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Everyone is Wrong Volume One: Portal

November 29th, 2007 by Anuj

You might see the title attached to this post and initially think that I must not have liked Portal, because pretty much everyone liked this game, and so for everyone to be wrong, the game must in fact in my opinion not be good. Well, that’s not what I am saying. Quite the contrary to that in fact, I am saying that Portal is fantastic, it’s great and it’s brilliant, and quite simply, Portal is just way better than you think it is.

Call my approach to sharing my opinion cocky, incredibly confrontational, or all too agressive, but alas, I was recently inspired by an occurence at Penny Arcade and the flak they were getting for sharing their opinions in a similar way, but I found myself not only agreeing with what they said, but moreso and more importantly, being really satisfied by the way in which they conveyed their opinions, so I would like to do no less. I’m starting this with Portal, which is sort of ironic because, amidst the plethora of situations in which I find myself having an opinion far different from the general consensus, bordering on opinions that are simply the polar opposite of each other, I choose to discuss a game that is roughly unanimously appreciated for quality. Alas, I generally find myself in the minority in thought, whether I do it to myself accidentally, or whether I really do just go against the grain instinctively, I do not know, but it really does happen to me all of the time, and Portal, an enjoyment I share with most people, is no different.

To elaborate though, people do enjoy Portal, but I hear many complaints from people, albeit minor, I do not agree with them, and furthermore, often times I feel that people missed the point and beauty and purpose of the game being done in this way, and thus found a point of complaint, when instead it should have been a new and inspirational look at game creation. I’m sure you’ve heard most of the same positive things I have, and as well as most of the same complaints I have, so I will quickly try to outline some of these.

First the mutually agreeable positive things about Portal. The technology is cool, the puzzles are fun and interesting, great replay value, amazing atmosphere and story, incredibly quirky concepts to give a life-long lasting appeal. And of course, the cake is a lie, and the ending credits theme, which really and truly tied the theme for the whole game together to give a deeper understanding to the development than most of what existed in the game to begin with.

Now, the complaints. Too short, not enough puzzles, no fighting enemy soldiers and AI and stuff, no other weapons, no “real story,” etc. Like I said, people enjoy the game, but they list these as reasons that keep the game from being an incredible game, or a “perfect” game, generally minor in complaint, but even still these should not be so. All of the complaints above pretty much translate to the same two things, too short and expecting a generic FPS game not Portal. Alas, for the gamer looking for the generic FPS and not Portal, they can thankfully appease their feeble mind by the Orange Box package as opposed to Portal alone, but that is an irrelevant point. On the other hand though, for the gamer looking for variety of gameplay options as well as a game with which they could spend a lot of time with, Portal alone is not the game for them, because I think it was simply designed to be the length that it is, and from beginning to end made with no intention to be more than what is given.

Portal gives you a technology, a system, a new and incredible gun. It gives you a fast learning curve into “thinking with portals,” and causes you to completely experience the phenomena. The game could have created another 100 levels introducing one new concept per stage, but that would add such an artificial length to the game, and would in essence kill the majesty that the story and length gives you otherwise. It gives you the Source Engine, and an idea on how to create good puzzles. Anyone can create a good puzzle for you if you want one, and you can try to create one for others as well, creating more puzzles on their end can truly be an unending process that conceptually would add no value other than more time to play, and would instead destroy so many other things. Why do you think you have so many people who have in fact completed the game, and so many people on the inside of the joke and able to snicker when referring to the popular line “The cake is a lie!” Would the mechanic not get boring and too tiresome and tedious for your average player? How much time do you think the average player interested in Portal will really have to spend thinking outside of the box?

Portal’s length allows it create a funny and entertaining story, and a game that can be enjoyed by anyone. It introduces and gets you familiar with the concept, it gives you the tools and means for anyone to create new levels, and it does it all in a movie-like single session play of a mere two to three hours. I remember back when I thought it was just going to be a trial of levels with no cohesive story whatsoever. Who in their right minds would have preferred that? Portal is a truly unique experience, and it’s something that can be experienced only in games and honestly would be a different experience if done any other way.

Call it personal preference if you disagree with me, and I’m sure there are actually a lot of you that agree even with me, and so saying “everyone,” is somewhat absurd, but alas, I think ‘everyone’ is far closer to being appropriate than ‘no one.’

Entry Filed under: Gaming