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portal preview
article: portal preview
This is the first of three planned previews in store for you, the readers and visitors of CS-Nation. We’re kicking things off with a look at Portal, the mind-bending action puzzler from the team who brought you Narbacular Drop.

During my trip to Valve, I actually had the chance to sit down and play the main game from start to finish. Let’s make no mistake about it, this title is going to be one that you will play and continue to play for quite some time to come. Let’s start things off simple, and the more juicy bits will come later.

Consider this a very brief look at what Portal is all about. This isn’t a comprehensive look at the title by any stretch of the imagination. If it were something like that, what would that leave for my review? Exactly, it’d leave a lot of boring rehash that nobody would like to read. Included will be some interesting information gathered straight from Kim Swift and Jeep Barnett, two of the developers working on Portal.

Background
The origins of Portal have their roots in a title called Narbacular Drop, a title created by a team of students from the DigiPen Institute of Technology. You may have heard that name mentioned around here given how our illustrious leader, rizzuh, released his team’s project, Toblo, and graduated from the institute.

To those looking to attend DigiPen, both Ms. Swift and Mr. Barnett mentioned that it is almost akin to a “boot camp" environment. You will have to work hard, and down time is rare. The payoffs are great though. Beyond potentially landing a job at Valve or another local developer, it’s believed that over 80% of the graduating class had jobs lined up before graduation.

Narbacular Drop was created by a team of seven, three artists and four programmers. The team really wanted their title to stick out from the rest and the idea for the portals started to materialize. As you may have already read, the team was invited to present their title to Gabe Newell from Valve. Fifteen minutes into their presentation, the team was hired on the spot. The rest, as they so commonly say, is history.


Story
Yes, there is an actual plot to Portal! I understand that this was a bit of a surprising revelation to some people who have already heard a bit about what I had to say about this title. I really do not wish to say much about the story other than what you already know from previews, screenshots, and interviews.

The narration is carried throughout the game by a snide and often sarcastic computerized female voice. The design decision to include this level of narration actually came rather late into the creation of the game. It was just too quiet, and the humorous voice was added break up the silence.

Interestingly enough, the developers requisitioned the help of Old Man Murray’s Chet Faliszek and Erik Wolpaw to kick up the humor factor a few hundred notches. This is a narrative experience that you do not want to miss.

The player in Portal is a female test subject. I really don’t believe this should come as any surprise to anybody reading this given the media released both in screenshot form and from a number of past interviews conducted with the Portal team. Why are you there? For what purpose are you there? How did you get there to begin with? Well, those questions may or may not be answered as you progress through the story. I dare not ruin any of the plot for you as it’s more fun to discover the clues and unravel the plot on your own.