Portal wins Gamasutra's GOTY

[Hazar]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3228/gamasutras_best_of_2007.php

 

[Slug Advisor]

Huh. You know, I don't think I agree with that. Don't get me wrong, Portal's great, it definetelly should be in the top ten, but game of the year?

 

[Barnz]

Huh. You know, I don't think I agree with that. Don't get me wrong, Portal's great, it definetelly should be in the top ten, but game of the year?

You're on the wrong forum, sir.

http://www.halo2.net/forums

 

[Planetary]

Well deserved indeed.

 

[Para]

I know this has been overused lately but...

This was a triumph

 

[cjohnson]

...I'm making a note here, HUGE SUCESS

 

[Hamsocks]

No, I'll jump off a cliff by agreeing with Slug Advisor in saying it doesn't deserve it. Yes, it introduced a revolutionary game mechanic. Yes, it's one of the most humorous and witty games of the decade. But it's not a complete game. It's basically a long tutorial to set us up for future use of Portal technology.

I think Bioshock or COD4 deserves the honors, myself.

 

[Lobster]

I think we have enough GOTY awards out there for a couple to appreciate the smaller strokes of genius out there, I love Bioshock and I think COD4 is good to, but this year was full of great games that deserve a little recognition, I think the days of one game winning over 50 of em in one year have passed.

 

[Operational]

Interesting lists, GLaDOS came second in "Top 5 Most Affecting Characters" ("You" coming first, Andrew Ryan third).

Valve came first in "Top 5 Developers".

The Companion Cube scene came first in "Top 5 Poignant Game Moments" (BioShocks you-know-what scene came second, I would have put it first by quite a large margin)

And this thread is all about how Portal came first in "Top 10 Games Of The Year". BioShock was second. Cryis, Halo 3 and COD4 were no where to be found.

 

[Gordon_X]

Portal = Most creative game of the year.

 

[SpectreBlofeld]

People seem to forget that the portal idea comes from Narbacular Drop, which pre-dates Portal by two years. In fact, Valve hired its development team.

Not to say Portal isn't great...

 

[Narvi]

Er, so? It's still their damn idea. Portal added clever writing and art to it, that's all.

 

[FoolishOwl]

But it's not a complete game. It's basically a long tutorial to set us up for future use of Portal technology.

I don't entirely agree. Most computer games with which I'm familiar, with a single player campaign mode, introduce new techniques or units or what have you, up until the end of the single player campaign. That makes perfect sense with, for instance, Command & Conquer 3, in which you'd expect people to finish the single player campaign and move on to multiplayer online gaming. But there are lots of games I've played in which there's no multiplayer, or multiplayer as an afterthought, and I have the odd feeling that at the end of the single player campaign, I've just finished being trained in how to play the game, at the end of the game, with nothing left to do.

In Portal, the training at least made sense and was integrated into the narrative, and I felt that I'd "graduated" by Test 19 and started on the game proper, which is roughly half the game.

 

[Eejit]

Good choice.

 

[VortigauntLover]

Portal is an amazing game, but it's just too damn short to be GOTY.

Super Mario Galaxy deserves GOTY if you ask me.

 

[Eejit]

What does length matter if everything else is all you could want and more?

 

[Slug Advisor]

You're on the wrong forum, sir.

http://www.halo2.net/forums

Oh hardy-har. I don't even play Halo, neither do I think Halo 3 should get the spot. I think Portal is ****ing fantastic, I just don't think it's the best game of 2007.

 

[FoolishOwl]

I actually think the short length of Portal was a good thing. I got more enjoyment out of four or five hours of gameplay than I've gotten out of most games I've ever played. The story and puzzles were crisp.

Sometimes short stories are better than novels.