Game developer Valve Corporation has not said anything official about the first-person shooter puzzle video game “Portal 3” since it applied for a trademark in October 2013.
Fans and gamers were expecting that Valve would make an announcement during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2014 but nothing happened.
Since then, much of the focus on Valve was on its highly-anticipated multiplayer zombie shooter video game “Left 4 Dead 3” and the first-person shooter horror survival game “Half-Life-3.”
However, during the Consumer Electronic Show (CES) 2016 held early last month in Las Vegas, Nevada, Taiwanese tech giant HTC announced its Vive Pre, a second-generation developer kit for its virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display complete with a refined form factor and improvements to the chaperone system.
Interestingly, HTC has compiled and showcased a brand new trailer for the kit during the CES 2016 that run for about 90 seconds.
A hint of ‘Portal 3’
What caught the attention of fans and gamers is that the trailer actually showed a scene featuring a woman floating in mid-air. After remaining still for a few seconds, she raised her arms, which causes the walls on her sides to bend and blasts a hole in the wall in front of her, seemingly through telekinesis, details VR Focus.
The woman is wearing half of an orange jumpsuit, folded around her waist and a vest for her top. While it is only her back that is shown, the woman looks exactly like Chell, the protagonist of Valve’s “Portal” video game franchise.
That’s in addition to the fact that her explosion in the scene created a portal of sorts into another dimension.
Another interesting thing about the Vive is that HTC was actually in partnership with Valve in the development of the VR head-mounted display kit, which it plans to pit against the Oculus Rift.
Although nothing has been announced or confirmed about “Portal 3” with the trailer of the HTC Vive Pre during the CES 2016, fans and gamers believe that if and when “Portal 3” finally comes out in the gaming consoles and the PC a few years down the road, it will already feature the VR technology. This may actually mean that gamers need to have the Vive head-mounted display to be able to play “Portal 3” in the not-too-distant future.
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 most after “Half-Life 3” officially comes out.
Portal-related adventures
While news and information about “Portal 3” have been rather scarce on the internet, there have been a number of Portal-related adventures to keep fans and gamers preoccupied.
There is the Portal level for “Lego Dimensions” and eventually the fantastic sounding Portal board game called “Portal: The Uncooperative Cake Acquisition Game,” notes Tech Times.
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 on it 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, just like “Minecraft,” “Portal” games are also considered as educational tools as well. It has been noted for bringing students and their projects from the DigiPen Institute of Technology into Valve and extend 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.