Holy crap, where do I even begin with Portal Reloaded? This is an incredible mod and I can’t even begin to imagine how the dev team even managed to pull it off. Now I’m not really huge on Portal, I am more of a Half-life fan than anything else. I am just not a puzzle guy mainly because I am pretty stupid. Since Portal is in the Half-life universe, I have to play it.

What about Portal mods then? Most of the Portal mods that I have seen or played feel the same to me, so they don’t make me come back… usually. Also, I didn’t like how Portal 2 was filled with a TON of jokes while leaving behind the dark and mysterious atmosphere from the first game; of course, Portal 2 is better in every way, shape, and form compared to the first game. But that environment from the first Portal was amazing. Now that I think about it, Half-life Alyx had a lot of annoying jokes… thanks, Jay Pinkerton. I am getting off track. Portal Reloaded is an interesting mod for Portal 2 with some REALLY hard puzzles.

If you came to me in 2011 and told me that this was like an expansion pack, DLC, or something similar to PORTAL: STILL ALIVE for the Xbox 360’s Orange Box, then I would believe you. This honestly has the same polish and love as Valve’s Portal, I haven’t seen a mod do something like that since Portal Stories: Mel. The voice actor sounded like they came from Portal 2, the AI robot or whatever, you know the one. The Soundtrack is short, but what is there is beautiful work, I recommend you listen to it. I won’t spoil too much, but the mod does have some Half-life related appearances in it; which I want because these two-game series are connected, yet the games only name-call each other and we never see it for ourselves in-game (PLZ VALVE).

To start with, the main mechanic and gimmick of the mod is that you have a third green portal that takes you into the future. This third portal leads to some very cleverly made puzzles and interesting comparing then and now with the locations. Hell, I always thought something about Portal 2 was missing and could have had another thing added to it. I am okay with change and mixing things up, if it is pulled off right. The green portal is pretty much the only thing that is new here. I mean sure there is a new protagonist and characters but… more on that later. The time portal, the green portal, whatever the f*ck you want to call it, is a very cool mechanic. Being in the present, then the future is a drawing experience: the present being very well cleaned, while the future is basically a jungle. Plus, if you heard anything about this mod, this is why you are playing it. I still don’t know how they did it, it’s very impressive from a technical level.

I like the puzzles, they made me go insane, but cleverly made. The hardest puzzles for me were the fourth chamber and the last chamber. The fourth chamber was hard because I did not grasp the mechanic yet and was still learning. It was like learning how to swim, but then the swim teacher picks you up and throws you into the water. Yeah I would be confused too. The fifth chamber was WAY more easier and the mod even remarks on that. Was this a good idea? I think so, it makes the player look stupid in retrospect and when you continue through the game it’s like nothing. The last puzzle though, I won’t say, but I would have never figured that out on my own. That was a very refreshing puzzle that I haven’t seen before. But yes, the puzzles are very well made… for the most part at least.

However, I do have some problems with this mod, no product is always perfect. For one, the biggest point for me was the story. It wasn’t deep or awful but just fine. This is okay by me because it’s a side story, kind of like Gearbox’s Half-life 1 expansions. The pitch for the mod itself, on the story, is a neat idea that I would love to see explored more. But, the characters are… honestly I don’t even know their names. Whom was I playing as? Was it the cut character Mel? WHO EVEN WAS I? The only thing the robot AI has going for him is that he sounds like the AI from the base Portal 2. Other than that, nothing much else. The dialogue sounds like from Portal 2... which really isn't that hard to write down, I could do it and so can you. Portal Stories: Mel, for a random example mod, had a much better plot, characters and more fascinating/new set pieces.

Of course, the only reason you are here is because of the third portal. Now this game mechanic is great, but we don’t get to use gel and we don’t see too many crazy levels except for the last puzzle in the game. Also, chamber 17 was odd to me; I didn’t know what to do for this puzzle that should have been easier to solve. So, I looked up a walkthrough and noticed I had to go past a force field, and then I could finally use my green portal. I know that may sound like game Journalism, but I don’t remember being introduced to this mechanic or what point it served in the mod for. Why couldn’t I just use my third portal anyways? I don’t know, it just didn’t make sense from a design choice in my eyes.

Then there is the menu screen, I don’t know why they got rid of the load and save option. You can still do it, but can not look back on it in the menu or while pausing. I don’t see why this decision was made? I would make a mistake in a test chamber and just want to load back before I messed up, but I couldn’t do that and had my time wasted. That is probably why they did to pound out time for the mod or something.

