Review for the best game i've played all year.
After the very, very short campaign Portal provided I was worried that maybe the quality had declined in favour of quantity. And after my rushed experience with the tutorial. My theory was disproven, by a small little sphere on rails called Wheatley. I actually managed to mumble out a weak laugh at the introductory scene. This is by far the best story telling Valve has ever pulled off. The characters are believable and genuinely funny. The updated graphics make the game immersive and the score is tense and well done. The new features make the game more interesting, and I genuinely got dumbfounded by some of the puzzles, and on more than one occasion, I decided to rage quit. But I kept at it and eventually got to the most memorable ending I have ever experienced.
Some of the games flaws come to light though. The replayability isn't very good and with a lack of challenge maps, I found little to do. I did replay the game but found it too easy the second time through, but at least there were quite a few hidden easter eggs. Another problem is that only a very limited amount of the puzzles are really... well puzzling. Each time a new mechanic is introduced the game goes all soft so that players can come to grips with the new feature.
However the replayabililty problem can easily be solved with the games biggest new feature co-op. The co-op has it's own campaign and characters. And the campaign is quite long as well. The maps are challenging due to an assumption that the player has played the single player campaign and every time you play with a different person the experience is different.
I ended up giving this game a nine because of the nature of it's replayability issues but, it is a solid game and will have the player laugh and... well not cry but feel empathetic at the very least. So I suggest if you haven't played it. Give yourself an experience you'll not easily forget.