The Strongest Puzzle Game | Portal Review
More Than a Decade Old, Yet Still Fun as Ever to Play
More Than a Decade Old, Yet Still Fun as Ever to Play
More than a decade since its release, I still find myself coming back to replay Portal. Tight controls, fantastic humor, a short runtime, and a glimpse into the golden age of Valve make it a masterpiece worth playing and replaying time and time again. NameBrand.
This review marks what is my fourth run through of Portal. I couldn’t think of a better way to start my SteamDeck journey than revisiting this old classic, and despite how it and I have aged across all these years since The Orange Box, It’s still an absolute blast to play. Of course, my fourth time through wasn’t necessarily as jaw dropping as the first time I played it all those years ago, but I find a bit of comfort in knowing that I can ruminate on the game for a year or two and come back to a puzzle game that still manages to captivate me, despite having memorized the interior of Aperture Science’s testing chambers.
Portal plays differently when you remember all of its solutions. The first few times I played always came with their own challenges to struggle through. Now, it’s almost as though it’s a walking simulator. A bit of an extreme comparison. But, I get to enjoy the voice lines from GlaDOS. I go out of my way to see all of its secrets and re-read the Ratman’s scrawled notes and drawings on the interior walls. If I’m feeling particularly playful, I’ll try to see how infinite of a fall I can get into, or how far a leap I can make.
I’ve stamped my frequent flier card enough times through Portal to now enjoy it as a museum where I can gather my thoughts, and reflect. Entering a familiar chamber brings a rush of memories from previous play through. Through the lens of those afterimages, it’s not a stretch to think about how crazy modern day Valve is, and speculate as to why they would let so many of their franchises lay dormant for so long.
For what it’s worth, I’m grateful that Portal is a timeless video game, and I love replaying it. This time, I finally cracked into the advanced levels and finally overcame where I was stumped the last 3 times, finishing that section of the game. What a rush! Some advanced levels are plain unfair, but it was a welcome challenge to finally crack into after all these years of playing the main game again, and getting stuck on those. Next time around, maybe I’ll break into the time trials and start speed running. I appreciate that the game still has a lot to offer me beyond its narrative, that replayability is solid.
Overall, if you’ve never played Portal, I apologize for all these words that don’t directly help you know if it’s a game you should play or not. But take it from me — the guy that’s played through this game 4 times over a little more than a decade — that Portal is a must-play masterpiece of a game. You must experience it for yourself. It’s such a small commitment — clocking in at about 6 hours for your first time — that even if you don’t like it, you’ll find it was worth experiencing to tread through this timeless piece of gaming history.
When you’re done and itching for more (I’m most certain you will be), take comfort in knowing that you’ve just barely scratched the surface. Because what you just played, absolutely pales in comparison to its sequel, Portal 2, so much so, that it’s almost like a demo of what’s to come.
Originally published at https://backloggd.com.