![]() It begins so well but ends so poorly, and Clockstone Games could have easily rectified the tedious atmosphere that appears after 20-30 boards by rewarding the player with some more shrewd remarks from GLaDOS. This is sorely missed because Bridge Constructor Portal then ends up being just another Bridge Constructor game with a worthless gimmick slapped on. But wait, what about the comic contributions from everyone's favourite artificial intelligence? Well, they become more and more sporadic as the game goes on, before finally disappearing. As we reached 30, we really had to push ourselves to move forward. The game has 60 boards with the difficulty slowly rising as you progress through them, but after the first 20 boards, we began to grow tired just a little. When dealing with such a fixed concept as Bridge Constructor Portal, it's unavoidable that it ends up becoming a rather monotonous affair. The satirical edge that is a hallmark of Valve's Half-Life spin-off is maintained to a tee, even if the characterisation of GLaDOS doesn't have quite the depth it had in the original series. We were immediately taken back to the cold laboratory environment at Aperture Science, with GLaDOS' sarcastic comments and jabs at reality's big business policies acting as a background hum to us trying to figure out the next puzzle. Valve wouldn't have accepted a finished product if it was lacklustre, but everything about the design is very precise. That has been "outsourced" to Clockwork Games who has excelled in making a game that holds very true to the original series' mood and aesthetics. Valve has provided the IP, the content, Ellen McLain, and everything belonging to the Portal-universe, but hasn't touched the development side at all. Bridge Constructor Portal at least manages to bring players back into the humorous, sarcastic, and deeply entertaining world of Portal, and it does so in such an accomplished way that it almost feels like a real Valve game. Their deaths have no influence on the budget, the rating or the snide comments from GLaDOS whatsoever - human life isn't very important when you are an ironically-inclined artificial intelligence with unlimited resources and unlimited power. ![]() In keeping with the Portal ethos, the drivers, flying from left to right, are a non-issue. ![]() These bridges must be firm enough to ensure that all test subjects get from the starting area to the end without any vehicles, in the form of forklift trucks, taking damage. The premise of the game is thoroughly explained by its title - you must construct bridges exactly like in previous releases, but with the added element of interdimensional portals. The world record holders for procrastination have done it again, and now that we know that Half-Life 3 will almost certainly never see the light of day, it seems like the hope for a Portal trilogy is just as remote. Not necessarily a bad thing, but nonetheless a disappointment. Is it finally happening, is Valve finally ready to make up for several years of decay? Unfortunately not, because in front of the word 'Portal' were two other words - Bridge Constructor. ![]() Like a well-trained hunting dog, our senses were on full alert with news of a newly-released game with the word 'Portal' in it.
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