Portal 2 Reviews

Are you still there?
2007 saw the release of The Orange Box by the ever popular developer Valve, a neat little package of five popular titles for the price of one. Asking consumers which of these games they found to be the most memorable would probably result in varied answers. Some would say Half-Life 2 and its expansions. Some would say Team Fortress 2. But most would say they found Portal to be the most interesting. Now it's 2011 and Portal has spawned a sequel to the instant fan favorite. But can the sequel live up to its predecessor's reputation?

Plot summary
Years (or centuries?) have passed since Chell, the protagnist of Portal, destroyed the sadistic machine GLaDOS and managed to get tossed to the surface. Unfortunately, she finds herself still trapped in the Aperture Science facility, the seemingly only survivor of the human test subjects. Through her room enters Wheatley, a small robot that tries to help you escape the facility. Escaping, however, requires you to pass through GLaDOS' destroyed remains. The thing is that she is not entirely dead. And you have a lot of testing to cover for all those years she was deactivated.

Still thinking with portals
Let me start off by saying that Portal 2 is a game that radiates with warmth, personality and charm - which is not something you will find in your average puzzle game. Valve seems to have taken notice of what worked in the original formula and expanded on it to bring us a more complete package. The storyline has been improved greatly. New characters have been added that fit greatly into the universe (and the voice acting is also very good, might I add). And new puzzles have been included that will make you want to tear your brain out. Portal 2 is still centered around its namesake equipment, the portal gun (or more specifically the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, as pointed out by moogless), which allows you to create portals between two spaces. I am sure something like this can drive weaker men insane.

One mind is powerful...
Portal 2 is divided between single player and co-op content. So let me start out with the single player part first. To be frank, what I did not like about the original Portal was that there were very few surprises and little to see as you made your way through each test chamber. You could always look at the wall to see how many rooms there were ahead of you. Hopefully there would be a surprise in the end in the form of a cake.
In the sequel you will see test chambers getting ripped to shreds. You will see massive constructs crash into each other. There is a lot of destruction and large areas to behold, all while having to listen to the famlilar taunting of one of modern gaming's most beloved antagonists.
Even if there is a story to the game, Valve has not forgotten that Portal 2 is a puzzle game, which really shows in the various tests you are forced through. If you have played the original, there are a lot of familiar solutions to the challenges you come over, but also some new ones (that can perhaps feel a bit out of place). Some of the challenges seem downright insane in difficulty, but, once you think things through for a bit, you will find that there is always a solution.

...but two are even better
Let us not forget about cooperation! While some probably thinks that co-op plays like the campaign mode with an additional player, they are dead wrong. You and your partner take on the roles of P-body and Atlus, robotic constructs that have been made to replace human test subjects. Since they are instantly reassembled upon death, they are simply perfect for testing without failure.
When I first tested co-op (with Flowlance), I thought each of us would be given one portal each to place as we placed. The truth is that you are given two each, which adds up to a total of four differently marked portals at once. You'd think that would make the challenges harder, but you should never underestimate how well two minds work compared to a single one.
Picture this. A button opens a door. A heavy door at that. So you ask your dearest friend to stand on the button while you check what is inside the door. What happens if your friend decides to step off the button just as you enter? The door slams shut and you die. But don't worry, for you will instantly respawn without penalty. And don't you think for a second your friend won't exploit that. This is what makes Portal 2 a great way to measure how much you trust your friends.

Minor drawbacks
So far I have only praised Portal 2 for its sheer genius in execution and design, but sadly there are some drawbacks that cannot be ignored.
For single player, my only complaint lies with the ending and its similarity to Portal. And the credit screen tries hard to be as memorable as 'Still Alive'. Too hard. The loading screens can be quite painful as well, especially considering you have to load every time you die. And in the end you have to expect a lot of deaths.
As for the co-op, I wish there were more variation to the objectives rather than go through 8 to 9 chambers in 5 different 'categories' and that's it. As much fun as it is to push your partner down an endless pit while he's waving at you, nothing else worth coming back to makes the replayability very low.

