Program:	PORTAL
	Company:	Valve / Steam
	Website:	store.steampowered.com/freeportal
	Price:	FREE (until May 24, 2010)
	FSF Rating:

Have you ever awakened in a sealed room with only the basic necessities while a voice talks to you and, after a moment, guides you through a set of tests? No, well now you can for Free.

To Celebrate the release of Steam on the MAC OS, Valve has released the full version of PORTAL to everyone for free! You say you've never heard of Portal? well, that just cannot be. I'll do my best to let you know what it is without ruining the story.

What Is It

Portal is a First Person Shooter style game, but there are no other people in the game. The only gun you get is a Portal gun which the game describes to you how to use and why you're using it. There is no real back story. You wake up in a sealed room while a voice gives you commands over an intercom. You don't know how you got there or what you're doing there, so might as well follow the commands.

The game is a lot like Wolfenstein... like the original 3D one. Each level is a chamber that starts with you in one room, has a set of obstacles for you to overcome and ends when you enter an elevator to take you to the next room. Sound a lot like Wolf3D? The twist is that each room is a puzzle that you must figure out. 

The only other character in the story is a computer named GlaDOS, who gives you commands and helps you through the chambers. GlaDOS was built by the Aperture Science facility to run the tests, and apparently she does a good job. So, you embark on a set of tests with GlaDOS by your side. What could possibly go wrong?

How To Get It

Go to the link above and click the button to get Portal. If you don't have a Steam account, you'll need to set one of those up. Then simply click over to the Portal page once logged in to get portal. A license for the game is assigned to your Steam account, so you can even install the game after the promotion is over. A full game for free isn't bad, but you get more!

What Else Do You Get?

1. First, you get what is possibly the best puzzle game ever made: PORTAL
2. With Portal, the full version, you can download Portal: Prelude - A fan made prequel which takes place during the building of GlaDOS. You get to meet the people who work for Aperture Science and witness the construction of your guide.
3. Because of the wicked response to Portal, another group of fans programmed a flash version of Portal, you can play it in your browser here. But that's not all. You can also download the map pack for Portal: The Flash Version and play it in the full version of Portal. Click here to download the pack.
4. Finally, if you head over to PortalMaps.net, you can download many custom levels made by fans of Portal.
5. If you'd like to try your hand at making levels for portal, you can use Hammer. A how to is available here.
6. You can strut on over to here to dload the Portal In-Game map editor. There's a vid on the site that shows the app in action.

Final Thoughts and Rating

I played Portal years ago, but now that it's free, I'm letting everyone I can know. The game truly ranks a full 5 stars! So, what are you waiting for? Go get you some portal now!