portal | Line Hollis

From QWOP: a runner falling over backwards

Dying Is Easy

August 22, 2011 / 0 comments

Many aspects of drama are famously difficult to copy directly from other media to games. Game writers are forever struggling with how to create suspense, emotional impact, and thematic consistency in games with grand epic storylines. A similar set of problems are faced in games that go for a comic tone. Just like drama, comedy…

The Hostile Guide

June 7, 2011 / 0 comments

[Note: This post originally appeared at Robot Geek. I’m gradually backing these up here.] Spoiler alerts: Bioshock, Loved, Mass Effect 2, Memento, Portal, Seven Minutes, The Usual Suspects. The recent release of Portal 2 has rekindled the world’s love affair with GLaDOS, the chirpy AI who delivers instructions and insults throughout the original game. GLaDOS represents a…

Loved (2010)

March 18, 2011 / 0 comments

The hostile guide has become a common trope in art and indie games (not to mention some bigger games like Portal). Designers can’t get enough of having a disembodied voice berate you and lead you astray. In Seven Minutes (review), a furious floating head tries to convince you that you can only win the game…