(Untitled)

[chikkiboo]

Who's got two thumbs and is only just now getting around to playing Portal?  THIS GUY.  Not Portal 2, either.  Portal.  The one that came out in the Orange Box.  The Orange Box that I didn't buy even though I played TF2 for literally years.  (I got TF2 standalone because of not having any interest whatsoever in Half Life.)

Nobody told me this game

Comments

[otana]

Portal is SO fucking creepy. I love it but you're totally right that they get across the notion that you're the only person alive there.

Funnily enough I've had it for years but I'm only just finishing it now; I finished the last chamber and I'm going through all the final back areas getting to the boss fight GLaDOS.

When you're done, read the free Portal 2 comic (IIRC it's called Lab Rat, it's easy enough to find online) and then I REALLY recommend picking up Portal 2. I've only seen a walkthrough at this point, but holy shit. I paid $10 for Portal and I was a little upset to see the $50 price tag for Portal 2; I was worried they'd put the price up just because they knew it would sell? But holy shit, they EARNED that price tag. I won't say anything else so I don't spoil it, but I will say that I'm really thrilled with how they handled the plot and character evolution and that this just makes me even more excited to see where Chell fits into the Half Life storyline.

[chikkiboo]

oh jeez I just crouchwalked into a little space behind a panel and there's HELP written on the floor and L4D-saferoom type shit written on the walls and a little stock of fallout shelter style tinned food in there

I'm having some trouble with the turrets but I'm sure I will figure it out I WILL FIGURE THIS SHIT OUT GDI.

And then I'm going to have to find a way to get Portal 2, because if I'm already in 16/19, then I'm almost done, and then I will be OUT OF PORTAL.

[otana]

Oh shit yesssss, the graffiti keeps going through the rest of the game. They explain it in the comic, which is just like an added bonus. There was an ARG as well apparently, but you don't need to have followed it, it's mostly just a few extra bits here and there that don't affect the story, just kinda embellish the world.

[chikkiboo]

Yeah, that's my favourite thing about L4D too, the way there was storytelling in the graffiti - I think it's something Valve does very, very well: worldbuilding in a subtle way, done in the background and around the edges, never beating you over the head with THIS IS THE BACKSTORY but letting you find it out on your own like it's a mystery you're unravelling - and also never making it be something that's essential to know, so you're not missing out on anything if you don't find it; it's just straight-up bonus background. Even Team Fortress 2 had that sort of thing going on, back in the days when there "was no canon" before they started releasing comics and updates that fleshed out that game's setting and gave actual names and backgrounds to some of the characters: you could infer a lot about the setting just by the way the physical world was designed.

[otana]

Yessss, you're not actually missing the story if you don't follow all the breadcrumbs, it just enhances what you already know. Valve is excellent at storytelling, there's some stuff about Portal that people only just figured out, or are still trying to work out.

And hahaha I just tried out TF2 for the first time tonight, it's more fun than I thought! I didn't think I'd really be into FPS but my BFF bought it for me to play with her and man, it's actually pretty fun.

[darkjudicator]

Lab Rat. Spoilers if you haven't finished Portal yet (it's okay, I haven't played it yet either, except for First Slice).

Also, my favourite GlaDOS quote ever is actually form the comic: "Remember, compliance rhymes with science. Do you know what doesn't rhyme with compliance? Neurotoxin."

She's the best videogame villain ever. :D

[otana]

Oh yes, I've seen it.

GLaDOS is awesome, all the hype over Portal 2 finally got me to try and finish the first one. I was relieved when I realized I was finding it so damn impossible because of shitty framerates, not because I was a terrible gamer.

I'm procrastinating the final boss fight though. D: