Portal Preview - Team Xbox

Another preview, this time for Portal, looks like a very interesting puzzle game (yes I think its a puzzle game, puzzle FPS? not sure...).

Anyhow here it is!

For the first four levels of the game, you’ll have your hand held through a non-deadly tutorial that teaches you about some ofPortal’s unique gameplay mechanics. You actually won’t have a gun right off the bat, as the first level teaches you about the using portals to move from one place to another, as well as how to pick up and move boxes. When you do finally get the Portal gun (after seeing it in action), you’ll only be able to fire blue portals. You’ll have to make your way through a few more basic puzzles before gaining the ability to fire both the blue and orange portals, at which point the game really kicks into high gear.

While the gameplay in Portal is simple in theory, wrapping your head around the limits of the game (or, at times, lack thereof) takes a while. There are a lot of “I wonder if I can do that?” moments during the early levels of the game, as well as a good deal of trial-and-error gameplay. The game’s controls are beautifully simplistic, with the analog sticks controlling your movement and giving you the ability to look around, while the right and left triggers fire the blue and orange portals, respectively.