Portal

There's a holiday sale on almost all the games on Steam going until Jan. 1st. 10% to 50% off. I seem to own all the 50% off games already (Vampire: Bloodlines, Stubbs the Zombie, Hitman: Blood Money, I think), but they had 25% off the Orange Box.

To be honest, I kind of resent the Orange Box. I bought Half-Life 2 in March and Episode One in April. The Orange Box came out in October and has those two games plus Episode Two, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Peggle. It's my understanding there was going to be a Black Box that didn't include HL2 and Episode One for a little less, but Valve didn't do that. Now I have an extra license for those two games that I can give as gifts. Oh boy.

Really, I don't care about Episode Two, either. HL2 was great, but I didn't really get into Episode One. I actually played it to the last big fight, not realizing I was at the last big fight, and then quit playing it for a couple months. Then I kind of said to myself, "Well, might as well finish it," and then *BAM* - done in fifteen minutes. Not so much into Team Fortress 2 either. I've said it before; I hate playing multiplayer online games these days.

So why did I buy the Orange Box? Motherfuckin' Portal. I could buy just Portal for $19.95, or I can get the whole damn thing for $37.45. Since Episode Two is $29.95 and I'll still probably play that through someday, it was worth it. I might play TF2 for about 20minutes before I get sick of all the 13 year olds and neckbeards and 13 year olds with neckbeards. Plus I got Peggle, which I had no idea what it was, but it turns out it is stupid fun that I'll probably get an hour or two of enjoyment out of.

But Portal - damn. If it was full length (10+ hours), it'd probably be the game of the year. It's probably one of the most humorous, entertaining, challenging, well-designed games I have ever played, and I am absolutely in love with it right now. I got sent home from the pork plant early today (Christmas Eve), downloaded it, and played it on and off all night and beat it. I think it took me about four hours in all, and while most gamers would complain about the short length, I fucking love it. I had some spare time, I played the game, now I'm done with it and I didn't get stuck or have to go to gamefaqs or any of that shit. I haven't been happier with a video game purchase in a long time.

I enjoy video games as a side hobby - waaay to the side. I work 40 hours a week, I fuck around with music stuff (even though my production this year has been nil, that's a whole 'nother post) and then I have horror movies and video games. I don't *want* these sprawling, 40 hour video games anymore (Knights of the Old Republic will always hold a special place in my heart, but KOTOR2 I really, really should have never played). But I'm not entirely ready to resign myself to PopCap games only.

All I know is, if Manhunt was only four hours long, it would have been one of the best games ever.

Edit: The Onion's A.V. Club lists Portal as the first of their "Best Games of 2007."

Edit2: An amusing video review of the Orange Box.