Portal: Still Alive Review

By Dan Whitehead Published 22 October, 2008

Piece of cake.

Version tested: Xbox 360

Last week I reviewed BioShock. Today, I'm reviewing Portal. Tonight I'm gonna party like its 2007. It's foolish to complain though, since it's actually quite refreshing to see that the best games of twelve months ago are still a formidable commercial presence in an industry so often fixated on the next big sexy shiny thing rolling down the conveyor belt.

Portal, for anyone just emerging from a long stay in a dank Mexican prison, is a first-person puzzle game based on the Half-Life 2 game engine and featuring a story that takes place in the same world as Gordon Freeman's adventures, even if the crossover is limited to background details and vague allusion.

You're a test subject in the Aperture Science laboratory. There don't seem to be any other people, but you're guided through a series of test chambers by the mostly soothing tones of GLaDOS, the facility's AI computer. She introduces you to the concept of portal technology - the ability to create wormholes in space-time that allow you to walk through a solid surface and emerge somewhere else. Using this mind-bending concept, your task is to navigate each chamber and reach the elevator to the next section.

To begin with things are kept simple - using fixed portals at first, then later acquiring a portal gun that allows you to place one blue portal with a designated exit point. Later still you get the ability to place both entrance and exit portals, and the complexity of the puzzles increases exponentially. An understanding of physics is vital, as questions of mass, velocity and momentum play a pivotal role in cracking some of the later head-scratchers.

'Portal: Still Alive' Screenshot 1

You put your left leg in, your left leg out...

"Now you're thinking with portals," coos GLaDOS, when you seem to be grappling with the notion successfully, and it's definitely a learned skill. It's the sort of game where you'll swear blind that a particular problem is absolutely unsolvable, until you apply some lateral thinking to the potential of portals and it all becomes incredibly obvious. It's a highwire of frustration and reward that all the best puzzle games balance on, and Portal is as nimble as any of them at pulling it off.

But the puzzles are only part of Portal's genius, and it's arguably the story that elevates it to classic status. Subtle at first, it eases you into its world so carefully - like a fat man in a hot bath - that you almost don't realise that a darkly comic narrative is unfolding around you. Clues begin to accumulate that all is not well at Aperture Science, and the communications from GLaDOS begin to take on a worrying tone. It's all fabulously minimalist - dropping hints and nudges at just the right moments to open your eyes to where it's all leading. And where it's leading is one of the most wonderful conclusions to a videogame in recent memory, one that should erase any quibbles about the relatively short playing time for all but the fussiest gamer.

All of this is, of course, available in Valve's generous Orange Box compilation along with a trifecta of Half-Life 2 content and the giddy joys of Team Fortress 2. So what purpose does this Xbox Live Arcade release serve? Well, as covered in last week's preview, there's a bunch of additional puzzles available separately from the main menu. They'll add another couple of hours to the game - more if you favour speed runs - but they're not a particularly impressive selection.

'Portal: Still Alive' Screenshot 2

Go on, you work it out. Dead easy.

The new puzzles feel torn between reintroducing concepts already established in the main game and coming up with a handful of new obstacles to think your way around. The sixth of the new puzzles is an absolute belter - a long sequence of interlinked tasks that really stretches your ability to think on your feet. Had the extra levels continued evolving in that direction, they'd be essential for all Portal fans. Sadly, after that they revert to surprisingly small and often simple problems - usually just requiring one small burst of mental energy to figure out. Having done so, I couldn't help but slump despondently every time turning the first corner after an initial puzzle revealed the elevator rather than more gameplay.

So Still Alive doesn't have a lot to offer the existing Portal fan, especially for 1200 Points, beyond new Achievements and the faintly disappointing new levels. You can also argue that the entirety of The Orange Box can now be found second-hand for about the same price. However, it doesn't feel right to mark this release down on the basis of what other people may or may not already have in their software collection, or for the after-effects of second-hand market. Clearly this release is aimed at people who have yet to play Portal, the fabled casual gamer who probably won't have been enticed by a compilation of first-person shooters. In that regard it's a shrewd move - Portal is absolutely in-keeping with a casual approach to gaming, provided you're not one of those prejudiced folk who assume that "casual" means "unthinking moron".

