It is never easy being critical of any creative endeavor, be it a play, a novel a film or, in this case, a computer game. And the scale for which I judge this effort is not in the same category as game developers who have enormous budgets and can call upon endless reserves of talent in order to fulfill their vision.
Yet it would be equally impolite to give this game a recommendation even on the scale of being a small, independent production. It wouldn't be polite to players expecting a "Portal"-styled experience. It wouldn't be polite for people expecting a polished or competent demonstration of gameplay mechanics. It wouldn't be polite for people looking for an aesthetically competent game.
If Helen of Troy was the face that launched 1,000 ships, as the quote goes, then "Portal 1" is the game that launched well-over a thousand journeyman clones of itself and the phrase 'journeyman clones,' in some of those cases, is being excessively polite to point of being dishonest in many of those instances. This game is one such clone.
The game aspires to be similar in style to Portal 1: You are a test subject moving through a series of rooms while having an extraordinary ability. You must use your ability to accomplish tasks in these room in order to get to the next task. Along the way, new gameplay elements are introduced until you reach a finale where you must use your expertise of the gameplay elements to pass a difficult test.
Besides sharing that very broad outline, though, the similarities between this game and Portal 1 ends and rather starkly at that.
Perhaps the most positive aspect of this game to mention are the gameplay elements. You can pull and push large metal balls with a beam. You may also pull and push yourself with the beam when you point it at certain objects. These gameplay elements, by themselves, are not bad or bland or dull. These are legitimate gameplay elements that have the potential to be fun and challenging.
Yet even this aspect of the gameplay seems hampered by their presentation in this game. Pulling and pushing the balls was neither fun nor challenging in an entertaining way. The balls, as expected, behave with momentum and direction that must be compensated for. This momentum and direction, though, don't seem consistent or intuitive throughout the gameplay. Pulling & pushing yourself using the beam is adequately competent but the momentum, just as with the balls, doesn't seem consistent with what one would expect.
The textures that the game used seemed as though they were mostly stock textures from elsewhere; Not necessarily a bad decision but it takes away from the immersion that the game needs from you. The worst offender would be the "water-that-is-actually-deadly-acid." There was no way to create even passable "icky-looking acid"? Portal 1 accomplished that feat over 15 years prior and with far less graphical capability.
Puzzle design is initially adequate but it relies mainly upon putting balls into shallow cups. At the end, it introduces gameplay elements from out-of-nowhere. All of a sudden, you are confronted with a pad that moves when you launch yourself towards it. You must then ride another pad that tilts as you attempt to stand upon it. The rooms seemed overly large during many times, especially given the puzzles within them.
There are professionally-made games that have some inadequate endings. That aspect of the industry, though, is no excuse for the rather abrupt ending for this game. Given the arbitrary challenges of the last few tasks, there's not much reward for seeing this game through to it's end. Although, to be honest, I was thankful that it did.
All game developers deserve encouragement in the pursuit of their craft; They also deserve thoughtful feedback. The game, as it currently plays, needs considerable revision. The "acid" needs to look as such. Other textures need to be changed. The rooms could be made smaller without consequence with the puzzles. More complex gameplay elements (such as the final "wobbly" platform") needs to be introduced more subtly rather than abruptly. And that's just for starters.
People are certainly welcome to play this game; It's currently free. However, even judging it on the scale of being a small, indie production... I just can't recommend it.
