Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Highly addictive"

I was first told about this game years ago when The Orange Box first came out. There was a lot of hype surrounding it, but I just didn't get drawn to it, so i just left it. Now, the ol hype machine is working again, this time surrounding Portal 2, the standalone sequel. After two successful games I couldnt help but think 'there has to be something special about these games.' The unfortunate thing is, I HAVE to play things in sequence, so luckily for me, I found Portal: Still Alive on Xbox Live Arcade.
Firstly I will say that this game is more than worth the 1200ms, and to be brutally honest, is a major bargain at that price. Its a cleverly constructed puzzle game. The gameplay is smooth and responds well to the touch and the portal system works extremely well. The writing is ingenius, although GLADOS (The Aperture Science AI) can be hard to understand at first. It took me a little while to tune in to her style of speech, but once there I could hear all the ensuing hilarity of her little side comments and odd directions. Also, the end credit song which comprises of GLADOS singing a tune written by the Valve team is absolutely amazing.
An unfortunate thing about the game is its length. It took me about 1 hour and a half to complete the story, and maybe another hour to do all the challenge missions. If it was a bit longer, it would be perfect, but I suppose it does what every game should...leave you wanting more.
In short, this is one of the best games I have played in a long time, and I honestly cant wait to see what the Valve team have done with Portal 2.