The graphics in Portal are good, but not mind-blowing. At first the environment looks very clean and sterile, so there really isn’t much to look at. Once you get behind closed doors you can see the gritty underbelly of the building’s construction. The textures are good, and look as good as the graphics in Half-Life 2: Episode 2. While the Source engine has been updated to include HDR lighting and other advanced DirectX9 rendering techniques, it doesn’t compare to the new eye candy we see in games like Bioshock and Lost Planet.
Portal’s conclusion is very cool, and you’ll want to experience it a few times, but the total gameplay doesn’t total to more than two hours, even if you have a hard time with the puzzles. Because of this, extra features become unlocked once you play complete the game. One of these features is developer commentary (much like director’s commentary on DVDs). When you play through the game again, there will be spinning “talk boxes” that you can interact with that talks about that particular room, graphic feature, or other thoughts behind the gameplay.
The PC version of Portal also has unlockable achievements, similar to the Xbox 360 version… but they don’t seem to carry the same amount of bragging rights. Others on the Steam community can see these achievements, however. You may want to play through the game several times to unlock all of the achievements, most of which are unlocked by beating a level in an certain amount of time.
Portal is part puzzle-game and part first-person shooter. Not only do you have to think in a different way to solve the puzzles, but you must have fast reflexes to execute the maneuvers once you’ve found a solution. First-person fans who want constant action may get a little bored during the opening of the game, and hard-core puzzle freaks may get frustrated by clumsiness. This hybrid game is a full syringe of Innovation into the vein of the Video Game industry.
