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PORTAL Und PORTAL 2 – Eine Einführung 2015 Repositorium für die Medienwissenschaft Philipp Fust PORTAL und PORTAL 2 – Eine Einführung 2015 https://doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/14995 Veröffentlichungsversion / published version Sammelbandbeitrag / collection article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Fust, Philipp: PORTAL und PORTAL 2 – Eine Einführung. In: Thomas Hensel, Britta Neitzel, Rolf F. Nohr (Hg.): »The cake is a lie!« Polyperspektivische Betrachtungen des Computerspiels am Beispiel von PORTAL. Münster: LIT 2015, S. 21– 28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25969/mediarep/14995. Erstmalig hier erschienen / Initial publication here: http://nuetzliche-bilder.de/bilder/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Hensel_Neitzel_Nohr_Portal_Onlienausgabe.pdf Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer Creative Commons - This document is made available under a creative commons - Namensnennung - Nicht kommerziell - Weitergabe unter Attribution - Non Commercial - Share Alike 3.0/ License. For more gleichen Bedingungen 3.0/ Lizenz zur Verfügung gestellt. Nähere information see: Auskünfte zu dieser Lizenz finden Sie hier: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ Philipp Fust ›Portal‹ und ›Portal 2‹ – Eine Einführung Portal wurde von der amerikanischen Softwarefirma Valve Corporation ent- wickelt und als Teil der Spielsammlung Orange Box im Oktober 2007 für PC und Xbox 360 sowie über die hauseigene Internetplattform Steam als digitaler Download vertrieben. Eine Version für die PlayStation 3 erschien wenige Zeit später im Dezember. Der Titel wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen¯1 ausgezeichnet und dank seines originellen Spielprinzips vom Museum of Modern Art in New York neben dreizehn weiteren Titel in eine ausgesuchte Sammlung an heraus- ragenden Computerspielen aufgenommen.¯2 Die Wurzeln der Spielmechanik reichen zurück auf den geistigen Vorgänger Narbacular Drop (DigiPen Institute of Technology 2005, Nuclear Monkey Soft- ware) zurück, welcher von sieben Studenten des DigiPen Institute of Techno- logy in Washington entwickelt wurde.¯3 In diesem PC-Spiel steuert der Spieler einen kleinen Dämonen namens Wally aus der Ego-Perspektive¯4 durch laby- rinthartige Level und muss Aufgaben lösen, indem er sich der speziellen Kräf- te der Kreatur bedient. So ist diese imstande, Portale zu erschaffen, die zwei räumliche Punkte miteinander verbinden. Via Klick auf die linke Maustaste er- scheint an anvisierter Oberfläche ein blaues Portal, ein Rechtsklick setzt das dazugehörige orangefarbene. Es gilt: Wer sich in das eine Portal hineinbegibt, kommt aus dem anderen unmittelbar und in unveränderter Gestalt wieder he- raus. Auf diese Weise lassen sich große Entfernungen und Abgründe überwin- den. Dieses Prinzip der Raummanipulation – darüber hinaus das Farbschema der Portale – wurde in Portal übernommen, wobei man in diesem Fall mit der sogenannten »Portal-Gun« die Übergänge¯5 erzeugt und es zahlreiche Test- kammern zu bestreiten gilt. Ziel des Spiels ist es, komplexe Aufgaben in oft- mals auf mehreren Ebenen angelegten Räumen zu meistern und den Ausgang zur nächsten Kammer zu erreichen. Valve hat die Idee der Studenten übernom- men und diese für die Produktion des Spiels engagiert. Wie auch schon Valves Ego-Shooter Half-Life (Sierra Entertainment, Electro- nic Arts, Valve Corporation 1998, Valve Corporation), in dessen Universum sich Portal abspielt, läuft der Titel auf der ›Source-Engine‹¯6. Diese ermöglicht »re- alistische« physikalische Effekte:¯7 »Speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes Einführung 21 out«,¯8 lautet eine in Portal formulierte Formel der Spielmechanik. Dies be- deutet, dass man mit der Eintrittgeschwindigkeit in das eine Portal das jewei- lige andere auch wieder verlässt. Platziert man nun ein Portal auf dem Grund eines Grabens, ein anderes in relativer Höhe an einer Wandfläche, dann führt ein Sprung in das unten gelegene Portal dazu, dass man mit entsprechender Geschwindigkeit aus dem obigen heraus »fliegt«. Auf diese Weise ist es mög- lich, große Entfernungen und Hindernisse wie Säurebecken zu überwinden. Die simulierte Gravitation erweist sich als ein zentrales Element des Game- plays, da die Wirkung der Anziehungskraft auf die Spielfigur für die Bewälti- gung der einzelnen Tests mit einkalkuliert werden muss. Gleiches gilt für Ob- jekte wie die häufig anzutreffenden Würfel. Diese müssen unter anderem auf Bodenschalter platziert werden, damit sich der Ausgang zur nächsten Testkam- mer öffnet. Sie lassen sich ebenso wie die Spielfigur von einem Ort zum näch- sten teleportieren. Diegetisch ist Portal in dem Forschungskomplex Aperture Science Enrichment Center der Aperture Laboratories angesiedelt, einer Konkurrenzfirma der Black Mesa Research