Portal (PC)

 


Do you have those games that just seem to have been in your backlog forever but for some reason you haven't got around to playing it yet? Well that has been the case for me with Portal, I purchased it for my PC what feels like forever ago and I have only just got around to completing it. Why it took me so long though I don't know. 

Going into the game I didn't really know what to expect as honestly it had been in the backlog that long I actually forgot what the game was about so I guess that unexpected surprise when I finally got into the game. Although the game was being played on my PC I still used my controller as I just can't quite get to grips with the keyboard and mouse yet as I don't play enough on the PC at the moment to get used to it. For me the controls just felt a little bit too sensitive and even the smallest movement seemed to send me too far from where I wanted to be which was a bit of an issue at times when it came to placing the Portal, it just added a bit more time to each level which wasn't needed. The controls also felt a little clunky at times especially when having to pick the companion cubes up for some reason it was dropping it randomly and struggling to move it, but honestly I think this was down to the age of the game. 

I was a little worried that the graphics would be a bit of a let down compared to the games I have been playing lately but honestly for the age of the game it was great, I have had an issue in the past with some of my games looking a bit poor on my PC (not sure why) but this one looked good, granted it isn't as good as up to date games but it didn't take away any enjoyment from playing the game. 

The game took around 3 hours for me to roll credits on which is great if you are looking for a nice quick game to get through, plus it wasn't too demanding to play. There are a few levels where you have to worry about enemies as such but other than that it is just a case of working out where you need to place the portals. I normally avoid puzzle platformers but after playing this one I am very tempted to play a few more. 

I played through the game in one sitting as I was moving through levels quickly and wasn't getting fed up like I do with some other games. However, when I did end up dying due to water & fire like in every game I play, I did notice that there were quite long load times that did get frustrating after a while but luckily this wasn't happening every few minutes so I didn't mind waiting around every now and then. By the time I got to level 8 I was really impressed with how well  I was doing as I seemed to be flying through it but by level 11 I was really starting to get confused with how to get through the situations I was put in. It really was starting to get more difficult as I was progressing through it and there were sometimes where I wanted to launch my controller through my screen but luckily for me Liam was on hand to help me out when I needed it as he had played the game previously. It was the final 2 levels that I really struggled with so Liam stepped in to help me out luckily because I think if he didn't the controller would have gone and I would have give up on the game and never gone back to it even after making so much progress, I think that is because it was late at night and I was starting to lose patience due to the time. 

One thing that drove me mad in the game is actually one of the main parts so there is no escaping it... and that is GLaDOS, it was driving mad constantly popping up at random times when I was just getting to grips with something, I know this is a main part to the game but the voice was just going right through me and I just wanted to turn my sound off, especially with the mention of cake all through the game... by level 12 I had heard the word cake that much all I wanted to do was go out and buy a cake and eat the whole thing. 

As the credits rolled I was glad to hear the song that I had on my iTunes for far too long. I purchased Still Alive due to Sara from Tegan & Sara singing a version of it but for so many years I didn't even know what the song was about so to finally know the meaning about it is great and makes the song even better. 

I am now really looking forward to giving Portal 2 a go as that is another game that has been in my backlog for a long time but maybe this time I might just get Liam to play it co op with me instead of dragging him away from what he is doing to help me. 

If you haven't already played Portal I would definitely recommend giving it a go as you can pick it up nice and cheap these days and it is a nice quick game to play. So that is game 1 of 2021 complete and it has started off with a good one, now onto the next one.

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