Invariably, no one outside the “circle of gamers” has heard of Portal. It saddens me to have to explain such a great game, but it’s a pleasure to do so. In short, your character can create two sides of a portal through space. Shoot the wall in the distance with one end and a hole in the ground with the other, and step through your own shortcut.
Much has been written about Portal already, and the more thoughtful essays reflect its rejection of game conventions. Portal proves the publishers can’t push us around, argues one writer. Another claims the sterilized, over-utilized lab atmosphere is actually a ploy to explore gamer psychology. And then there’s my favorite, the “Portal is for lesbians” argument.
I would add that Portal is the only game I can describe in real-world terms to “non-gamers.” If the basic mechanic existed in my life, I tell them, I would shoot one end of a space rift outside my car at night, and shoot the other end on the wall in my room. In the morning, I’d step through and save 5 minutes walking to where I parked. I want the portal gun. And I’m not the only one.
Typically, games are described as “battles against alien onslaughts” or “quests to save the universe” or “ventures into a dystopian world.” A lot of those soundbytes sum up my favorite games, but they do no justice to the games themselves, and really, they sound pretty lame. Penny Arcade describes Portal as “first-person shooter comedy,” but one need only tell people about the portal gun to sell the game; their imaginations will do the rest.
