A full length campaign backed up by a clever script and incredible voice acting, Portal 2 is a game you have to play
PROS (+)
+ A full length campaign that lasts about 9 hours.
+ A clever script really brings the player into the game.
+ Stephen Merchant as Wheatley is funny and entertaining that backs up the great script.
+ New puzzle elements bring new puzzles and tricks into the testing areas.
+ The story is more focused this time around.
+ A separate co-op campaign is full and challenging.
CONS (-)
- Frequent load times after each puzzle
- Graphics aren't amazing (Portal 1 graphics)
A couple of years ago the original Portal game was revealed to us in The Orange Box (a collection of games that included the Half Life series) and it caught us by surprise. It was original, complex but overall a fun game to play. Of course it ended too soon and there was no cake at the end :(. But now we have Portal 2, a full length sequel that succeeds in nearly every way.
You still play the antagonist from the first game and the setting is still the same. You are in Aperture Laboratories and you are a test subject that completes puzzles using a portal gun. The lab has seen better days as you wake up one night to a computer ball in your room. His name is Wheatley (played by Stephen Merchant who is the highlight of the voice acting performances) and decides to break you out of your room and try to help you escape. It's not too long before you find a portal gun and begin to complete lab tests. But as you progress, you wake up GLaDOS and she isn't happy as her first words are "Oh . . . it's you." She has you in your grasp yet again and it is up to you and your new friend Wheatley to escape.
Portal 2's gameplay will be very familiar to gamers who have played the first Portal. You have two portals that are connected to one another and you have to complete puzzles to go onto the next test area. Now Portal 2 brings some new elements to use in your puzzles. You have a speed gel, bouncing gel, bridges, gravity shifters and a couple of others that make you think what to do before you even start the test.
The sequel is not the prettiest game out there unfortunately. In fact, if you put the original Portal next to the sequel you may not find a lot of changes. In the later levels, blackness covers the corners of the room that doesn't quite into the "laboratory" feel of the game. But what the sequel has that the original doesn't are areas outside the testing levels. You see offices, factory-like places, the creation of turrets, basically everything in Aperture. Some fans of the first game might not like "leaving its comfort zone" but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It actually adds to the storyline that is far superior than the first game. You actually care about the story where the first game was just completing tests. But you mainly care because of the incredible voice acting by Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons. Stephen steals the show as Wheatley and backs up the clever script perfectly. He's funny, enjoyable, sometimes stupid but overall a blast to hear. There's one instance where you fall down and he screams down "Are you alright? Do you see the portal gun? . . . . . Actually the better question would be 'Are you alive?'." There are many examples I could give away but I should leave them for you to hear.
Oh and there's no cake but there are a couple of twists lurking in the campaign.
Now the storyline may take you 8-9 hours to complete which is a solid time line. But Portal 2 gives you a completely different co-op campaign that you can either play split-screen or over Xbox live. Each player (max of 2 players) gets 2 portals at their disposal - a total of 4 portals to use (check my math on that please). Communication is key as talking to each other will make completing puzzles a little easier. If you cannot talk online, Portal 2 comes with little navigation tools to signal to your partner where to shoot your portal and a countdown to make your timing very precise in some occasions.
Probably the one problem with Portal 2 are the load times and there are quite a few here. Almost after every completion of a puzzles, a load time will occur in both the solo and co-op campaigns. They aren't long but are constant throughout the game. But there are no lag times during a puzzle so take your pick.
Portal 2 is amazing, pure and simple. It's fun, hilarious and above all entertaining. The puzzles are more complex, the story is better, the voice acting is superb, the script is clever and funny and the story lasts more than 4 hours. Portal 2 is one of the best games this year so far. And in a time where most games use guns that shoot bullets, a gun that uses portals may just be a contender this year.