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Portal

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9.6 User Score:

Universal acclaim

Based on 28 critic reviews
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Based on 1833 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Valve Software

Developer: Valve Software - Nuclear Monkey

Genre(s): First-Person Shooter

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: October 9, 2007

Summary

Portal is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories, Portal has been called one of the most innovative new games on the horizon and offers gamers hours of unique gameplay. The game is designed to change the way players approach, manipulate, and surmise the possibilities in a given environment; similar to how Half-Life 2's Gravity Gun innovated new ways to leverage an object in any given situation. Players must solve physical puzzles and challenges by opening portals to maneuvering objects, and themselves, through space. [Valve]

Also On Metacritic

GAMES: Half-Life 2 The Orange Box

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central

Also On The Web: Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Just as Valve's Half-Life 2 is the moody loner to Halo 3's high-school quarterback, Portal is smarter, cooler, funnier, and more sinister than almost any game this year.

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100

Armchair Empire

Portal can be bought separately or as part of the Orange Box package – Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, and Team Fortress 2 – but either way you get one of the best gaming experiences of the year.

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100

Four Fat Chicks

This will be remembered as a supremely important game, and a sublimely good one. Portal calls for a special kind of nonlinear thinking, creating a world around its puzzles. It features outstanding art direction, writing, and voice acting and an experience so tightly tuned that this couldn't be anything but a Valve game.

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100

Four Fat Chicks

Portal, tucked neatly alongside four other games, outshines them all and ensures itself a place in posterity.

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GamerNode

From beginning to end, it's hard to find something not to like about Portal. Everything from the gameplay to the presentation are top-notch.

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AtomicGamer

Putting Portal into the Orange Box package was a great idea on Valve's part.

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YouGamers

One of the best single-player experiences of the year.

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PC Gamer UK

Portal is a magnificent puzzle game. The titillating wrongness of every solution and the wonky thinking required to get there make you feel like a space-folding genius, and yet you'll almost never get stuck.

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Gaming Nexus

It may be the least hyped part of the Orange Box but Portal is a strong addition to the lineup and really stands out on its own.

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Computer Games Online RO

Portal is a sum of contradictions: it’s an FPS game with no weapons, no human characters, no complex scenery, but one that uses a simple and incredibly fun concept, with a well thought-of story and accessible to people of all ages (given they have minimal notions of moving the character around with the mouse and keyboard).

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2404.org

I was completely impressed with Portal. It’s a great game that’s innovative, fun, and contains a humorous storyline. My only real complaint was that it was too short, and I want more.

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Cheat Code Central

It's a hilarious game that offers a completely unique first-person experience and forces players to use their brains rather than their blasters.

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GameSpot

With delightfully unique gameplay and fantastically witty writing, Portal is a huge success.

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Adventure Gamers

For anyone with even a modicum of action gaming ability, then, deciding to pick the game up should be a no-brainer.

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Play (Poland)

The idea stolen shamelessly from Prey, masterful implementation and... you won’t know when these three hours have passed. Zipping through portals and placing them on the fly (literally) makes for loads of fun, and the authors spice up the play with quite a story that’s not immediately visible and all the more enjoyable when discovered. [Dec 2007]

Thunderbolt

One of the most inventive, original, and down right entertaining games you’ll play this year.

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GameCritics

So Portal does its job within the Orange Box compilation, taking a brilliant left-field idea and successfully merging it with Valve's universe over an entertaining few hours of gaming.

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Eurogamer

One of the most interesting and delightful things Valve's ever done, but also one of its least fulfilling. If only we had our own portal gun to bridge the gap to the first infusion of new content, perhaps we could forget it.

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1UP

The more intricate the rat maze, the more necessary the reward -- part of Portal's sinister genius lies in the cheese-crumb trail it leaves. Puzzle solving is an end in itself, and the game's Skinner boxes (note that, like the computer intelligence pulling our strings, Valve remotely tracks player progress, indirectly seeing what stumps us) are supremely entertaining to crack in on-again-off-again sessions.

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GameSpy

Ine of the most unique, funny and satisfying games of 2007, and we can't wait until Valve produces more of it.

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GameDaily

Skilled players will portal their way through the nineteen levels in just a few hours, but this little puzzle game / tech demo provides plenty of entertainment and makes a great addition to The Orange Box.

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VideoGamer

The simple ideas are often the best, and Portal, quite simply, is one of the best ideas for a game we've ever seen. It's fantastically realised, brilliantly executed, and had me wrapped around its computerised finger for two-and-a-half unforgettable hours.

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PC Zone UK

It may be short, but it's a wonderful learning experience, forcing you to rethink rather base concepts of the first-person genre. [Dec 2007, p.68]

The New York Times

It is remarkable how many clever things one can do with portals.

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PALGN

Portal is a compact game that manages to punch well above its weight.

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PTGamers

Portal is really good. It’s an excellent appetizer for the likely future of the series, be it on a more intricate sequel, additional contents (that are already a certainty), or even the integration of the idea on Half-Life.

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IGN

The idea behind Portal ends up being more brilliant than Portal itself. Regardless, we definitely had a lot of fun with what is there and appreciate the level of polish and thought that went into the presentation.

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AceGamez

By anyone's reckoning Portal isn't a long game, weighing in at around the three to four hour mark. Those of you who do see this game from start to end though are in for a very special experience.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 9.6 (out of 10) based on 1833 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Marco A gave it a10:
The game is great. Very well designed, very nice puzzles, this new gameplay is marvelous. I had (and still have) great time playing it!

Josef H gave it a10:
This may very well be the greatest game I have ever played. No incredibly complex one-hundred commands, and five powers for each of them. You have the ability to walk, jump, push buttons, carry things, and make a portal that links to another portal on most walls/ceilings. The puzzles are all very fun, and once I completed the first half of the game, I was about ready to class it as my favourite puzzle game, which I could come back to at any point. Then the story kicked in. I can tell you that in all honesty, it is a brilliant execution of a brilliant story. It may very well be th shortest game I've ever played, but for the hour or two I was inside it, I was living it, and I enjoy reliving it over and over. Simply put; if you enjoy simple ideas being executed with challenging puzzles, then buy The Orange Box/Portal. You will not regret it.

Andrew A gave it a10:
Portal is an excellent example of fun with no strings attached. It's enjoyable and compelling without the the need of the "ZOMG I kill big boss zombie thing, I is win" factor. It may be short and simple but that just adds to the charm of the game, making it not too demanding on the player whilst still expecting a certain amount of creative imput. Being very clever with both the level designs and the witty, dark humored dialoge of GLaDOS, It's a game you can play a million times and still want to play it a million more.

Joe M gave it a10:
Quick, fun, and challenging at times, Portal is a game that is hard not to notice. With an encouraging overseer the first-person, large scale puzzles make for an inovative and brain stimulating experience.

Chris M gave it a10:
I've beaten it countless times, and even though it doesn't have as much replay value as a multiplayer game, it will always be my favorite game.

Bailey B gave it a10:
this is a very original game; it's not very often that one can play through a game again and again, knowing how everything goes, and still love it.

Harald W gave it a10:
Portal is a lot of fun , bought this game instantly after passing the demo and see it as a worth while game. Not a shooter but a puzzle game with backwards thinking needed. Play the demo if you are unsure :) Maybe they make a Portal 2 ? I would definitly approve.

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