I didn’t have the best experience playing Portal chambers 11-17. I actually replayed chambers 1-10 first because I had played them the first time without a mouse and with the sound off. Since I already knew how to complete the levels and could see the chambers a lot better with the use of a mouse, I flew through these levels. I was optimistic when I got to level 11, but I was too quick to assume that the next few chambers would be as easy as the previous ones. By the time I finally figured out that I needed to pick up the double portal gun, I had developed some serious motion sickness. After that, playing chambers 12-17 was kind of miserable for me. The levels were a lot longer and a lot more challenging, and I felt lightheaded and nauseous the entire time. I started to lose my patience when I died about 5 times in a row on level 14, and after spending 20 minutes on level 15 and feeling extremely sick, I gave up and looked up walk throughs for the last three chambers.

I found the sound effects frustrating for these chambers, particularly the background music. Maybe its because I wasn’t feeling great and spent a long time on these levels, but I didn’t think the sound effects were enhancing the game at all. I also didn’t know what to make of Glados’ comments. She contradicted herself from level to level and never said anything particularly helpful. I thought it was ironic when she made the comment about passing out from motion sickness on level 13 because I seriously thought I was going to by the end of it. I understand that Glados plays a role in explaining the objectives and plot of the game, but I think I enjoyed playing the game more the first time around when I had the sound off and didn’t know Glados existed.