Portal 2: When Life Gives You Potatoes...Do Science!

Having just played through Portal, it seemed only logical to move straight on and play Portal 2, and I have to say I was not disappointed.  In fact, I was delighted.  From the perspective of someone coming into this properly only after the hype and wonder of the original Portal has died down, Portal 2 blows it away in every respect.  It looks better, plays better, is longer, more challenging, and has more content.  On top of all of that, it even has a better plot.

Portal 2’s single player campaign is a gem of a story.  You find yourself within the facility once again, and it’s falling apart.  Guided by a robot that has been designed to look after you while you were in stasis, you try to make your way out of the crumbling facility with the aid of the robot, your wits, and of course, the portal gun.  The game changes styles repeatedly, switching between making your way through the elaborately designed testing chambers and scrambling through the back scaffolding of the facility itself.  Not to spoil things for everyone, but it has some pretty spectacular twists.  I’ve enjoyed every part of the plot, and all the characters along the way, ad their dynamics are gripping.  This is a puzzle game where you are genuinely invested emotionally in the plot, and that’s a rarity.

The puzzles themselves are more difficult, as I said.  A whole host of new elements have been added to them to make them more complex, more dangerous, and more varied.  Hence, the game is much larger, even just with one player.  Repulsion gel, propulsion gel, lasers and light bridges all serve to help you get from one side of the test to the other, whether the floor is there or not.  And half of the challenge is getting from one test chamber to the next.  While in Portal I practically ran through the game, hardly getting stopped at all by the problems presented, in Portal 2 I got frequently stuck, and had to spend large portions of time thinking my way through the situation and exploring every inch of the area to make sure I hadn’t missed something important.

The game has been improved graphically – not by a huge amount – but enough to make it fresh again.  Also improved is the dark humour.  Where the original Portal was hilarious with a side order of creepy, this game is hysterical with a much heavier dose of sinister.  Probably the most spectacular character for this is Cave Johnson, mixing dark humour with terrifying foreshadowing, whilst at the same time providing a host of the best lines in the game.

Unfortunately, I was not able to complete the game before I lost the opportunity to play it.  I believe I reached just over two thirds of the way through.  For those in the know, I was just learning how to play around with the white gel.

Really would like to play through the co-op mode.  That sounds COMPLICATED!

Portal 2 is one of the best games I have seen in a very long time, without question.  I am trying very hard not to spoil anything here simply because I think it should be played by everyone.  It gives a true challenge to any player, with none of the problems that might detract from a puzzle game like poor camera work or sloppy controls.  The plot is phenomenal, and it is played out with a flair for storytelling seldom seen anywhere.  Conceptually, it takes Portal and improves it in every way.

If you’re sitting there not sure what to do with your time and that bit of money you’ve got hanging around: Portal 2 is where it should go.  Or to charity.  That would be good to.

Portal: I’m Late to the Party and the Cake’s All Gone

I had heard of Portal a long time before it was released, probably before most people, in fact.  My friend told me about a group of students at DigiPen who had created a small game known as Narbacular Drop.  It featured you as a princess trying to make her way out of a dungeon full of puzzles with a pair of magic mirrors you could travel through.  I found it, played it, and loved it.  It was simple, yet had a great feel to it and the portal puzzles were a really cool thing to experience.  I was also told that Valve had grabbed these students and begged them to help them make a proper game out of it.  Naturally, I was intrigued.  That must have been 2005 or so.  It is with some regret that I have to admit that 6 years later, I have only just played through Portal.  I started it last night and completed it today, finishing in about 4 hours.  It was fantastic, and everything I had hoped Portal to be, but I feel a little bit underwhelmed by the whole thing.  Not because the game wasn’t challenging and great fun, but because Portal 2 is on the same computer I was playing on.  From being a year ahead of the party, I’ve finally arrived several years late.  Still, it is without doubt worth talking about.

You could place mirrors through mirrors too, which was pretty awesome

Portal, if you haven’t heard, is a physics-based puzzle game where you progress through a computer-monitored testing facility for a portal generating device.  A pair of linked portals serves as your tool for solving the puzzles, as stepping through one brings you out of the other, wherever it may be.  This can often lead to some disorientation if your exit is upside-down or on the ceiling.  The only voice in the entire game is that of GLaDOS, the intelligent computer overseeing the test.  Suffice to say, she is fully justified with her place at the top end of various lists for best video game villains of all time.  The first half of the game consists of a series of puzzles which explore the many mechanics of the portal device and the testing facility.  The second half of the game, you can find out for yourself.

The world is simple, but you can't say it doesn't look good

Graphically, the game is excellent.  No real issue there, although while the nasty death acid is all right to look at, falling into it is a thoroughly disappointing final seconds of visual, as they simply did not bother to do anything under the surface.  The controls handle well, and before too long you’ll find yourself flying through the air with the greatest of ease, as it were.  And wondering which portal you were supposed to place.  I think I definitely had an advantage for having played through Narbacular Drop many times all those years ago.  Most of the first half of the game required very little thought, though one or two did stump me for a while.

The concept and the gameworld, however, are Portal’s shining glory.  Portal travel is fantastic, and the sense of humour is phenomenal.  Every stage of the game is full of sarcasm, jokes, outright lies, love, loss, and the constant promise of cake.  When a game turns the machine-gunning sentry drones into adorable creations which you almost regret defeating, you know you’re playing something special.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKVuPUY9D-A for some voice clips.

I do wish the game had been longer.  It really is rather short.  However, there are bonus maps which I have not played through, and I understand the Portal 2 is significantly longer, although not by much.  Perhaps again, it was because I had played the predecessor.  Still, as it stood, Portal flowed well.

It is such a shame that it has taken me so long to play this game.  However, I am thrilled to have finally managed it.  Portal is fantastic, and I can’t wait to try out Portal 2 tomorrow...