This crap is cannon?

[Cheomesh]

Please tell me that this game isn't officially part of the HL2 universe :|.

Military Androids? "Cute" little turrets? Having Apeture as part of the storyline is one thing, but the whole of Portals? Hell I found a calender from 1983 in the game, ffs. Valve is letting me down

 

[Acepilotf14]

How is it not neat? That stuff is great story material!
STFU! GTFO!

 

[Apocalypse89]

You made the Companion Cube sad.

 

[Beserker]

The word you are looking for is 'canon'.

And Portal is totally awesome. Clearly you do not have enough love for the Weighted Companion Cube. You sadist! D:

 

[Cheomesh]

The word you are looking for is 'canon'.

Hm, you're right.

And Portal is totally awesome. Clearly you do not have enough love for the Weighted Companion Cube. You sadist! D:

It would have been better if it was a puzzle game, not HL universe stuff. And the Companion Cube got tossed in the incenerator the second she told me to -- I didn't even have to let her finish the sentence to figure out what I needed to do next.

 

[Asuka]

I think its a great addition to the story. Adds a lot of depth and flavor. Cant wait to see how they tie it in.

 

[xitooner]

Please tell me that this game isn't officially part of the HL2 universe :|.

Military Androids? "Cute" little turrets? Having Apeture as part of the storyline is one thing, but the whole of Portals? Hell I found a calender from 1983 in the game, ffs. Valve is letting me down

[chuckle]
Depends on the point of view I guess. For where I sit, I've got hours and hours of grim, bloody, brutal "HL2 universe" playtime under my belt, and it was a welcome change to experience Valve developers taking some time out to poke some fun at themselves, Black Mesa, etc. At any rate, that is how I choose to interpret what they were did. . .

. . .besides, its not like the HL2 episodes dont occasionally step outside their own universe too; that computer in Episode 2 with the digits on the screen from the TV show "Lost" being an excellent example. . .

 

[FriedchikenCamo]

The cute turrents actually make a ton of sense at the ending.

Spoiler

Due to the morality core installed in GlaDOS, the AI cannot willfully kill you with turrents. In order to willfully place the turrents, GlaDOS needs to reprogram them so that their intent isn't more immoral than the morality core will accept (I think that the multiple cores lead to autonomous personalities, and that the evil core of GlaDOS can plot against it's moral alter ego, hence the interrupted sentences, etc). The speech of the turrents suggests that your death would be viewed as friendly fire as opposed to outright murder. The turrents were just placed there on autopilot, GlaDOS and company are really really sorry they shoot at you automatically

As for military androids, what do you think the combine soldiers are? Sure the combine have their own tech to rely on, but a lot of stuff seems rigged out of existing human tech. But this is just my own opinion.

 

[Darkside55]

What's wrong with 1983, jerk?!

 

[AJ Rimmer]

And the Companion Cube got tossed in the incenerator the second she told me to -- I didn't even have to let her finish the sentence to figure out what I needed to do next.

...you cold-hearted, insensitive, cruel, empty shell of a man!

I will seriously investigate if I can ban users for being cold and only pretending to be human, when in reality they are emotionless robots who imitate other people's feelings, as they KILL KITTENS WITH THEIR BARE HANDS BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE DOING MY FRIEND! IF YOU DID NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR COMPANION CUBE THEN YOU MIGHT AS WELL BE KILLING BABY KITTENS, AND RAPING VIRGINS EVERY SUNDAY WHILE SACRIFICING HER UNBORN BABY, THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST TO SATAN!!!


...might have gone a bit too far there but ah well. You bastard.

 

[ChazFox]

Rimmer automatically wins the thread for defending the Companion cube.


Proposal for a new forum rule:

Don't diss the companion cube. It will stab you and we'll stand there laughing at you.

 

[Acepilotf14]

I'm going to write a poem about the companion cube for english.

 

[Cheomesh]

I stand by the fact that I dislike Portal as cannon. Hell I wasn't even a fan of the auto-teleport thing in OpFor that put me on Xen.

 

[MJ12]

*hits the alarm*

You'd better hide. They're comming for you now.

I hope the moderators euthanize you.

 

[DESSTROYER]

I stand by the fact that I dislike Portal as cannon. Hell I wasn't even a fan of the auto-teleport thing in OpFor that put me on Xen.

*Advisor eats Cheomesh's brain*

 

[AV9]

Please tell me that this game isn't officially part of the HL2 universe :|.

