Portal 2

Years ago, when Valve launched Portal as a fun Half-Life 2 mod, everybody was thrilled with the concept of the game. Portal 2 didn't just live up to the expectations I had, it slammed them harder into the ground, than I could have ever imagined. If this is no game of the year, I don't know what is... Portal 2's plot reaches much deeper into the history of Aperture Science, revealing new characters and shining a light on the events of Portal 1. Of course the humor most certainly made it to Portal 2 and I want to say, this game is even funnier than its predecessor. The new characters and the deeper plot make this game a must-buy, but that's not good enough for Aperture Science, I mean Valve: A co-op mode was the only thing missing from Portal 1, and they included it in this gem of video games. Challenging test chambers and hours of brain explosions await you and your partner in the Aperture Science Co-Operative Testing Initiative. If you liked Portal, you'll love Portal 2. And if you've never played Portal... do it now!

"You are now thinking in portals..." - this used to be the tag line for an underdog game-project which completed the Orange Box. While most of the people bought this product because of Half Life 2 - Episode 2 the main feature only had limited playtime. After exploring the game set of the the Orange Box players were stunned by "Portal", an ego-shooter with no shooting and parallels to the Half Life universe.

In fact it was only a matter of time until the huge testing facility of Aperture Science got revived for the next run - and story.

While Portal 1 was pretty much done within 3 hours its successor waits with 7-8 hours of fun. It appears a little short - that's where the co-op mode comes in, adding almost a new dimension to the game's paradigm. Solving puzzles, mazes and riddles with a partner not only opens up possibilities of creating problems to solve - it also enhances one's horizon of thinking. The co-op mode does not really develop a story, but just for the fact that after solving some puzzles ("tests") the player is left with an unique impression, this games deserves a huge credit.

The story picks up where its predecessor left off - but digs way deeper into the history and structures around Aperture Science. It's a delight to move through very different environments solving unique puzzles which are created with a particular love for details. After some rooms the player occasionally feels like a genius because the presentation of problems are extremely unusual. The voices you are accompanied by dramatically raise the level atmosphere as the voice actors do (typical for Valve) an exceptional job. The whole flow of the game grants a fluid game-play and hardly ever comes to halt.

To me personally the main point of praise is the fact that Valve manages to send you through approximately 8 hours of the same game-play without making it boring. The story is appealing, unique and weaves in seamlessly into the Half Life universe.

Two things that I thought were not quite state of the art: 1. The graphics engine is out of date, no doubt. For this game it isn't THAT important to have the latest graphics, still it's very apparent at some point and very untypical for Valve. 2. Many aspects are almost too familiar from part one. The showdown, the credits, some monologues and game-plays, etc...

BUT, some other aspects would receive more than just 10 points and that's why Portal 2 still deserves a solid score of 9 points.

Let's face it: Valve produces games which are far more than the average assembly-line-games pumped out every year. The love for detail, interaction, presentation of problems, dialogs, story and game-play clearly stands out in comparison to even major game developer studios. And Portal 2 continues this tradition seamlessly - yes, I may have expected "a little" more but in the end it's still another magnum opus which will be talked about for a long time. No doubt, this game is already one of 2011's highlights and even though other games have way better effects, graphics, models or realism - Valve draws a very clear line: While other studios produce games, they craft art!

I never expected a sequel to the first-person puzzle-game Portal to be any good, but they actually managed to create a very well-produced game that relies on great voice-acting and creative level-design. Its clear that Valve is pushing their aging Source-engine to the limits with Portal 2, but they still manage to create some of the best looking levels I've seen in a good while. The game involves a more active story-line then in the first game, but it never distracts too much from the brain-twisting puzzles. And yes, the puzzles are harder then in the first game in my opinion, although they are never near impossible if you know where to look and pay attention to the level. It also features more levels then the original I think. The first Portal took me only a few hours to beat, while Portal 2 took me two days.

A couple of new elements are introduced this time around, to keep the game refreshing and preventing the levels of getting too predictable. This is done in the form of different gels (liquid substances that either make you jump high, or run fast on contact). There's also a white gel that allows you to shoot portals on whatever surface it is spilled on. Regular water allows you to wash either one of the gels off. Besides that, there are also light-bridges that allows you to portal a walkable bridge to otherwise unreachable places, and some kind of anti-gravity beam that propels either you or objects like turrets and boxes into the direction it faces (which can sometimes be altered by pressing a button in the room).

Last thing I have to mention is the music. The music ingame, as well as the ending-music (which was particularly popular in the first game) called 'Want You Gone' by Jonathan Coulton are great. It all fits the game's robotic atmosphere perfectly as well as the ingame glitch-beats that you can hear mostly when the action intensifies.

As you can already make out, Portal 2 allows for some very diverse puzzle-elements, and this together with the already established portal-gun makes it a lot of fun and challenge to play. The story isn't too exciting, but the witty humour and overall superb voice-acting makes it worth while (kudos to Stephen Merchant for providing his voice-talent for such a funny villain). Its a bit early to say with such a long time ahead of us, but I wouldn't be surprised if Portal 2 would end up on many people's lists of best games of 2011. Go play it, you won't be disappointed!

Now, if Valve Software would only get some information out the door regarding Half-Life 3, I would be their number one fan!

Portal was an already excellent puzzle game. Portal 2 however expands everything from the first game and makes it eleven times better. The puzzles are bigger, the stakes are bigger, the Enrichment Center is bigger. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Chell has been kept in stasis for a long time since the first game ended and is awoken when a tiny personality core named Wheatley tries to break them out of the facility. Chell and Wheatley pass through a few test chambers before accidentally reawakening GLaDOS, who has many more tests for you. You have to get out of the facility and finally escape GLaDOS and Aperture Laboratories... at least at first.

Portal 2 is one of the most fun games I've played all year. The puzzles have the same basic formula of portal shooting as the last game but there's a lot other stuff thrown in as well. New gels that propel you and increase your speed and a lot harder puzzles that will keep you guessing.

Not only does Portal 2 increase the puzzles, it also goes deep into character development. When you go deeper into the facility you find out the truth about Aperture's origins and also the origins of GLaDOS.

Portal 2 is one of the best games of the year. If you haven't played it, I strongly suggest it. You'll laugh, you'll get frustrated, and you will be heavily engrossed in this amazing game.

This game is truly magnificent. The game's atmosphere is amazing. Valve really nailed the mysterious abandoned laboratory feel this time around. They knew they couldn't just rehash Portal, so they tried something new and it really paid off. The puzzles are fun and challenging, but not infuriating, and the way that the game chooses not to have any cut scenes breaking up the game play makes the game much more immersive. It's easy to get lost in this game for hours. The story is wonderful, and the ending is powerful. I would highly recommend this game to anybody who likes puzzle games, story telling in games, or games in general.