Verdict and summary
Complaints aside, there is an enormous amount of value to be found in Portal 2. The humor is well placed (and doesn't feel forced like it did in Comic Jumper), the puzzles are challenging and the environments are gorgeous. All of these points are only some of the enjoyment you will find in the game, and also what makes the game worth to invest in. Just do keep in mind that game is not for everyone. There is a lot of patience required that might put some people off. Remember, it's a puzzle game. And in the genre it's trying to fit into it is as close to perfection as it can get.

+: Visually beautiful
+: Challenging
+: Co-op
+: Lengthy and varied single player
- : Little replayability in Co-op
- : Loading screens


SCORE: 9/10

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Currently, I only discuss the single-player campaign, which is sufficient for a basic review of the mechanics and general feel of the game. I haven't completed the co-op campaign yet, but will edit my review when I do.

With Portal 2, Valve deftly surpasses most of what made the original so incredibly memorable. While not necessarily adding much new to their puzzle-solving-formula, the story, humor and presentation linger longer than the actual puzzles after the credits have rolled, and that's not necessarily a bad thing at all.

The curtains are flung wide open this time and the scope is magnified by 1000 as you once again venture through Aperture Laboratories as the muted protagonist Chell. It's been some time since you were walking into walls and out of ceilings with your portal gun, solving puzzle rooms and frustrating the murderous wiles of your kindly-psychotic, robotic guide GLaDOS. The labs have certainly seen better days: Panels lay crushed, walls are off kilter, and various structural innards make passage impossible without some help. Here is where your trusty portal gun and memorable cast of characters come in to make Portal 2 a worthy argument that video games are, without a doubt, art.

If you played the original, you know how the trademark mechanics work. If you’re new to these mind-twisting elements called “portals,” here’s a lesson on how they help you progress: panels of a certain material allow you to use your portal gun to make a hole that can connect to another hole you’ve made somewhere else on a similar panel. That sounds confusing, but say you’ve made a hole in the floor and one in the ceiling: go through the one in the floor … you’ll come out the one in the ceiling, and vice versa. It’s mind-bending at first, but once you have your eureka moment and understand the physics, things only get better and more challenging from there.

Coming from a 4-hour fun and humorous puzzler, the sequel has the challenge of being engaging for a longer period of time worthy of a full-fledged, stand alone title while keeping what made it delightful in the first place. Although the sequel brings with it all the basic elements that established the Portal name (puzzles with portals, turrets, cubes, GLaDOS, dark hilarity), Valve has given us a slightly different experience.

One way they’ve met the demands is to branch out farther from the test chambers than before. Yes, you’ll still find yourself confined to rooms with panels, lasers and cubes with (seemingly) only one way out, but to avoid the monotony of room after room, we get to see the bigger picture of what’s going on behind the panels and even a history of Aperture Labs. This makes perfect sense because not only were the puzzle elements well done in the first game, the writing and character of GLaDOS were so highly praised that to ignore those aspects would be a disgrace to the narrative and clever talents of those who have crafted it. Thankfully, Portal 2 does not disappoint.

In many ways, the writing outshines anything else in Portal 2. The puzzle designs are fun and keep you going, but the characterizations of GLaDOS and show-stealing personality core Wheatley constantly entertain you and make the whole experience an intelligent and darkly comic joy. We even hear the voice of Aperture Labs founder, Cave Johnson, and his lines are as equally well-voiced and written. The humor stands out, as it is constant and drips with sarcasm and subtext, but there are some strong moments of drama and sincerity that bring the whole storytelling to a deeper, richer level.

