Portal: The latest, greatest women’s game?
A lot has been written already praising the new Valve game Portal. So I’m not going to be going very far afield when I say this might be a serious contender for “best game of the year.” I absolutely love this game, and I’m shocked to find myself writing it may be one of the best “woman” games ever made.
Let’s face it — as women gamers, stretching all the way back to Kings Quest IV: Perils of Rosella, we’re always on the lookout for games featuring women protagonists that don’t insult us. Games like Metroid, Beyond Good and Evil, even some First Person Shooters like Rise of the Triad and the Star Trek: Elite Forces allowed you to play as a reasonably well-proportioned woman.
Portal does them all one better: the game is 100% female.
In Portal, you are tasked with the job of reaching the exit for 19 room levels. You navigate obstacles and open paths for yourself using a portal-creating device. The game is very much a puzzle game and relies on the ability to think spatially, and a basic understanding of velocity. It uses the same Havok physics engine that Half-Life 2 does, and it might seem like no big deal to someone who hasn’t played a game with a good physics engine. But trust me: it’s pretty cool.
The game is a first-person shooter style, so you don’t really see the person holding the gun often, but you will occasionally see a glimpse of yourself across the room as you head into a portal, and it’s a pleasant surprise to see that you’re playing as a woman. And you’re not actually playing as some dental-floss wearing hottie. No makeup, no six-inch heels (you’re wearing some gear on your legs to protect your legs from some of the more extreme acrobatics–but they ain’t pretty). A prison-orange jumpsuit with an undershirt underneath, and hair tied sensibly back and not floating around your head like a friggin’ mermaid. (Valve has done good by us before by giving us Alyx Vance, another character who understands the utter impracticality of attempting to adhere to traditional beauty standards when there’s serious work to be done).
You, as the player, are the only living creature in the game. So it does sort of skew the whole “100% female” proclamation that I made early on. However, there are two robotic “others” in the game: first off is the Institute’s computer — imagine the Star Trek ship’s computer with a sick sense of humor and a half-done inflection subroutine and you’ve got your instructor. She directs you through the center’s levels with a combination stick: warning you that you will be sent to android hell at the first signs of disobedience, as well as the carrot: urging you through the levels with the promise of cake at the end. The other robotic “other” are the little battle platforms: sentry drones that will detect movement and fire a bunch of bullets at you. As obnoxious as they are when they’re popping caps in your ass, I absolutely love these sick little fucks: they’ll scan for you and in sweet, harmonized voices (yes, female), they’ll ask you to “please come over here” and when you knock them out, they’ll shut down with a resigned “I’m not angry.”
Add to this the weighted companion cube (I think that’s going to be my Halloween costume this year), and the Freudian implications of the game’s thesis itself (if you care to go in that direction), and you have a game that is absolutely 100% X Chromosome. It’s very wry and dark — even it’s frilly moments (the companion cube has a pink heart on it) have this absolutely twisted edge to it.
Because Portal is, at heart, a puzzle game (although the last level will call upon some twitchy FPS-skillz), it’s got a built-in audience for women (or men, for that matter) who prefer more cerebral pursuits over simple bullet-pumping mayhem. The bad news is: It’s not currently a standalone game, and it’s short. In order to play Portal, one has to purchase the Half-Life 2 Orange Box (although you can download it from Steam for about $20). And the other games in the Orange Box ain’t hay, either. The good news is, if you’re partnered with someone even remotely interested in shooters, they’ll have bought this. Just kick them out of the chair for a few hours. Sit down, get comfy with the controls, and go after your cake.
…Because a few hours is all it takes. Unfortunately, there are only 19 levels to Portal, and a meagre few of those are actually challenging enough to require more than a couple of minutes to complete. Most people finish within 2-3 hours.
The silver lining to this is that Portal has been so critically acclaimed, and gotten such an amazing reception from the gaming community at large, that I’m quite sure that Valve is going to release the game in a stand-alone capacity before long: and hopefully bundle in some more levels along with. So if you don’t want Half Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 just to play a 3-hour game, rest on your laurels long enough and you’ll probably be able to pick it up on its own. And when that time comes, you’ll have no excuse not to.
October 25th, 2007 at 10:44 pm
It is a standalone game through Steam though. $20 and its yours, sans physical stuff like CD, box, and instruction booklet.
I think they will re-release Portal through retail channels with extras since it’s proven to be so popular.
