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Review of "Portal 2 (2011)"
By: David Raymond

Release Date: Apr 19, 2011
Developer: Valve Corporation
Publisher: Valve Corporation
Genre: Sci Fi Puzzle Platform
Review Rating: 9/10

Warning: the following review may contain spoilers.

Summary: Portal 2 is ever as much fun as Portal 1 but includes so much more. A definitely must buy for Portal fans.

Story

I think one of the best things about Portal 2 is the dialog and storyline. The writers at Valve really know how to create a character that is engaging, funny and believable. In Portal 2 you are given the opportunity to learn more about the beginnings of Aperture Science. You come to a new appreciation for how the test rooms are organized and how they have evolved over the past 50 years. The humor is very dry, which I like, and the British accents accentuate this. There are many twists and turns and unexpected surprises to this game.

Gameplay

Single Player

You are a test subject that must navigate through a labyrinth of puzzles where the central computer is trying to kill you. She has a personal vendetta against you, especially since you previously tried to kill her in Portal 1. The rooms are not repetitive and you actually explore a lot of the massive laboratory outside of the test rooms. I played this game on the PS3 and found the controls to be intuitive and quick. I actually did better using the PS3 controller than I did with a mouse and keyboard. The game felt much longer than Portal 1 and more fulfilling. It did not drag out nor was it repetitive. Everything seemed to have a necessary place. There were a few instances of serious contemplation on how to get out of the test room as the solution was not obvious. You had to get really creative with your solutions but you did not have to be lightning fast like you did in Portal 1. In Portal 1 you have to throw blue/orange portals all over the room as you we falling/flying through it. I think the Valve team took into consideration the new controller schemes but it did not feel easy or dumbed down.

Co-operative Testing Initiative

We are given the opportunity to play Portal 2 with a friend. I do not recommend playing with an enemy since it is very easy to screw each other over. Each person has either a blue or orange portal but not both. So it is essential to rely upon each other. The dialog and interactions between the two robots is hilarious. The puzzles are not impossible but do get more challenging as you progress. It is a definite value to have this as part of the game and is referenced in the single player campaign.

Steam

As the PSN network was experiencing network connectivity issues I was not able to test this portion of the game. But it is exciting to have Steam on the PS3 since it opens up so many opportunities for new games.

The Valve Corporation also developed a comic book to help you get familiar with Portal.

http://www.thinkwithportals.com/