Caution: if you are reading this review I assume you’ve finished Portal. So consider that. But I’ll try to avoid discussing much of the story in Portal 2.
My first experience with Portal was over two years ago. I remember it fondly. A friend urged me to purchase The Orange Box for Half-Life 2 and it’s episodes, but this little gem made me a Valve fan. To many, Portal seemed like a small pack-in. To me, this the game is a great bonus to a stellar package; no collection is complete without it. The announcement of a sequel floored me, but I’m glad to see how Portal 2 has continued the story.
The game picks up several hundred years after Portal. Aperture has fallen into disrepair but continues to function. Chell returns, but has been kept alive in cryogenic sleep. She is awakened by Wheatley, a personality core who proposes an escape. While traversing chambers and catwalks you cross the chamber that holds an inactive GLaDOS. She comes online, still holding a grudge for Chells’ actions so long ago. The game evolves into an adventure filled with testing, a history lesson, and a load of surprises. I was quite impressed with the story. It takes what the original did and develops the narrative further, making for a beefy experience. Before playing, I suggest reading the Lab Rat online comic. It helps to flesh out details surrounding the graffiti messages that guide Chell through the test chambers. I can’t stress this enough, the story in Portal 2 rocked my world.
The gameplay is also incredibly fun. The controls of this first-person puzzle-platformer work wonderfully. The way Chell flys through the air reminds me of the high flying thrills in Mirrors Edge. The portal gun remains the same, but there are some new mechanics thrown in halfway through the game. The Gels help players bounce, run, and add portals to surfaces. There are also Excursion Funnels and Hard Light Bridges that make crossing areas a breeze. The game does a great job of teaching how to use each while slowly integrating them. Even water makes an appearance, which can wash away the Gels. I found most of the chambers and puzzles solvable within a reasonable amount of time. I only ran into two instances where I got stuck. One took more than 45 minutes and I’m still not convinced I solved it right. The other had my Companion Cube sticking to the edge of a bridge. This caused it to stick to when I tried to jump off the bridge. These annoyances were nothing more than bumps in the road when compared to the joy I found in the rest of the game.
The presentation of Portal 2 is nicely done, which is to be expected in a Valve game. I found the visuals and audio to be superb. The Source engine continues to look great. I liked how they gave characters like GLaDOS and Wheatley such a wide array of emotions. Even the test chambers are filled with life as in the occasional moving panel. The chambers are topped off with a constant hum of machinery. Better yet, the voices of Wheatley, GLaDOS, and others deliver incredible performances. I can’t imagine it being any better than this.
The story took me about six to nine hours. I’m unsure of the exact time because of some technical difficulties with Raptr. I found it to be adequately paced and of decent length. I think a lot of people get hung up on the amount of time a game takes. I see quality over quantity meaning much more than the reverse. Plus, there is more to it than just the single player campaign. I look forward to listening to the developer commentary sometime. Finally, I hope to find a co-op partner to take on that section of the game (and review it).
Valve has managed to release another gem. I can’t imagine a better sequel to an already amazing game. Portal 2 is the ultimate experience for fans, but also an excellent choice for any gamer. Take the time. Become a test subject and earn $60. Even if the game costs that much, I’d still consider it a steal.
A Life of Gaming 