With all that said, it’s not tip-top perfection. The story elements serve best to change the pace from going from puzzle to puzzle, but things can still feel a bit repetitive by the end (the same can be said of the writing, as we expect a punch line after every other sentence). Thankfully, Valve was aware and didn’t make the campaign too long or too short. The puzzles themselves, though, don’t seem to be as devilish, although they still progress nicely in difficulty. That’s not to say they’re not good, but I still didn’t feel like I had to think too much outside the box than usual. Also, when you’re taken outside the test chambers, sometimes the level designs fall victim to a “Well, we need the player to have a panel they can make a portal in ... we'll throw one in on the wall over there for the heck of it" mentality; panels don’t always have a logical reasoning for being where they are, even if the place is supposed to be lying in ruins. And unfortunately the graphics overall are passable to good, but not stellar (with the exceptions of GLaDOS and Wheatley who need that extra bit of attention).

I also miss the option of a Challenge mode like there is in the original. Granted, the narrative doesn’t really lend itself to one, but puzzlers have that natural element of solving them and trying again even more quickly that it seems puzzling (pun!) not to include something like it to provide that infinite replayability. I guess the addition of co-op supplements this lack.

I will be adding the co-op portion of this review once I have finished it.

It could be argued that Portal 2 is not a $60 worthy title due to its lack of replay and scant offerings. In my humble opinion, Portal 2 satisfies the heck out of me and my wallet. It’s a fun offering with puzzle and plot twists that is long enough if you don’t rush though it but instead appreciate the story and characters, which are the forefront this time. Add a separate-but-related cooperative mode and you’ve extended the game’s worth a bit more. I’d rather pay well for a quality product that knows what it can best offer rather than several uninspired, tacked-on hours just to add length.

The original Portal threw the typical FPS and puzzler conventions on their heads and made it’s own spot in the industry. Now, with 2, we are given a similar journey with puzzles to solve, but with deeper meanings, more humor, and more reasons to appreciate the mythos inside and outside Aperture Labs. While not perfect, it’s still one of the most enjoyable experiences you will have in video games. Ever.

Do yourself a favor and play Portal 2 . For science.

Personification is described as giving inanimate objects life like characteristics, the ability to make something inanimate seem lively. In Portal 2's case, it is the ability to make the robotic inhabitants of Aperture, the corporation introduced in Portal, come alive with character. It speaks volumes about the level of Portal 2's use of personification when the game's thought-provoking puzzles and intricate, entertaining plot take a backseat when it comes to the robotic cast of Portal 2.

Portal 2 puts you back into the gravity defying boots of Chell, silent protagonist of the first game. Chell has been “asleep” for a long time now, with a massive indent in the bed to boot. She is awoken by Wheatley, a well-meaning but inept Core, who then attempts to free her by crashing the room she is in through a wall, known to Wheatley as a “manual override”. Through a couple of falls through broken down test chambers, now overflown with flora, Chell finds the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, otherwise known as the Portal Gun.

The core puzzle-solving of Portal is back, allowing Chell to navigate the now-defunct test chambers through portal placement and momentum. New additions are sprinkled densely within the test chambers, as well as returning favorites such as the cube and the turrets. These additions keep the tests feeling fresh and well-paced, and when used in conjunction with the much improved variety of level design, the game manages to avoid feeling stagnant and keeps the plot moving forward at a steady rate.

Needless to say, during Chell and Wheatley's escapade through the ruined test chambers, GLaDOs is resurrected and immediately recall that it was Chell who killed her. This event puts Chell's fate back into the hands of the malcontent AI, who continually subjects her to dangerous testing and underhanded personal attacks, usually on the subject of her weight. As Chell progresses through the increasingly hazardous chambers, she finds that there are more than a few “surprises” when it comes to both the history of Aperture and GLaDOs herself. Without delving into detail, there are more than a few interesting twists to be found within Portal 2's plot.

