Buzz
When Valve launched Portal in 2007, it was a groundbreaking experience. Both critics and gamers lauded the innovative gameplay, the dry humor of GLaDOS (the AI that taunts you throughout your journey), and the game's fresh take on narrative. Fast forward to 2022, and while the gameplay still holds up, the visuals haven’t aged as gracefully. That’s why the news of a graphical upgrade is so exciting—and the best part is, if you already own Portal, you can update it for free.
Portal with RTX is a 2022 reimagining of the game’s original graphics, utilizing the NVIDIA RTX Remix tool, which builds upon similar enhancements seen in Quake II and Minecraft. RTX Remix brings ray tracing to Portal, a technique that simulates the way light rays interact with a 3D environment. This results in stunningly realistic, dynamically-lit settings, especially when paired with modern hardware.
In contrast to the original, the RTX version allows light to bounce off and interact with every surface in the game. The once-flat surfaces now have intricate textures, such as grooves and bumps, which help guide the light and create a more immersive experience. You’ll even notice light moving through the portals, reflecting back into your surroundings. Thanks to advanced volumetric ray tracing, the light also interacts with fog in a more natural and lifelike way.
What makes Portal with RTX stand out isn’t just the ray tracing. NVIDIA has completely overhauled the textures and models from the ground up. From the portals and companion cube to the portal gun, everything looks fully modernized. You can easily spot the drastic difference by checking out the diagrams on the official announcement page. The transformation is so striking that the 15-year-old game now feels like it was released alongside modern hits like God of War Ragnarök and Elden Ring.
One of the reasons why the original Portal is so beloved is that it can run on almost any system. You don’t need a high-end gaming PC to enjoy this iconic puzzle-platformer. But Portal with RTX demands a much more powerful setup. To run the game at 1080p 30 FPS with NVIDIA’s minimum specs, you'll need an RTX 3060 with DLSS 2. For 60 FPS, an RTX 3080 with DLSS 2 is recommended. For 4K 60 FPS, NVIDIA suggests an RTX 4080 with DLSS 3, plus 16GB of VRAM and 32GB of RAM. Quite the hardware requirements.
These are just NVIDIA's recommendations, but the update is free for anyone who has purchased Portal on PC, so you can give it a shot on your own system. The official release of the update will be on Thursday, Dec. 8, via Steam, so there's not much longer to wait. Even after all these years, Portal remains Still Alive.
