Portal! Finally!

With the release of Valve Software's Orange Box, I am finally in possession of Portal, a wickedly clever game designed by the same people who brought Half Life into the world. In case you somehow don't know what I'm talking about, Portal is a first person shooter wherein there is no actual shooting. Indeed, Portal is a FPS puzzle game, and I have to say a masterfully crafted one at that. To boot, it's addictively entertaining and very funny at times.

The game starts with you waking up from some form of hibernation with no idea who you are, where you are, or wtf is going on. Your only companion is a female computer voice who instructs you to enter the glowing portal that appears on the wall in your chamber. Eventually you receive what I've been waiting for I think at least a year to play with: the Aperture Science Foundation Hand Held Portal Device. Shoot portal one, shoot portal two, walk through from point A to point B. You'd think this would get old, but, trust me, not even a little. Holy crap it's cool. And the game they built around it, though admittedly shorter than I had hoped, is excellently crafted and involving. And, at the end, your reward is a cake. Seriously.

The downside is that I beat the game in a single sitting, and stayed up WAY too late to do so. But, considering my skill for logic puzzles, it's not that surprising. And I had a damn fun time beating it, and I imagine I'll have a damn fine time doing it again! Possibly tonight...

Nah. I also have Half Life 2: Episode Two to play, and I've been waiting forever for that one too. Hee hee hee.. I wonder how Ep2 and Portal will intertwine. Even if it's not now that they combine, it's clear that the Portal Device is destined for Gordon Freeman's hands eventually. Now that will be something to look forward to!

Man I'm a geek.