Consolation Prize

As The Orange Box offers such a solid line-up of games all in one package I thought I’d review each element as and when I’ve played them rather than as a whole. First up is Portal.

Although Portal is played through a first person perspective it is at heart a puzzle game where you survive using your wits and skill. When the game begins the player awakes in a test chamber at an Aperture research facility and is informed over the intercom that they must complete a series of hazardous tests and when complete you will be rewarded with cake.

Portal does an excellent job of slowly introducing the player to the different aspects of the game, building upon skills learned in each test chamber enabling you to solve increasingly more complex tests. The primary puzzle solving element of the game is of course learning how to use the portals created by the “Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device” which you pick up during the early stages of the game.

The device allows you to create two portal openings, one blue and one orange, on most flat surfaces be it floor, ceiling, or wall and creates a physical connection between the two. Thus if you walk into the “blue” portal you will walk out of the “orange” portal. This is obviously a fairly simple example but things soon become more complex when you realise physical laws can be applied to problem solving. Thus if you fall into a portal at high speed you will exit the other portal at the same velocity and it becomes apparent that you have to use these physical laws to your advantage to jump great distances, reach high platforms or drop an object onto a button or hazard. As the game progresses you’ll have to start using more resourceful methods for portal placement, and experimenting with ideas is certainly one of the highlights of the game.

Graphically the game looks good. The environment portrays what I’d imagine a research testing facility with minimalistic design to look like. Portals deserve a special mention as being able to view into a different part of the map and seemlessly move between them in a 3D space is a feat in itself.

The test chambers are all excellently designed and you feel a real sense of satisfaction when you figure out how to complete a level. Dialog from GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), your guide through the game, is top notch being both informative and amusing and gets even better as the story unfolds. Also of special mention is the ending of the game which features a sublime song sung by GLaDOS.

Unfortunately it’s over all too quickly and you’re left with wanting more. As a bonus for completing the game you get access to six advanced “re-jigged” test chambers and additional game modes such as completing the chamber with the least number of portals or the fewest footsteps providing a good deal of replayability.

Even though the game is short it’s still excellent, provides an alternative approach to the first person perspective genre and is a worthy addition to the Half Life universe.

Puzzle Quest is available on both the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP and can be picked up at a bargain price from online retailers. I got the DS version delivered yesterday and finally got around to giving it a go later that evening.

I’m not really into puzzle games but I thought I’d give this a try because of its blending of fantasy RPG and puzzle genres. At the start of the game you’re asked to choose a hero from one of four classes: Druid, Knight, Warrior or Wizard. Once the class is chosen you can also choose your portrait and name before starting the game. As with most other RPG games you have the ability to customize what your character wears and the items you take into battle. There is a story arc to the game main quests to drive the story forward and side quests are available from a top down map, which is so far jotted with a few locations I can visit.

Once engaged in a quest battle the puzzle elements of the game take over with players taking it in turns to swap adjacent pieces on a grid to create matching rows or columns of three or more pieces. A number of different types of pieces are available which can either build up your mana reserves, attack the opponent, gain gold or gain extra experience. During combat once sufficient mana has been accumulated you may also cast spells to aid your character or to directly attack the opponent.

So far the game has been a lot of fun, it was easy to get into and the early tutorials give you enough information so you can engage in combat without having to refer back to the manual. For me the story and RPG elements add extra depth and encourage you to continue playing when normally I’d put the game down after a short while. In fact I found that a couple of hours had passed when I only meant to give the game a “quick go”. My only gripe so far is that there seems to be an annoying “click” sound whenever the main music repeats its loop.