I'm midway though Portal 2 and the longer I play the series the more I'm convinced Valve has achieved something amazing in creating a horror series that, while containing all the elements of a horror story, isn't perceived that way at all.

What are you talking about? Horror needs to be scary. There's nothing in Portal that scared me.

" What are you talking about? Horror needs to be scary. There's nothing in Portal that scared me. "

While Valve gave Aperture Science a creepy vibe to it, Portal 2 is not a horror story at all.

" @yoshimitz707 said:

" What are you talking about? Horror needs to be scary. There's nothing in Portal that scared me. "

I don't know. Homicidal psychopathic robots are pretty scary. "

I don't follow.

If it has any connection to a book it would probably be "Catcher in the Rye" well although good, people think it's far more amazing that it really is, and make things up in their mind that they slowly believe must be true. As in thinking Portal is a horror game.

Or that Catcher in the Rye can make you kill people.

I thought it was a first person puzzle platformer with some cool story elements and a wicked sense of humor.

wat

Nah. Portal is kind of a hybrid thriller/comedy with puzzles. It's a weird combination but it's the balance they seem to have struck. Its an interesting breed.

There's nothing scary about Portal, though at times it can be intense (thus the thriller aspect) but leans more on it's comedy. Since Valve is good at what they do they still tend to humanize things and make characters fully fleshed out so even in the comedy sometimes it can turn on you. It's pretty clever although at times the writing felt schizophrenic.

I won't get into that, though, I know most here laud Portal as an amazing story and they are  entitled to believe as they do.
I guess my only point here is the game is mostly comedy with some psycho-thriller vibes to it which is a strange mix so it doesn't always work but for what they did it's pretty cool more often then not.

" @wolf_blitzer85 said:

" @yoshimitz707 said:

" What are you talking about? Horror needs to be scary. There's nothing in Portal that scared me. "

I don't know. Homicidal psychopathic robots are pretty scary. "

Not when they're constantly making jokes. "

If you wanna call Half Life 2 horror, you could have an argument, but Portal? No way.

If you consider Portal horror then you have very low standards for horror.

No, just no.

Seems more like a dark comedy or maybe a thriller.  There are certainly sinister elements and danger, but most genres have the main character in peril in order to produce tension and drama.  Horror tends to lean more on, well... horror, or a sense of revlusion.  That's why horror movies trade in graphic or disturbing imagery.

" I'm midway though Portal 2 and the longer I play the series the more I'm convinced Valve has achieved something amazing in creating a horror series that, while containing all the elements of a horror story, isn't perceived that way at all.

I'm curious what people think. How similar is the series to, say, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream?

"

" What are you talking about? Horror needs to be scary. There's nothing in Portal that scared me. "

I see a sci-fi dark comedy more than anything. There isn't anything creepy or monstrous about anything that goes on.

I guess you could perceive parts of it that way. Afterall, the only difference between GLaDOS and Shodan is that one pretends to give you cake...

I sort of agree with OP. At least as far as the first one is concerned. 

No. Having good ambience doesn't make it horror. Fact is, its just Chell down there and she never talks so there's not much at stake. As opposed to Half Life, where Alyx is around. All you have is a dumbass robot, then later a smartass robot in a potato and frankly its not a huge loss if either of them die. And you say "Silent Hill just has one character most of the time". Yeah, but its an actual character with a voice and emotions.

It's definitely dark, but I don't think it's horror. The game tries to thrill you, it tries to make you feel smart, it tries to make you laugh, but I don't feel like it ever tries to outright scare you.

It's definitely a horror game, the night after I beat it I kept having nightmares I turned into a potato!!!

I don't think so...I wasn't really scared at all. Portal 1 at least (haven't picked up 2 yet) did a very good job of creating an eerie/creepy atmosphere after the reveal that GlaDOS is evil, but I wasn't ever really scared by the game.

No, it's clearly science fiction.

