[Review] Blue Portals 00-02 by reepblue
These chambers were created by reepblue. Throughout making these maps reepblue has been working on Portal: Project Beta.
To get straight to the map, each chamber is a single room with a single objective. The general idea of where you're supposed to be is very, very obvious to you upon entering, which is always a good thing. Visually, the map is stunning. It uses custom textures and is a great change of pace from the average Portal chamber; in fact, I'd have to say I like his textures better, it made me feel like the facility was active and alive. I think the textures make the map look "new", as if perhaps the facility you're being tested in was just recently developed and people were hard at work within it.
In terms of puzzle difficulty, there was a bit of that lacking. They weren't really all that challenging. The intended methods of completing them are interesting, but are oddly less obvious than the straight-forward approach to completing them. Typically finding a faster method of completing a puzzle requires more thought and planning than the intended method.
I do enjoy the blue portal gun approach though, always fun.
-Visually stunning
-Fun idea
-Very short
-Puzzles were a little too simple
Game Play: The maps were advertised as being pretty easy and they are. The levels were pretty small. - 3/5
Design: These chambers were awesome art-wise. They provide a very different feel than the average portal map. - 5/5
Puzzles: Puzzles were extremely easy and almost void of any sort of complexity. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just nothing about them really stood out too much. - 3/5
If I knew how I'd give it a 3.5 for the textures. There was nothing wrong with the map, but from a more technical standpoint nothing made it too interesting.
I'd recommend the download to enjoy the new textures, but if you're looking for innovation or challenge in terms of the puzzles you may want to look elsewhere.