First ever double-post.
Mood:  a-ok
And no, I'm not referring to the fact that this is the first time I've posted two days in a row.

The first part of this post refers to the fact that, starting January 25 and going until January 31, it's Winter-een-mas!! (WEmas for short). I've posted up a picture of a display I did for it, found here. For more information about the one and only gaming holiday, hit the link, but you might want to keep reading for the second (and most important) part of this...

Portal (PC) Review

Seeing as how WEmas is just around the corner, I decided to re-install the game Portal onto my computer. I bought this around the beginning of last month, and played through to the final stage. However, Portal began screwing up my system, so I had to un-install it. I decided that re-installing would help.

And it did.

I couldn't play it right away; I'm on dial-up, and it required me to install steam. In the morning, it was done and I accessed the game. It was really short, taking only 2 to 4 hours of straight playing to complete.

It is pure genius, as the reviews all say; you wake up in a random room with no idea what's going on. Cue a computerized voice, giving you instructions to continue through a portal. You can see yourself through it, not that it helps much.

You continue through a total of 19 levels, going from place to place with the aid of these portals. Eventually, you gain the ability to fire the portals yourself, adding to the intricacy of these puzzles.

Because that's what this is - the first ever puzzle FPS. Instead of shooting your enemies to kill them, you use portals to kill them or go around them, even using THEIR weapons to your advantage. The dialogue's a killer, with the computer saying the most random things.

Graphics: The graphics are top-notch, as can be expected from the creators of Half-Life. They add a sense of realism that's on-par with the rest of the games of this generation.

Gameplay: The controls are easy-to-use and intuitive; WASD to move, move the mouse to turn, left- and right-click to fire two separate portals. Grab items, crouch, jump - all these are easy to learn, and if they aren't for you, they're fully customizable.

Audio: Top-of-the-line music. The radio muzak you start with tapers off into background music that really helps you "get in the mood". The ending music, particularily - it fits in with the game, and has some really funny lyrics that are shown on-screen.

Replay value: Perhaps the most important part of any game, the achievements, bonus maps and challenge maps make it playable long after you've "beaten" it.

Overall score: 4.8/5. It would be five, but the game itself is only about 3 hours long. Other than that, it's one of the best games I've ever played.