This is a great game, I love it! I rate it iffy for 12+ though because the blood is graphic and realistic and some parts of the game can be really dark and creepy, and useually funny as well. In one level, you can find this off to the side room with "THE CAKE IS A LIE" written over and over again in blood on the wall.
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Not age appropriate for kids under 11, age appropriate for kids over 12; suggested age 12. -
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Common Sense says
Innovative puzzler with first-person action.
Why We Rated This 
for Ages 12 and Up
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What Parents Need to Know
This review of Portal was written by Dwight Odelius
Parents need to know that this game contains some blood, the potential for the player to die, and some violence against inanimate objects. Parents should also know that the game is set in a near future in which humans are mysteriously absent, with suggestions that they have met some disturbing but unspecified fate.
Families Can Talk About
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- Families can talk about the possibility of sapient machines in our future and what our ethical responsibilities might be. Because this is set in a future mostly absent of humans, families could also discuss dangers, both real and imaginary, that could cause human extinction.
More on Portal
What’s the Story?
In PORTAL, the player controls a human character as if in a first-person shooter, only the player doesn't have any weapons, and there are only a few inanimate "enemies" to shoot. Instead, the player must work their way through increasingly difficult puzzle areas, guided by audio instructions from an artificially intelligent computer named "GLaDOS."
To solve the puzzles, the player uses a device called an "aperture gun" which creates a temporary passage between surfaces. It works like this: shoot at a wall to create an opening, then shoot at the ceiling to create a second opening. Step through the opening in the wall, come out the one in the ceiling. Portal's sophisticated physics engine takes care of the rest.
CloseIs It Any Good?
Puzzle areas generally take the form of a room or series of rooms through which players must proceed in order to "win." The aperture gun makes it possible to create a portal in order to get to out-of-reach areas, drop onto moving platforms, or retrieve distant objects. That fairly simple formula produces some fiendish puzzles which invite the player to repeat them many times over. That's good, because the game is unfortunately quite short, with only a few hours of game play to finish off the main story. And finishing is required: the charming little song at the end makes the struggle well worth it.
Portal is an excellent game, the standout star of 2007's Half-Life 2:The Orange Box game compilation, which also included the Half-Life 2 saga and Team Fortress 2. As a stand-alone product, Portal includes no additional game content on top of what was included with The Orange Box, so those who own The Orange Box should not pick up this edition of Portal. But since The Orange Box is an M-rated title, if you have a teen looking for an interesting puzzler, this stand-alone version of Portal is an outstanding choice. It represents a new genre of game that combines the sophisticated physics of a first-person shooter with minimally-violent puzzle content.
ClosePublisher’s Details
Released on 04/09/2008, price $19.99, not online enabled
ESRB rating: T
ESRB rating: T
Our Members Say
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Most Recent Reviews
- I rate this title iffy for age 12 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate language
Might be too scary and bloody for younger tweens.
- I rate this title on for age 10 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
READ THIS ONE- THE OTHERS ARE SPOILERS!!!
Why is theis rated T? I have know idea. This is an amazing game in which players can creat holes through time and space to locate an exit. This requires time, thinking, logic, and skill. Momentum is key. Though, there is some blood. Turrets will shoot you and splatter blood on nearby surfaces. The overall storyline to this game is quiet strange and mildly violent. H*** is said once, refering to the place.
- I rate this title iffy for age 10 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Easy to play
The Most Unique Game You Will Ever Play
This game is unique. Players can create sets of portals in walls which they then walk through in order to traverse through a number of test chambers in an underground research facility. Though this would appear to be suitable for younger children to play, the game is part of the Half-Life series of FPS's and is therefore directed at that audience. It is possible to die by toxic radiation and fire, in a realistic sequence in which the player collapses on the floor, their vision turned sideways. Later in the game, the player will be shot at by automated turrets with voices like small children. This will leave realistic blood splatter on the wall behind you and terribly disturb your 5 year-old. Through out the entire course of the game, you are guided, mocked, and eventually threatened by the facility's computer AI system, GLaDOS. At one point she will deliver to you a heart-bearing cube and instruct you to befriend it and "take care of it." At the end of the level she announces that the test cannot continue until you personally euthanize your faithful cube. By the end of the game she is giving you death threats. It should also be noted that the general atmosphere of the game is, especially later, very dark; much like Half-Life 2. The entire facility is actually empty, with workstations that suggest the fate of its employees was not pleasant. It is revealed at the end of the game that GLaDOS had killed everyone in the facility via a deadly neurotoxin. GLaDOS's always sarcastic personality makes Portal darkly humorous the whole way through and makes the game a major point of interest in the video game community.
- I rate this title on for age 10 and give itMy concerns are:
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
Great gameplay, and a lesson all in one.
This is a good game which can be used as a physics lesson. I find it very fun. It is also very funny, but might give kids the wrong idea about kidnapping. It is very fun and I WOULD recommend this to anyone and everyone that has an xbox/ps/pc.
- I rate this title iffy for age 13 and give itMy concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- My highlights are:
- Safety isn't an issue
A HARD GAME BUT, A FUN GAME.
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