I really wanted to like this game. It has cool puzzles and a hilarious story that keeps you engaged. It's the perfect length for a puzzle game too; it's long enough to get complicated but not so long that you get bored of the puzzles it offers. It takes simple concepts and twists them to become more and more complicated while still relying on essentially one tool to solve each puzzle. It's clever, with some of the puzzles becoming seriously challenging by the end of the game.
I'm not saying I necessarily disliked Portal. I just didn't love it the way everyone else seems to. Part of it was probably my expectations going in: this game is on everyone's "Best of All Time" or at least "Best of the Decade" lists. The reviews are glowing. I went in with the expectation that this game was going to blow me away, be different from what I had played before, and warrant top praise from me as well.
My issue with the game is that it wants to be a puzzle game, but frequently, towards the latter half of the game, turns into a puzzle/platformer. And the platforming is bad. There were several puzzles in a row where, after figuring out what I needed to do, had to fight with the camera for 10-15 minutes to get a shot in on time to complete the puzzle, or to run and jump into a portal and quickly adjust the camera to the exact right spot to shot another hole at a specifically-timed moment. I don't think the point of this game was to frustrate you with platforming. It frustrates me in a puzzle game when I know what I'm supposed to do but the game makes it difficult with a shitty camera. I got so frustrated with it by the end that I had to take several days off between play sessions (it only takes a few hours to complete) just to finish the game. I haven't felt that frustrated with a game in a long time.
Despite that, the puzzles themselves are enjoyable to the end, and Glados is one of the best enemies in gaming. There's not much soundtrack to speak of, there is in fact quite a bit of complete silence in this game. If you go into this game with lower expectations and are willing to deal with some frustrating controls in order to solve clever puzzles and laugh throughout at some great writing for Glados, it's worth picking up.
7.5/10