Portal

 PC
User Score
9.1

Universal acclaim- based on 6390 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5,896 out of 6390
  2. Mixed: 369 out of 6390
  3. Negative: 125 out of 6390
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  1. whitespider999
    Feb 16, 2012
    8
    A thrilling and mind bending experiment. Innovative, involved, and exactly what we need to see more of in gaming. Bold steps in new directions. Out of this and portal 2, I still prefer portal 2 by a wide margin. However this game deserves recognition for being truly original at the time of release. And even now really.
  2. JoeMtW
    Apr 24, 2011
    9
    Although sometimes frustrating, never seemingly impossible. It takes awhile to figure out some puzzles, but I never had to actually look up a walk-through to get through it. Yes, the game is short... But it was still really enjoyable for the time I played it. And I don't really think the point of it was to be a long game, more just a fun one. Definitely a creative and original game. It's a buy.
  3. murderkarp
    Apr 27, 2011
    10
    Portal was truly an amazing game. First of all i think we have to remember that although a great game, it wasn't meant to be the hit of the Orange Box. It was originally created as a fall bac game just in case the rest of the Orange Box didn't do very well. Besides that, it was an amazingly innovative game that made up for its lack of length and difficulty with its humour and game-play. IPortal was truly an amazing game. First of all i think we have to remember that although a great game, it wasn't meant to be the hit of the Orange Box. It was originally created as a fall bac game just in case the rest of the Orange Box didn't do very well. Besides that, it was an amazingly innovative game that made up for its lack of length and difficulty with its humour and game-play. I loved the game myself and wouldn't have changed a thing. Good job Valve.… Expand
  4. baryluk
    Jun 12, 2011
    9
    Clever, puzzle game, which changed a genre. Still no perfect, as it was quite short, and it was too linear, both in terms of whole jurney through the all puzzles. Hovewer even with single tool, you still have multiple ways to solve each puzzle.
  5. Kislen
    Mar 9, 2012
    10
    Purely superior in experience to the 2nd portal in every way. Great story, great player engagement, great pace of introducing new ideas. After playing this one, the 2nd one felt redundant and the story felt incredibly forced. They changed their mind on where they were taking this game when they patched the end cutscene to change from you being free to being dragged back inside .. thenPurely superior in experience to the 2nd portal in every way. Great story, great player engagement, great pace of introducing new ideas. After playing this one, the 2nd one felt redundant and the story felt incredibly forced. They changed their mind on where they were taking this game when they patched the end cutscene to change from you being free to being dragged back inside .. then sealed off the portal world from ever influencing the half-life world, which was very disappointing to say the least. That aside, a very fun game overall which I actually put probably about 20 or 30 hours into doing various advanced puzzles and repeating the game once or twice just because it was fun.… Expand
  6. keanex
    Aug 9, 2016
    8
    I just bought and finished this game yesterday, it seems about 8 years too late. Anyway, the game obviously looks dated for 2016, nothing unexpected about that. In-fact I'm going to ignore the graphics and audio since it's such an old game.

    I love the concept, the puzzles were fun, but the game was super short. Hell I thought I was playing the tutorial, well I suppose at first I was.    I just bought and finished this game yesterday, it seems about 8 years too late. Anyway, the game obviously looks dated for 2016, nothing unexpected about that. In-fact I'm going to ignore the graphics and audio since it's such an old game.

    I love the concept, the puzzles were fun, but the game was super short. Hell I thought I was playing the tutorial, well I suppose at first I was. The game felt like a long demo and that's my issue with it. Fun, but entirely too short.

