10.0
Portal 2
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Portal 2…Portal 2….this is going to be a difficult review. As we all know the almighty gods of PC gaming, Valve, have a brilliant track record for the quality of their games in both gameplay and story. Valve, like the other gods of gaming Blizzard, don’t like to released a game until it is ready and, in their eyes, perfect. Fortunately for us, Valve had a great eye for games and know exactly what gamers want, without only appealing to a niche audience.
Before I start singing the Hallelujah chorus and replace the words with “Portal 2 rocks” I should probably get on with the review, Portal 2 carries on some time after Chell defeated the darling of evil robots everywhere, GLaDOS. With GLaDOS defeated the entire Aperture Science complex appears to have gone into disrepair. When you wake up you try to escape the little room you’ve been sleeping in for who knows how long and try to get out of Aperture Science. When you finally get hold of your beloved portal gun the challenges begin. However, everything from navigating familiar looking test labs to exploring GLaDOS’s chamber is only the warm up for what is to come in the rest of Portal 2.
The test chambers in Portal 2 are more complex and much more interesting than those in the original Portal. The introduction of light bridges, lasers, edgeless weighted cubes, light tunnels and your good old fashioned turrets adds to the puzzles that are presented to you. If you haven’t played Portal 1, however, it may be a bit challenging if you aren’t used to thinking with portals. These challenges are not particularly challenging, although they do get you back into thinking with portals…a much needed warm up. The real challenges come when you have to navigate the old Aperture Science complex from the time before portals or GLaDOS.
Light tunnels make the test chambers that little bit more challenging
More often than not in Portal 2 the main problem is not knowing what you have to do but it’s the mechanics of getting there. New tricks mean that you no longer have to think about where you put your portals but how to cross a course, without really using your portals as your own personal transport. Some of the old levels can get incredibly frustrating at times when you realise that actually, you can’t use the all the new toys at your disposal to navigate the level but a good old fashioned portal.
The single player campaign is, in my opinion, much more brilliant and challenging than anything I have played before without making me want to put down my controller. I was expecting the multiplayer to be the same as the single player, but with a bit of added difficulty, but I was wrong – although it is possibly more fun.
Initially I thought that the multiplayer would be some sort of open-world puzzle (don’t ask me why or how that would work) but it is a separate campaign on its own. Not only is it not as long as the single player campaign but it is also, in my opinion, a lot easier than single player. This probably has something to do with the fact that you are playing with someone else so you can discuss and communicate with them what you want to do. If you are stuck in the single player campaign you pretty much have to figure it out on your own but with a partner you can talk through every puzzle.
Your two robots start off in a central hub where you can enter different test chambers before venturing outside of them for a little while. Each test chamber has the same components as the single player chambers, cubes, lasers, moving panels, light bridges, etc which are presented to you gradually. The challenge with multiplayer is placing your portals without making them disappear as most of the levels are covered in emancipation grids, which destroy your portals as you walk through them.
The central hub that is the base for the multiplayer campaign
As with the single player you do find yourself torn between whether you should listen to GLaDOS or whether to get on with the puzzle. The writing of the game has to be noted because there isn’t another game quite it. The writing is so funny, so witty and will actually make you laugh out loud whether you are with friends or not. Like Portal 1 the final boss battle made me laugh so much that my dad (who is visiting) actually had to come and see what was so funny.
I don’t say this lightly since every game is has a flaw but I honestly believe that Portal 2 may be close to the perfect game. The single player is challenging and complex. If I had to find problems with Portal 2 it is that maybe one or two of the levels are a bit too challenging and make you sit there for longer than you expected. It delves deeper into the story that Portal 1 set up. The multiplayer is smooth and streamlined and actually requires both participants to think and work closely together. The porting from PC to console is also so well done that the controls aren’t awkward or slow, as I had expected. In all, a damned good game. There really is nothing else to say.
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Looking preeeettttyyyy good
I’m really looking forward to playing this game! Everybody says that it is just superb!
Oh it is