Portal 2: the Good, the Bad, and the Lemons

Following up on my last posting about catching up with reviews I am now doing my write-up for Portal 2. Now, if any of you have read my previous review of The Orange Box you'd know that I really liked Portal, but didn't like how short it was. I was rather surprised when Valve announce that Portal 2 was its own stand alone expansion and that it was going to be “Twice as long” as the original. With these in mind, I sat down to Portal 2 on my PS3 with my companion cube, a piece of cake, and humming Still Alive. It's go time.


THE GOOD

Portal 2 had a lot to live up to from the first game. Graphically Portal 1 was rather bland, however the development team must have sat back and said “Yeah, we can make it look better”, because they did just that. The boring white test chambers have been replaced by a world that nature has partially retaken. In the beginning of the game the whole of Aperture Science has been overgrown and decaying from years, if not centuries of neglect. The pallet doesn't just follow this design either, as in the bowels of the facility you come across test labs from the 50's, 60's and 70's; as well as the reconstructed and cavernous test labs that make up the heart of the modern Aperture Science.



Gameplay is still the same usage of portals to traverse and physics obstacle course. Added to this mix is the addition of color gels that let you change the properties of a surface, lasers for powering switches, hard light bridges and tractor beam emitters for moving items, gels, or even yourself. The gels add a unique puzzle element because they can be used to make a surface bounce you like Flubber, accelerate you like a race track, or place portals on surfaces not normally usable. Added to this is using the portal gun, tractor beams, and even basic gravity in order to apply the gels in a manner to let you proceed forward.

The story itself starts off with you meeting a new AI core, named Wheatley. Wheatley is a nice change from the GlaDOS AI who seems to be hell bent in killing you in a very passive aggressive fashion. He is more of a lovable goof-ball who lacks common sense, or any real ability, but makes up for it with gusto and ambition. This also leads into your introduction to Cave Johnson in the old test labs in the bottom of the facility. Through recording made over the years for different test projects (i.e. insane experiments for the sake of insane experiments), you can start to build a picture of the company through the 30 years of 'Science' they perform. This also gives you insight into the origins of the GlaDOS AI that has been your taunter and tormentor since the first game.



One of the unique features of the PS3 version of the game is that it actually links to Steam and allows you to download a PC version of the game for free as part of this link, and allows you to share Steam and PS3 achievement/trophies from whichever format you are playing. Along with this comes the 2 player Co-op mode where you are a friend (or random stranger) play as two bots created by GlaDOS and use two player portal usage to complete your own small storyline in the series.

THE BAD

The most common complaint about the game is that on the PC version there are a series of downloadable items one can purchase with real money for visual add-ons to the Co-op bots. They change nothing about the game, but cost between $2 and $6 bucks for visual comical items.



Puzzles in the old section of the test labs can be challenging as well since the large environments and sometimes hard to spot portal location can frustrate the casual gamer, along with that there is only one way to solve the puzzles and you need to hit it correctly in order to proceed.

While not a problem with the game itself, this is also worth mentioning. Shortly after the release of Portal 2 the PSN network went down for a 3 week period, and for those with the PS3 version and no gaming PC the Co-op game was completely locked out for them, causing quite a stir among online gamers and people reviewing the game on marketplace forms.


THE UGLY

Nothing. Seriously, the game is rated T and up, and has no mature content of any kind in it.

Seriously.


CONCLUSION

Portal 2 is a fun game with many hours worth both a first time play through and repeat play-through for the challenging puzzles, the witty dialog and the well told story. The puzzles are challenging and when solved will give the player a feeling of accomplishment as well as a wicked brain cramp at times. Co-op is well implemented with greater challenges in the puzzles that require team work, but also with hilarious dialog from GlaDOS in her comments to both robots, and long with the robots' child like enthusiasm in their task.

This game is a Must Buy.