    Fun game, and I look forward to playing Portal 2, but this feels like a demo, not a fully fledged game.    … Expand
  7. LopsterPopster
    Jun 5, 2012
    9
    Oh man do I love this game. It's funny, it's cute, it's challenging (sometimes frustratingly so), and just an overall good game. It takes a little while sometimes to get used to the "thinking with portals" thing, but once you do the game is amazing. My biggest complaint (and probably my only one) is the fact that it's a jumping puzzle game but I can't see my character's feet. So I have noOh man do I love this game. It's funny, it's cute, it's challenging (sometimes frustratingly so), and just an overall good game. It takes a little while sometimes to get used to the "thinking with portals" thing, but once you do the game is amazing. My biggest complaint (and probably my only one) is the fact that it's a jumping puzzle game but I can't see my character's feet. So I have no idea where I'm jumping to. Granted, the first-person view added to the game, I just get super frustrated when I go to jump somewhere and... Oh, I jumped completely past it when I thought i was on it. Lovely. Valve has a tendency to do this, unfortunately. But other than that, this game was beautiful and unbelievably fun.… Expand
  8. Everlong
    Apr 7, 2012
    10
    In my humble opinion Portal represents the pinnacle of game design. With it's utterly unique and creative game mechanics, and intelligent level designs, Portal proves that a puzzle game can be much more enjoyable than the horde of First Person Shooters that dominate the gaming industry.
  9. Etr0pis
    Jun 18, 2012
    10
    though the game is incredibly short; it is still impressive. The puzzle's will keep you busy and the cruel humored GlaDoS will keep you entertained. the graphics are your typical valve graphics powered by source.
  10. Dazaras
    Aug 12, 2012
    10
    Easily one of my favorite games of all time. Simple yet addicting game mechanics form unique and memorable puzzles and make a solid foundation for the subtly unfolding story line.
  11. iseeall
    Jul 29, 2013
    10
    A great game with excellent innovative idea. Some of the puzzle rooms are simply a work of a genius. One of the best puzzle games ever. If you haven't seen it, you should.
  12. Rhaziel
    May 7, 2013
    10
    Well... It's been about 10 years since I last played a Valve game. The first one I ever played was Half-Life Uplink (demo to original HL1). And it was terrific. I finished it maybe 50 times. Then I got full HL1 and finished it a couple of times too. And then I never played a Valve game again.
    Until a week ago. I got Portal Bundle on Steam about a year ago for as cheap as 10$ or so. And I    Well... It's been about 10 years since I last played a Valve game. The first one I ever played was Half-Life Uplink (demo to original HL1). And it was terrific. I finished it maybe 50 times. Then I got full HL1 and finished it a couple of times too. And then I never played a Valve game again.
    Until a week ago. I got Portal Bundle on Steam about a year ago for as cheap as 10$ or so. And I wish I'd play this earlier.. This game is perfect! Its somewhat short, but the storyline is very intriguing. At first you may find it strange or even boring but do not give up on it it is well worth your 3~4 hours of playtime.
    Being a grown up semi no-life I can honestly say that this game firmly holds a high rank in my top 10 games of all time (an I've played a ton of games in my life).

    This is the type of game that you would sacrifice your weekday night for just to finish this last puzzle!
    Excelent choice worth any money!    … Expand
  13. iddqd4
    Jan 22, 2018
    8
    Игра с хорошим дизайном, юмором, и пазлами.
  14. Hall7718
    Feb 21, 2014
    8
    Had a blast playing Portal. I would have scored it a 9-10 if I felt the urge to replay the game. Extremely fun on the first time through the campaign though.
  15. SpiderPlayer
    Jun 19, 2015
    8
    The game is great, has a spectacular gameplay with easy puzzles, an interesting story, but the game is not very long, unfortunately, but there are a number of maps you can download and play.
  16. jelikey
    Sep 27, 2016
    7
    This is one of the more innovative games I've played. The humour and wit make it so entertaining and the puzzles/quests are really interesting. I loved it and can't wait to play the second one. And who can complain about the end song? It's genius!
  17. mulv81
    Feb 3, 2015
    8
    A decent puzzle game mixed with a first person shooter. Only fun the first time you run through it, after which the game becomes repetitive and boring. They made the puzzle mechanics fun, and the maniacal robot talking to you is funny sometimes.
  18. Termin8ter
    Oct 5, 2017
    8
    All starting from a small student game in 2005, Valve caught wind of it and hired the entire team to work at Valve. What was the game about? Portals. And that was the main gameplay concept behind Portal too. This game is incredible. Very simple story, but the way it is told is very unique. The puzzles are easy at first, but slowly get more difficult, and by the end you are completely onAll starting from a small student game in 2005, Valve caught wind of it and hired the entire team to work at Valve. What was the game about? Portals. And that was the main gameplay concept behind Portal too. This game is incredible. Very simple story, but the way it is told is very unique. The puzzles are easy at first, but slowly get more difficult, and by the end you are completely on your own. The graphics are not amazing, but they do the job. The soundtrack is mostly pretty lackluster but there are a good few gems in the score, trust me. The humour is pretty good too. In my opinion, this game is just as good as Portal 2, and is a very well done game. It is quite short, but if you get it for 10$ or under, you should be happy with what you're getting here.… Expand
  19. russiangamer
    Nov 29, 2016
    9
    Был удивлён, что игра проходится 2-2,5 часа, а может кто-нибудь пройдёт быстрее. Если учитывать длину игры, то в целом получилось отлично. Кампания проходится быстро и не успевает надоесть. Встречаются смешные шутки, интересный геймплей, графика неплоха, но немного смущает присутствие звуков из HL 2. Разработчики сделали полностью новый проект, так что это чисто придирки. Так же тут естьБыл удивлён, что игра проходится 2-2,5 часа, а может кто-нибудь пройдёт быстрее. Если учитывать длину игры, то в целом получилось отлично. Кампания проходится быстро и не успевает надоесть. Встречаются смешные шутки, интересный геймплей, графика неплоха, но немного смущает присутствие звуков из HL 2. Разработчики сделали полностью новый проект, так что это чисто придирки. Так же тут есть испытания, если кто захочет поиграть после одиночной.
    Вообщем отлично, если бы игра была дольше, думаю оценка опустилась минимум до 8, но кто знает, что имеем, то имеем.
    Рекомендую! Даже очень.    … Expand
  20. Basquilly
    Mar 14, 2016
    8
    Full of character, but unfortunately the lack of atmosphere left me feeling disappointed after all hearing all the praise piled onto this game over the years. Truly innovative gameplay did allow me to have a great time with this game none-the-less.
  21. Cosmozerk
    Jun 9, 2016
    8
    Portal is a brilliant game, a game that is pretty much 80% tutorial, but every hour of entertainment that this game gave me is really worth every single cent of its purchase.

