Portal (video game)

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For the 1986 interactive novel, see Portal (interactive novel).
Portal
The box art for the PC version of Portal.
Portal's box art displays one of the signs commonly used around the game's environment.
Developer(s) Valve Corporation
Publisher(s) Valve Corporation
Distributor(s) Electronic Arts, Valve Corporation
Engine Source engine
Platform(s) Windows via Steam, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release date
October 9, 2007
Genre(s) Puzzle, first-person, science fiction
Mode(s) Single-player
Rating(s) ESRB: T
OFLC: M
USK: 12
Media Blu-ray Disc, download, DVD
System requirements Minimum:
1.7 GHz processor, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 8 compatible video card, Windows 2000/XP/Vista

Recommended:
Pentium 4 processor (3.0 GHz or better), 1 GB RAM, DirectX 9 compatible video card, Windows 2000/XP/Vista[7]

Portal is a single-player first-person action/puzzle video game developed by Valve Corporation. The game was released in the bundle package The Orange Box for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on October 9, 2007,[2][1] and for the PlayStation 3 on December 11, 2007.[5] The Windows version of the game is also available for download separately through Valve's content delivery system, Steam[7] and was released as a standalone retail product on April 9, 2008.[6]

The game consists primarily of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the player's character and other simple objects using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (dubbed the "Portal Gun"), a unit that can create an inter-spatial portal between flat planes. The player character is challenged by an AI named "GLaDOS" to complete each puzzle in the "Aperture Science Enrichment Center" using the Portal Gun with the promise of receiving cake when all the puzzles are completed. The unusual physics allowed by the portal gun are the emphasis of this game, and is an extension of a similar portal concept in Narbacular Drop; many of the team from the DigiPen Institute of Technology that worked on Narbacular Drop were hired by Valve for the creation of Portal.

Portal has been acclaimed as one of the most original games in 2007 despite being comparatively short in length. The game has received praise for its unique gameplay and darkly humorous story (created with the assistance of Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek of "Old Man Murray" fame), the "character" of GLaDOS (voiced by Ellen McLain), and the final credits song, "Still Alive" (written by Jonathan Coulton for the game). The game's popularity has led to official merchandise from Valve as well as fan creations using elements of the game.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

In Portal, the player controls the character, Chell, from a first person perspective as she is challenged to navigate through a series of rooms using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device ("portal gun"). The portal gun can create two distinct portal ends, orange and blue. Neither is specifically an entrance or exit; all objects that travel through the one portal will exit through the other with no change in momentum magnitude. If subsequent portal ends are created, the previously created portal of the same color is closed. Not all surfaces are able to accommodate a portal, and any attempt to do so will not affect the existing portals. Chell can also pick up objects, though she can only throw objects a short distance (affected by the player's momentum). These objects ("Aperture Science Weighted Storage Cubes" or a "Weighted Companion Cube") can be used to press large buttons to open doors or activate platforms, but barriers (known as "Material Emancipation Grids" or 'fizzlers', as described by the audio commentary) at the end of each test chamber or within certain test chambers prevent the player character from carrying such objects beyond them. Passage through these fields also closes any open portals, and portals cannot be fired through these fields.[8]

A representation of how speed and momentum magnitude (although not directionality) are conserved through portals. By jumping into the lower portal, the character is launched out of the upper portal and onto the platform on the right.
A representation of how speed and momentum magnitude (although not directionality) are conserved through portals. By jumping into the lower portal, the character is launched out of the upper portal and onto the platform on the right.

The portals create a visual and physical connection between two different locations in 3D space. Portal ends are restricted to planar surfaces, but if the portal ends are on nonparallel planes, bizarre twists in geometry and gravity can occur as the player character is immediately reoriented to be upright with respect to gravity after leaving a portal end. An important aspect of the game's physics is "momentum redirection".[9] Objects retain their speed as they pass through the portals but their direction will be altered depending on the orientation of the exit portal. This allows the player to launch objects or Chell herself over great distances, both vertically and horizontally, a maneuver referred to as "flinging" by Valve.[9] As GLaDOS puts it, "In layman's terms: speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out."