Portal remains an absolutely fantastic game, a wonderfully constructed vignette of puzzles and gallows humour that everybody should play. This solus download offers just that. If you've already sucked the original experience dry, you can skip this without worrying that you're missing out. If you've yet to make GLaDOS' acquaintance, however, you should waste no time in downloading this.

9 / 10

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About Dan Whitehead

Dan has been writing for Eurogamer since 2006 and specialises in RPGs, shooters and games for children. His bestest game ever is Julian Gollop's Chaos.

Read more articles from Dan by visiting the Dan Whitehead archive page.

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Comments (61) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • windflaw #1 3 years ago

    fi->0

    0->rst

    Haven't actually played Portal yet, so I think I might get this. Hurrah for bite-sized gaming!
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/08 @ 11:30

  • siro #2 3 years ago

    The only problem for those not having played Portal yet is, that you have a much better deal with the Orange Box. This offering really only works if you have played HL + EP1 and EP2 (or you really hate FPS from the bottom of your heart) but not Portal...

    And while Portal sure is a fun romp once, I think it is a tad overrated. At least I didn't feel like trying any of the advanced challenges.

  • oxymoron #3 3 years ago

    great game, truly innovative and brain wrackingly inspirational.

    good to see it made the transition well.

    Edited by 1 at 22/10/08 @ 11:29

  • markypants #4 3 years ago

    Best game ever.

  • Rodney #5 3 years ago

    has anyone ever seen a 'casual player' try to control a first person game with dual analogue sticks?

  • absolutezero #6 3 years ago

    Cake XD XD XD

  • mingster #7 3 years ago

    Why am i getting deja-vu on this review.

    I thought you reviewed this a few days ago already.

    ~ahh it was a preview.~
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/08 @ 11:41

  • Darren #8 3 years ago

    I enjoyed Portal as part of the Orange Box, it was certainly neat and inventive but it wasn't mind-blowingly brilliant, best game ever or anything. As part of the whole package though, it is a lot of fun to play but it isn't something I'd have purchased as a standalone game... it's too short for that. I can understand why some people might rave about it though.

  • Eraser #9 3 years ago

    I didn't find any of the puzzles in Portal really revolutionary. They were inventive, yes, but that's about it.
    Other than that, the art direction of Portal is really crap, and the voice of the computer (which the reviewer refers to as "soothing" for some reason) is ear-bleeding annoying.

    It is a fun little game, but it's absolutely not worthy of all the praise it has received.
    Edited by 2 at 22/10/08 @ 11:44

  • Eraser #10 3 years ago


    fi->0

    0->rst


    I see what you did there... very clever :-J

  • yupyup #11 3 years ago

    \o/ ()

  • yupyup #12 3 years ago

    (I did this back when it was initally reviewed so it's not a total ripoff of windflaw!)

  • andywilkie35 #13 3 years ago

    9/10? Seems that this was a triumph. I'm marking it down a huge success.

  • yupyup #14 3 years ago

    () \o/

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #15 3 years ago

    The pricing is really stupid. As noted in the review, you can get the entire Orange Box for the same price now, with a vast amount of extra content, PLUS it'll have some resale value. Buy Orange Box, complete Portal, sell on for one or two quid less than you paid, bingo bongo. It's disappointing to see everyone slowly getting greedy with XBLA games.

  • ZuluHero #16 3 years ago

    fi->0

    0->rst

    very clever.

    So are these maps ports of anything we've seen on PC? It was my understanding that these were from the Portal flash map mod, but reading the preview the other day said that they didn't feature GladOS (or even a story for that matter) which the Portal Flash Map's certainly did. It even used GladOS sound bytes that were recorded yet not used in the official game...

  • subtlesnake #17 3 years ago

    Well, Portal sells for $20 on Steam, so this actually $5 cheaper than Valve is offering it.

  • stepneg #18 3 years ago

    It should be marked down for bad value though, as good as Portal is this release is a complete ripoff and the Orange Box represents so much more value for money. Had this been a whole new portal game then I would agree with the price but they have just taken it of the Orange Box and bundled a few crappy extra levels.

  • Krelle #19 3 years ago

    @yupyup:

    I did it in a preview. I guess you saw my comment. Its alright.

  • Wendelius #20 3 years ago

    Don't particularly like FPS's and am not interested in the Orange Box one bit. Love puzzle games and loved the free portal levels I downloaded on Steam a while ago. So this one is a sale.