    STORY: Portal really doesn't have a story to tell, you pretty much have to figure it out yourself because if i tell the "story" of the game, it would sound like this: "You are this girl and your traps with this    Portal is a brilliant game, a game that is pretty much 80% tutorial, but every hour of entertainment that this game gave me is really worth every single cent of its purchase.

    STORY: Portal really doesn't have a story to tell, you pretty much have to figure it out yourself because if i tell the "story" of the game, it would sound like this: "You are this girl and your traps with this robotic entity called Glados in some laboratory and you have to resolve the test that this robotic entity gives you" and that would be it.

    PRESENTATION: Portal has a very clean look, 70% of the environments have white in them and since the game is shooter from 2008, you are obviously not gonna see some incredible models or animations, but you only see that through the portals so they are pretty much non existent. Now this may sound like the presentation is horrible, but it really isn't, the game is more about the style than anything else and it reminds me a lot of Mirror's Edge with white all over the place, simple yet appealing environments and like i said the game looks very clean, which is easy on the eye and the framerate is smooth and even the most powerless PC's can run it. Now the music is pretty much non existent, aside from the theme there aren't any other tracks, but in a game like this it kinda fits, now i would definitely like hearing some tracks, but i feel like it's ok in this case.

    GAMEPLAY: Portal is a first person shooter, you move with W, A, S, D, you move the camera with the mouse, you pick up things with the E and you shoot portals with the right and left...uummm...how do you call the right and left click things in the mouse?...uuumm...uuuh, well anyway you get it. Now this mechanic may sound very basic...and it is, however by using this simple mechanic the developers made some incredible puzzles around this system and their efforts really show, this are some of the most creative puzzles i have ever seen using the law of "momentum" and the possibilities that they have with the portals. I can't really describe it, but believe me, the portal mechanics are use very, VERY well, putting your mind to think and you feel like a badass when you finally figure that puzzle ,that was very hard, out.

    But it's not just the portals, believe it or not the pick up mechanic is also used brilliantly, you use it block proyectiles, bounce proyectiles, destroy turrets, switch on mechanisms, etc and you use both the portals and the blocks that you pick up to resolve the puzzles.

    And that's it...no really, that's portal, it's a very basic game, with very basic mechanics and because of that it's very accessible, fun, replayable and deep. The puzzles are great, the setting is great, the mechanics are great and overall the game is just a blast to play, it may not be a very long game, but (unlike the order) the game is 100% gameplay and the 3-4 hours that you will play will be unforgettable. I'll give Portal a 8/10.

    PS. Glados is AWESOME!    … Expand
  22. Instable
    Jun 8, 2021
    9
    Very interesting puzzle game with its unique features. It was extremely fun to exploit its main mechanics)
  23. ashketchum
    Apr 12, 2018
    8
    Quality over quantity. The game itself takes around 2-3 hours to complete. The puzzles are well-designed and balanced in difficulty, and the atmosphere is set well, as the often quiet, sparse level design gives the atmosphere a strong sense of mystery. However, it feels far too short after completion, and there isn't much replayability once you play through it once. Also, the first fewQuality over quantity. The game itself takes around 2-3 hours to complete. The puzzles are well-designed and balanced in difficulty, and the atmosphere is set well, as the often quiet, sparse level design gives the atmosphere a strong sense of mystery. However, it feels far too short after completion, and there isn't much replayability once you play through it once. Also, the first few levels are extremely easy, but then just past halfway the difficulty seems to ramp up suddenly, and the length of the puzzles suddenly increases as well, which does feel slightly jarring initially. Still, Portal is a great game; well-polished and just generally fun to play.… Expand
  24. gautamkumar633
    Feb 20, 2022
    10
    The most unique and creative game I have ever played. Glados is one of the greatest villains in gaming history I think.
  25. ConsoleArgonaut
    Jan 14, 2018
    8
    By now everybody knows portal.
    It's a nice little puzzle game with the special feature of a portal gun.
    The game is absolutely great. If you own a PC and have Steam installed you should own Portal, or it's sequel. Rating: Gameplay: 4/5 - Nearly perfect, some minor annoyances Level Design: 5/5 - Perfect for this game Soundtrack: 4/5 - Pretty great Story: 2/5 - Lacking Graphics:    By now everybody knows portal.
    It's a nice little puzzle game with the special feature of a portal gun.
    The game is absolutely great.
    If you own a PC and have Steam installed you should own Portal, or it's sequel.