Although the player character is equipped with mechanized heel springs to prevent damage from falling,[9] she can be killed by various other hazards in the test chambers, such as turret guns, bouncing balls of energy, and toxic liquid. She can also be damaged by objects falling through portals, and by a series of "crushers" that appear in maintenance levels. Unlike most first person shooters, there is no set amount of health; suffering enough damage in a short time frame kills the player, but the player doesn't die from repeated exposure to small amounts of damage.

The portal gun allows several possible approaches to completing the various test chambers. In their initial preview of Portal, GameSpot noted how many solutions exist for completing each puzzle, and that the gameplay "gets even crazier, and the diagrams shown in the trailer showed some incredibly crazy things that you can attempt".[10] Two additional modes are unlocked during the completion of the game that challenge the player to work out these alternative methods of solving each test chamber. Challenge maps are unlocked near the halfway point and Advanced Chambers are unlocked when the game is completed.[11] In Challenge mode, levels are revisited, with the added goal of completing the test chamber either with as little time, with the least number of portals, or with the fewest footsteps possible. In Advanced mode, certain levels are made more complex with the addition of more obstacles and hazards.[12][13] The game also features a number of Achievements the player can earn by completing tasks. Achievements range from normal gameplay requirements, such as obtaining the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, to various tricks, such as using portals to jump a spectacular distance.

As with other Source engine games since Half-Life 2, Portal can be played with commentary enabled; special icons will appear in the game which the player can activate to hear how parts of the game were developed.

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Characters

Chell, the player-controlled protagonist, views herself holding the Portal Gun through the portals she has created. She is equipped with heel springs on her legs to prevent injury from falls.
Chell, the player-controlled protagonist, views herself holding the Portal Gun through the portals she has created. She is equipped with heel springs on her legs to prevent injury from falls.

The game features only two characters: the silent player-controlled protagonist, named Chell (as revealed by the credits), and GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, voiced by Ellen McLain), a computer artificial intelligence that monitors and directs the player. The only background information presented about Chell is given by GLaDOS; the credibility of these facts (such as Chell being adopted and having no friends) is dubious as GLaDOS is, by her own admission, a compulsive liar, and at the time they are revealed, GLaDOS is attempting to murder Chell.[14]

[edit] Setting

Portal takes place in the "Enrichment Center" for "Aperture Science Laboratories", the research corporation responsible for the creation of the Handheld Portal Device. Information about the company is revealed during the game and also via the real-world website.[15]

According to the Aperture Science website, the company was founded in 1953 by Cave Johnson for the sole purpose of making shower curtains for the U.S. military. However, after becoming mentally unstable from mercury poisoning in 1978, Johnson created a "three tier" research and development plan to make his organization successful. The first two tiers, the "Heimlich Counter-Maneuver" and the "Take-A-Wish Foundation" (parodies of the Heimlich Maneuver and the "Make-a-Wish Foundation" respectively), were commercial failures and led to an investigation of the company by the U.S. Senate. However, when the investigative committee heard of the success of the third tier, a "man-sized ad-hoc quantum tunnel through physical space with possible applications as a shower curtain", they recessed permanently and gave Aperture Science an open-ended contract to continue their research. The development of GLaDOS, the "Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System" (an "artificially intelligent research assistant and disk operating system"), began in 1986 in response to Black Mesa's work on similar portal technology.[16] A PowerPoint presentation seen during gameplay reveals that GLaDOS was also included in a proposed bid for de-icing fuel lines, incorporated as a "fully functional disk-operation system" which is "arguably alive", unlike Black Mesa's proposal which "inhibits ice, nothing more."[17] Roughly thirteen years later, work on GLaDOS is completed and the untested AI is activated during the company's first annual bring-your-daughter-to-work day. The record ends at that point on a positive note.

The portions of the Aperture Science Enrichment Center that Chell explores suggest that it is part of a massive research installation. At the time of events depicted in Portal, the Aperture Science Enrichment Center facility seems to be long deserted, although most of its equipment remains operational without human control.[18] Though Aperture Science exists in the Half-Life universe,[10] it is unclear when these events take place in that time-line. At one point, GLaDOS states that "the world has changed since [the player] last left the building", claiming to be the only thing standing between "us" and "them", yet does not elaborate on the details.

