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Neil B
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 Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:37 pm Post subject: Portal Review |
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| Portal Review by Neil |  | | PC Review: A hole lotta love. | | [View Article] |
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Karai Pantsu
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 12:50 pm Post subject: |
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Some people synced Portal without the skewed tones of GlaDOS?! Thats terrible! To think that there might be people out there that played through the game missing such a crucial part!
Portal is a special little game, it really is a fantastic example of good things coming in small packages. I think that the best thing about it is that it manages to reward you at every turn - not just from the satisfaction of completing a sneaky bit of portal management, but with humor, and a surprisingly well created and presented 'world'.
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ObsoletE
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | The game casts you as a nameless subject |
i'd love to see Chell, the portal gun, and potentially GLaDOS turn up in HL2E3.
also - if you haven't already, check out www.aperturescience.com(.) it uses an old-school DOS-like interface, but if you login as cjohnson (Aperture's first CEO) you can see his marvelous tier3 plan for the company.
you can also view the questionnaire for Portal test applicants.
EDIT:
ok - to help people through the Aperture Science website, i'll list the keywords that give stuff that i've found.
Help - gives and amusing message
User - gives the username/login prompt. you can type any name then "Portal" as the password to get the applicant survey, or type cjohnson/tier3 for the CEO's terminal, which includes another option.
once logged in, you can type "DIR" to show the 2 further options - Note.exe and Apply.exe
Type "Note" to get a history of Aperture Science - this is damn funny.
type "Apply" to complete a questionnaire - also pretty funny.
let me know if you discover anything else.
(i tried entering the Lost numbers (they appear in HL2E2) but they did nothing.)
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Last edited by ObsoletE on Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:32 pm, edited 1 time in total
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ittekimasu
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:24 pm Post subject: |
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Great review, definitely has pushed me to now buy the game after work.
and nice little flash there Obs, though i'm not too sure what todo.
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Karai Pantsu
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 2:29 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, on the topic of awesome Portal flash stuff - Portal the Flash game!
It isn't official, but it is good for getting a Portal fix at work (and/or for those who haven't got the game).
I've had the Portal credits song stuck in my head ever since last night - I'm sitting here and all I can think about is Portal. I wouldn't be surprised if I start absent-mindedly scrawling barely legible musings about the Companion Cube on my cubicle wall anytime soon...
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el_rezzo
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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I hope to god there are no more delays.
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GroovySamurai
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 4:44 pm Post subject: |
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^ Yeah I'm going to be really disappointed if Orange Box isn't out on Thursday, I doubt they will push it back again. Got to get Half Life 1 installed again so I can refresh my memory in time also.
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James
EveryonePlays - Fix R18+ Ratings
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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8.5?!!11!!! Deserves 10 
Seriously though, this is my favourite game this year. I love how it integrates narrative into what has traditionally be a very bland genre. Perfect length, fantastic extras.
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Sin Ogaris
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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This is something I've always found wierd with reviews, there's never a lot of deviation in the numbers. See, if I were to review portal I'd probably give it about 3 for lifespan, I'd still give it 8.5 overall, but for those people looking for a game with a longer experience, they won't find it here.
Which brings me back to my original point, whenever I read reviews, regardless of the site or publication, all the numbers tend to be somewhere in and around the final score. Whereas I can think of plenty of games that really nail one particular aspect, but fall short everywhere else.
Meh, it's a minor greivance.
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James
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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Portal does not deserve a 3 for the lifespan. More isn't always better. I think the length fits the game perfectly. The extra content add plenty of extra if you feel the need to go back for more and no doubt the endless list of mods coming out for it will fill the space even more. I haven't heard of anyone unsatisfied with Portal's length.
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Tristan
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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Lifespan is a measure of how well the game suits its length, its replayability etc. It is not a measure of how long a game is. We may comment on that in the Lifespan section, but the score is not higher=longer.
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Neil B
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 7:09 pm Post subject: |
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I'll admit I agonised - agonised, I tell ya! - over whether it was an 8.5 or a 9.0. If I could give it an 8.9 I'd be thrilled.
Why not a 9? It's one of those indefinable, subjective things that's impossible to really put a finger on. It's just not quite a 9 for me because it just, um, isn't. Whereas TF2 immediately was, without question. Maybe we should use the Second Opinion area of the reviews a bit more?
Anyway, I'd hate for anyone to think the game was being underscored with 'only' an 8.5, or even not worth getting because of that. What I feel about a game is always much more accurately reflected in the words than the score, and the words in the review hopefully convey just what a great little game it is.
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Windburn
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| Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2007 11:43 pm Post subject: |
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Totally agree James. Playing through the Portal storyline, the length is just perfect- they've really hit a sweet spot. If it were 10 hours longer, and continually got harder, it would drive me to the point of frustration. Similarly, if the levels were just repeats of each other simply to extend the longevity, then we'd be getting sick of it due to repetitiveness.
Less is sometimes more, and particularly so in this case.
Now we can leave it to user creativity on the editor (which is usually really interesting and diverse) to have us return to portal from time to time.
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Flameforge
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| Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:24 am Post subject: |
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Remember: the cake is not a lie.
It's delicious and moist.
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Capoeira
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| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:36 pm Post subject: |
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The cake is a lie? What the heck is that? I've seen it all over the internet and yet I'm completely oblivious. Arrgh!! etc...
Actually, I don't want to know. Something tells me it is a type of awesomeness that needs to be sought out by oneself... I'm more anticipating finally figuring out what that means than anything else the Orange Box has to offer. I think that's sad, but I'm not sure.
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ObsoletE
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| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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assume the party escort position, and maybe we'll tell you.
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Capoeira
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 2:02 am Post subject: |
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^ I feel that is somehow relevant and yet... I get nothing.
The insanity is not a lie.
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ObsoletE
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Karai Pantsu
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:29 pm Post subject: |
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| ObsoletE wrote: | just play the damn game.  |
Seriously Cap, he's speaking the truth. Buy it, Play it, Love it.
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Capoeira
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 1:40 pm Post subject: |
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It's being shipped to my door as I type this. At least I hope it is...
It was bad enough having to weather the Steam release. If this delivery takes it's time, I will go insane. And probably buy lots and lots of cake.
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Frozencry
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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| Capoeira wrote: | It's being shipped to my door as I type this. At least I hope it is...
It was bad enough having to weather the Steam release. If this delivery takes it's time, I will go insane. And probably buy lots and lots of cake. |
If the box that it is shipped to you talks, do keep in mind that boxes don't talk.
This game is quite possibly the best game I've played this year.
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