From the creators of Half Life, Valve Software, comes Portal - another futuristic space orientated first person shooter. Could it possibly compare to the likes of Half Life?

As it’s from the same developer, you could argue that something is dreadfully wrong if it does not compare admirably. Alternatively you could argue that a storyline as bizarre yet successful as that behind the Half Life games can not easily be matched, even by the same developer.

Whatever your point of view, you are of course entitled to it and for me, Portal was always likely to struggle to live up to the expectations tied to it simply because it’s a Valve Software title - which is a potential flaw levelled at developers quite often when they attempt a similar, yet different title to their most successful yet.

Much like Half Life, the beginning of Portal is strange to say the least and you will do well to keep up with what’s happening without getting just a little bit confused.

You begin by waking in a small, glass walled room with no visible means of exit. Before long a robotic sounding voice kicks in welcoming you to your relaxation chamber, and after a brief message about stuff you will not understand until later in the game, an orange oval shaped portal will appear in front of you. As you approach it you will notice a similar blue oval nearby, which shows your reflection - believe it or not, you are a woman - and that is just the first of many unexpected events to come in Portal.

As you move through the orange portal you will find yourself in a hallway outside of your relaxation chamber and for a short while you are more or less left to your own devices. Be prepared for weirdness in large quantities, as it does not take long to start occurring. Before long you will have a Portal gun in your hand which grants you the ability to create portals when and almost where you see fit - I say almost because some surfaces within the game world can not have portals created on them, which is essentially what cranks up the difficulty level as you progress through the game, as surfaces that allow portals to be created upon them do become quite few and far between later on.

Forward thinking is the key to success, as you will have a glimpse through each portal you create before actually moving through it. Whether or not moving through it is the right thing to do is a judgement call you will make time and time again, and will ultimately decide your success or failure.

The game is actually quite addictive, despite the surprisingly shallow plot which you would not expect from a Valve Software title, but in this case it is not necessarily a bad thing. The bizarre happenings you come to expect a Valve game are here in abundance and once again they are a huge success, despite being a little confusing at times.

You will at times forget your surroundings as you find yourself engrossed in the world of Portal. It does not allow you to fall into it too deeply though, as before you know it something will confuse you, forcing you to give yourself a reality check so you can think straight in order to move on again.

The control system is relatively intuitive. There are a lot of commands to master if you wish, but you can make your way through the game with the basic movement and portal creating actions only. The ease at which you can pickup the controls means the entire game can be completed within five or six hours if you are in the right frame of mind and have no distractions.

The Portal game world is rather two-toned, with the majority of the world being colored dull grey and blue, and similar pale and greyscale tones. The characters and the portals themselves are the only real stand-out aspects of Portal in terms of visual presentation, but the detail applied to the environments in general is impressive, without taking your breath away like some games are capable of doing these days.

Despite being a short game with a distinct lack of replayability, Portal is an interesting game, nothing more and nothing less. The plot is difficult to follow, but once you start the game it will draw you in and force you into wanting to carry on - if only to find out what exactly is going on. Will you find out in the end? There’s only one way to find out - in true Portal style, i’m going to leave you hanging until you give it a go yourself.

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