Military Androids? "Cute" little turrets? Having Apeture as part of the storyline is one thing, but the whole of Portals? Hell I found a calender from 1983 in the game, ffs. Valve is letting me down

You know, although you misspelled canon, I agree with your sentiment. Although I think Portal is perfectly fun in its own right and not really quote-on-quote "crappy," I feel its story is really incompatible with the HL universe I've been so fond of for almost three-fourths of a decade. I finally registered here over a week ago to express such thoughts, but ended up just sending an e-mail to Gabe Newell instead.

The part regarding Portal (the e-mail went from a few paragraphs to five pages, so I'll spare you all that type of read) is reproduced below:

... Basically, the Orange Box is the best deal ever, to paraphrase several game review sites. But I must voice my concerns for the series here before I end this e-mail without speaking everything on my mind. I believe it's pretty clear I've avoided mentioning Portal throughout this entire document, and this is for a reason: Portal?s gameplay and innovation is amazing, but I have serious reservations about it being implemented into official Half-Life series canon.

Portal is a fascinating game. A puzzler, to be sure, but easily the most fun I've ever had playing a pseudo-FPS. While I'm not a physicist I did enjoy how the addition of player-controlled portals would challenge the player's notions of space and time in a game. Portal truly was an intense experience, and the final showdown with GlaDOS was inspired, to say the least. But I am concerned about incorporating Aperture Science and the Portal gameworld into Episode Three. Frankly, I do not think Half-Life and Portal are meant to be together in the sense of joined storylines.

It's not that the obvious connections between the portals in Portal and the over-arching teleportation undertones of the Half-Life series aren't compatible. It's the fact that the world of Aperture Science, rife with dark comedy because of the environment and the narration on behalf of GlaDOS, just doesn?t feel realistic. I know that the Half-Life series tells the story of a theoretical physicist who travels through time and fights aliens with a crowbar (although that makes it sound much less clever than it is), but Half-Life has always taken itself seriously. Sure, there are moments of comedic relief, but overall there is a struggle for the survival of humanity that the player as Gordon is the leader of. Portal, with its finale being sung in lyrical-verse and the image of GlaDOS snuffing out the candle on the cake is, to be fair, ridiculous! And I do not believe Valve does not realize that Portal is completely devoid of any believable environment (unless you count the fleeting shot of the debris-filled parking lot). I just cannot imagine why inserting the patent absurdity of Aperture Science into the Half-Life series strikes you guys as a good idea. Please tell me that this idea, like the cake, is a lie!

I realize your hands are sort of tied on this, having made the mysterious Borealis manufactured by Aperture Science. And, admittedly, every time I have doubted Valve Software before you have created something incredible and forced me to eat my own suspicions. But, honestly, how can the two gameworlds of Portal and the Half-Life series be mutually agreeable? I can suspend my disbelief far enough to believe the Half-Life series, but Portal and Aperture Science are a lost cause as far as realism in the context of the Half-Life universe goes. I really hope you prove me wrong once again, but at this juncture I cannot see how implementing Portal into HL will work well. I can only hope Episode Three is an episodic finale worthy of the best games ever created and doesn?t stray from the canon established over four (or six [or even more], counting official HL1 expansions) games. I know if any developer can assuage my worries it's Valve...

That about sums up how I feel on the matter of Portal being introduced into Half-Life canon. In short I feel this idea, like the companion cube, should meet a fiery demise.

 

[Cheomesh]

Agreed, AV9. And welcome to HL2.net. It's safer here.

Unfortunately I doubt you're getting a response. I hope the Borialis turns out to be a Philadelphia-like experiment...

 

[Laivasse]

I too hope that Portal will remain as self-contained a game as possible. I'm fine with namechecks and loose tie-ins, but a solid link between the two stories by way of a reappearance from Chell, or even GlaDOS, makes me uneasy. It's already jarring to me, having people starting to form theories about the HL universe based on the very tongue-in-cheek history provided by the AS.com site.

 

[Stigmata]

You know, the humor in Portal makes complete sense if you think about it. GLaDOS, without the Morality Core, is a heartless sonofabitch, killing people left and right. Given the situation that Aperture was in when the Morality Core was created and installed, it's pretty much a given that it's a somewhat flawed piece of hardware. The humorous monologues and aspects of Portal can easily be a side-effect of the Morality Core interacting problematically with GLaDOS.

