Console: Xbox 360/ PlayStation 3/ PC / MAC
Players: Single Player, Co-Op Multiplayer
Release Date: 21th April 2011
Developers: Valve Corporation
Publishers: Valve Corporation
Genre: Sci-fi Puzzle-platform
It’s back, the people over at Aperture Scien…err Valve have finally been able to bring out the long awaited sequel to their award winning Portal Game. Following on from the 2007 release, it was announced in March of last year that fans of the Orange Box games and in particular wouldn’t have to wait much longer (a year isn’t that long in the gaming world) for a chance to return to the world of Portal. For anyone who hasn’t been following the development and all the promotion surrounding the game then fear not we are here to bring you up to speed before you can get your paws on it (unless you have already played it via Steam… and damn you if you have because we’re very jealous)!
Plot
Following on from the events of Portal and Half-Life 2, Chell finds herself caught up in the world of the Aperture Science Corporation once more and has returned to the main Aperture test facility guided by Wheatley, a personality core. After returning to the place where she believed she had destroyed GLaDOS and finally put an end to the deadly projects, Chell finds out that while not fully active the twisted cyber entity is functional but dormant…for now.
With the aid of Wheatley Chell has to manoeuvre her way through the facility once more but when GLaDOS reactivates and decides that they can be friends again, the mission becomes a lot deadlier.
A separate multiplayer co-op is available in which players take on the role of Atlas and P-body, a personality core and turret gun who’ve broken free from the network and are now unfortunate test subjects for GLaDOS to play with, thankfully they both have their own portal guns. Their story takes place after the events of Chell in the facility but can be played before you take on the single player game mode.
What can we expect?
Thankfully we can expect much of the same and then a WHOLE lot more! Portal and Portal 2 are puzzle platform games, that means traipsing through level after level solving puzzles, of course that’s what it would mean in any other game but we’re talking about Portal. The game forces you to test your knowledge and skills and will aggravate and frustrate you to the point that you might even consider using a walkthrough!
Portal 2 will see Chell take on the power of the portal gun, opening well… portals and using them to traverse through the deadly and hazardous grounds of the test facility. Firing one shot will open a portal to nowhere but firing a second shot will link the first and second portals together, allowing Chell to move through solid matter, leaper high into the air an even propel herself across cavernous pitfalls.
While the functionality of the gun will stay the same, a few new tricks have been added to further test our ability and allow Chell to reach her goal – gels such as the Conversion, Repulsion and Propulsion will be available to not only help Chell but confuse and torment the players. Using these Chell can turn previous surfaces unable to be portals into portal friendly surfaces (Con), jump (Rep) and gain momentum (Prop) however transporting and using the gels will require some serious thinking on your part.
What’s with all the promotion? Are they for real?
Valve sure love promoting their games and have always been pretty good at drumming up publicity and creating a lot of anticipation surrounding their release. Recently GLaDOS made her presence felt on the internet, there have been special commercials created by Valve themselves and using no outside ad agencies and then there is ‘Potato Sack’. Potato Sack is a collection of thirteen independently developed games released on Steam and players were told that if they played these games they would increase the power input into Aperture facility and thus reboot GLaDOS launch the Portal 2 game onto Steam earlier than originally planned… so it happened and Steam players are currently whizzing their way through the facility as you read this!
We are waiting for our console copy before we tuck into the game but by all accounts so far the guys at Valve have managed to craft another gem of a game. We’ll let know you what we think on Friday but until then remember… that…. THE CAKE IS ALWAYS A LIE!
