[idiotic]

Portal = near perfect game (I deduct points for the warehouse level...the lame design seemed to be teleported in from a lesser game).

But wow - take a simple or straigthforward premise and keep turning it on its head whilst developing/exploring it. The level designs literally seemed to be an extension of that aestethic principle.

Particularly impressive was its ability to take its own ideas seriously as it made complete fun of them. In my view, it is one of a kind - it managed to make the player feel intelligent whilst allowing us to marvel at the ingenuity behind it.

If only I understood its relevance to the outside game world - what does the test, Chell and Glados have to do with Half Life? Either way, it's a testament to its brilliance that the game remains (relatively) self contained.