However, the strong point of Portal 2 is it's ability to make the robotic world of Aperture seem alive. An exorbitant amount of detail has been paid to nearly every facet of Portal 2 to achieve this. It's everywhere, from test chambers reassembling on-the-spot to even something like a wall panel “playing” with a cube, the idea of living machines is a reality. Wheatley and GLaDOs' personalities have been flushed out entirely, and it shows: they seem utterly human-like, with emotion and conscience to boot. Even the game's new co-op additions, robots by the name of Atlas and P-Body, have character all their own.

The co-op portion of the game pairs Atlas and P-Body together in order to complete more complex tests than ones found in the single player portion. Working together, the two robots will have to work through 5 sections of chambers, each with a theme of it's own. The co-op feature works extremely well, giving the two robots enough tools to guide each other without saying a word to each other. Through actions like pinging (showing where to place a portal) and screen sharing, the co-op experience is a welcome one, and gives ample opportunity for veteran players to guide newer players. However, it's only as good as it lasts, as it's not a super lengthy campaign, and it severely lacks replay value. The pure charm of Atlas and P-Body helps soften the blow of a co-op campaign that is shorter than it ought to be.

Portal 2 marries fantastic presentation with great gameplay at the hip. It features an excellent robot cast brimming with character, intelligently designed tests, and a story compelling enough to enthrall gamers long enough to see it's conclusion. It's one of the most character filled game to come out in a good while, and shouldn't be missed by fans of Portal.

***CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS***

It’s been over 3 years since Valve surprised us all with the original Portal. Tucked away inside the already critically-acclaimed Orange Box was the world of Aperture Science, creator of the simple-yet-ingenious portal gun. Since its release, the game went on to win numerous ‘Game Of The Year’ awards, and held its own against the other treasures of the Orange Box – not bad for a game created (rather ironically) as a test. Fast-forward to the announcement of Portal 2, and gamers were posed with two questions – could the game be as fun as the original, and could it justify being a stand-alone release, instead of a bundle? The answer to both is a definite yes. The portal gun, Aperture science, and the always-entertaining GLaDOS are back, bringing with them a plethora of new features, an entertaining and longer story, and some fun new companions in a worthy sequel.

You begin your adventure in circumstances that echo your first foray into Aperture labs - awakening in a room akin to a prison cell, you have little time to familiarise yourself with your surroundings before the walls crash down around you to reveal just how large the facility really is, and also how large a predicament you have found yourself in, about to be buried under the building. Enter Wheatley (voiced by the ever-enjoyable Stephen Merchant), a friendly yet dim-witted AI, who assists you in your effort to escape the rapidly-crumbling Aperture Science complex. Soon enough, you are re-united with your trusty portal gun, and flinging portals around left and right. Inevitably, you soon bump into GLaDOS, who is – yes – still alive, who is on even finer form than in the original game, doing everything ‘she’ can to destroy what little faith you may have in surviving another venture through Aperture science. The adventure that follows is even more fun than the first Portal outing – longer, more varied and with an equally-exciting finale.

Obviously, it isn’t worth following a game story through to the end if it isn’t fun to play – luckily, playing through Portal 2 is an absolute joy. The controls and the basic premise of gameplay are the same as in the original – your gun can shoot two portals, and whatever goes inside one comes out of the other. The aim is to simply navigate a series of rooms and environments, which become more varied as the adventure flows. Puzzles start off easy at first, and can remain so until quite late into the single-player campaign for those already familiar with thinking with portals. However, new additions to the gameplay help to keep things interesting for players old and new; catapults, pressure pads and levitation fields are but a few, but the main new addition to gameplay proceedings are the gels. These come in three types – blue to assist in jumping longer distances, orange to increase your velocity, and white to create portal surfaces. Though the gels themselves are introduced fairly late on, they are used very well to create some difficult puzzles and press you to think even more about how you use your two portals.

