Portal

[Gazzoid]

I'm curious about something. Portal will be released as a stand-alone product for the PC. Would it be possible for Adventure Gamers to give the game a review and some coverage? I mean, ok, it's not a traditional adventure game, but it is a puzzle/adventure. More of a puzzle game than an adventure but it does have its elements like story and characters.

There's no action as such, apart from Turrets that can shoot and kill you, but you don't actually destroy these (or anything else) with weapons (unless you count the Portal gun as a weapon, which i don't). You normally knock them over/disable them using either Portals or objects like a cube.

People have talked about adventure games not being innovative enough and this should be the answer! Other people have even mentioned about having elements from other games in adventure games to make them different. Not only that, but the likes of Dreamfall and Fahrenheit have had reviews/coverage here and those games contain more action than Portal does.

So what do you all reckon?

[Keregioz]

+1

Portal was an awesome game! much better than some adventures I've played recently... If games like betrapped got a review here then portal definitely deserves one...

[Giligan]

Portal was a great game. I'm sure it could be considered an adventure game. It was certainly all about plot and puzzles, anyway. The "adventure" genre shouldn't be limited only to the basic point-and-click games we've been fed over the last few years or so, and Portal shows some major innovations and new ways of thinking that adventure game developers should take a cue from.

[Jackal]

Portal is just one of those games that doesn't belong to any genre. It's probably as deserving of our attention as some of the other fringe (adventure) titles we've covered, so there's no reason we're deliberately ignoring it or anything. I didn't play it until fairly recently, so really didn't know what to make of it personally until then. So to answer the question itself: it's possible. No promises, but it's possible.

I disagree that there's no "action" in the game, mind you. There's a difference between combat and action. Especially in the later levels, the pseudo-platforming elements get pretty demanding. It's been too long for me to compare to Dreamfall or Fahrenheit, but I'm sure most adventure gamers not used to action games would find it very difficult to finish. That doesn't disqualify it; I'm just sayin'. ;)

As for whether Portal is "the answer" to anything, I'm afraid I cringe at such statements. People said the same thing about Fahrenheit, and I cringed then, too. (Fortunately, that proved to be largely a false alarm.) Both games were built around a concept, a mechanic, a gimmick that suited that game and no other. No matter how brilliantly implemented the first time, the worst thing that could happen is a bunch of other games ripping off that one element and churning out wannabes. Again, that's no knock on Portal. But its main value is in being unique, not in being the prototype for (probably inferior) copycats. I'm also not suggesting Portal did only one thing well, but the other things it did well weren't exactly new.

[Jackal]

Speaking of portals, I'm gonna zap this thread back where it started. :D I'll consider the feedback issue answered, but I think this game could generate some interesting discussion on its own.

[Gazzoid]

I disagree that there's no "action" in the game, mind you. There's a difference between combat and action. Especially in the later levels, the pseudo-platforming elements get pretty demanding. It's been too long for me to compare to Dreamfall or Fahrenheit, but I'm sure most adventure gamers not used to action games would find it very difficult to finish. That doesn't disqualify it; I'm just sayin'. ;)

Fair point about the action. It can get pretty demanding later with the platforming elements and with the final confrontation at the end. I certainly understand that it wouldn't be for everyone.

As for whether Portal is "the answer" to anything, I'm afraid I cringe at such statements. People said the same thing about Fahrenheit, and I cringed then, too. (Fortunately, that proved to be largely a false alarm.) Both games were built around a concept, a mechanic, a gimmick that suited that game and no other. No matter how brilliantly implemented the first time, the worst thing that could happen is a bunch of other games ripping off that one element and churning out wannabes. Again, that's no knock on Portal. But its main value is in being unique, not in being the prototype for (probably inferior) copycats. I'm also not suggesting Portal did only one thing well, but the other things it did well weren't exactly new.

Yeah, i understand where you're coming from and i agree. I mean, i personally prefer the usual traditional 3rd person point 'n' click adventures anyday. But it would be neat for some of the first person adventures to use the same sort of technology as Portal, or even Penumbra, where you can solve physics puzzles. I completely understand that software like this is pretty costly for the majority of adventure game developers though. And yeah, there is the problem of copycats.