  • Darren #21 3 years ago

    Rev. Stuart Campbell - Totally agree... there's hardly any 400 MP XBLA games now, the 1200 MP ones seem to be replacing those that would have been 800 MP. I guess Microsoft (I presume it is them that set the prices) feel that they can get away with it. No wonder they're keen to push the whole digital download thing, it's a gold mine really when you think about it... no publishing costs, no advertising... they sell on the strength of their reviews and if they don't well most were cheap to make anyway.

  • miiiguel #22 3 years ago

    oh da bias!

  • Lamb #23 3 years ago

    Some people like it, some people don't.

  • mazzl #24 3 years ago

    this will be good for orange box sales, don't have it yet, but will get it somewhere next week.
    i must agree with the sentiment that 1200 ms points is a bit much for such a small game.

  • rob230 #25 3 years ago

    what is 1200 points in £ ?

  • iago71 #26 3 years ago

    Great game... Still have it on Orange Box and will most likely play it again at some point if theres any time given the onslaught of great titles right now. If you dont have Orange Box and dont like FPS games like Half Life this download is a must in my opinion....

    If you do like Half Life and dont have OB then dont download and pick up OB for much better value. Either way its something that should be experienced.

  • IronCladChicken #27 3 years ago

    @Rodney
    I am completly, completly unable to learn the coordination required to play a FPS using dual analogue sticks
    It's gotten to the point where I don't ever consider buying console FPS'ers

  • siro #28 3 years ago

    Darren: Thank you so much for thinking the very same way about this game. :)

    I got myself xbla points some time ago but still only got UNO as I think that most stuff on market place is simply overpriced. I would get Puzzle Quest instantly (even at the old 1200 points price point) if I didn't play that one to death on the DS already. And DOOM and Duke aren't available in Germany. I thought about getting Braid, but the demo didn't hook me. Would've got it for 800 though. Same for PA:Ep1.

    It's a shame.

  • burns #29 3 years ago

    Great review of a great, great game.

  • mikeck #30 3 years ago

    @rob230

    1200MSP = £10.20

    [link url=http://www.mspconverter. com/
    ]http://www.mspconverter. com/
    [/link]

  • Xerx3s #31 3 years ago

    I heard that this was something like 600+mb A sign that ms is opening up to big DD games?

  • Beano #32 3 years ago

    Not a 10?

    I'm shocked...

  • Gnort #33 3 years ago

    @Rodney
    To be fair, it's not just FPS games that "casual" players have issues with, anything using both analog sticks throws them completely. I've watched my father try to play Assassin's Creed, and he always had the camera pointing into a wall so he couldn't see anything. I also tried to play Assault Heroes with him and he couldn't cope with Robotron-style twin-stick shooting, either.

    @IronCladChicken
    Can you play FPS games with a keyboard and mouse, though? Because that's not really a lot simpler than using dual analog sticks (even if it is more precise), although maybe it helps that pushing keys and moving a mouse are very different motions.

  • Barry619 #34 3 years ago

    I would like to know the final sale figures for this as too me it would seem to appeal to about 2% of the gaming market tops, 1% who want to play portal without HL2 + Episodes + TF2, and 1% who are crazy enough to think the extra maps with no added story are worth it.

    While i consider Portal one of my favorite games of all time, this just isn't worth it when i recently saw The Orange Box on Ebay got for £13 with many more at £8 - £9 with under a hour left.

    I hope this is the last of re-packaged rip-offs and some people at value is working on Portal 2 which when released they will be raking the $$$ in from!

  • UncleLou #35 3 years ago

    "Other than that, the art direction of Portal is really crap"

    I can't believe you're posting that again.

    Portal has amongst the best art direction I've ever seen in a game.

  • MoGamer2006 #36 3 years ago

    Needed more bald gay space marines, IMHO

  • bitesize #37 3 years ago


    i was almost tempted to get this for the new maps, til the review said that they weren't all that. love this game, and would definitely love some new stuff, but at this price point it ain't gonna happen. if the review had said the new maps were as good as the ones in the original i reckon i might have shelled out...

    standalone DLC pack of the new maps please!

  • Byzanite #38 3 years ago

    Was this a review for Portal or the Add-on Still Alive?
    Didnt seem like the Add-on should get a 9.
    Original Portal should though...

