femalegamer

After much cajoling from many of our friends, my husband and I finally broke down and bought the Orange Box. Granted we only ended up getting it because WoW was being serviced and was down for a few hours, nonetheless, we bought it.

So far the only game we’ve played was Portal. It was refreshing and definitely something different. We enjoyed it, though there were times when I was frustrated not having a gun - bad habit I suppose. I am, after all, a girl that prefers to blow things up with rocket launchers to the stealth attacks.

Without giving too much away, you are cast in the game as Chell, a woman (as you learn by looking into mirrors in the game) who is taking part in testing for the Aperture Science organization. Aperture has developed a portal system by which to travel and you are one of the lucky test subjects.

The game progresses as you move through various labs, completing puzzles using the portals. In later labs, you receive the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, a fancy “gun” that is used to place your own portals. As the game goes on, the challenges get more and more difficult and challenge the user to think outside the box.

Game pluses - Originality. I love the concept and execution - chances are everyone makes it through the game a little differently - it is very open to variety in accomplishing the stated goals.

The somewhat creepy sing-songy female computer voice, GlaDOS, that antagonizes you throughout the game is one of greatest “game characters” in recent history and the black humor provided throughout is worth the time spent in-game alone. And, the song at the end of the game is worth the money spent to purchase the Orange Box - trust me, you will listen to it over and over and over.

Game minuses - Too short. Yes, now we can go back and try to finish all the accomplishments and the bonus maps, but I would have preferred having more game levels right off the bat. Other than that, I would have liked to have heard more from our computer “friend.”

So, now that we’ve tackled portal, I imagine we’ll work our way into HalfLife Episodes 1 and 2. Looking forward to it - HalfLife (2) still stands up as one of the best games

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