This weekend, I purchased, downloaded and started playing Portal, the increasingly popular first-person puzzle/strategy game from Valve. Finally, an involved, challenging, first-person game that not only doesn’t involve killing anyone, you don’t even have a weapon!

References have been popping up, along with Valve’s own viral marketing (oh, and I’m assembling the papercraft project as well!), so I knew it would be good, but had little idea how much I’d enjoy it. I finished Half Life 2 Episode 2 last week, and was a little underwhelmed (it was good, don’t get me wrong, but somehow upon reaching the end I still went “wait, that’s it?”. Oh, and Valve? Please, please don’t wait as long to release Episode 3, ok? That cliff-hanger was a little much!), but this was the game worth waiting for. It’s hard to tell, but I think I got most of the way through it this weekend, but there’s the promise of bonus maps and alternate levels, and that should ensure gameplay for a while.

If you like third-person shooters and puzzles, you should really check this out. This game has everything I want in a third-person-style game: mind-bending puzzles, the chance to explore large areas, and a good sense of humour. Well-done, Valve!