Portal 2 Review

It’s been nearly four years since Valve released the cult hit Portal in the compilation game The Orange Box. Buried beneath the awesomeness that is Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and Half-Life 2 Episode 2, Portal was more of a tech demo of sorts, limited in scope to just eighteen short levels. The gaming community’s reaction to Portal was unexpectedly positive and today a full version of the game is being released in the form of Portal 2.

The foundation behind the first game remains intact for Portal 2. The basic concept of using a portal gun to fire a blue and an orange portal that connect to each other is still in place. You can only do this by shooting white colored walls, but as long as you can see them, you can create a portal to it. The idea gains extra legs by allowing for co-op play, which results in a possible four portals being used at once.

First let’s talk about the single-player. In the first game you wake up in a room as a test subject. You play as the same character in Portal 2, basically picking up where the last one left off. You meet Wheatley (voiced by Stephen Merchant), a British-sounding spherical robot that guides you through the first part of the game. Unlike GLaDOS, who is dead (at least temporarily), Wheatley is genuinely concerned with your well-being and tries to help you escape the Aperture Science facility.

Valve did a fantastic job updating the game engine to be a more vibrant place. As great of a physics engine that Portal exhibited, the graphics today look quite dated. Everything in Portal 2 is crisp and clean, looking great in HD. The facility itself is in disrepair, completely falling apart now that GLaDOS is no longer around to maintain the place. When GLaDOS is brought back to life, the environments begin to come back as well. Tiles move into place, junk gets cleaned up and malfunctioning doors work once again.

As interesting and funny as the story is, of which both the voice actors for Wheatley and GLaDOS contribute a great deal, the gameplay is equally impressive. Newcomers to the series will feel comfortable learning the ins and outs of the game. I actually recommend playing the co-op first since it acts as a good learning tool for the new mechanics in Portal 2, although whether you play co-op or single-player first, the developers still make sure you ease your way into the game.

The basic concept of Portal remains the same. You try to solve puzzles and get to the elevator at the end of the level. To do this you will need to manipulate your environment. A big part of Portal has always been the use of momentum. That is still true in Portal 2 as you will jump from great heights into a portal that flings you across the map. This is done especially well in the co-op where you rely on your partner to set their own portals, adding an extra fling.

New to the game are laser bridges/shields, jump pads, tractor beams and gel. The laser bridges usually have an origin on one wall and beam to another wall. From the wall opposite of the origin you can set a portal and use your other portal to send the bridge somewhere else in the level. When the laser beam is facing vertically instead of horizontally, it acts as a shield from robot attacks (yes, the turrets are back). The jump pads are basically flings without the need to gain momentum through portals. If you get caught in a tractor beam it will float you to the other side of the wall. Finally, gel makes it to where you can jump at great heights. Combining each of these and knowing where to place portals is all part of the challenge here.

As far as co-op goes, you play as two robot test subjects. The best part of co-op is that it requires teamwork, critical thinking and perhaps most importantly, lots of trial and error. Due to the fact that you need to use all four portals in most of these test chambers, it makes the game a lot more challenging. Working with another person can be frustrating and honestly, you will probably get angry at times, but it can also be very rewarding to solve the puzzles together. Oftentimes I found that when one person was stuck, the other person stepped up and found the solution. Just do not play this with someone that is impatient or uncooperative.

Portal 2 is one of those rare games that you can point to as a stellar product. Valve went above and beyond to ensure that the fans of the first game would be pleased with the sequel. Being the first full-length game in the series, Portal 2 is an ambitious project that succeeds even more so than the original. Adding several hours’ worth of gameplay, co-op missions, and the promise for free downloadable content all make this an incredible package. It’s hard to see replaying a ton of times, but as a rental, Portal 2 is a must-play. Without a doubt one of Valve’s finest works.