The best addition to the already impressive package is co-operative mode. Instead of playing as a human, you and a friend (via split-screen or online) control one of two robots created specifically by GLaDOS to do what she likes best – testing. After all, they’re not likely to try to tear her to pieces. Each has access to a portal gun, meaning two distinct sets of portals can be created, leading to some quite creative and taxing puzzles in each co-op ‘course’. Communication and co-operation is the key to success, and playing on split-screen arguably makes this easier. However those playing online needn’t worry – each robot can perform various animations and gestures towards key points in each test chamber, meaning even those playing online without headsets can still assist each other with ease. The robots themselves – named ‘Atlas’ and ‘P-Body’ – are hilarious, and can communicate with each other in various hilarious ways, such as high-fives and even playing rock-paper-scissors. Despite working as a team, GLaDOS attempts to pit the two against each other by commenting on who is doing best, but make no mistake – working together is imperative, as the term ‘co-op’ implies.

Visually, Portal 2 improves again upon its predecessor – the characters and environments all look beautiful, and the game certainly imposes on you a sense of grand scale. This however, does come at a price – many areas look very sparse and bare, and on numerous occasions you find yourself running through long and empty spaces; you get the impression you are a small fish in a very beautiful and large, but yet very empty and sometimes lifeless pond. Never-the-less, Portal 2 certainly looks the part. It also sounds amazing – the background music, subtle as it is, always fits the events occurring in the story, and both GLaDOS and Wheatley are brilliantly voiced. The gun turrets make a welcome return, and hearing their seemingly innocent voices once more is a treat – until they shoot you to pieces, at least.

Overall, Portal 2 will take you a good few hours in both single-player and co-op mode on your first attempts; though it doesn’t last too long, it is always fun to run-through again if you have a spare afternoon, and when doing so it never feels old or stale. Though things start on an easy note, the difficulty soon steps up and has you scratching your head, before kicking yourself when you find the obvious solution in that mischievous way Portal does. There are also plenty of achievements and trophies to obtain which add to replay value, with only one or two that may be difficult to unlock if you don’t know many others who own the game. Portal 2 certainly justifies its high price increase over the original, and provides you with many memorable moments which will remain in your mind even after the stunning finale. Portal 2 improves on the original in every conceivable way, adding exciting new features, memorable new characters and a more in-depth story; but most importantly, it is incredibly fun to play and one of the best adventures this generation has seen. Picking it up is a piece of cake (ahem) for new players, and whether you’ve entered the world of Aperture science before or not, it will charm you from beginning to end. Valve has struck gold in GLaDOS and company again, and if Portal 3 exists, it can’t come soon enough.

My Short Review

Portal 2 has had a lot of hype this year about keeping up its expectations. You'll be happy to know it does. What are the main things that made us love the first portal. Glados's jokes, great puzzle gameplay and knowing the cake is a lie, well thats what you get with portal 2 laugh out loud jokes, great puzzles and superb voice acting and now with co-op multiplayer yay lets make the puzzles even more complicated and confusing.I mean even the co-op story has a story and it makes sense. This game is great and worth buying but it has little replay value unless you want to do the same puzzles for single player and co-op over and over again and yes i know that theres going to be more puzzles but your always gonna need more puzzles. My advice if your just playing single player rent it for a week. Oh and before i forget theres some really annoying loading screens but if you've played harry potter and the chamber of secrets for PS2 there noway as long as that. There about 15-20 seconds long i think.

Graphics: 5/5 Stars
Story: 5/5 Stars
Gameplay: 5/5 Stars
Replay Value: 3/5 Stars

And gets a grand total of 4 Stars ****

REVIEW

This game was a blast, and creative, and if you loved Portal Still Alive, this is even better, with co-op. Also, for some more awsomeness, there will be free DLC.

STORY

Set after the firts Portal, you play as a doughter of a corupt science company, and must escape GLaDoS, again, with some new twists. I will say nothing to ruin the story. A not so serious, but funny story unfold, and some answers. The co-op even has some story, and it takes place before the game, and in the single player, some puns are mentioned about it.

