Why Portal is the best game of all time

A shameless love letter to Portal from an unrepentant fan-girl.

Spandas Lui writes: "I'm just going to come out and say it: Portal is the best game ever made. Released in 2007, nobody could have predicted the commercial and critical acclaim Portal would receive. Players embraced the game with open arms, and its legacy arguably eclipses its Orange Box companions.

So what makes Portal worthy of the 'Best game ever' title? Besides the amazing physics engine, suitably sterile aesthetics and great sound effects, Portal captured players with its originality..."

[GWAVE]

Wat...
Portal is a great mini-game, but hardly the best game of all time. Sounds like someone has been giggling "the cake is a lie" too much this year.

[Jamegohanssj5]

They best be trolling. Game is horrible.

TGSI

[MiamiACR]

Overenthusiastic I would say, not trolling since that's your job Jame, and you might look into another profession since your too stupid to even perform that properly. I agree good game, but hardly the "best game of all time."

[Bobbykotickrulesz]

lol sounds like Kanye West made this article.

[N4BmpS]

@miamiacr That wasn't even funny. What does Kanye West have to do with any of this.

[Bobbykotickrulesz]

@N4BmpS I'm assuming you meant me.

Anyway, you obviously didn't see Kanye West make a complete fool of himself on national television. He's the mockery of the internet now.

[UNCyrus]

Article should be titled...
"I couldn't figure out how to make a top 10 list about Portal, so I wrote this!"

[BannedForNineYears]

Agreed, it's good.......But not that good.
It's a very enigmatic game........

[Jamegohanssj5]

Let me explain to you why Portal is horrible.

-You walk around in circles.
-Shoot a gun that's quite possible one of the most horrible weapons to be made. It could only work in something like Ratchet and Clank imo.
-You get a headache.
-You find out the cake is a lie.
-The colours make you sick.
-It's over hyped.
-It's a FPS.
-It's Valve.
Rinse and repeat.

TGSI

[SOAD]

I'm sure you were looking for some PS3 fanboy sympathy when you listed Valve as a reason why Portal is horrible, but that in turn has led me to make a list of why you are an idiot.

[Rucury]

Portal is awesome. Anyone can say whatever they want. Let the reviews speak for themselves.

EDIT -

This site needs some Flea. "Gets rid of PS3 Fanboys in under 3 hours!"

Spray it all up in here.

Portal, while admittedly short (I speed ran it in under 2 hours), is a fantastic tale of test subjects, betrayal, murder and cake.

It had very funny moments, and was all-around entertaining. It had great, challenging puzzles and it had strange, but cool, storytelling.

It warrants a sequel, a full-blown sequel, and that's what Valve is doing.

I would not say it is the greatest game of all time, but it's one of the best 2-hour-long games you'll ever play.

/End rant.

[Eamon]

lol, he's most probably angry that Valve doesn't develop for PS3.

Portal is an amazing game. And I can't wait for Portal 2!

[koh]

-YOU might walk in circles, I don't remember that part.
-The portal gun is a lot more fun than shooting another AK47 at another faceless enemy, like in every other game available.
-Who gets headaches from this game? It's a puzzle not a hangover.
-You find out a lot of things at the end of every game. It's a story.
-The colors are a pretty simple combination of grays, orange and blue.
-No, it wasn't hyped that much at all, it WAS well received and universally acclaimed. But that was after the release.
-It's a puzzle game masquerading as a FPS.
-Valve has released hit after hit, and I suspect you just like to think you're cool and go against the mainstream for the sake of doing it.

Any other vague complaints?

[BRG9000]

I second koh08's list, with two extra retorts.

The portal gun isn't a weapon at all. It opens doors as a tool to solve clever puzzles. That's it. It may have a trigger and "gun" in its nickname, but it is not a weapon and to evaluate it as one is foolish.

It's not called hype when the game has been out for 3 years. It's called popularity because it is a great and much beloved game. "Overhyped" implies it's something people are in a frenzy about but can't play yet... but everyone is in a frenzy over Portal BECAUSE they played it.

[Digitaldude]

Haha
"Why Portal is the best game of all time"

Page not found

[Colonel-Killzone]

LMFAO

[Davoh]

I agree with GWAVE, Portal is a great game but it's not the best game of all time. And the cake wasn't a lie

[seij555]

I hate to interrupt you but, Beyonce Knowles is the best game of all time!

[Jamegohanssj5]

You guys butt hurt much? Lol. The internet is serious business.

TGSI

[RedDevils]

....for fanboy

[Nihilism]

Agreed,

Portal is a fun gimmick for about 5 minutes, the humour in it may have got a giggle out of a 12 year old but not me.

It was about as philosophical as Tetris... actually no Tetris is better

[PS3owns360_]

Nah

[Faztkiller]

There is no Greatest game of all time cause everyone has different opinions of what make a game great. My greatest game of all time is Dirt to Daytona

EDIT

[deadreckoning666]

Can't believe u got disagrees for stating ur opinion. LOL, I swear the people here aren't human.

Btw, my greatest game of all time is GTA: San Andreas.

@ForzaGT and Infeckt- Do you know what an "opinion" is? Just curious.

[Spydr07]

You think getting a disagree for an opinion is odd? Ok, let's think about this logically, shall we? If you say the best movie ever is The Godfather, I can easily disagree with that because it's a completely arbitrary subject and state my own preference. However, if you stated that 1+1=2, it would be foolish to disagree because that is a fact.

