Apr 29, 2011
Almost four years ago, Valve studios released The Orange Box for the Xbox 360, which contained re-releases of the games Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2 and a new game called Portal. Portal was a huge hit and it introduced a twist on the puzzle room concept; dimensional travel. Now, Valve has finally released their long awaited sequel, Portal 2.
For those who played the original Portal, the mechanics and other basic elements of the game remain the same. For those not familiar with the original, in a nut shell, your character is in a secret laboratory run by Aperture Science. The lab is controlled by an artificial intelligent robot called GlaDOS. GlaDOS has created several different test chambers with increasingly harder puzzles and deadly hazards the player needs to solve in order to escape. You have an experimental device called the portal gun which allows you to place dimensional portals in certain locations in the chamber. The portals allow you to move instantly from one to the other regardless of where they are placed. Portals allow you reach areas you otherwise could not. Learning the proper placement of portals and mastering their physics is essential to finding the solution to the chambers.
Portal 2 is a continuation of the original’s story. A significant amount of time has passed since the events of the first game and the labs at Aperture Science are in ruin. You are awakened from suspended animation by Wheatly, a maintenance robot who tries to help you escape but instead, accidentally manages to reactivate GlaDOS who remembers all too well you killed her in the final battle of the first game. Graphics and sound are upgraded from the original. The voice acting is top notch with some excellent voice talent including Stephen Merchant of the British run of The Office and The Ricky Gervais Show brilliantly voicing Wheatly.
- Meet, Wheatly.
That’s the beginning of Portal 2 but what makes the sequel worth playing? It’s a fun game. It will make you think, has lots of funny moments, lets you explore a little, and learn more about the mysterious Aperture Science. The single player campaign takes about twelve hours to finish but once you’re done with the single player game, there’s a whole different two party co-op campaign waiting to be played.
The game also introduces some new tools. One of the better tools you will learn about are gels. There are three different gels you will find as you go through the game, but I won’t spoil the fun of discovery for you here. Learning how the different gels work is part of the fun of solving the puzzles. In addition to gels, there are light bridges, light tunnels, and faith plates. All of which add new twists to finding each room’s solution. Since Aperture Labs is a secret facility, there are of course many deadly items you will encounter. Things such as, frikin’ lasers, sentry robots, fire, pits of water that kill you instantly, neurotoxin gas and of course, the ever popular spiky walls.
The test chambers can sometimes be a little frustrating, but when you stumble on the solution, you get a real sense of accomplishment and it’s a lot of fun just trying different things in the room while trying to solve the puzzles. There are also some hidden rooms and items you can discover while working your way through.
This is a great sequel to a great game and if you like something other than going from point A flag to B running and gunning you should give this a go. It’s fun for older gamers and the younger crowd. You can even play it guilt free in front of the kids.
Oh and sorry, no cake this time!
Nice review Habu. I really enjoyed the first one in the Orange Box.
Nice review, playing the original through again as I played on PC the first time, will look into picking this up too now!!!
Nice review on a FANTASTIC game. It has kept me occupied for hours! I never played the first one, so I’m thinking about picking it up and going through it once I’m done with this one. Going backwards, of course.