9/10

GAMEPLAY

When I played this, I saw nothing wrong with this game, nothing, no glitches whatsoever. Thats great, but whats even better is the controls and simply put together in a good way, easy to play. The puzzles are not all that simple, but they are all sovable with some thought. The co-op runs fine and smooth too.

10/10

SOUND/GRAPHICS

This was another great thing about the game, It runs smoothly, not glitchy, but not spectacular. The sound was average, but not bad, but you ignore that when you hear the jokes.

8/10

THE FUN

FUN! FUN! FUN! Is right where its at with this game. Funny co-op, drop your friends in acid (better if their on acid). The jokes, again, are pretty good, and will make you chuckle. The gameplay is even fun too, two fun things in one great game.

10/10

OVERALL

9.3/10

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While most sequels to legendary games fail in several areas of gameplay, Portal 2 was exceptional in that it took the original in a new direction and integrated successful new elements (such as a co-op experience) without losing much flavor. Portal, thought of as a mind-bending physics game, has upped the challenge and the intrigue in its newest game.

Besides new gameplay mechanics which are unlocked as you progress through the main storyline, the addition of a second player enriches the gameplay and introduces new challenges that in many cases would be impossible going solo. These range from merely needing 4 portals to having the two players interact while one is hurtling through the air or dodging lethal barriers.

I don't want to spoil it for you, but there are additional elements which allow you to play with physics in ways you won't be used to as a 'traditional' Portal player. It can be difficult to realize the use of these additional powers, but you learn to adapt to their manipulative potential. The new additions make Portal 2 an interesting sequel to its genre-defying predecessor.

5/5 stars

I have never played Portal (aside from the quick demo), so i kinda took a chance buying Portal 2, it was definitely a good choice though, the game challenges you to use your brain but also is quite funny, the voice acting is very well done and the story line is actually present unlike some other puzzle games. The co-op adds about 10x more fun to the game if you play with someone that you get along with really well the saying "Two brains are better than one" is definitely true and shows itself in this game.
Overall its a great game that will keep you coming back for more

Review *contains spoilers*

Portal 2 is set after the first portal game and you play as a daughter of a corrupt science company, and must escape GLaDoS, again, with some new twists. A lot of fun and has a wide range of puzzles to complete and you have tuse a portal gun to solve these puzzles in order to progess onwards.

Gameplay

On my first playthrough i found the game was challenging but so much fun. I would recomend his game to gamers who like to have fun but also like a challenge.

Graphics

The game has very nice graphics, the game runs perfectly and does not glitch.

Fun

9/10

A disappointing sequel to a great innovative game and as part of The Orange Box was tremendous value for money, with built in replay value via the various chamber trials.

The sequel is far too easy both in terms of puzzles and the skill needed to complete the puzzles. Although longer than the first, I think I actually finished it quicker, with single player taking less than 7 hours. Breezed through almost every challenge bar 3, mainly due to not knowing where to go or missing something obvious.

There was simply nothing challenging in the single player game at all. Although it has co-op (yet to play as of writing) the trail chambers appear to have been removed, offering little to no replay value (on the Xbox), which is a real disappointment. Especially when you see what chambers were removed.
I can understand wanting to make the game accessible to as many players as possible, but they really should have kept the trial chambers as they could have easily added more complex/challenging chambers like those in the video.

No doubt Valve will release dlc which may be along the lines of the above, but I don't see why I should spend more money to get a more challenging game.

The plot and gameplay felt disjointed and there wasn't as much 'exploration' as the first. I'm not sure why but it felt much more repetitive than first, even though you are simply going from one test chamber to the next in both games. There was some good innovation though, with the various paints and their extraordinary powers, but again they never really made a test challenging.

The one saving grace is the humour and interplay between the characters and yourself. That alone made it worth playing to experience! However in actual gaming terms it felt very dumbed down and stripping the trials removes any replay value.