If you know what you are doing, this mod is like 40 minutes long. For me, it took 6.5 hours to beat it on Steam. Also, before you ask, yes I am a dumb@ss and wandered around not knowing what to do most of the time. I said I wasn’t good at puzzles man… Believe it when I say Portal Reloaded brings out the big guns for their puzzles.

Overall, Portal Reloaded is an excellent mod. Though the only thing it really has going for it is the third time traveling portal. Is this mod like Portal 3 like EVERYONE is making it out to be? No. I think the mechanic is a good idea for a sequel, but I consider this to be like a side story or prequel than anything else. To be honest, I don’t want or really care about a Portal 3 or even a Half-life 3, I just want more side stories in this universe. VALVE GIVE US AN OFFICIAL HALF-LIFE COMIC PLEASE! Hell, it is why Gearbox’s expansion packs are my favorite games in the Half-life Series. Mods like this and Portal Stories: Mel are cool as sh*t to me. Heck, I am still down with Valve’s cancelled Portal 2 project called “F-Stop,” it is a golden idea to explore in my opinion. If I had to rate Portal Reloaded, it would be an 8/10, but, Portal Stories: Mel still takes the CAKE for me. Get it? Okay I will stop with that bad joke. If you don’t know where to start with Portal Mods, I recommended that you play Portal 1 & 2, play Portal Reloaded and then Portal Stories: Mel. Anyways, that is all I have to say, I am now getting the urge to play Portal Stories: Mel. F*ck do I have to write a review on that mod too? Play this mod, you won’t regret it.

Here are my personal/other links:
My discord is “ElephantsDoingCrack#5348”
My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGEwsB7LK8_duOhvpJW7_jw
Play Portal Stories: Mel here: https://steamhost.cn/app/317400/Portal_Stories_Mel/
Play Portal Reloaded obviously here:
https://steamhost.cn/app/1255980/Portal_Reloaded/

You can comment on this review or subscribe to my YouTube, I hope you enjoyed this. Happy 10th anniversary, Portal 2!

