagine within the next few weeks we'll work our way into HalfLife Episodes 1 and 2. Looking forward to it - HalfLife (2) still stands up as one of the best games I've ever played. Long live Dog!