The apparent abandonment of the facility may not have been entirely intentional on the part of the Aperture Science staff. In the final area of the game, a red phone with a severed wire sits on a desk near the chamber housing GLaDOS' hardware, which the in-game commentary reveals was meant to be used by Aperture employees as a way to make an emergency call in case GLaDOS began taking over the facility. The commentator then notes that, clearly, this fail-safe did not work as planned.[9] In the game, GLaDOS claims to have flooded the facility with a deadly neurotoxin before the Aperture employees installed her morality core.

Aperture Science, Inc. is also mentioned during Half-Life 2: Episode Two, in which an icebreaker ship belonging to the corporation, the Borealis, is said to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances, along with part of its drydock. During its development, Half-Life 2 featured a chapter set on the Borealis, but this was abandoned and removed before release.[19]

[edit] Plot

Portal's plot is revealed to the player via audio messages from GLaDOS and side rooms found in the later levels. The game begins with Chell waking up from a stasis bed and hearing instructions and warnings from GLaDOS about the upcoming test experience. This part of the game involves distinct "test chambers" that, in sequence, introduce players to the game's mechanics. GLaDOS's announcements serve not only to instruct Chell and help her progress through the game, but also to create atmosphere and develop the AI as a character.[9] Throughout this portion of the game, Chell is promised cake and grief counseling as her reward for completing all the test chambers.[20]

A typical Portal level with both of the player's colored portals opened. The Weighted Companion Cube can also be seen.
A typical Portal level with both of the player's colored portals opened. The Weighted Companion Cube can also be seen.

Chell proceeds through the empty Enrichment Center, only interacting with GLaDOS. Over the course of the game, GLaDOS' motives are hinted to be more sinister than her helpful demeanor suggests. Although she is designed to appear helpful and encouraging, GLaDOS's actions and speech suggest insincerity and callous disregard for the test subjects. The test chambers become increasingly dangerous as Chell proceeds, and GLaDOS even directs Chell through "a live fire course designed for military androids" because the usual test chamber is being repaired. In another chamber, GLaDOS boasts about the fidelity and importance of the "Weighted Companion Cube", a waist-high crate with a single large pink heart on each face, for helping Chell to complete the chamber, but then declares that it "unfortunately must be euthanized" in an "emergency intelligence incinerator" before Chell can continue.[18] Some chambers include automated turrets with child-like voices that fire upon Chell, only to sympathize with her after being disabled ("I don't blame you! No hard feelings.").[14][21]

After Chell completes the final test chamber, GLaDOS congratulates her as the platform she is riding begins to slide into a large furnace to incinerate her. As GLaDOS assures her that "all Aperture technologies remain safely operational up to 4000 degrees Kelvin", Chell escapes with the use of the portal gun and makes her way through the maintenance areas within the Enrichment Center. Throughout this section, GLaDOS still sends messages to Chell and it becomes rather clear that GLaDOS has become corrupt and may have even killed all surviving people in the center, or there never were any at the start of the game. Chell makes her way through the maintenance areas and empty office spaces behind the chambers. Now, instead of guidance from GLaDOS, graffiti messages point Chell in the right direction. These "backstage" areas, which are in extreme disrepair, stand in stark contrast to the pristine test chambers. The graffiti includes statements such as "the cake is a lie" and pastiches of Emily Dickinson's poem "The Chariot" and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "The Reaper and the Flowers", mourning the death of the companion cube.[9]

GLaDOS attempts to dissuade Chell with threats of physical harm and misleading statements claiming that she is going the wrong way as Chell makes her way deeper into the maintenance areas. Eventually, Chell reaches a large chamber where GLaDOS's hardware hangs overhead. GLaDOS continues to attempt to plead with Chell, but during the exchange one of GLaDOS' core chips falls off. Chell drops it in an incinerator, and GLaDOS reveals that Chell has just destroyed the "morality core", which the Aperture Science employees allegedly installed after GLaDOS "flooded the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin", and goes on to state that now there is nothing to prevent her from doing so once again. A six-minute countdown starts up as Chell dislodges and incinerates more pieces of GLaDOS. After she has destroyed the final piece, a portal malfunction tears the room apart and transports everything to the surface. Chell lands outside the gates of the facility amid the rubble of GLaDOS.

