Free Play

Free Play

               I somehow stumbled upon a strange site and found myself looking at a list of the most popular online freeware games. With that in mind I scrolled through seeing a couple that looked promising, but when I saw this gem it reminded me how much fun I had with its original game, so I had to give it a try. Portal: The flash version takes what is great about the original and brings it to 2-d browser space for more fun in robot controlled human experimentation.

·        Was the game a challenge, fun, entertaining? Why?

This flash game really brought what was so much fun with portal to a 2d world. Portal: the flash game starts out slow, teaching you how to use the mechanics of the player to move around in the world. It isn’t for a few levels in that it starts to challenge you as it inconspicuously adds new elements to the world for you to get by. But by the time it starts getting difficult, you are hooked and you just have to figure out the brain busting puzzle of a level. It is so much fun to figure out how to propel your player across the level, and almost just as entertaining to watch your player get shot into a cruel death trying to figure out the level.

·        Does the game have replay value?

Though not all of the 40 levels of Portal: the flash game makes you want to play them again(some levels are just to train the player), most of the levels especially further in on the game make you want to go back just to see if there was another way to complete the level. If you go back to a level and complete it, the game almost compels you to play the next level and so forth. I love games that have that effect on me, even though my fiancé doesn’t. Not to mention at the end of the game you can pull up the console and edit the game as you see fit.

·        Is this game story driven or game play driven?

This game is definitively game play driven. The mechanics and layout of the levels bring you directly to the next puzzle with no story, though this is based off of a famous IP of the same name so the backstory is hinted at in the beginning text of the game. This is a puzzle game and uses the game mechanics to increase the skill and fun of the game exponentially over time. Adding elements of companion cubes, turrets, energy balls and death spikes to the mix kept it challenging.

·        How is the game's presentation? (Graphics, Sound)

The game’s presentation is what you would expect from a flash game. The graphics and levels are very clean and they keep the colors the same as the original. The graphics aren’t extremely fleshed out, but for this type of game they don’t need to rely on graphic driven gameplay. I do love the character the player gets to use, the animation and clothes they give the character makes me feel like I am an inmate which drives home the escapist nature of the game. The sound does its job, sound effects are there that substantiate what is going on in the world but the music seems a bit generic. I ended up muting the music to play some of my own.

·        How are the Controls? Describe the Game's Feel

The controls are very simple using the basic d-pad movements to move around the field, with two buttons defined to each distinct portal. The feel of using the portal takes a level or two to get used to and remember from the original game, but once you program your twitch muscles to those portal keys, this game almost lets your player fly through the level if they know what they are doing. That’s why I love playing this kind of puzzle game, you really feel like you are controlling the level with portals. But I guess that’s thinking with portals.

·        Any other special features you enjoyed?

I love that they let you use the console to tinker with the game. I believe most games should have this available to use to change the game to their own version. This increases the replay value of the game, mods of the game come out and you get to spend time trying out new versions, which you tell your friends about and in turn they make their own versions which can perpetuate the cycle of mods.

·        If you could change one mechanic, what would it be and how would it affect game play?

If I could change one mechanic, I would make the player be able to slide in the game. This would open up new ways to use the original mechanics of the portal system; I feel it would add a more challenging layer to the game to be able to slide while using portals.

·        On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate the game? Why?

I would give this game an 8 out of 10 Batman BooYahs. I love the feel of the game; it reminds me of the original Portal while introducing it to the flash community. The game play is driven by great mechanics that are simple and polished, being able to do tricks with the portals and getting through impossible looking levels is fun and boosts self-esteem. This game is great to pick up and play for a couple of levels or sit down and spend time trying to beat all 40 levels, even after that you can make your own levels if you know what you’re doing.