See the difference?

[Anon7349]

If it was an opinion you should say "my favorite" not "my greatest."

You don't even make any sense.

[Proxy]

Wut!?!

1 + 1 = 10.

Also, I gave you a bubble even though I disagreed. :) See, disagrees aren't so bad.

[Spydr07]

Lol. Well, thank you, Proxy. I really don't know why people put so much into disagrees anyway. That people do is why you have some who just like to click disagree. It's probably fun for them to get a rise out of another. I really don't use the agree/disagree links. I just comment.

I do use the bubble system because it controls how much some people can talk. If you post crap all the time, I really don't wanna hear it. Even if it's a fanboy, if their logic is sound and clearly thought out, I'll give bubbles. If it's stupid, well then...bubbles sure are yummy!

@Anon
Diction doesn't matter, it's what's said that determines opinion. Since the "greatest game of all time" would be considered to be different for many people, it's an opinion regardless of how it's stated. The only part of it that's a fact is that to him/her, it's the greatest game.

[sloth3395]

i think the people who disagreed with you are the same who disagreed with m when i said Nintento has been trying to do motion control since the power glove

[thebudgetgamer]

making your way up the ladder to succses was really fun. upgrading you cars, paying for better pit crews, the side challenges were great and that announcer guy that i cant think of his name.

[Faztkiller]

Cool someone else that has played it sometimes I fell like I'm the only one lol

[thebudgetgamer]

damn exclusive sports game licsenses.

[Faztkiller]

Is Monster games even around any more

[thebudgetgamer]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

and it seems like i was wrong as there was a dirt to daytona after the one i played on the ps2.

[ForzaGT]

but not in this planet

lol

[Aphe]

I'm sick of these 'Why - insert game here - is the best game of all time' articles.
It's all subjective, there is no best game of all time. Only on a personal level.

EDIT:Also, Page not found.

[Nike]

Exactly. Sadly, this being N4G, fanboys will congregate around "Why Uncharted 2/God of War III is the Best Game of All Time", happily agreeing. But when another article on a different game comes out, it's "Well, there is really is no best game of all time" or simply say, "No, it's not! Lol! Dude is trolling!". Sooner or later, the discussion degenerates into personal attacks and sales battles, presumably between PS3 and 360 fans.

Every one has their own personal fave. For me, it's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Kingdom Hearts 2, Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight, System Shock 2, Thief, Half Life 2, Disgaea...you know, even then, it's still a big list. :P

There is no best game of all time, because no one's seen the future.

[Aphe]

Yeah it's bollocks. See I can agree that the games you've mentioned are (in a rare moment for n4g) in my top 100 with the exception of Disgaea and Kingdom Hearts 2 solely because I haven't played them.

But if you told me what your No1 game was I'd probably disagree with you, because it's a personal choice. I have a hard time thinking what's my own number one let alone what someone elses is lol. I don't think I can even think of my top 10 tbh, there's so many games I love.

[infekt]

Its nowhere near the best title the year it came out... forget "of all time".

[Nike]

Actually, it was pretty close to being the best title of the year it came out in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[infekt]

Dude. Thats all relative. I see a lot more Bioshock, Call of Duty, and Mario Galaxy awards in 07.. I guess people see what they want to see.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[Nike]

But how many of those games were as original as Portal? Or as interesting and featured such an awesome antagonist? Sure, CoD4 won awards, Super Mario Galaxy was great and Bioshock...well, I like System Shock 2 better. But it's been a while since a strong breakout title came around, and considering it had no hype whatsoever, Portal still pretty much made a mark on gaming.

[Eiffel]

"Page not found

The page you requested could not be found."

[trounbyfire]

JUST KIDDING, but out of all the games in the orange box portal was second to last. only half life 2 episode 2 sucked more. portal didn't suck but TF2,HL2, HL2:E1 were all great.

[thebudgetgamer]

even on the ps3 with its well reported problems it was a blast for me.

[trounbyfire]

so yeah

[theonlylolking]

The game might be awesome but isn't as great as loads of other games.

[NastyLeftHook]

the best...no they belong to games like demons souls, zelda, diablo, fallout 2, gran turismo....

[Quadrix]

I wouldn't say it's the best game of all time, but it's one of those few games that literally has nothing wrong with it.

[tdrules]

well it sure it ain't no ModNation Racers thats for darn sure.

[Delt4]

Portal was awesome. I remember when i first started playing. My first impression was..... Ummm WTF is this no story, just a stupid fps puzzle game? But that all changed pretty fast to OMG THIS IS CRAZY!! I really enjoyed portal. One of the most memorable games i have ever played.

It's not my favorite game ever but you know, to each his own.

[ATLGAMER]

and sucks

[N4BmpS]

Well No offense to Valve since I still have a shred of respect for them but no it's not, at least not for me.

[CaptainPunch]

Portal is a great game, but I personally don't think it's the best game of all time. My favorite game of all time is Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

[ReBurn]

Portal's a fun game. Drove me crazy, though. It was so frustrating the first time through.

[The Tingler]

I disagree... but I agree that it is arguable! I can accept that someone considers Portal the best game of all time. There is literally nothing wrong with it.

[DelbertGrady]

There is no such thing as one best game.