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The 1-Upper: Portal: The Flash Version
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The 1-Upper: Portal: The Flash Version
When Valve released Half-Life for the PC in 1998 and then followed up with Half-Life 2 a few years later, anyone into games was tickled pink with the series’ horn-rimmed hero, Gordon Freeman, and its incredible use of in-game physics (especially with the ridiculously fun gravity gun). Last week, Valve dropped The Orange Box, a collection of Half-Life 2 and a few expansions, for PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. While Half-Life 2 is a blast, Valve included in the package a nifty little game called Portal that stands to make an even bigger impression on games. Taking the developer’s penchant for physics even further, Portal, a first-person shooter/puzzle game, equips you with a gun that doesn't shoot holes in people, but rather holes in walls. Opening the titular portals allows anyone playing the game to move through walls, redirect objects, and be flung about by gravity as they attempt to solve 100 levels of head-scratching environments.
During the build-up to the launch of The Orange Box, a fan-made, 2D version of the Portal quietly made its way onto the Internet. While it isn’t first-person, the game employs the same basic principals and mechanics of Portal. In Portal: The Flash Version, you, the test subject, are given the same portal-maker and asked to make your way through 40 levels designed to make you rethink game strategy while defying physics. Some levels are straightforward, some require strategy and foresight, and some will test your reflexes. So if you don’t have a next-gen console or a PC powerful enough to run The Orange Box (or you’re in the Mac crowd like me), Portal: The Flash Version is a fun way to experience a small part of the game without dropping a whole lot of money. Oh, and if it’s a slow day at work, you’ll thank me for the link.
Play it here.
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