  • Vivid #39 3 years ago

    For anyone that hasn't seen it: [link url=http://vimeo.com/1612411
    ]http://vimeo.com/1612411
    [/link]

    Much as I enjoyed Portal first time through, going back for a replay revealed the game to be... a bit dull. The structure and character of Glados make the first playthrough fun but there isn't enough to drag me back for me.

  • jonsaan #40 3 years ago

    I really enjoyed Portal but I found ALL of the puzzles way too easy. The only challenge was in not losing your grip on the mouse when attempting some of the fast acting solutions. I woudln;t call any of the original games puzzles head scratching, they were all really obvious.

  • el_pollo_diablo #41 3 years ago

    I hate the word 'solus'

    That is all.

  • hahayou #42 3 years ago

    The advanced test chambers are the hard bits. The story mode is supposed to be easy to let everyone get to the end of the story.

  • stodgypudding #43 3 years ago

    I don't think this is a game that will appeal to the casual market

  • NickJC1 #44 3 years ago

    If Braid is a 10/10 at 1200 points then so is Portal. Portal is more fun to play, better replay value, more polished, a all round better game.

    Portal >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > Braid, this game deserves 10/10 , Braid does not.

  • Gnort #45 3 years ago

    @Byzanite
    It's a review of Portal: Still Alive. There is no "add-on Still Alive", you can't add it on to anything. It is a standalone release, and the review quite clearly deals with it as such.

  • Ryze #46 3 years ago

    @Gnort

    I find K&M an imperfect, but precise and intuitive control method for 1st person 3D games.

    Twin analogues, I can't get used to, and the result is that although I can struggle and fumble through games, I haven't the time or the will to relearn game controls at age 28, and therefore I can't compete online in any console FPS games.

    I also find games that were fun on the PC (Halflife, etc), are an absolute boring chore on consoles when I'm putting more thought into where my thumbs are than actually playing the game.

    This is quite a serious issue for many gamers, I believe.

    I think the problem is that I always use the 'inverted look' on the right-stick, and this feels natural, but to move the target cursor around and aim with down as up, is twice as hard.

    This doesn't happen with K&M because I'm using my hand, rather than just my thumb to look around, and I just naturally find the target.

    I'd rather use a right stick just to look, and have an on-screen cursor controlled by a (Wii-esque) pointing device to aim and shoot.

    Either that or an analogue stick that I can hold in my hand rather than with my thumb...

    ...or perhaps what I expected from the Wii - that looking could be determined by the pointer's tilt. I thought that the PS3 would have an advantage here also, but I've not seen any games that use this, so I must assume that this just doesn't work well.
    Edited by 2 at 22/10/08 @ 14:12

  • muscleblade #47 3 years ago

    @jonsaan

    Maybe you are smarter than most then. If you didnt find the advanced puzzles challenging you must be.

  • Gnort #48 3 years ago

    @Ryze
    "I haven't the time or the will to relearn game controls at age 28"

    So if any game attempts a new control scheme, you aren't willing to play it? I know that's not really what you meant, but if I had that mentality I'd still be playing racing games with face buttons and the d-pad rather than the far superior triggers and analog stick setup (and I'm 30, so being old has nothing to do with it).

    I know that a dual stick setup will never be as precise as as a keyboard and mouse (well, as the mouse, the left analog stick is actually more precise than the keyboard input, which is digital), but I don't see how anyone with a reasonable amount of gaming experience couldn't easily adapt to it.

    Edit: Maybe I should point out that I'm not really an FPS fanatic, so maybe I just like the fact that the dual stick system drags other people who are down to a level a little closer to my own.
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/08 @ 14:37

  • Yossarian #49 3 years ago

    Well I bought Portal on Steam last year and finished it in one sitting, and today I stumped up the cash for this... and finished it in one sitting. I don't feel ripped off in the slightest: I've only seen the first two of the bonus levels, but they seem fun and challenging enough, and the achievements alone have given this greater replayability. Plus it looks just a little nicer on 360 than it did on my laptop.

  • Bangaioh #50 3 years ago

    I also believe that Portal has great art direction (besides being an amazing game).
    Loved it, couldn't play for hours in a row but that doesn't prevent me from thinking it's among the best of the year.

  • Bremenacht #51 3 years ago

    'like a fat man in a hot bath' - I liked that.