The final scene, after a long and speedy zoom through the bowels of the facility, shows a mix of shelves surrounding a chocolate cake and the Weighted Companion Cube. The shelves contain various metallic "eye" components similar to GLaDOS' core chips, some of which begin to light up before a robotic arm descends and extinguishes the candle on the cake. The credits roll, and GLaDOS delivers a concluding report about Chell: the song "Still Alive",[22] in which GLaDOS sings "I'm doing science and I'm still alive."

[edit] Development

Portal is Valve's professionally developed spiritual successor to the freeware game Narbacular Drop, the 2005 independent game released by students of the DigiPen Institute of Technology; the original Narbacular Drop team is now employed at Valve.[23][24] Certain elements have been retained from Narbacular Drop, such as the system of identifying the two unique portal endpoints with the colors orange and blue. A key difference in the signature portal mechanic between the two games however is that Portal's "portal gun" cannot create a portal through an existing portal unlike in Narbacular Drop. Portal took approximately two years and four months to complete after the DigiPen team was brought into Valve,[25] and no more than ten people were involved with its development.[26] Portal writer Erik Wolpaw, who along with fellow writer Chet Faliszek of the classic gaming commentary/comedy website Old Man Murray were hired by Valve for the game, noted that "Without the constraints, Portal would not be as good a game."[27]

The Portal team worked with Half-Life series writer Marc Laidlaw on fitting the game into the series' plot.[28] Wolpaw and Faliszek were put to work on the dialogue for Portal.[24] GLaDOS was central to the plot, as Wolpaw notes "We designed the game to have a very clear beginning, middle, and end, and we wanted GLaDOS to go through a personality shift at each of these points."[29] Wolpaw further describes the idea of using cake as the reward came about as "at the beginning of the Portal development process, we sat down as a group to decide what philosopher or school of philosophy our game would be based on. That was followed by about 15 minutes of silence and then someone mentioned that a lot of people like cake."[29] According to Kim Swift, the cake is a Black Forest cake which she "thought looked the best" at a nearby bakery, the Regent Bakery and Café.[30]

The austere settings in the game were a result of finding that testers spent too much time trying to complete the puzzles using decorative but non-functional elements; as a result, they minimized the setting to make the usable aspects of the puzzle easier to spot, using the clinical feel of the setting in the film The Island as reference.[31] While there were plans for a third area, an office space, to be included after the test chambers and the maintenance areas, the team ran out of time to include it.[31] They also dropped the introduction of the "Rat Man", the character that left the messages in the maintenance areas to avoid creating too much narrative for the game.[32] According to Swift, the final battle with GLaDOS went through many iterations, including having the player chased by "James Bond lasers", which was partially applied to the turrets, "Portal Kombat" where the player would have needed to redirect rockets while avoiding turret fire, and a chase sequence following a fleeing GLaDOS. Eventually, they found that playtesters enjoyed a rather simple puzzle with a countdown timer near the end; Swift noted that "Time pressure makes people think something is a lot more complicated than it really is", and Wolpaw admitted that "it was really cheap to make [the neurotoxin gas]" in order to simplify the dialogue during the battle.[26]

