There is a third video game that is also being highly-anticipated from game developer Valve Corporation other than the multiplayer zombie shooter video game “Left 4 Dead 3” and the first-person shooter horror survival game “Half-Life-3.” And it is no other than the third iteration of the first-person shooter puzzle video game “Portal.”
The “Portal” video games are set in the “Half-Life” universe thus, the first two iterations of the franchise came out after “Half-Life” and “Half-Life 2,” respectively.
“Portal” came out in 2007 while “Portal 2” came out in 2011, one year each after the release of “Half-Life” and “Half-Life 2,” respectively.
The story of the game revolves on a woman named Chell who is forced to undergo a series of tests within the Aperture Science Enrichment Center by a malicious artificial intelligence computer called Glados, which happens to control the facility.
Each test involves using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device or the portal gun that creates a human-sized wormhole-like connection between nearly any two flat surfaces.
The player-character or objects in the game world may move through portals, their momentum conserved and that allows complex flinging maneuvers to be used to cross wide gaps or perform other feats to reach the exit for each test chamber.
There are also a number of other mechanics, such as lasers, light bridges, tractor funnels, and turrets, which exist to aid or hinder the player’s goal to reach the exit.
Came from fresh minds
The game concept of “Portal” actually came from fresh and young minds. The ideas actually came from students from the DigiPen Institute of Technology, who brought their projects into Valve and extended their ideas into the full games.
The portal concept was introduced by the game “Narbacular Drop” and led to the basis of the first game.
Another video game, “Tag: The Power of Paint,” formed the basis of surface-altering which was introduced in “Portal 2”
“Portal” and “Portal 2” have received critical praises and likewise sold millions of copies. The first game was released as part of a three-game compilation known as The Orange Box, and though intended as a short bonus feature of the compilation, was considered as the highlight of the three.
The success of “Portal” led to the creation of the much longer “Portal 2,” which included both single player and cooperative player modes. Just like its predecessor, “Portal 2” also received positive critical reviews.
Dependent on ‘Half-Life 3’
Since “Portal” is set in the “Half-Life” universe, “Portal 3” is likely to depend on “Half-Life 3” so if the latter is finally greenlit by Valve Corporation, it is likely that “Portal 3” would follow suit, one year at the most after “Half-Life 3” officially comes out.
However, Tech Times reported that even though gamers have yet to hear any update about “Portal 3,” there have been a number of “Portal” related adventures that gamers can focus their time on while waiting for the latest iteration of the game.
There is the “Portal” level for “Lego Dimensions” and there is also the fantastic surrounding “Portal” board game called “Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game.”
In the board game, players take on the role of various test subjects competing for the most nirvana that is the perfect slice of cake.
In the game, players move and portal their test subjects to various chambers in the Lab. At the end of each player’s turn, one of the Chambers at the end of the Lab gives way, plunging all test subjects into oblivion.
But if the player’s test subjects have numbered greater than all others in the falling Chamber, they earn the player some wonderful parting gifts including a Cake. The Cake must be stored in the Lab, and the team at the end of the game with the most Cake wins.
There is also an option for players to steal their opponent’s Cake, just to make the game more interesting and thrilling too.
Meanwhile, there are also reports that “Portal 3” may already use virtual reality technology when it comes out sometime in the future, which was the same speculations on “Half-Life 3.”