Facility, in der sich die Handlung des ersten Teils von Half-Life abspielt. Gemeinsam haben die beiden Titel nicht nur ihren Schauplatz in For- schungseinrichtungen. Schon Half-Life besticht im Wesentlichen dadurch, dass es sich von herkömmlichen, eindimensionalen Spielprinzipien abwendet, wie man sie typischerweise in klassischen Ego-Shootern wie Doom (Activisi- on, Bethesda Softworks, GT Interactive Software 1993, id Software, Midway Games, Nerve Software) vorfindet. So geht es nicht nur darum, sich mit un- terschiedlichen Waffen diverser Gegner zu erwehren. Ebenso steht das Über- winden von Hindernissen, die Interaktion mit Gegenständen und das Zurecht- finden in einer vertrackten Levelarchitektur im Vordergrund. In Portal wird gar, mit Ausnahme von Geschütztürmen, die man überlisten oder umgehen muss, gänzlich auf Waffengewalt verzichtet. Half-Life zeichnet sich fernerhin dadurch aus, dass die Narration für damalige Verhältnisse im Ego-Shooter-Be- reich ungewöhnlich komplex ausfällt und vollständig aus der Ich-Perspektive erzählt wird. Britta Neitzel bezeichnet diese Perspektive als den subjektiven Point of View, da der Avatar selbst nicht visualisiert wird. Man betrachtet le- diglich eine vorgehaltene Hand mit Waffe und erlebt das gesamte Spiel durch die Augen der Spielfigur. Auf diese Weise, so Neitzel, wird die Distanz zum Spiel verringert (Vgl. Neitzel 2007, 21f.). Dies gilt für Half-Life ebenso wie für Portal . Dementsprechend könnte man Portal genretechnisch als Mischung aus Puzz- lespiel und First-Person-Action-Adventure charakterisieren (zur Genreproble- matik vgl. den Beitrag von Thomas Hensel in diesem Band). 22 Philipp Fust Die Geschichte von Portal und ebenfalls dem Nachfolger Portal 2, der im April 2011 für alle genannten Plattformen erschien und mit über vier Millionen ver- kauften Einheiten¯9 noch erfolgreicher als sein Vorgänger war, versetzt den Spieler in die Rolle der jungen Frau Chell. Im ersten Teil erwacht diese eines Ta- ges in einer gläsernen Zelle und wird aufgefordert, zahlreiche Tests zu absol- vieren. Ausgeliefert ist sie nicht nur der permanenten Überwachung durch Ka- meras, sondern den Launen des Supercomputers GLaDOS (Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System), der sie mit weiblicher Stimme durch das Testprocede- re führt. Die »menschlichen« Züge des Computers erinnern an HAL 9000 aus 2001: A Space Odyssey (R.: Stanley Kubrick, UK/USA 1968). Wie Kubricks kultu- reller Prototyp eines emotionalen Computers, der dem Menschen zum Feind wird, verhält sich GLaDOS mal fürsorglich und freundlich, ein anderes Mal ag- gressiv und sarkastisch, man könnte sagen mitunter schizophren. Um Chell zu motivieren wird ihr ein Kuchen versprochen, den sie am Ende der Testserie er- halten soll. Dass es die mittlerweile wohl berühmteste Süßspeise der Compu- terspielgeschichte nicht zu geben scheint – eine im Spiel auftauchende Notiz eines anderen Testprobanden mit den Worten »The Cake is a Lie!«¯10 unter- streicht diesen Verdacht –, verweist darüber hinaus auf ihre Fähigkeit zur Lüge und Manipulation. Die Zerstörung von GLaDOS stellt sich im Verlauf des Spiels als das Hauptziel heraus. Interessant ist zunächst, auf welche Weise GLaDOS den Spieler durch die einzel- nen Tests geleitet. Im Spiel kommen Schautafeln mit aufgedruckten Symbolen zum Einsatz, die auf die Interaktionsmöglichkeiten mit der Umgebung und den Objekten hindeuten, ohne die Lösung eindeutig preiszugeben. Parallel dazu gibt GLaDOS verbale Hinweise. Diese fallen jedoch grundsätzlich sehr vage und vor allem zynisch aus: »Please note that we have added a consequence for fai- lure. Any contact with the chamber floor will result in an unsatisfactory mark on your official testing record, followed by death. Good luck!«.¯11 Typischer- weise für Computerspiele steigt in Portal der Schwierigkeitsgrad sukzessive an. Ist es zu Beginn noch ausreichend, wenige einzelne Manöver wie das ex- akte Platzieren der Portale, die Koordination im dreidimensionalen Raum und das Sprungverhalten der Spielfigur zu beherrschen, werden diese im Verlauf des Spiels um komplizierte Problemstellungen und Reaktionstests erweitert. So gilt es in späteren Passagen im Flug punktgenau Portale zu setzen und an- gemessen auf kombinierte Handlungsabfragen zu reagieren. Matthias Bopp spricht diesbezüglich von »Sequenzierung« (Bopp 2006, 184). Unter handlungstheoretischer Betrachtungsweise ist der Spieler dazu aufge- fordert, durch wiederholtes Probieren den Anforderungen des Spiels gerecht zu werden; es dominieren die Imperative: Probiere! Wiederhole! Werde ge- Einführung 23 recht! Gelingt ihm dies nicht, setzt ihn das Spiel an den Anfang der jeweiligen Testkammer zurück, während umfangreicherer Tests zum letzten automatisch erzeugten Speicherpunkt (»autosave«). Letztere sind insbesondere in Portal 2 relevant, das im Unterschied zum
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