Games wot I is playing - Part 1

The Orange Box

This contains 5 games: Half-life 2 and it's two episodic add-ons, Team Fortress 2 (which I doubt I'll play as it involves genuine social interaction), and Portal...

Half-Life 2 is a fantastic game, that goes without saying if you know anything about games, and episodes one and two do a brilliant job of continuing it's legacy. But Portal, what a game!

The premise is simple: you are placed in a room with an exit. You have to get to that exit by navigating various puzzles. You have a gun which can fire two 'portals', these 'portals' can attach themselves to certain types of surface and when they do you can move between these portals. The trailer probably describes this process better than I do:

Although I completed this game in a single sitting, which implies that it is too short, I have to say it was one of the best games I've ever played. It starts as a simple puzzle game, but as you play through it you start seeing hints of a darker world hidden behind the main game world, until you end up 'breaking' the game world and confronting this completely deranged computer who has been making your life miserable. It's at this point where the game's script peaks, for example:

"There was even going to be a party for you. A big party that all your friends are invited to. I invited your best friend the companion cube, of course he couldn't come because you murdered him. All your other friends couldn't come either because you don't have any other friends. Because of how unlikable you are. Its says right here in your personal file. Unlikeable. Liked by no one. A bitter unlikable loner. Whose passings shall not be mourned. Shall not be mourned. Thats exactly what it says. Very formal. Very official. It also says you are adopted. So thats funny too."

Now that is comedy!

They even manage to tie in the Portal universe to the Half-Life 2 universe, which hopefully means the portal gun will make a re-appearance in Half-Life 2 Episode 3. I kind of hope they don't make a proper sequel to Portal as it could tarnish the sheen of this almost perfect game.