It started out as part side story to Half Life 2, and part stand alone puzzle game, but Portal has possibly become bigger than the game that spawned it. I mean, Portal is an amazingly minimalist masterpiece, but what great puzzle game isn't? Most of the gameplay revolves around using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device or "portal gun" to create portals in different portions of a room. The player then uses those portals to solve puzzles, which will allow the player to exit a room and move on to the next. What drives your character, Chell, through this mind twisting gauntlet? A sadistic AI unit named GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), and it's promise of...cake. Yes, Chell is risking her very existence for cake. Well, as many clues suggest throughout the game, there is no cake. That makes me a little sad, but that's a story for another blog. Portal has spawned so much acclaim since it debuted in 2007 that there's more demand for a sequel to it than a followup to Half Life 2. With that in mind, Valve has announced Portal 2, and it should hit retail outlets in April of 2011. I won't speculate on what will be in Portal 2, but if it's anywhere close to the challenge in the first Portal, I'll be getting it on day one.
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