TIG: Portal (1) - Quick Review

If you noticed the date, yes this is a very late review, but with the upcoming Portal 2 release, it seemed important to review the original Portal. To do so, I ran through the game a second time - here's a quick run-down of how this game goes.

[GraySnake]

Uhhh.... What?

[hay]

Lol, exactly. Someone tell the reviewer it was one of few free components within Orange Box.

[ms88]

There's more that goes into an overall score than just gameplay...If you actually read the review, the reviewer praises the game with the exception of the length.

Already people seem to be upset. I think it's sad that people have come to expect a "good" game to have a score of 10 automatically these days.

[Marquis_de_Sade]

Is the reviewer aware the original Portal wasn't a full RRP release? This should be taken into account when referring to the length of the game.

[Baba1906]

honestly even if the game wasnt groundbreaking its not in a million years just a 6.5 =D doesnt matter how you look at it.

[perfectCarbonara]

Aah, you missed the opportunity for a Cake pun. You should have said:

"even if the game wasnt groundbreaking its not in a million years just a 6.5, no matter how you slice it"

But hey, I agreed with you man.

[ct03]

I don't expect a 10. But 6.5 for Portal 1 is journalism's equivalent of a troll post.

[ps3bestever]

LOLLOLLLOOOLLLOLOL

[macky301]

It is Portal 1,.. review,..

And actually kinda agree with him (he is a bit harsh with the score),.. I beat it in 2-3 hours,..Really did not have much re-playability for me and stand alone was 20usd when it came out? I believe?,..

We got free maps though! So I played it again,.. (were pretty awesome,.. and some things were really hard)

I mean If you got it with orange box like most of us,..
Yes for us it was the best thing ever,.. but it was really short,..

I don't think people should call other people idiots if they did not enjoy a certain game so much as everyone else,.. like some sort of outcasts,.. There are some types of games, that I love,.. that most people think are redundant ,..

[tyty]

Who cares if it was short? Rating a game on length is silly. Do you rate movies based on length? It’s about the experience. Plus the game was never billed as a full fledge game.

I understand if you can only afford a few games a year, and in turn buy based on length, but I don't think that means games should be rated on length. If the experience is good then the game is good.

[macky301]

I agree,..
people also have different tastes in games and values when it comes to spending money on games,..You would not spend 60-70 usd on Portal1 or Flower now would you?
yet they are some of most unique experiences ever made..Maybe you would,.. someone else did not get enough of enjoyment out of it,..Or maybe it game just did not resonate with him,..that is all I am saying,..

Game is god, then the game is good,.. his value of it was 6.5,.. that is certainly not bad, is it?

[ms88]

Yes. It's called lasting appeal, and it's listed as one of four major components in the final rating.

There is still a school of gamers who prefer not to spend hard-earned money knowing in comparison to other games the return will not be significant.

While you may not care about length and have money to buy any solid-experience game at full price, many gamers consider this a large factor as time=money and vice versa.

The bottom line is the game was excellent, but the length really made it nothing more than a glorified demo or a teaser.

[tyty]

@ ms88

First, I get that length is a part of your review system but my point is that your review system is flawed. I to consider length when buying video games. I have paid for one degree and am working on another, that’s not cheap. I however don't change my views on a game based on its length. If a game is a 9/10 I don’t take points away from it because it wasn’t 10 or 20 hours long. How can you do that in a fair manner? If you want to talk about length in your reviews then mention it in the write up, but don’t use it to score the game.

Second, based on what I can see, your reviews “lasting appeal” section is really an instant gratification section. You seem to think that once you finish a game it needs to immediately provide something else for you to do. Portal is fun in replays. I wouldn’t suggest replaying it every day but it is fun to do every so often. So if it is still fun to play how is that not “lasting appeal”?

Finally, I don’t think Valve intended this to be considered a full-fledge game, so your notion that it should be considered in the same light as a full $60 retail game is a bit silly.. It’s been my understanding that it was basically a glorified tech demo, so I wasn’t expecting it to be much more than that.

[ct03]

Okay, so 2 to 3 hours of great entertainment are worth a 6.5/10.
Let me ask you this: how can movies of that length be rated any higher then? What about 90 minute movies? They should max out at 4/10.

[distorted_reality]

So much fail.

[kramun]

Quick review? More like crap review.

[SeraphimBlade]

A lot of reviews actually praise the short length. It IS a puzzle game, after all. If you pad it out, you start re-using ideas. It stops being fun and starts being tedious.

People expect a $60 game to last about ten hours, so a 3-hour $20 game makes sense, no?