I have yet to crack open my copy of Portal 2. Thanks mostly to the realization that the platform I bought it for, the Playstation 3, still has its network down and I can’t access the Steam integration, I’ll probably be returning it tomorrow in favor of the Xbox 360 version.
At least, that was the plan.
After picking up Geoff Keighley‘s The Final Hours of Portal 2 for my iPad, I’m quite possibly more excited for the game than on its release day.
The app, retailing for just $1.99, is essentially an extended interactive piece of journalism based on one subject: the creation of Valve’s Portal 2. The subject alone is intriguing enough, but the method by which it was presented allows me to believe one thing: magazines may not work well on the iPad yet, but long-form interactive apps can.
Consider it this way: Magazines need to be timely and up-to-date, ready to flux as news changes. After one day, however, they’re pretty much out-of-date, thanks to much of the same information appearing across the web and on Twitter. However, there will always be people playing Portal 2, intrigued by its back story and creation process. The app becomes more a legacy attraction rather than a throw-away table-topper. The Final Hours needs to be the way other magazines approach the tablet/targeted mobile media delivery world. And at only two bucks, it’s unavoidable for fans to miss out.
Back to the contents of the app. Keighley delivers the moments leading up to Portal 2‘s release in an almost J.J. Abrams-esque method. Divided into chapters, the story bounces from the final few days before release, to the initial planning for a (canned) Portal prequel, to the development of Narbacular Drop, the game that inspired the original Portal, before finally delivering the “Aha Moment” of what brought the development process to a close: euphoric enjoyment of puzzle-solving. It’s a central thread that incorporates flashbacks and flashforwards to flush out the story.
There are interactive elements along the way: tours of the studio, the destruction of Aperture Science, how “flinging” works in the game. The galleries and videos included are well-placed and well-timed, and the navigation process is simple and enjoyable, free of excess and overly innovative methods of exploration. In fact, it fits the idea of Portal 2 well, as Keighley even notes in the article that the designers didn’t want to create more challenging versions of what we’ve already seen, just newer and more enjoyable.
It’s brilliant, and the best thing I’ve read on the iPad yet. I can’t recommend it more to Portal fans, gamers, and non-gamers alike.
Pick up The Final Hours of Portal 2 on iTunes now for just $1.99. It will be available for other platforms soon.
Images courtesy The Final Hours of Portal 2.
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