Alive & Kicking Just Got A Surprise Release

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Anyone who was gaming in earnest back in the mid-2000s will remember The Orange Box, a legendary compilation of games from Valve, back when they were still churning out great titles like it was going out of fashion. Half-Life 2 was the headline act, and it remains the most recent game we’ve had in the series, despite impossibly loud calls for a third from fans.

The real surprise hit from the five-game package, however, was Portal, a single-player first-person action/puzzle game that allows players to fire a portal gun to navigate previously impassable areas. It’s a genuinely amazing game, and it would be great to see an official return to it at some point, ideally in the form of a trilogy title.

Until then, one sterling developer has managed to bring the original back in a whole new way, and it could be a great way to spend next weekend if you’re searching for something to do.

GLaDOS hanging from the ceiling in Portal.

As first reported by DSO Gaming, developers Rhubarb & Rhubarb has released Portal: Alive & Kicking, a full remake of the first Portal game in the Portal 2 engine. It’s an ambitious project, and one that brings the original game back in a whole new way, with potential additions to the content coming in the future. In sharing the main features players can expect, the developer confirmed the following bullet points:

Full Re-Imagining: Relive the classic game with improved visuals, rivaling even those of Portal 2.

Gameplay & Visual Enhancements: Improvements range from improved puzzle cues to a carefully designed visual style, as well as countless little details.

Original Soundtrack: New dynamic soundtrack that combines the styles of both Portal’s forlorn drones and Portal 2’s reactive scoring.

Future Content: Alive & Kicking includes our rendition of the original campaign and its Advanced chambers. We may release additional content for free in the future as it’s developed.

The credentials of the download really are very impressive as well, with original Portal developer Jeep Barnett weighing in to let fans know just how much effort has gone into making the recreation as faithful as possible.

“I’m often nit-picky, but even with my intimate familiarity of Portal I can see that nothing has been overlooked. Every tile on every panel has been revisited with loving detail. Not only have the visuals been updated to match Portal 2, but the weaker puzzle cues have been improved. I’m really looking forward to what they’ll do with the Behind the Scenes areas,” Barnett said.

The player falling down an infinite loop of orange portals in Portal.

The download released at the end of August, and owners of the original Portal can play it entirely for free right now, via Steam. Development is continuing, so expect more updates in the future, and there’s a full breakdown of the technical requirements needed at the bottom of the download page.