Chell's face and body are modeled after Alésia Glidewell, an American freelance actor and voice over artist, selected by Valve from a local modeling agency for her face and body structure.[25][33] Ellen McLain provided the voice of the antagonist GLaDOS. Erik Wolpaw noted that "When we were still fishing around for the turret voice, Ellen did a 'sultry' version. It didn't work for the turrets, but we liked it a lot, and so a slightly modified version of that became the model for GLaDOS's final incarnation."[29] Mike Patton's voice also appears in the game performing the growling and snarling of the final core-chip of GLaDOS. The Weighted Companion Cube inspiration was from project lead Kim Swift with additional input from Wolpaw from reading some "declassified government interrogation thing" whereby "isolation leads subjects to begin to attach to inanimate objects";[29][26] Swift commented that "We had a long level called Box Marathon; we wanted players to bring this box with them from the beginning to the end. But people would forget about the box, so we added dialogue, applied the heart to the cube, and continued to up the ante until people became attached to the box. Later on, we added the incineration idea. The artistic expression grew from the gameplay."[31] Swift noted that reported comparisons to both the Milgram experiment and 2001: A Space Odyssey are happenstance.[31] The portal gun's full name "Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device" can be abbreviated as "ASHPD", which was, by coincidence, similar to the name of the protagonist Adrian Shephard of Half-Life: Opposing Force; as a result, the team placed a red herring in the game by having the letters of "Adrian Sheppard" highlighted on keyboards found in the office-space areas within the game.[31]

The popularity of the Weighted Companion Cube has led Valve to create merchandise for the "character", including fuzzy dice.
The popularity of the Weighted Companion Cube has led Valve to create merchandise for the "character", including fuzzy dice.

The popularity of the game and of its characters has led Valve to develop merchandise for Portal made available through their online Steam store. One of the more popular items were the Weighted Companion Cube plush toys and fuzzy dice;[34] both were sold out in under 24 hours.[35] Other products include t-shirts and Aperture Science coffee mugs and parking stickers.

Valve released a special demo version, entitled Portal: First Slice, free for any Steam user using Nvidia graphics hardware as part of a collaboration between the two companies.[36] It also comes packaged with Half-Life 2: Deathmatch, Peggle Extreme, and Half-Life 2: Lost Coast. The demo includes the first eleven test chambers, in which the portal gun is only capable of firing blue portals. Valve has since made the demo available to all Steam users.[37]

[edit] Soundtrack

The closing credits song, "Still Alive", was written by Jonathan Coulton and sung by Ellen McLain as the GLaDOS character. Wolpaw notes that Coulton was invited to Valve a year before the release of Portal as the team knew they wanted to involve Coulton in some fashion; "Once Kim [Swift] and I met with him, it quickly became apparent that he had the perfect sensibility to write a song for GLaDOS."[29][22] The song was released as a free downloadable song for the music video game Rock Band on March 31, 2008; the game lists GLaDOS, not Ellen McLain, as the singer.[38][39][40] The soundtrack for Portal was released as a part of The Orange Box Original Soundtrack[41] and includes both GLaDOS' in-game rendition and Coulton's vocal mix of "Still Alive".

[edit] Sequel

Swift stated that future Portal developments will depend on the community's reactions, saying, "We're still playing it by ear at this point, figuring out if we want to do multi-player next, or Portal 2, or release map packs."[12] On January 31, 2008, Valve spokesperson Doug Lombardi confirmed that "more Portal" would be forthcoming, and promised that the additional content would not just be "more puzzles";[42] an interview with Kim Swift on February 21, 2008 revealed that a full sequel, Portal 2, will be coming.[43] Swift also stated that the team creating the Portal sequel are currently deciding upon the design they should implement and that a multiplayer Portal "from a technology standpoint is possible",[44] though Swift had previously stated they tried a Portal multiplayer variant, but admitted that "Honestly, it's less fun than you'd think."[26] As of June 10, news has emerged from the videogame website Kotaku that Valve is looking for voice actors to act as the character Cave Johnson. [45]

[edit] Critical reception

See also: Critical reception of The Orange Box
 Reviews (PC standalone only)
Publication Score
1UP.com 9.0/10[18]
Eurogamer 9/10[14]
GameSpy 4.5/5.0[20]
IGN 8.2/10[21]
MobyGames 10
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler Score
Metacritic 90/100[46]
Game Rankings 90.4%[47]

Portal was a surprise favorite of The Orange Box, often earning more praise than either Half-Life 2: Episode Two or Team Fortress 2. It has been praised for its unique gameplay and dark, deadpan humor.[48] Eurogamer cited that "the way the game progresses from being a simple set of perfunctory tasks to a full-on part of the Half-Life story is absolute genius",[49] while GameSpy noted that "What Portal lacks in length, it more than makes up for in exhilaration."[50] The game has been criticized for sparse environments, and both criticized and praised for its short length.[51]