October 26th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Portal is for lesbians? http://www.heroine-sheik.com/2007/10/17/portal-is-for-lesbians/
Let’s not forget the completely awesome ending credits song, “Still Alive”. It ties together the game beautifully and hints strongly at some kind of sequel.
October 26th, 2007 at 9:13 am
There’s also, apparently, quite a Portal modding community building, and I’ve heard that people are already starting to develop their own map-packs, which is a good sign. I haven’t picked up the Orange Box yet, but I’m looking forward to it. I’ve heard that Eps 1 and 2 are both quite good, as well.
October 26th, 2007 at 9:14 am
You know, I saw that vid on youtube a while back, and favourited it because I thought it was so original and cool. I never thought it would also be original in being one the few games that can handle a female character properly. I only read a while back that the protagonist was female. Still, it sounds pretty quirky and cool.
October 26th, 2007 at 11:20 am
I bought the Orange Box just so I could play Portal (although I have every intention of playing Half Life 2 as well). And since I’d never played Half Life before, I only heard of the Orange Box through the blog of the guy who wrote “Still Alive” (Johnathan Coulton, for anyone who doesn’t know). And it may be the best game I’ve ever played, if only because of the character of the computer. But yeah, it is short. I’ve been busy this week, and made it through Portal twice. But between the ending song, the reception it’s gotten, and the fact that in the developer commentary, they make it clear they have a lot of back story they didn’t get to, and call this the “first” Portal game, a sequel may be a very real possibility.
October 26th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
I have to admit when I listen to “Still Alive” I have a huge dumb grin on my face. I want this song in my car.
October 26th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
As far as I know, you can still get an MP3 of it here: http://rapidshare.com/files/61909157/portal_still_alive.mp3.html
or, someone over at Jonathan Coulton’s blog (http://www.jonathancoulton.com/2007/10/07/the-orange-box/#comments) posted instructions for getting the mp3 from the game:
guys if you own portal then you have the “portal content.gcf” file, which has the .mp3 of the song in it (called portal_still_alive.mp3)
1.download the gcfscape program, and install
2. open the “portal content.gcf” file in “Program Files\Steam\steamapps” location
3. the mp3 is /portal/sound/music/portal_still_alive.mp3
October 27th, 2007 at 9:29 am
I already picked it up….
thanks, tho!
October 28th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
This game is a riot. Loved it completely and totally. The cake is a lie!
The end song has got to be the best song written for a video game ever.
October 28th, 2007 at 8:53 pm
Well, I think the important thing is that not only is it an awesome use of female characters, but it’s a really fun puzzle game too. When you figure out how to advance to the next area of a room after chewing on the room for five minutes, it’s a great feeling.
October 29th, 2007 at 1:20 pm
Watched the trailer. ZOMFG I want this game.
November 21st, 2007 at 11:23 am
I’m getting the Orange Box for my hubby for his birthday/Christmas gift. I might actually play around with Portal for a bit while he binges on Team Fortress 2. I hate to be a cliche for female gamers but I loooves me some puzzle games.
November 21st, 2007 at 8:57 pm
A friend of mine recently finished this and has been raving about it ever since. I cry because first-person shooters make me all pukey … it looks like it’d be great if I could just play it in third person …
November 21st, 2007 at 9:23 pm
Do what I did when I played WindWaker.
Take a dramamine.
Seriously.
December 8th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Here’s a feminist analysis of Portal from Games Radar. It popped up on Digg of all places: http://www.gamesradar.com/us/xbox360/game/features/article.jsp?releaseId=2006071916221774024&articleId=20071207115329881080§ionId=1003
It’s an interesting article, but it seems like it goes a bit too far (or maybe I’m taking it too seriously). Portal isn’t the first first person game that isn’t a shooter. And yes, fps games are generally very militaristic, but the most obvious explanation to this isn’t male dominance and violent tendencies, but the fact that physics are governed by easily computer-modeled rules, while social interaction and intelligence are not. And maybe it’s an accepted thing in feminist analysis that everything symbolizes genitals, but I’m very sceptical of the whole idea after some reviewer remarked that Sauron’s eye looked like a flaming vagina.
January 8th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
[...] noting that the other two games in The Orange Box (of which Team Fortress 2 is a part) comprise the 100% female Portal and Half Life 2 which sports the much-beloved character Alyx Vance. Did Valve drop the ball with [...]
October 15th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
[...] – Sarah Palin. Ah … Portal. Feminists love it. Normal gamers love it too. Maybe she could take a lesson from Chell and see what people like so [...]