    Rating:
    Gameplay: 4/5 - Nearly perfect, some minor annoyances
    Level Design: 5/5 - Perfect for this game
    Soundtrack: 4/5 - Pretty great
    Story: 2/5 - Lacking
    Graphics: 4/5 - The art style fits the game
    Length: 2/5 - Very short
    Replay Value: 4/5 - Much additional content to the main story
    Enjoyment: 5/5 - It was absolutely great

    Overall rating: 30/40 => 7.5/10 => 8/10    … Expand
  26. Hayter
    Nov 10, 2019
    8
    Сначала игра кажется тебе не такой уж и сложной (первые 5 комнат).
    Потом становится посложнее, приходится немного подумать (5-10 комнаты).
    И сразу резко начинается хардкор, ты не можешь ничего понять, потому что у тебя вместо мозга варёная свёкла, ты начинаешь думать усерднее, может даже забиваешь на неё на пару дней, находясь почти на концовке игры, но в финале, после всех преодолённых    Сначала игра кажется тебе не такой уж и сложной (первые 5 комнат).
    Потом становится посложнее, приходится немного подумать (5-10 комнаты).
    И сразу резко начинается хардкор, ты не можешь ничего понять, потому что у тебя вместо мозга варёная свёкла, ты начинаешь думать усерднее, может даже забиваешь на неё на пару дней, находясь почти на концовке игры, но в финале, после всех преодолённых трудностей, ты получаешь истинное наслаждение.    … Expand
  27. trarantino
    Dec 29, 2018
    9
    Игра шидевр! Просто лучшая игра всех времён и народов. Какая графика, какой графон!
  28. ChikinOnFrydai
    Jul 3, 2020
    10
    This is hands down my favorite of all time. Everything about this game is perfect, the story, the atmosphere, the voice acting, the gameplay, the music, the puzzles, and everything else. This game is an absolute must play for anyone who even slightly likes laying video games.
  29. Richard_dias
    Aug 15, 2023
    10
    Best puzzle game I've ever played, even if not that hard. Portal is just amazing and I think every gamer should give it a try.
  30. GogglesofCritic
    May 23, 2021
    10
    Portal presented Valve at their best. Making innovative games that pushed the industry forward. Portal was a short game indeed, but its impact is still going on. Nowadays many of us want to experience a new portal title and that says something. Portal wasn't perfect, it was flawed indeed but at the same time it was an unseen masterpiece that pushed the industry forward, and showed manyPortal presented Valve at their best. Making innovative games that pushed the industry forward. Portal was a short game indeed, but its impact is still going on. Nowadays many of us want to experience a new portal title and that says something. Portal wasn't perfect, it was flawed indeed but at the same time it was an unseen masterpiece that pushed the industry forward, and showed many people games are high-art.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

8
#8 Best PC Game of 2007
2
#2 Most Discussed PC Game of 2007
9
#9 Most Shared PC Game of 2007

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
90

Universal acclaim - based on 27 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 27 out of 27
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 27
  3. Negative: 0 out of 27
  1. IGN
    82
    The idea behind Portal ends up being more brilliant than Portal itself. Regardless, we definitely had a lot of fun with what is there and appreciate the level of polish and thought that went into the presentation.
    Read full review
  2. PC Gamer UK
    92
    Portal is a magnificent puzzle game. The titillating wrongness of every solution and the wonky thinking required to get there make you feel like a space-folding genius, and yet you'll almost never get stuck.
    Read full review
  3. Eurogamer
    90
    One of the most interesting and delightful things Valve's ever done, but also one of its least fulfilling. If only we had our own portal gun to bridge the gap to the first infusion of new content, perhaps we could forget it.
    Read full review
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