__You are about to enter __another dimension, a dimension not only of traps and pitfalls but of peculiar spatial rifts. It's called the Aperture Science Enrichment Center, and it's the setting of Portal, available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in October. You'll be armed with a device that blasts open warp portals, helping you survive by defying the laws of physics. This mind-bending puzzler started as a project by seven students from DigiPen Institute of Technology outside Seattle. "We wanted to get people's attention — and get jobs," level designer Kim Swift says. Mission accomplished. After seeing a 15-minute demo of their bizarre concept, the managing director of game publisher Valve (Half-Life, Counter-Strike) hired them to turn it into a finished title. Take a warped tour.
How to Bend the Laws of Physics
__1) __Portal players get an Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, which can create warp portals between any two flat surfaces.
1a) Fire at a wall, floor, or ceiling to create an entrance point.
1b) Fire where you'd like to end up to make an exit point.
2) Some obstacles can be dodged only by creating portals.
__2a) __Blast an entry point in the ground.
__2b) __Create an exit point on the far wall. Drop through the hole in the ground and you'll emerge on the other side of the spike pit.
3) The game poses conundrums, like how to get up to a platform that you can't jump high enough to reach. The solutions often rely on the fact that momentum is maintained when warping.
__3a) __Create an entry portal one level down.
__3b) __Bore an exit point on the floor next to you. Leap down into the entry portal. Even though you'll be moving in the opposite direction, when you reemerge your inertia will propel you all the way to the upper level.
4) Take advantage of objects in the environment to neutralize gun emplacements and other dangers.
4a) Open an entry portal under a box.
__4b) __Put an exit portal above the gun. The falling box will gather enough speed to knock over the gun.
Illustration: Jason Lee
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