Aggregate reviews for the stand-alone PC version of Portal gave the game an average rating of 90% based on 20 reviews through Game Rankings,[47] and 90% through 21 reviews on Metacritic.[46] Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw, a reviewer known for his acerbic criticisms, stated in his Zero Punctuation series that he "can't think of any criticism for it," also noting that this had never happened and will never happen again. He further added, "Portal is great and if you don't like it you must be stupid."[52]

The game also generated a fan-following for the Weighted Companion Cube[53]—while the cube itself does not talk or act in the game, fans have created plush,[54] papercraft,[55] PC case mod[56] and cake[57][58] versions of the "character". Jeep Barnett, a programmer for Portal, noted that players have told Valve that they had found it more emotional to incinerate the Weighted Companion Cube than to harm one of the "Little Sisters" from BioShock.[31] Both GLaDOS and the Weighted Companion Cube were nominated for the "Best New Character Award" on G4; with GLaDOS winning the award for having "lines that will be quoted by gamers for years to come."[59] The phrase "the cake is a lie" has also become an Internet meme[60][61] and has been the basis for unofficial Portal merchandise such as t-shirts.[62]

A modding community has developed around Portal with users creating their own test chambers and other in-game modifications.[63][64] The group We Create Stuff has created an Adobe Flash version of Portal just prior to release of The Orange Box that was well received by the community[65] which they have since converted to a map pack for the published game.[66] Furthermore, users have found that the Portal game mechanics can be used with other Source engine-based games such as Half-Life 2.[67]

[edit] Awards

Portal has won several awards since its release:

  • At the 2008 Game Developers Choice Awards, Portal won "Game of the Year", along with the "Innovation Award" and "Best Game Design".[68]
  • IGN.com honored Portal with several awards, for "Best Puzzle Game" for PC[69] and Xbox 360,[70] "Most Innovative Design" for PC,[71] and "Best End Credit Song" (for "Still Alive") for Xbox 360,[72] along with overall honors for "Best Puzzle Game"[73] and "Most Innovative Design".[74]
  • In its "Best of 2007" GameSpot honored The Orange Box with 4 awards in recognition of Portal, giving out honors for "Best Puzzle Game",[75] "Best New Character(s)" (for GLaDOS),[76] "Funniest Game",[77] and "Best Original Game Mechanic" (for the Portal Gun).[78]
  • Portal was awarded "Game of the Year (PC)", "Best Narrative (PC)", and "Best Innovation (PC and console)" honors by 1UP.com in its 2007 editorial awards.[79]
  • GamePro honored the game for "Most Memorable Villain" (for GLaDOS) in its Editors' Choice 2007 Awards.[80]
  • Portal was awarded the "Game of the Year" award in 2007 by Joystiq,[81] Good Game,[82] and Shacknews.[83]
  • The "Most Original Game" award by X-Play.[84]
  • In Official Xbox Magazine's 2007 Game of the Year Awards, Portal won "Best New Character" (for GLaDOS), "Best Original Song" (for "Still Alive"), and "Innovation of the Year".[85]
  • In GameSpy's 2007 Game of the Year awards, Portal was recognized for "Best Puzzle Game",[86] "Best Character" (for GLaDOS), and "Best Sidekick" (for the Weighted Companion Cube).[86]
  • A.V. Club called it the "Best Game of 2007".[87]
  • The webcomic Penny Arcade awarded Portal "Best Soundtrack", "Best Writing", and "Best New Game Mechanic" in their 2007 "We're Right" awards.[88]
  • Eurogamer gave Portal first place in its Top 50 Games of 2007 rankings.[89]


[edit] See also

Video games Portal

[edit] References

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  2. ^ a b The Orange Box (Xbox 360). Metacritic. Retrieved on 2008-02-25.
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  34. ^ Steam Updates: Friday, November 9 2007. Valve (2007-11-09). Retrieved on 2007-11-09.
  35. ^ De Marco, Flynn (2007-12-15). Official Plush Weighted Companion Cube Sells Out. Kotaku. Retrieved on 2008-02-21.
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