Portal's Free Remaster With Ray Tracing Available Now On Steam

Nividia has released a new, RTX-enabled version of its classic puzzle game Portal. The release is available for free to existing owners, although even those who don't yet own it can do so quite cheaply.

If you haven't previously picked up the game it's currently 99 cents on Steam. Portal with RTX features full ray tracing, performance boost enabled by DLSS 3, and low latency via Nivida reflex. This Portal uses a particular kind of ray tracing called "path tracing," which makes all lighting effects, like shadows, reflections, and refractions, as part of a single algorithm.

Ray tracing is GPU intensive, so you'll need at minimum a GeForce RTX 3060 to run the game, according to the system requirements. To run the game on Ultra settings or use DLSS 3, you'll need a RTX 40 series. To play you will also need to have the original Portal and the latest GeForce drivers installed.

You can also find alternative cubes in play by scanning in-game QR codes with your phone, pressing Alt + X, clicking on the Developer Settings option, then going from the About page to Secrets, and finally entering the code you see on your phone.

To show off the tech, Portal's surfaces are made more reflective and light generally is denser and brighter. This gives Portal's puzzle rooms a high-tech, Apple Store sheen. It's undoubtedly a cool showcase, but it is a very different aesthetic vision than the sterile, claustrophobic rooms of the original game.

The tech used to make Portal with RTX, called RTX Remix, is planned for a separate release to help modders make their own, similar projects. In other related news, Portal and Portal 2 got ports on the Nintendo Switch earlier this year and a voice pack featuring Portal 2 character Cave Johnson hit Dota 2 in November. You can read the System Requirements below.

MINIMUM:

• Resolution: 1080p 30 FPS
• Graphics Preset: High
• GPU: Nivida GeForce RTX 3060 w/ DLSS 2
• Video Memory: 8GB
• CPU: Intel i7-6700, AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• Memory: 16GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Hard-Drive Space: 25GB SSD

RECOMMENDED:

• Resolution: 1080p 60 FPS
• Graphics Preset: High
• GPU: Nivida GeForce RTX 3080 w/ DLSS 2
• Video Memory: 8GB
• CPU: Intel i7-6700, AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• Memory: 16GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Hard-Drive Space: 25GB SSD

ULTRA:

• Resolution: 2160p 60 FPS
• Graphics Preset: Ultra
• GPU: Nivida GeForce RTX 4080 w/ DLSS 3
• Video Memory: 16GB
• CPU: Intel i7-12700K, AMD Ryzen 9 5900
• Memory: 32GB
• OS: 64-bit Windows 10 / Windows 11
• Hard-Drive Space: 25GB SSD