The World of Portal [Promo]/[Feature]/[News]

     

[Fact] - Portal was presumably released by Valve to make up for the long wait for Half-Life 2.  It was packaged alongside Half Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, and Team Fortress 2.  What was expected to be a little extra nugget of a game turned into a one of the largest MEMEs (internet fad) the world has ever seen.  What with the twisted and dark humor, the innovative puzzling, the companion cube, and the ever present "cake", Portal became one of the best games of the year.  Even the credits song ("Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton) was a big hit.

While the popularity of the game spawned not only fuzzy companion cube dice, it also convinced Valve to create the successor, Portal 2.  [Opinion] - Portal 2 was arguably better than the original.  And for those of you who haven't gotten enough Portal, Valve is planning to release Portal 2 DLC (downloadable content) within the next month.

Portal has even spawned a fan film, titled "No Escape", directed by Dan Trachtenberg.  You can watch the movie here.  There are other Portal-like games scheduled to come out, including Quantum Conundrum and Q.U.B.E.[Opinion] - My final thoughts are that you should definitely check out both of these video games, the soundtracks, and the fan film.  The story and gameplay are inspiring, and all you have to do is get involved to become part of a huge community.