Recent reviews by TS_Mind_Swept

Love the music, love the visuals, love the plethora of modes that allow you to play in many different ways (including ones that are good for training [the Effect modes]), and I'm still picking up new stuff even after playing all this time.

If you like Tetris®, you'll love this, and even if you don't like Tetris® (yet), this'll probably be the game that gives you...Tetris Effect Keepo

So here's the thing, effort was there, maybe even a bit too much, but what it turned out wasn't as good as it could have been. The reason I say that is cause it seems like emphasis was given not to puzzles, but more so to "detailing" which is too much in most of the places. And another thing, does it look like real life? ya, kind of. But portal isn't exactly real life, and if there are too many things in a testing environment, it distracts from the test and therefore makes it uselessly harder.

This isn't a game of hide and seek, it's a really for real puzzle game that the goals of the puzzles should be clear and not hidden, whatever the kind of "story" (which in my honest opinion was weak at best) you are going for. There should at least be a difficulty curve if nothing else, but most importantly if there is a new puzzle concept, it should be taught to the player and not just be thrown at them when they no idea what they're doing. It doesn't make for good puzzle solving and IF the players finish it doesn't leave them feeling like they're smart, it does the opposite and makes them feel stupid, and that is entirely the map makers' faults. And then there's the ending...which we shant talk about cause its not even worth talking about (long, boring, dragged out, I honestly wish I hadn't even seen it @.@).

I really wish all the effort that went into this Mod was in the right places, cause it could have bin fantastic if it was. So here's to what the mod could have bin, cause what it is leaves much to be desired. Sorry guys, it had to be said.

I've bin holding off on reviewing this mod for a long time, mostly cause someone bought it for me and said they wanted a positive review on it because of that. I told him I'd give an honest one, what I truly think of the game, but let me tell you right now, even though I don't recommend the game, doesn't mean its utter garbage.

Mod Base/Core Idea: The creator of this mod had a great idea, the gel gun, completely new testing element, never bin used with this game before. Although on the outset, I thought I was going to have control of not only a gel gun, but a portal gun as well which would have bin awesome, when I found out I wasn't, it was a huge bummer. None the less the idea of gels as the core testing element and virtually having full control of it (with the exception of having to account for gravity as the gel does come out in a straight line, but rather an arc) is a great idea and they should be commended for that. And although it could still use a little work, the idea is there, so for that it gets a 9/10.

Puzzles: It has some pretty good puzzles, but only like 5 in the entire game that I really think are great, the rest are kind of meh, they lack the fullness that the Portal and Portal 2 levels have. Now I'll admit it's not easy creating a puzzle where the main and sometimes only testing element is gel; none the less, most of them just weren't that great. They included auto portals in some tests that you controlled in various ways, but they only contributed slightly to the tests. I will say that some of the ways that they made some areas "non-gelable" were interesting, but it doesn't make up for what the puzzles are lacking in. Overall for puzzles, left much to be desired. 3.5/10 (Oh yeah, and generally, this game can be spedran in about 24 minutes, and exploits and unintended solutions abound, even if you aren't a speedrunner..boooo!)

Aesthetics: One word, shoddy. It's like the ppl that made it knew some stuff in hammer, but not that much, and certainly not enough to make a full mod out of (especially that they charge for). One of my friends (who did NOT work on this mod, but should have cause he's a hammer god) even said "We do not talk about the poor mapping practices of Aperture Tag." Of course I laughed, but because its true; if the ppl that made this mod knew half of what they should have bin doing, it might actually look good. The way it is now, very basic and like they wanted to give off the appearance of being hammer guru's, without actually putting the necessary work into it; well guess what guys, you failed. Now I'm not saying none of them knew what they were doing, I know Mevious worked on it (and most of his stuff is really good), as well as at least 2 others, but the rest of them need to go to hammer school, BAD. Overall, the aesthetics probably leave more to be desired than the puzzles, though they are a start, they should not be in a full mod, especially one that isn't free. There is also quite a bit of nodraw (a type of invisible wall) that you can see without too much effort, and its something that shouldn't ever be seen. Exhibit A of what i give it a 2/10 for aesthetics.

Music: Absolutely the best part of this mod! I've listened to the soundtrack on YouTube probably twice as long in hours and minutes then I've played the mod itself (if not more), honestly, I'd pay 7 or maybe even 10 dollars for the music by itself. The game? That's another story. I didn't love all the songs at first, but as I've listened to them they grew on me and now I love them all, so the music alone gets a 10/10. (In-game it's actually not really all that great cause you don't hear it everywhere like in portal, and it's kind of stuck in the background as a result, so use of music gets a 6/10)

Overall: It didn't do too well for me, whether i payed for it myself or not, it wasn't worth $7, I wouldn't even say it's worth $5 actually, 2-3 dollars is an ok price to pay for this one. So my suggestion to you after reading this if you are still interested in this mod (you're amazing for reading this far btw :p), wait for a sale that its less than $3, that way you wont feel like you've wasted your money.

Final Thoughts: It has workshop support, but the coop is the most irritating (it could be good, but its hit and miss to make the gel appear, even when its enabled; also, the person holding the gel gun is placing portals, and the one with the gels is holding nothing; that's just terrible, it also doesn't have a coop story mode), and the sp, well its pretty much the same story as the Portal 2 workshop, but there's not really much they can do about that.
The average of the 4 places i reviewed here is about 7/10, although I'd probably just give it a 4/10 for little details and nitpicks that aren't worth mentioning here that are also lacking in this mod. If you still think you're interested in it after all of this, you either don't know much about those little details, or you don't care, which is completely your deal. But now you know why I don't recommend buying this game, at full price at least.

Hmm, lets see, what do I have to say about the best game ever? Well what is there to say? This game is like watching a movie (a good movie), only better, SO much better. I like games that make you think, and if you look up some things about how the making of this game and its prequal went about being accomplished, you'll gain a new appreciation for it. There's even a Developer Commentary in-game for even more information on its making.

You can also make your own maps and play ones that others have created. Granted about 1% of the maps are actually good, but there's over 400,000 maps available, so that's about 4,000 good maps; that's not too bad really. There's even a community made set of race maps called "Gelocity" (and a few others) that never get old, they let you race in a few different ways, but all the time thinking with portals. Gelocity 3 has to be my favorite though, its one of (if not THE) best racing activities I've ever played! and I love my racing. ]:)

The coop mode is pretty great as well, it really changes the way you think with p0rtals and offers a new challenge to anyone who has played the game already (there are also coop maps in the workshop).

All in all, you'll probably never get tired of this game and all the options it has to offer.

Do I reccomend this game? No. I say it's a must have for anyone who likes puzzles. Don't know why or how they're called puzzles? Get the game, you'll soon find out. And have fun! :D