Spoiler

And once the Morality Core is destroyed, we see and hear GLaDOS revert to her default state of total immorality and reckless destruction of life.

And the song at the end of the game obviously isn't canon, it's just a funny little thing at the end to go along with the humor in the rest of the game.

 

[Bugman5999]

You are the same person who would let a little thing like advisors sucking your brains for information stop you playing the HL series. This shows how nit picky you are when it comes to games and that the meat of the storyline truly isn't the idea that draws you into a game.

Portal is one of the most innovative games in the history of mankind and if you can't see that then you either have a very limited intellectual capacity or a very cynical and narrow perspective when it comes to video games.

Let us ask you a question to determine the type of gamer you are and how much an interesting change from the normal blasing brains all over floor might impact you....
1. Do you find yourself cringing at any type of "sissy girl emotional feeling humor content" that doesn't involve decapitating someone?
2. Would you rather blast the living hell out of every living soul you see in the HL realm including the beloved Barney and even the poor and unfortunate Lamar?

Apparently even the most cynical a-hole on the internet concerning video games liked Portal.......
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...ctuation/2541-Zero-Punctuation-The-Orange-Box


edit: oh, and this has EVERYTHING to do with the storyline. It is an argument based on the fact that this person isn't interested in storyline but rather gameplay if he would allow one tiny detail about advisors ruin his whole experience of the HL game......this is targeted at AV9 btw....

I probably should repeat this one more time for clarification. My arguments above are based on proving that Mr. Cheo isn't truly concerned about the storyline of these games. His arguments that he makes are purely based from a gameplay perspective.

 

[AV9]

You are the same person who would let a little thing like advisors sucking your brains for information stop you playing the HL series. This shows how nit picky you are when it comes to games and that the meat of the storyline truly isn't the idea that draws you into a game.

Portal is one of the most innovative games in the history of mankind and if you can't see that then you either have a very limited intellectual capacity or a very cynical and narrow perspective when it comes to video games.

Let us ask you a question to determine the type of gamer you are and how much an interesting change from the normal blasing brains all over floor might impact you....
1. Do you find yourself cringing at any type of "sissy girl emotional feeling humor content" that doesn't involve decapitating someone?
2. Would you rather blast the living hell out of every living soul you see in the HL realm including the beloved Barney and even the poor and unfortunate Lamar?

Apparently even the most cynical a-hole on the internet concerning video games liked Portal.......
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...ctuation/2541-Zero-Punctuation-The-Orange-Box

Your argument is completely nonsensical. Did you even read what this thread is about? It's completely concerned with the story, not the gameplay mechanics introduced in Portal.

Just because it's innovative doesn't mean it should be brought into the Half-Life universe. It is very fun and fascinating in its own right, but some of us have concerns about the combination of the two gameworlds.

The posts regarding reservations of the addition of Portal into official canon are completely story oriented, so next time you should read the thread a bit before firing off this rubbish.

 

[Apocalypse89]

To be serious, I thought that for the most part, Portal's atmosphere fit into Half-Life pretty well. The Aperture facility actually gave me a very Black Mesa-ish feel. A few things such as the turrets, ending, etc. are definitely not to be taken seriously, but otherwise I could definitely see GLaDOS making an appearance in Ep. 3.

 

[Epsi]

I think things like the turrets and the song can be completely taken seriously. As it were, as can the information on aperturescience.com about the history of Aperture Science.

The one thing that has to be kept in mind is that almost all the information you can glean from GLaDOS is either from her, or from the environment she controls. And she's completely insane. You have to take things like cute turrets and Aperture Science starting off by making shower curtains with a pinch of salt. It's likely there aren't any military androids, for instance. Maybe she just thought it was funny.

The history of Aperture Science as seen by sane people is probably a lot more sober and in keeping with the feel of the Half-Life games.

 

[Bugman5999]

I edited my above post for clarification.....it has everything to do with "story"

Oh, and why do I think Portal is compatible with the HL universe?

