Portal is finally getting its Black Mesa moment, and it’s all thanks to the talented Rhubarb & Rhubarb. After 15 years and a brief ghosting stint with Valve, the team has finally finished work on Alive & Kicking, an ambitious fan-made reimagining of the original 2007 title that seeks to address the retcons and aesthetic changes of the sequel, making for a more seamless playthrough of both games.
“Portal: Alive & Kicking is released!” the team announced on Steam. “Hopefully, it will have been worth the wait.”
This is a momentous occasion, not only because Rhubarb & Rhubarb have spent over a decade whirring away in their spare time to bring their vision to life, but because, just last month, they hit a wall they couldn’t quite portal gun their way out of.
Dot Operator, one of the developers, explained that the team had signed an NDA and non-com form after using source code provided by Valve, only for Valve to go completely silent. That meant Rhubarb & Rhubarb couldn’t release the game, leaving a 100 percent finished game waiting in the wings.
Thankfully, that radio silence didn’t last long. You can download the mod right now, so long as you own a copy of Portal 2. It not only boasts a complete visual overhaul, but “improved puzzle cues” and even a “new dynamic soundtrack.” All with a stamp of approval from Portal developer Jeep Barnett, who helped program the iconic protal gun.
If You Can’t Download The Game, Here’s What To Do
There’s just a slight launch hitch. Rhubarb & Rhubarb has warned that “some people are unable to download the game,” and that the team is checking with Steam to fix this as soon as possible. In the meantime, there’s a workaround; wishlist the game and you can then download and launch it. Just make sure you install it on the same drive as Portal 2, or you’ll inevitably run into problems.
As for an idea of what the community thinks, the reviews are a little mixed. It has been described as “quite a good remake,” though others say it’s “disappointing” and “starts to have issues when you get to the escape sequence.” Broadly, the sentiment is that the test chambers are “excellent” and that something got lost in translation with the final GLADOS confrontation. Still, it’s a free remake. Who can turn that up?
- Released
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October 10, 2007
- ESRB
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t
- Engine
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Source Engine
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Verified