" If you wanna call Half Life 2 horror, you could have an argument, but Portal? No way. "

Portal is not scary, it's a first person puzzle game that comes with a lot of jokes.

Even in the final fights there's not really much of a sense of urgency, and prior to that you can really take your sweet time the whole way through. Maybe if Rattman was chasing you around the whole game with rapey eyes. Horror is me being afraid to go to the next room, or afraid to stay in the current room. 

No, Portal is too funny to be a horror series.

The Australian band Portal sounds like horror.   

No horror in this game.

" What are you talking about? Horror needs to be scary. There's nothing in Portal that scared me. "

I always thought of it as an 80's comedy horror, like Gremlins or Ghoulies, without the killing and, sadly, full frontal nudity. If it wasn't for the jokes going off every 30 seconds, and if Gladous was constantly in her bitch mode, I could see it easily being a horror. More of a psychological thriller then anything.

Sure some of the jokes are a bit morbid, but I wouldn't call Portal 2 a scary game in any regard.

Short answer: No

Long Answer: No, dont be stupid

...nope.

Is Zelda a horror game?

Portal is no more horror than a Pixar movie.

People seem to be suggesting that portal can't be horror because it's funny. that's ridiculous, since many horror films such as Army Of Darkness are known as some of the best comedies of all time.

To people suggesting it can't be horror because it's not scary, that's completely subjective. I don't find nearly any horror film to be scary. To those saying it can't be horror because it's not gory or violent, the only horror films I DO find scary aren't gory or violent.

As was mentioned before, SHODAN and GlaDOS are actually very similar. Only, GlaDOS makes jokes while torturing you.

The point of the original post is that Valve has created a nightmare scenario, that of a  hellish prison of being forced to repeat the same tasks over and over again until you slowly drift into insanity and despair (as the people who came before Chell and wrote on the written have done), and cleaned it up to make it appear holy. Thus is, really, the entire joke of portal.

Instead of making the whole thing dark like Doom 3, they made it bright white. Instead of making the tormentor have a deep male voice, they made it have a sing-song female voice. Instead of making it directly curse and torment you, it curses and torments you with backwards compliments and false encouragement.

I think it's important to remember that Chell clearly doesn't find any of this funny, and if she were given a voice, she would likely spend 90% of the game screaming and crying. Also, just because the game sanitizes it's death situations, that doesn't mean that Chell isn't frequently riddled with bullets, burned with lasers, drowned, scalded, crushed, or impaled.

The cake is a lie.

The shiny facade of Portal is a lie.

So what is it really?

"@Kjellm87 said:

" Is Zelda a horror game?
"

" People seem to be suggesting that portal can't be horror because it's funny. that's ridiculous, since many horror films such as Army Of Darkness are known as some of the best comedies of all time.To people suggesting it can't be horror because it's not scary, that's completely subjective. I don't find nearly any horror film to be scary. To those saying it can't be horror because it's not gory or violent, the only horror films I DO find scary aren't gory or violent.As was mentioned before, SHODAN and GlaDOS are actually very similar. Only, GlaDOS makes jokes while torturing you.The point of the original post is that Valve has created a nightmare scenario, that of a  hellish prison of being forced to repeat the same tasks over and over again until you slowly drift into insanity and despair (as the people who came before Chell and wrote on the written have done), and cleaned it up to make it appear holy. Thus is, really, the entire joke of portal.Instead of making the whole thing dark like Doom 3, they made it bright white. Instead of making the tormentor have a deep male voice, they made it have a sing-song female voice. Instead of making it directly curse and torment you, it curses and torments you with backwards compliments and false encouragement.I think it's important to remember that Chell clearly doesn't find any of this funny, and if she were given a voice, she would likely spend 90% of the game screaming and crying. Also, just because the game sanitizes it's death situations, that doesn't mean that Chell isn't frequently riddled with bullets, burned with lasers, drowned, scalded, crushed, or impaled.The cake is a lie.The shiny facade of Portal is a lie.So what is it really? "