1. Black Mesa and Aperture are both competing for portal technology contracts with the government. This is very probable. A good example in today's society of this type of competition is Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin's competition when it comes to stealth aircraft contracts. Northrop Grumman won the B-2 stealth bomber contract while Lockheed Martin won the F-22 contract.
2. Creating a contrast between the two companies is a very interesting thing. Black Mesa used manpower, which is well manifested in the design of their facilities and the overall feel of their company. Aperture used a super computer to do the work for them, which is also well-manifested throughout their facility.
3. Creating a back story for a company that will be playing a part in Episode 3 through the Borealis will bring more emotion, feeling, and understanding to Episode 3. Portal is simply another company doing their thing to try and win a contract with the government. I will understand the desires and ways of Aperture better as I'm exploring the Borealis in Episode 3. I may never see Chell or any other aspect of the facility that was a part of Portal, but knowing the history of Aperture will allow me to connect better with the Episode 3 storyline. I will feel like I understand the connections and intentions of Aperture as I'm exploring their prized ship.

Things we've learned about Aperture that will help us better relate to Episode 3.
1. Aperture is losing to Black Mesa when it comes to contracts.....hence their risky business.
2. Aperture doesn't value human life as much as long as "science" gets done. Hence their development of the super computer and possibly the risks they took with the Borealis.
3. Aperture is a company that produced amazing portal technology also. Hence why Borealis is going to be soooooooooo important.
4. Someone escaped Aperture with the technology other than what's on Borealis. May play a part in Episode 3.........or maybe even more distant Half-Life games.

 

[Cheomesh]

You are the same person who would let a little thing like advisors sucking your brains for information stop you playing the HL series.

Because that's a stupid stop-gap and uncreative way to progress a story.

Portal is one of the most innovative games in the history of mankind

Played Narbacular Drop.

Let us ask you a question to determine the type of gamer you are and how much an interesting change from the normal blasing brains all over floor might impact you....

Actually I was going to suggest a mod where you explore BMRF back in the day.

1. Do you find yourself cringing at any type of "sissy girl emotional feeling humor content" that doesn't involve decapitating someone?

Nope, I like characters being more than 2D things.

2. Would you rather blast the living hell out of every living soul you see in the HL realm including the beloved Barney and even the poor and unfortunate Lamar?

No, jackass, I wouldn't.

Apparently even the most cynical a-hole on the internet concerning video games liked Portal.......
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/art...ctuation/2541-Zero-Punctuation-The-Orange-Box

So that requires me to?

My arguments above are based on proving that Mr. Cheo isn't truly concerned about the storyline of these games. His arguments that he makes are purely based from a gameplay perspective.

The opposite, actually. It just doesn't feel right. From a gameplay perspective, oh HELL yeah would it be nice to just portal around every fight and never have to mess with that.


Your long post fails.

 

[Bugman5999]

Because that's a stupid stop-gap and uncreative way to progress a story.



Played Narbacular Drop.




Actually I was going to suggest a mod where you explore BMRF back in the day.



Nope, I like characters being more than 2D things.




No, jackass, I wouldn't.



So that requires me to?



The opposite, actually. It just doesn't feel right. From a gameplay perspective, oh HELL yeah would it be nice to just portal around every fight and never have to mess with that.


Your long post fails.

I will apologize in the face of you successfully passing my exam. I got a skewed perspective of the type of gamer that you are from the comment you made concerning advisors. I still don't understand how that can determine if you enjoy the storyline or not considering the fact that the Combine has always been understood as an alien race that loves messing with people's minds....

but......

Please don't let that stop you from reading my above post that explains why I think why Portal is good canon.

 

[xennyth]

spoiler: the big bad jellyfish will be the final boss in episode 3.

 

[AV9]

I edited my above post for clarification.....it has everything to do with "story"

Oh, and why do I think Portal is compatible with the HL universe?

1. Black Mesa and Aperture are both competing for portal technology contracts with the government. This is very probable. A good example in today's society of this type of competition is Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin's competition when it comes to stealth aircraft contracts. Northrop Grumman won the B-2 stealth bomber contract while Lockheed Martin won the F-22 contract.
2. Creating a contrast between the two companies is a very interesting thing. Black Mesa used manpower, which is well manifested in the design of their facilities and the overall feel of their company. Aperture used a super computer to do the work for them, which is also well-manifested throughout their facility.
3. Creating a back story for a company that will be playing a part in Episode 3 through the Borealis will bring more emotion, feeling, and understanding to Episode 3. Portal is simply another company doing their thing to try and win a contract with the government. I will understand the desires and ways of Aperture better as I'm exploring the Borealis in Episode 3. I may never see Chell or any other aspect of the facility that was a part of Portal, but knowing the history of Aperture will allow me to connect better with the Episode 3 storyline. I will feel like I understand the connections and intentions of Aperture as I'm exploring their prized ship.