Still, good to know that there's the possibility of coverage here. Although the game isn't for everyone it would still, more than likely, appeal to loads of other gamers here. Still interested to know what other people think of the game.

[Giligan]

As for whether Portal is "the answer" to anything, I'm afraid I cringe at such statements. People said the same thing about Fahrenheit, and I cringed then, too. (Fortunately, that proved to be largely a false alarm.) Both games were built around a concept, a mechanic, a gimmick that suited that game and no other. No matter how brilliantly implemented the first time, the worst thing that could happen is a bunch of other games ripping off that one element and churning out wannabes.


Haha, you're right on that. I don't think anyone was saying that Portal's premise would work for another game (Obviously, say, Guybrush Threepwood in The Portal Puzzles of Monkey island would be a game no one would want to play). It's more of the fact that Portal had a thinking approach to each situation, as opposed to a "Can I pump out more bullets than that guy" approach of most non-adventure games, which qualifies it for the attention of most adventure game players.

[Kazmajik]

Portal is one of those rare games that comes along only every so often and brings some real excitement back into gaming. I loved every minute of playing it, and I couldn't help but make comparisons to what I love about adventure games. For one, it's a puzzle-solving game. Although the puzzles were more of the physical variety, I still felt that same satisfaction when I discovered a way past an obstacle.
It was really ingenious the way the story unfolded, as well. Without giving anything away, I knew the game was starting to take off when
I first saw the graffiti behind the pulled-out wall panels.
At that moment, I realized things were taking a darker turn and I was hooked all the way through to the end, which was very creative and a brilliant culmination of the events in the game.
As far as an example of immersive story-telling, I'd say Portal is a winner all the way. I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who enjoys games of the problem-solving variety.

[tastebud]

I consider Portal a puzzle game... it's far far from an adventure game... and if there's one game that does not need more coverage, this is it.

[LuigiHann]

I mentioned this in the other Portal thread in the General Gaming forum, but I really feel like if we're going to call Penumbra an adventure game, I don't know why the same logic wouldn't apply to Portal. Portal actually reminds me more of Myst than most action games.

[smulan]

Don't worry LuigiHann, Portal is an adventuregame. The only thing different from the others it's originality.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

http://www.stuffwelike.com/stuffwelike/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/portals.jpg (http://www.gametrailers.com/player/26196.html)
Each hole you put in Portal's world becomes another narrative element to piece together with the others.
Click the image for a brief gameplay video.


I consider Portal a puzzle game... it's far far from an adventure game... and if there's one game that does not need more coverage, this is it.

I disagree. Your definition of what an adventure game may be seems narrow and inflexible. I think that Portal is an adventure game in the same way that Myst is an adventure game. That is, puzzle work as gameplay was front and center in Myst while there was certainly a story in the background to still keep your interest. You played Myst for the puzzles but also, to a lesser extent, to see what happened to the two brothers who built those complex machinations.

Portal works similarly. You are a test subject in some strange lab managed by an artificial intelligence that may or may not have gone rogue, and as you surmount each puzzle you see a little more of the story, you come across narrative clues which you can piece together. Your relationship to the very talkative GlaDOS (the A.I.) and your exploration become the story.

[tastebud]

Portal does have a little bit of a story... but so do Half-Life and Crysis. I consider an adventure game something that focuses on narrative, character interaction, and non reflex based puzzle solving (use rubber chicken with pole, not shoot portals at walls for 8 hours). Adventure games are something my grandpa could win. Portal is too action/reflex based and too little story based to be considered an adventure game. It's like saying Duke Nukem 3D is an adventure game cause it has a little bit of a story.

[LuigiHann]

I feel like there are a handful of action/reflex/timing puzzles in Portal, but for almost all of them you can stand around and take as much time as you want to figure out the right answer. I agree with IH that there are a lot of parallels between Portal and Myst.