Portal: Still Alive Review - Xbox 360

8.5

Gameplay: 9
Graphics: 8
Audio: 8
Innovation: 8

Introduction

Originally released as part of the multi-game bundle The Orange Box, Portal was one of the most acclaimed games of 2007. Soon after, the game was released as a standalone product on Steam, and was very popular. In the game’s latest development, Microsoft have managed to get their hands on an expanded version of the original game, exclusively available for download from the Xbox Live Arcade. This is also the first time the game has been available as a standalone game for console gamers, so what’s it like?

Gameplay

Portal is a 3D puzzle game that plays a bit like a first person shooter. The gameplay in Portal focuses, as the name suggests, on the usage of portals. These are not any ordinary portals however; they have the power to open dimensional holes in any flat surface, which allow instant travel between any two places. The game’s plot and setting are simple, you’re essentially a human lab rat who is forced to make their way through various (and increasingly dangerous) test chambers within a scientific research facility known as Aperture Science. The ability to create portals is granted to you by using what is affectionately referred to as “the portal gun”, and you are instructed in its use by an AI known as GLaDOS. The game is largely divided up into sections knows as Test Chambers which you must work your way through. These feature some well thought out puzzles which require you to make expert use out of the portal gun. For example, there will often be a door which can be opened by holding down a switch by placing something heavy on it. However, the object you need is up on an out of reach ledge. Fortunately, as long as the object has a flat wall nearby, you can simply create an exit portal next to it, and then create an entry one on any nearby wall, allowing you to retrieve it and place it on the switch. Other times the solution will be a little less obvious, such as doors with switches with no heavy objects nearby. There seems to be no way to keep going, but you can stand on the switch yourself, causing the door to open, then fire the portal gun to create a portal on the other side of the door. Then all you have to do is create an entry portal wherever you like, and onwards you go. The puzzles get much more complex than this as you go, and they’ll be sure to keep you guessing. The game certainly has an interesting concept, and smaller touches like physics are not forgotten. The conservation of energy and momentum are well implemented in the puzzles you tackle, for example, jumping down into a portal from high up will allow you to use your built up momentum to travel long distances because of the fact that you will be fired out of the exit portal at high speed.

After finishing the story mode, there is still more ...