Half-Life warped

Tuesday 29 August 2006
The main character in Half-Life 2: Episode Two's bundled puzzle game, Portal, may well earn a place in future Half-Life games.

Your character in the warp-jumping puzzle game for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 "will have a role in Half-Life games in the future," according to developer Valve, suggesting that Portal's exciting, physics-bending gameplay could soon be blowing a wormhole into Half-Life's adventures.

When asked if the Portal guy would appear in Episode Three, specifically, Valve told US mag Game Informer: "perhaps". In more solid news, the developer also revealed during the interview that it would "love to make [Episode Three] available at retail and online on all platforms," hinting at the possibility of console gamers enjoying the same downloadable options as Steam-using PC owners.

Set in the Half-Life universe, Portal's mysterious plot casts you as a test-pilot for a new warp-gun weapon. Forged by the indie student coders who created the stunning downloadable game, Narbacular Drop, Portal will be released free with Half-Life 2: Episode Two, in addition to the new cartoonified Team Fortress 2 multiplayer game.

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.