Things we've learned about Aperture that will help us better relate to Episode 3.
1. Aperture is losing to Black Mesa when it comes to contracts.....hence their risky business.
2. Aperture doesn't value human life as much as long as "science" gets done. Hence their development of the super computer and possibly the risks they took with the Borealis.
3. Aperture is a company that produced amazing portal technology also. Hence why Borealis is going to be soooooooooo important.
4. Someone escaped Aperture with the technology other than what's on Borealis. May play a part in Episode 3.........or maybe even more distant Half-Life games.

If you're making an argument that Valve will once again create a fantastic story for Episode Three than I will certainly not disagree. If any developer can bring Black Mesa and Aperture Science together it would be Valve. But that doesn't mean it should be done.

I want to make it clear that I'm not attacking Portal. It was really fun and imaginative. But can it really fit into the Half-Life game universe? As I said in my e-mail to Gabe, I can suspend my disbelief to make the events at Black Mesa seem plausible, but Portal was entirely too ridiculous to take in a realistic manner. Sure, Half-Life is the story of a theoretical physicist who knows his way around military small arms and loves blasting aliens from a border world, but the series has always taken itself seriously. There may be comedic relief sometimes in the games, but at the end of the day you are Gordon Freeman, silent protagonist leading a resistance movement to save yourself/mankind. Such grandiose nature makes what the Half-Life series has become so incredible.

Portal, on the other hand, really never takes itself seriously. Dark and witty, this game features a functioning (arguably alive) supercomputer that sings and prepares cake. Even if you were to disregard the musical finale and the utter nonsense from ApertureScience.com regarding the company's history, this would still not make the game world believable in the context of the Half-Life universe. Portal feels like a completely different game than Half-Life in terms of atmosphere. Sure, there are obvious connections between Portal and the HL series, but this shouldn't necessitate a direct injection of Portal into the gameworld of Episode Three.

I'd love to see more Portal as a stand-alone product. The story that has been presented so far could make for an interesting series of games. But putting an entirely new storyline of corporate ethics or the lack thereof (Aperture Science vs. Black Mesa) into Episode Three seems a bit contrived, experimental, and, sadly, misjudged. Of course, as I already mentioned, if anyone can do it in a convincing way it would be the brilliant minds at Valve.

Perhaps I am too much of a Half-Life purist. But I really love what Valve has created out of the franchise, from the humble beginnings at Black Mesa to the epic struggle in and around City 17. To undermine that with a new and very odd addition seems a bit silly to me. But, at the end of the day, I can only put my trust in Valve and remember they haven't failed me yet.

 

[tetsuo2040]

Thread Starter fails.

I hope GLaDOS toxicates yo' ass.

 

[Thesheep]

Huh? Have you played HL2? That already seems to be giving a darker more sinister and much more hl feel to the Borealis and to AS.

The cute lil androids were probably designed years before (to keep in with the 80's/post 70's style of design?) and reprogrammed by GLaDOS. Remember also that GlaDOS is programmed by Humans and if she is as she claims capable of scanning peoples minds she might start inheriting aspects of their behaviour, this, at least to me gives her an dark serious atmosphere of her own.

Think about it. Part of her childish remarks could come from Chell's childlike brain scan. It also is a story about a robot trying to circumvent its morals to kill you. The robot WANTS to kill you but is FORCED to not take those direct actions by the morality core. Thats not a very serious issue for you? :S

 

[Fishlore]

I too hope that Portal will remain as self-contained a game as possible. I'm fine with namechecks and loose tie-ins, but a solid link between the two stories by way of a reappearance from Chell, or even GlaDOS, makes me uneasy. It's already jarring to me, having people starting to form theories about the HL universe based on the very tongue-in-cheek history provided by the AS.com site.

This post pretty much sums up my feelings as well. I loved Portal, would like to play more of it. I too am okay with references to each other but feel that's where it should end.

Despite hating the term and hating the people that use it, combining the two worlds together further would IMO cause HL2 to jump the shark or snark in this case. I'd probably cease to take the HL2 world seriously. I wouldn't curse the heavens and boycott the game if this were to happen, but I'd definitely prefer it not to happen.

 

[Dan]

Half-Life isn't all that serious either. I mean the basic plot is the most cliched of any video game plot. Portals open to alien dimension bringing in hordes of monsters.