[h1]Portal Reloaded | My Brain Hurts After Playing This...[/h1] Holy crap, where do I even begin with Portal Reloaded? This is an incredible mod and I can’t even begin to imagine how the dev team even managed to pull it off. Now I’m not really huge on Portal, I am more of a Half-life fan than anything else. I am just not a puzzle guy mainly because I am pretty stupid. Since Portal is in the Half-life universe, I have to play it. What about Portal mods then? Most of the Portal mods that I have seen or played feel the same to me, so they don’t make me come back… usually. Also, I didn’t like how Portal 2 was filled with a TON of jokes while leaving behind the dark and mysterious atmosphere from the first game; of course, Portal 2 is better in every way, shape, and form compared to the first game. But that environment from the first Portal was amazing. Now that I think about it, Half-life Alyx had a lot of annoying jokes… thanks, Jay Pinkerton. I am getting off track. Portal Reloaded is an interesting mod for Portal 2 with some REALLY hard puzzles. If you came to me in 2011 and told me that this was like an expansion pack, DLC, or something similar to PORTAL: STILL ALIVE for the Xbox 360’s Orange Box, then I would believe you. This honestly has the same polish and love as Valve’s Portal, I haven’t seen a mod do something like that since Portal Stories: Mel. The voice actor sounded like they came from Portal 2, the AI robot or whatever, you know the one. The Soundtrack is short, but what is there is beautiful work, I recommend you listen to it. I won’t spoil too much, but the mod does have some Half-life related appearances in it; which I want because these two-game series are connected, yet the games only name-call each other and we never see it for ourselves in-game (PLZ VALVE). To start with, the main mechanic and gimmick of the mod is that you have a third green portal that takes you into the future. This third portal leads to some very cleverly made puzzles and interesting comparing then and now with the locations. Hell, I always thought something about Portal 2 was missing and could have had another thing added to it. I am okay with change and mixing things up, if it is pulled off right. The green portal is pretty much the only thing that is new here. I mean sure there is a new protagonist and characters but… more on that later. The time portal, the green portal, whatever the f*ck you want to call it, is a very cool mechanic. Being in the present, then the future is a drawing experience: the present being very well cleaned, while the future is basically a jungle. Plus, if you heard anything about this mod, this is why you are playing it. I still don’t know how they did it, it’s very impressive from a technical level. I like the puzzles, they made me go insane, but cleverly made. The hardest puzzles for me were the fourth chamber and the last chamber. The fourth chamber was hard because I did not grasp the mechanic yet and was still learning. It was like learning how to swim, but then the swim teacher picks you up and throws you into the water. Yeah I would be confused too. The fifth chamber was WAY more easier and the mod even remarks on that. Was this a good idea? I think so, it makes the player look stupid in retrospect and when you continue through the game it’s like nothing. The last puzzle though, I won’t say, but I would have never figured that out on my own. That was a very refreshing puzzle that I haven’t seen before. But yes, the puzzles are very well made… for the most part at least. However, I do have some problems with this mod, no product is always perfect. For one, the biggest point for me was the story. It wasn’t deep or awful but just fine. This is okay by me because it’s a side story, kind of like Gearbox’s Half-life 1 expansions. The pitch for the mod itself, on the story, is a neat idea that I would love to see explored more. But, the characters are… honestly I don’t even know their names. Whom was I playing as? Was it the cut character Mel? WHO EVEN WAS I? The only thing the robot AI has going for him is that he sounds like the AI from the base Portal 2. Other than that, nothing much else. The dialogue sounds like from Portal 2... which really isn't that hard to write down, I could do it and so can you. Portal Stories: Mel, for a random example mod, had a much better plot, characters and more fascinating/new set pieces. Of course, the only reason you are here is because of the third portal. Now this game mechanic is great, but we don’t get to use gel and we don’t see too many crazy levels except for the last puzzle in the game. Also, chamber 17 was odd to me; I didn’t know what to do for this puzzle that should have been easier to solve. So, I looked up a walkthrough and noticed I had to go past a force field, and then I could finally use my green portal. I know that may sound like game Journalism, but I don’t remember being introduced to this mechanic or what point it served in the mod for. Why couldn’t I just use my third portal anyways? I don’t know, it just didn’t make sense from a design choice in my eyes. Then there is the menu screen, I don’t know why they got rid of the load and save option. You can still do it, but can not look back on it in the menu or while pausing. I don’t see why this decision was made? I would make a mistake in a test chamber and just want to load back before I messed up, but I couldn’t do that and had my time wasted. That is probably why they did to pound out time for the mod or something. If you know what you are doing, this mod is like 40 minutes long. For me, it took 6.5 hours to beat it on Steam. Also, before you ask, yes I am a dumb@ss and wandered around not knowing what to do most of the time. I said I wasn’t good at puzzles man… Believe it when I say Portal Reloaded brings out the big guns for their puzzles. Overall, Portal Reloaded is an excellent mod. Though the only thing it really has going for it is the third time traveling portal. Is this mod like Portal 3 like EVERYONE is making it out to be? No. I think the mechanic is a good idea for a sequel, but I consider this to be like a side story or prequel than anything else. To be honest, I don’t want or really care about a Portal 3 or even a Half-life 3, I just want more side stories in this universe. VALVE GIVE US AN OFFICIAL HALF-LIFE COMIC PLEASE! Hell, it is why Gearbox’s expansion packs are my favorite games in the Half-life Series. Mods like this and Portal Stories: Mel are cool as sh*t to me. Heck, I am still down with Valve’s cancelled Portal 2 project called “F-Stop,” it is a golden idea to explore in my opinion. If I had to rate Portal Reloaded, it would be an 8/10, but, Portal Stories: Mel still takes the CAKE for me. Get it? Okay I will stop with that bad joke. If you don’t know where to start with Portal Mods, I recommended that you play Portal 1 & 2, play Portal Reloaded and then Portal Stories: Mel. Anyways, that is all I have to say, I am now getting the urge to play Portal Stories: Mel. F*ck do I have to write a review on that mod too? Play this mod, you won’t regret it. Here are my personal/other links: My discord is “ElephantsDoingCrack#5348” My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGEwsB7LK8_duOhvpJW7_jw Play Portal Stories: Mel here: https://steamhost.cn/app/317400/Portal_Stories_Mel/ Play Portal Reloaded obviously here: https://steamhost.cn/app/1255980/Portal_Reloaded/ You can comment on this review or subscribe to my YouTube, I hope you enjoyed this. Happy 10th anniversary, Portal 2!