    The pricing is not stupid, btw, although you could argue that the people who'd pay it might be. People are proven to be happy to pay high prices for old tat on XBLA and (espeically) the Wii, so perhaps the price is better described as 'normal'.

  • moggsy #52 3 years ago

    For one of the best games of last year a tenner is spot on.

    Buy the Orange Box second hand if you want but don't moan about the price of this download (a good proportion of which goes to the company who created it) which is very good value.

  • timberwolf #53 3 years ago

    FPS + gimmick = sales getting slightly p**ed off with this formula. Bioshock, portal, Far cry, blah blah blah...

    also arn't these added levels free on PC?
    Edited by 1 at 22/10/08 @ 18:18

  • Ryze #54 3 years ago

    @Gnort

    It actually took me a good while to get used to the 360's pad and the controls of several games after I bough the console last Dec. This was due to the PS2 being my main console for the previous 6 years. I had picked up Crackdown a few months earlier preowned, as I thought it'd tide me over until GTA IV.

    What I found was that I could hardly drive, and hardly shoot, due to having to get used to the trigger controlls and right stick aiming. GTA IV and a bit of PGR4 and Burnout Paradise brought me up to speed with the driving, but I had to revisit Crackdown a couple of months ago to really appreciate it.

    I've been playing games since Track and Field for 10p a go at teh local community centre. I was excellent at video games up until 1996 or so - then I started noticing girls and stuff... it's all gone downhill since then, gaming-wise.

    the industry could lose a massive amount of money to people like me, as I'm going to have to reduce the number of games I buy if I'm not getting my moneys worth by only seeing 20% of the content before getting bored / annoyed with the controls. I know I'm not in a minority, as I've read articles about similar hard/casual players.

    They've already lost sales on games like Halo and CoD4 to me and others who just hate the control systems, despite longing to see these games played though, and enjoy the experience of playing them.

    I've tried, and it clicked on the PC with Quake 2, Half-life etc 10 years ago, but it's not happened on the consoles. It's also very easy for me to turn off a game and not touch it for several months to a year nowadays. I'd keep playing the game if I was having fun with it. Outrun 2006 is still one of my favourites despite it seeming like few others bother with it despite its greatness.

    It just looks like the industry is missing out, and will continue to unless they really look at and address this.

  • metalangel #55 3 years ago

    £10 for just Portal (which you will finish in an afternoon) and some short bonus missions is not a good deal for anyone except the greedy developers and MS.

    Anyone who doesn't have this yet and wants to try it, just buy the Orange Box for goodness' sake. You'll get all the mildly diverting fun of Portal, and you then have four other games to play if you want to. If you do, huzzah, great, you've got a bargain. If you don't, you've paid exactly the same price as you would have for this but you haven't encouraged this sort of rip-off pricing.

  • bonker #56 3 years ago

    Very, very, VERY disappointed that they were so lazy/greedy with this, I was really looking forward to it when it was first announced having absolutely adored the original Portal in the Orange Box.

    /gutted

    /sobs into The Cake is a Lie t-shirt

  • Syrette #57 3 years ago

    I've got H-L2 and the two episodes on PC, but I want this. So I might just wait till it comes down in price, or when I've got the cash I might just bite the bullet and get it there and then.

  • JonFE #58 3 years ago

    I would love the extra levels packed as an reasonably priced add-on for us who already got the Orange Box, alas I don't see that coming any time soon :(

  • bitesize #59 3 years ago


    STOP going on about greedy developers!! orange box had 5 games for the price of 1, that's the best bargain i've ever seen! if you already own orange box, this is not for you. if you don't own it in any other form, an expanded version of one of the best games of last year is well worth a tenner!

  • dryden555 #60 3 years ago

    over-priced repackaging. The eurogamer of old would have given this a 5 and call it out for being over-priced repackaging.
    Edited by 1 at 23/10/08 @ 13:33

  • Ryze #61 3 years ago

    I wouldn't call them lazy or greedy.

    It would be nice however if they had included more new levels to entice their core audience - Orange Box owners - to buy the game.

    It's obvious that this would piss off several Orange Box fans. Bad move if they're after making some decent money - I mean, this must have took them all of a week to put together.

    Hopefully there'll be more levels in store at a later date.

  • dryden555 #62 3 years ago

    Ryze sorry, but your post contradicts itself. it does not have lots of new levels as you yourself point out. It is reasonable to call it an over-priced repackaged game.