 

[Laivasse]

But all done with reasonable efforts made to suspend disbelief... Portal, on the other hand, is a bit more irreverent with regard to realism, what with its black humour and slightly surreal level design. These are good things, and things which make Portal a great game, but not things which make it an easy-to-link-with-the-HL-universe game.

 

[comradpoplin1]

IMO the portal gun would be a great addition to the half-life arsenal, but you cant just have it appear out of thin air so i think loose tie in's would be a great idea though i wouldnt like to see gordon roaming the aperture research facility.

I think a charcitor tie in is easy to do and would fit right in aswell a tragedy that see the portal surviver meet a sticky end leaving mr freeman in posesion of the portal device would be a good little twist and open the hl2 universe up to a great way to see levels and explorer new places.

 

[FriedchikenCamo]

I doubt that the portal gun is going to end up in Ep3, it would really complicate the level design and hurt what effect Valve was trying to make with the HL2 arc.

As I see it, Ep3 isn't going to be completely permeated with Portal's slightly separated universe. While Valve hired a writer to help flesh out Portal's relation to the Half Life canon, I'm pretty sure that HL2 Ep3 will always be written as the official entity. I doubt Valve is going go out on a limb to intergrate Portal's story just because that game is getting popular.

While it would be make sense that both Black Mesa and Aperature Science are both created to research portal technology, I would also be a little annoyed if Chell somehow figured into Ep3 with little explaination. As long as the tie-ins are not stretched, I'm comfortable with Portal being pseudo-canon.

But I would guess, perhaps the portal theme might relate to how Prey handled the navigation mechanics, instead of having Gordon directly control the portals. And who knows? Maybe a certain "person" might be running the Borealis. But again, I'm sure Valve will be consistent with the universe that they wrote years ago.

 

[Tyguy]

what is canon?

 

[Tagaziel]

Personally, I think Portal fits in. The atmosphere is right, and once you finish the tests, it only gets better.

GLaDOS was damn insane. Not SHODAN insane, as she was perfectly comfortable with murdering the research personnel and playing with the facility on her own, possibly following a pre-programmed research directive or similiar. It fits with the "science-gone-wrong" theme of the series.

Plus, the Companion Cube.

 

[Crash Happy]

what is canon?

Big thing, shoots heavy balls.

 

[caith]

While on my first play-through with Portal and then seeing the Black Mesa/Portal "competition for contracts" slides, I also initially thought that Portal wouldn't fit in with the HL canon. But the more I played, the more it grew on me. It wouldn't actually mess up the HL storyline (making it too easy) because the Portal gun doesn't work on all surfaces. Only, generally, on soft concrete slabs. The tiled floors probably had same materials underneath it too, for portals to form on. Keeping in mind that the whole AS facility was a product of intelligent design for purposeful experimentation, that not only is the Portal game itself nicely self-contained, but also confines and restricts Aperature Science's technology from being effective in the outside world. And yes, there obviously is an outside world yet to be concerned of.

It could be spoiler material, but I somehow speculate that

Spoiler

the portal gun could be linked with the gravity gun to create mini blackholes, a devastating weapon against the Combine. Not sure if it's true in theoretical science, but perhaps the space that we see around us also has mini blackholes that are too small, but do exist. The Portal gun could somehow amplify that along with the help of the gravity gun.

We don't even know if the Portal gun got ruined in the final battle, causing it not to function any longer. Chell would still have to escape to a safe haven since the Combine have taken over. And Chell's background still remains an intriguing mystery.

ANyhoo, if players want more of GLaDOS's tyranny (I do!), then let us hope that she's compiled her results of the experiments and next truly gives us an impossible challenge! I don't want to be no rat in a maze no more. Now that we're free, GLaDOS must be destroyed! She is still formidable and not to be trusted.... unless she finally dishes out the cake.

 

[Fishlore]

Imagine how much longer it would take to build and test even the tiniest of HL2 levels if you added the portal gun. That would be a tester's nightmare. HL2 and it's eps are pretty easy games to begin with but it seems like this addition would completely destroy any sliver of challenge left. It would completely unbalance the game IMO.

In a game world with gravity guns and zombies I understand it's weird to say something is unrealistic. But a portal gun just doesn't seem fit in my eyes. Look at what it took machinery-wise in HL2 to teleport you and the issues that came with it. Having a hand held version just a few game days away seems dumb, IMO.