Building comparison
head to head
Faces of WarvsPortal
Faces of War asks more than Portal, and the gap is variance.
Faces of War
Optimization · Pure Optimization
A realistic WWII tactical squad-based strategy game about mission planning.
Portal
Optimization · Pure Optimization
The portal-gun puzzle game whose solutions are everything.
Faces of War leans Optimization (Pure Optimization); Portal leans Optimization (Pure Optimization).
Faces of WarPortal
Axis by axis
Execution3 vs 4
Portal leans a little harder on execution, though the gap is small.
Faces of War
direct unit control requires some precision
Portal
Portal placement timing modest.
Reads2 vs 0
Faces of War leans clearly harder on reads.
Faces of War
AI and human opponents shift tactics somewhat
Portal
No adversary modeling player.
Variance3 vs 0
Faces of War leans clearly harder on variance.
Faces of War
combat outcomes have random elements
Portal
Deterministic chambers; no randomness.
Optimization8 vs 8
Same score on optimization - which means the number cannot separate them. The difference is in what each one asks of you.
Faces of War
squad tactics and mission planning deep
Portal
Pure puzzle-solving optimization.
A matching score does not mean a matching test. Two games can both sit at 10 on execution and demand completely different things of you - which is why the reasoning above matters more than the number beside it.