Portal 2 released this year, with high hopes from many people, who bought and loved the first game. Released as a compilation with the Orange Box back in 2007, Portal was a very clever and fresh new game that encouraged players to think and solve puzzles with physics and Portals, all while introducing to us one of the most clever and witty bosses ever to be encountered in video game history.
Portal 2 brings us back to Aperture Science Laboratories, and we find ourselves in control of Chell from the first game. In our attempt to escape Aperture Science again, Chell accidentally brings back to life her old nemesis GLaDOS, and let's just say she's not to thrilled that you killed her.
Meet Wheatley. Your trusted companion on your escape.
What makes Portal 2 so enjoyable is the same things that made many love the first game, Puzzles. This game may be set in first person, but you're never going to fire a single bullet, nor will you ever deal with any real kind of "enemy" threat. Just you, your portal gun, and lots and lots of puzzles to solve.
The puzzles in Portal 2 start off similar to the first game, but shortly after they begin to show new elements that you have to play with in order to solve these puzzles. You'll have light bridges, where you can make them create a barrier or bridge to cross over deadly pits. There's lasers and light reflecting cubes, blue light vortexes that suck you in or objects, and gels!
Light Bridges and Buttons! Portal 2 Has it all.
The gels are perhaps some of the best new things to come into play, and I personally enjoyed fooling around with these blobs of goo. Blue gels make the floor bouncy, and let you jump higher than ever before. Orange gels can let you run across the surface at jackrabbit speeds, allowing you to escape deadly traps or use a ramp to jump across large gaps.
All these new puzzle elements are really fun to play with, and the game's physic heavy solutions for puzzles means there's likely more than one way to solve puzzles with a bit of tinkering and skill. The best part of Portal 2 isn't just the puzzle solving though, or the Portal gun itself, but rather it's how the game really goes above and beyond the first game's efforts and puts in a really engrossing tale, along with some of the wittiest and funniest dialogue I've ever heard in a video game.
Spoiler Alert: Companion Cube is back!
Portal 2 has some great voice actors lending their talent to the game and I couldn't be any happier with their efforts. For GLaDOS, Ellen McLain returns as everyone's favorite cynical human hating robot. Stephen Merchant joins as Wheatley, your sidekick who joins you on this journey and tries to help you escape from Aperture Science. Wheatley is a great addition to the cast, and his exchanges with GLaDOS in the game are some of the best moments in Portal 2. Lastly, we have J.K. Simmons, as Cave Johnson. If you don't know who that is, he's Mr. Jameson from Spider-Man.
The cast would be nothing though if it wasn't for the strong writing along with the great execution of the actors. Portal 2's best moments come from the ambient dialogue moments between the characters in the game. How they interact, and respond to your mute silent protagonist is great. None of the jokes I felt ever tried too hard, or ever felt stupid. While not every line may be golden, they're smart and witty and executed perfectly, that you'll likely get a chuckle or laugh out of every line. Word of advice, play this game with the sound on, please!
Co-Op brings four puzzles into the mix. Let's do testing, for science!
Along with the great Single Player campaign, Portal 2 does contain a co-op mode. Co-Op is separate from the main story of the single-player mode, but it does bring in new puzzles and FOUR portals this time. With that many portals, you can bet the developers have created some smart puzzles that are centered on co-operation and timing. So it's best if you can play this game with a bud, or find someone who's new to the experience so as not to ruin how to solve these puzzles with an experienced player who's holding your hand through the whole thing.
Portal 2 brings everything a great sequel is usually expected to give us. More puzzles, more story, more and new gameplay elements, and all while keeping what we loved in the first game intact. It may not be a long game for some, and if you don't have anyone to play Co-Op with, the game also may become shorter, yet Portal 2 delivers a great, engrossing, and refreshing experience that cannot be denied. The game boasts a great set of production values, execution, and entertainment that must be experienced.
Uh... For Science...?!
Overall: BUY IT!!
I would highly recommend Portal 2 to anyone who has or hasn't played the first game, and anyone who desires to experience something new. Portal 2 is my personal candidate for this year's Game of the Year and I HIGHLY recommend it to anyone looking for something to play this month. Go out and buy Portal 2, because it's an experience for anyone who likes puzzle solving, fresh ideas in gaming, and games centered more on gameplay than story.
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