Portal 2 Review

Back in 2007 Valve released a game called Portal with The Orange Box to see how people would react to such a different type of game. This was an extremely risky move for Valve and thankfully it was a huge success. Portal is a puzzle game in 1st person point of view and unlike most FPS (first person shooter). The 1st Portal was not a long game, but it was an extremely memorable game with a great character Glados voiced by Ellen McLain who talked to Chell (you), solving extremely complicated test chambers, and the ending song "still alive" by Jonathan Coulton. You solve each test chamber by using you portal gun which can shoot two portal and you go through one end and end up on the other side. It is a very simple concept but can end up being very difficult by incorporating momentum.

The 1st game worked as a stand alone experience so well when Valve announced they were making Portal 2 many fans were worried how this would work as a stand alone product. Valve has gone quite out of their way to make Portal 2 even better then the original by adding so many new features. As a big fan of Valve and the first game even I was a little worried about what they were gonna do with Portal 2.

-Stephen Merchant as Wheatly brings out an absolutely amazing character to life

The game still has you completing test in Aperture Science, but Valve found a way to make an unforgettable journey that last about 8-10 hours. I will not go into the story and spoil it for that ruins the whole point of playing Portal 2 which is to go through these test chambers and be treated to some of the most brilliantly written dialogue in video games for a very long time. There is a point in the single player that made me think I was about to beat the game, but instead I was only half done. I would have enjoyed it and not complained , but the fact that you get treated to even more tests isn't a bad thing because of the new little features that are added to Portal 2. Things such as Light bridges, lasers, and gels mix up the way you think while playing it will seriously get you thinking and don't feel bad if you get to a room and you need to sit there a bit and can't seem to get how solve the test.

The games twist half way through leads you to a sort of timeline for Aperture Science and takes you from its beginnings in the 1950's until you make it to present day again. This Journey upwards in time is voiced by Cave Johnson the Founder of Aperture Science (voiced by J.K. Simmons) who has many recorded quotes that feel like he is there with you.

After you beat the game there is also a commentary that you can listen to while playing throughout the main story. This is to give you an incite on how Valve came up with all of this crazy stuff in Portal 2. Now some people may find this boring, but if you are like me and enjoy DVD commentaries you will enjoy going through it all over again just to find some cool facts about the development on the game as well as how Valve focus test the hell out of their games.

-Now time for the reason this review is so late...CO-OP

I will not tell the story why I couldn't play Co-Op on PS3 again, but at long last I was able to beat the Co-Op story last Saturday night right as PSN got back up it was the 1st thing I did and 8 hours later I had beaten the story having not been able do it without meeting such awesome people to play with on Steam while I am on PSN. The story is a completely different story that takes place after the single player story. You play as 2 robots called Atlus and P Body. Each robot has its own portal gun making each puzzle needing 4 portals to solve so as you can tell things can get confusing, but that makes solving them even more rewarding. The main goal for the Co-Op story without giving anything away is that Glados is having you solve these test to free all of the Humans for testing so Glados can get back to Human testing.

Portal 2 gets a 9 out of 10

+ A good 8-10 hour story for single and co-op, Still looks good running off Half Life 2's source engine, Steam integration for PS3, and the voice talent is a huge stand out
-Loading between Chambers kills the flow between test

Credit for helping me in Co-Op goes to MrPants, Blackkristos, and CantF33LMyFacE87 I couldn't have beaten it without your help.