Valve continues to bring new life into its famous Source engine, and in no time they’ve created another masterpiece. Portal 2 continues the story of Chell, the protagonist from its original game, Portal. However, other than that similarity, Portal 2 is a completely different game from its predecessor.
Portal 2 is the sequel to the original Portal game, and presents a whole new set of puzzles and brain-teasers for gamers. The story builds on the first game and introduces new characters too. The game is even more fun than the first instalment, and if you liked the first game — you’ll love this one too.
Portal 2 is an amazing game. I’m talking a legitimate AAA title with a level of quality seen in titles only from the biggest developers. It’s almost as if Valve wants to make us think it’s a new IP, but to do so would be dishonest, because we all know Portal 2 is not a brand new game. But does that matter in the end?
It can be hard to find a perfect game in today’s gaming market. Hundreds of games come out every year, promising players an experience that will take their breath away. We often get drawn in by these claims and find ourselves disappointed with the results. Portal 2 is different though. It lives up to its promises and creates a new playing experience that is like nothing else before it.
Portal 2: Verdict
Valve has outdone themselves with this one. The original Portal was a groundbreaking physics-based puzzle platforme, and Portal 2 takes everything from that game and gives it an extra kick, bringing in more of Valve’s signature humour, a new weapon that’s guaranteed to change the face of the gaming industry (the provided test chamber for this alone is worth it), and some of the best voice acting ever recorded.
I can’t give too many details about what happens in-game for fear of ruining the experience for future players, but I can honestly say that this is one of those games where everything just works together so splendidly that you can’t help but to keep playing.
It’s funny, clever, technically brilliant in its execution and it plays to the strengths of the medium. It brings back fond memories of the first Portal game — which remains one of my favourite games of all time with levels that will stay with me for a long time.
It’s hilarious and engaging, with so many captivating puzzles I can’t help but wonder if Valve has run out of portals to send me through. Having finished Portal 2, I see myself returning to it on occasion. The co-op is addictive and fun enough to justify the purchase even if you don’t get along with your partner in crime.
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You may feel that I’ve heaped a lot of praise on it so far, but Portal 2 is a mind-bending marvel. It takes the source material and improves on it considerably, and it’s not just a by-the-numbers sequel that consoles owners would be happy to play 10 years after the original came out.
The game’s filled with secrets and challenges, and your mind will struggle to process what you’re experiencing. If you own an Xbox 360 and haven’t yet played it, stop reading and go buy the game. You will get no sense of satisfaction from knowing what happens next in the article if you call this a review and then don’t play the game.
Gameplay
Surprise! Portal 2 is even more brilliant and inventive than the original. The quirky, madcap brilliance of the first title was taken to another level thanks to these new gameplay elements. The narrative, while fleshing out the story of the Aperture Science corporation, turns out to be a framing device for an incredible series of puzzles. These puzzles continue to show how physics simulation can be used in innovative and mind-boggling ways without ever getting boring or repetitive.
Of course, GLaDOS is back. And she’s still evil, still funny and still a sadist. But Portal 2 abandons much of the original game’s simplicity, as if Valve had an endless supply of puzzle situations that it feels are worthy of your time. With 61 puzzles and a playable co-op campaign, some players will get tired of the experience before they reach the end.
The original Portal is a brilliant game, but left me with the distinct feeling that I’d been duped. It was 20 hours of unforgettable physics-based puzzles, but the moment it had finished, I couldn’t help but think that the biggest twist came about halfway through the game—that is, when you realize that GLaDOS was telling the truth about you.
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For Portal 2, Valve repeats all the successful elements of Portal (still much funnier than games with humor should be) and expands on everything, including GLaDOS’ personality. This time around our heroine won’t just have to worry about gun turrets, hard light bridges and super-energy spheres: her new nemesis can use paintballs to create destructive physics objects in five colors.
When you push a cat into a stream of paint to send it careening toward floating feathers across a slime pit in zero gravity, you’ve proven once again that video games are not mere toys.
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Portal 2’s stellar writing keeps the narrative moving, mixing dark humor and scientific jargon with surprising delight. Aperture has a history, and one that benefits greatly from the game’s new personality-driven storytelling. The story is both humbling and inspiring – it’s easy to forget that
Portal 2 is actually a game that you purchased, it feels more like an elaborate, humorous television show. The voice acting is simply superb throughout – GlaDOS steals the show again, with Wheatley nipping at her heels, but robots Cave Johnson and ATLAS make a welcome return alongside core character Chell to deliver some of the funniest lines in the game.
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The core of Portal 2’s gameplay is excellent. From the moment you enter the game, Valve’s obsessive attention to detail is on full display. Graphics are beautifully rendered with a unique art style that fits the world perfectly.
Music and sound design were two of the areas they focused on during development, and both come through loud and clear, from the ethereal noises of venturing into a new chamber, to GLaDOS’ ominous humming that forces your attention to her as she begins speaking, each sentence like a piece of cake when she lets you finish it for her.
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While the original Portal was a great surprise, Portal 2 is an even better sequel. It takes everything that made the original great and amplifies it-the story, characters, and especially the exhilarating gameplay. In just about every way Portal 2 improves on its predecessor’s formula, and manages to give us one of the best puzzle games of this console generation.
If you’ve played Portal before, the opening to Portal 2 will seem immediately familiar. If not, no problem — an amusingly inventive demonstration of how these portals work sets up what’s to come. Either way, yet again GLaDOS is working to undermine your goals and thwart human progress, and now it’s time for payback.
Once more you’ll be solving puzzles in test chambers with a portal gun — nothing has changed about how the portal gun works, but PCgamer noted that “The new light puzzle mechanics added in Portal 2 actually make those puzzles easier to solve,” calling those added mechanics “highly intuitive.”
In a stark contrast to its predecessor, Portal 2 offers a much larger variety of settings and challenges, as well as a captivating story that both acts as a capable catalyst for events and unfolds in an interesting fashion. Although the core gameplay remains unchanged – you’ll still solve puzzles requiring you to move objects with your portal gun – Valve has successfully brought new elements into the mix that add new dimensions of complexity and thought to the puzzles. If you loved Portal, then you should definitely play Portal 2.