Portal – Thories And Game Ideas
So we had this new update for Valve’s Portal which said, “Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations.” Which I personally thought was an ode to eventual conversion to HD Radio since the US recently did the over-the-air TV switch. Apparently, there was more to it than that.
The above link will take you to Steam’s Forums where a 50+ page thread has been going to try to distinguish exactly what is going on. Long story short, Valve is taking a note from the Lost alternate reality web based interactive drama that was done about 2 years ago by inserting several small hints around which lead to your next hint. This makes for a very technical and puzzle filled game of hide-and-go-seek as it were.
So what has been found so far? Well, there were 12 radios added into the game, all apparently broadcasting morse code and help in unlocking a new achievement. If you use the codes you can generate a number which connects to a modem. The modem is connected to a BBS system which runs under the host name of GLaDOS. And as of posting this, someone on the Something Awful forums just got into the BBS and the following popped up:

So, what does it all mean? Well, some have thought that it might be the distress code from the Borealis though this seems unlikely as Portal is highly believed to be farther back in the past than that. So what could it be?
Honestly, from a lore perspective, I would guess this would be a distress signal from the government after ‘The Incident’ with Gordon Freeman in the test lab. Yes, all the way back to the first game. Why would they have us go back to the first game you may wonder. From a lore perspective, this shows exactly what our new ‘cyborg’ friend was up to during the first game and what exactly happened to Aperture Science, maybe even giving some hints as to why Glados went nuts and killed everyone.
Code Black, No One Survives!
Aperture Science worked with the government on a regular basis and infact competed with Black Mesa for the defense contract. They won and as such were given everything they could have ever wanted and more. Black Mesa was like the red-headed stepchild of the science world at the time. They had the stereotypical underground bunker, the failing rate equal to that of any US president in the last decade and security officers that looked like they were the scientists that got kicked out for receiving Cs in college.
In the second game you find out that you were more or less set up by your administrator to open a portal to Zen and bring upon the Combine Wars. It was originally portrayed that by destroying most of the world, Breen could rise to power and be ambassador to the Combine. This in turn took out both Black Mesa and Aperture Science. So…
It’s a bit of a stretch but I wouldn’t put it past Valve to do this, what if the G-Man was owner of both companies? What if he set Glados up to wipe everyone out and then in turn saved 2 people to clean up the mess? Ofcourse this being Gordon Freeman and Chell, one male and one female, ofcourse. Which would start to imply that they may have really meant to kill off Alyx in Episode 2 but pulled from the idea after the critical fan reaction. So if Aperture Science was wiped out by a remote command and Black Mesa was wiped out by the government trying to contain the alien out break, where’s the connection?
I See Dead People
One of the easiest explanations would be that the G-Man is a very evil ‘man’ (I still fully believe he is from Zen or Zan) and is using everyone for his own enjoyment / profit. He has the power to more or less throw you in and out of stasis at will and only loses that power finally in Episode 2. Chell has yet to hear from him but that doesn’t mean she won’t. In a sense Glados is her version of the G-Man and from what little we’ve heard, Glados may still yet exist.
The other idea is that Breen started the alien out break with his agreement with the Combine and this sent a trigger to Aperture which in turn sent a trigger to the government. I’m honestly guessing they are throwing out Opposing Force and Blue Shift as cannon now since those weren’t made solely by Valve. Let’s face it, Shepherd ain’t coming back. So I’m gonna completely ignore any notion that the government were already on their way to Black Mesa and just happened to get caught in the alien attack.
Nostalgia Sells
So back to the original question, why go back to the start of the game? Well, they seem pretty adamant about bringing the story to a final conclusion with Episode 3 / Half-Life 3 (Cmon, taking this long to develop, it better not be another 6 hours killing spree), and they seem like they genuinely want to include Portal into the universe as an avid story arc. So bringing the game back to the start both shows the character and how she will be introduced in Episode 3 (I don’t think episode 3 will be released with portal 2) and give them plenty of back story time to work with until they’ve made enough portal gun games to saturate the market. It’s a marketing move in earnest when they decide that, “Hey, why not go back to the start and make Portal in the same time period. Just insert some memorable story elements every now and then to make the player believe that Gordon and Chell are in the same world.” (Ofcourse that not being a quote…)
I don’t blame Valve if they go this path, I’d do it too, to be honest. Finish up one of the best franchises ever and release 3-4 games instead of just one. So what does this mean for Episode 3? I think we still have a few years before it’s even announced. As for Portal 2, I think it will be coming next year most likely with a new story, multi-player (prob more of a competitive challenge mode instead of the deathmatch mode we are all hoping for) and a real level builder that is easy to use. Honestly, I don’t know if I’d pay $50 for another Portal game though, I’d probably end up pitching in with someone else, split the cost and pick it up on a Steam sale a few years down the line.
Thera


