The 2007 smash hit Portal was a side project created by Valve too round out The Orange Box, which contented a multiplayer FPS and one third of a full game. Who knew that this box of orange would have three games that aren't just popular Valve games, but three games that are part of video game history. Portal was the little came that not only could, but did it with cake.
You start out with a silent protagonist being led through by the omnipotent voice of GLaDOS, your instructor and taskmaster through your experiments. You're testing Aperture Science's invention of the portal gun, a device that can seamlessly transport matter between two 'doorways.' The further you advance, the less GLaDOS is your instructor, and is more of your tormentor. You don't know how you got into this experiment, nor do you know your way out. You just hope that by continuing these puzzles and trials, that you'll find and exit.
There is a reason that this game works. It's lean. There is no fat, not a single wasted step, movement, polygon or spoken line. Everything was done perfectly, mainly because they had to. The development team had a small budget and short time to work on something that really just showed off an amazing mechanic. What made this game go from amazing to instant classic was the dialogue from GLaDOS, which was dark, twisted and comedic. It really had me chuckling as I was dodging bullets and solving death traps.
Glad to see you liked it. I completely agree with your assessment on the game working so well because it is fat-free. This is my biggest fear with Portal 2, which I've admittedly never played yet; something tells me that given a budget, a lot of time, and some pressure to live up to the first game, Portal 2 will end up with at least a little bit of a potbelly. Still very much looking forward to it, but almost "knowing" that it won't recapture the magic. But then, sequels almost never do.
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