Console: Xbox 360/ PlayStation 3/ PC / MAC
Players: Single Player / Co-op Multiplayer
Release Date: 22nd April 2011
Developers: Valve Corporation
Publishers: Valve Corporation (online) / Electronic Arts
Genre: Platform Puzzle
Price: €49.99*
“We are pleased that you made it through the final challenge where we pretended we were going to murder you. We are very very happy for your success. We are throwing a party in honour of your tremendous success. Place the device on the ground, then lie on your stomach with your arms at your sides. A party associate will arrive shortly to collect you for your party. Make no further attempt to leave the testing area. Assume the Party Escort Submission Position, or you will miss the party”
Portal had ended, we’d escaped the madness of the Aperture testing facility and defeated the maniacal and twisted GLaDOS we’d even gotten over the fact that there was no cake but we still felt something was missing. After leaping, plummeting, portalling and thinking our way through dozens of cryptic puzzles we’d finished the game but why did we long to return?
Thankfully as of last week we got our chance to head back into the exciting world of Aperture Science testing with the release of the highly anticipated Portal 2.
Chell wakes up to find herself in an Aperture Recreational facility and after a routine check-up she returns to sleep only to be woken up once more this time by a pounding on the door, Wheatley a personality core informs you that the system is failing and he needs your help to escape. After recovering a portal gun you and Wheatley make your way through the facility until you find yourself in the room with the ‘body’ of GLaDOS, laying there dormant or so you thought. After waking your old friend up Chell finds herself running some new test courses at GLaDOS’ request! With Wheatley along for the ride you will have to use your knowhow from the prequel as well as get your head around some new tricks and techniques!
(We really can’t say much else here without spoiling it all for you guys needless to say the writers lost none of their imaginations or talent in the last four years!)
The game also features a multiplayer co-op where you and friend take on the role of P-Body and Atlas two bots who broke free of the mainframe and wound up being GLaDOS new playthings!
Portal 2 will feel a lot like the original and that dear friends is a very good thing! Very little had to change to make this game any better. So instead the developers and programmers took to cleaning the game up and tweaking visuals and effects until they looked better and instantly you can see a difference between the first game and this one.
Even the dank forgotten test facilities look cleaner than the original graphics, the hardness of backgrounds in Portal have been washed over and if we weren’t afraid of what might happen if we touched the wall we’d hug it because it looks so pretty!
Chell also went under the makeover treatment but seeing as how this is a first person puzzle game, her looks were never really a factor!
Playability in Portal 2 hasn’t changed much either since the first game. You still wield a portal gun and you will have to solve complex logic based problems all in the name of science and not revenge of course! There are some new tricks for you to get used to and ashamedly we’ve found ourselves stuck on three levels now for more than fifteen minutes *hangs head in shame*. Three types of gel have been introduced, repulsion, conversion and propulsion and you will have to use these to clear stages. Repulsion will allow you to bounce across gaps and reach new heights, conversion will act as a conductor for the portal gun allowing you to place portals on surfaces that didn’t in the first place and propulsion makes you move fast!
The highlight for us in Portal 2 comes in the characters/actors; GLaDOS, Wheatley and Cave Johnson are without a doubt the real ‘mechanical’ heart in the game! We were ecstatic to learn that not only would GLaDOS return but she wouldn’t change a single iota, bringing all her wit and charm to the testing procedure and would continue to be voiced by Ellen McLain. Wheatley voiced by Stephen Merchant (Comedian, Co-Writer of The Office) is your nervous new sidekick with a very shifty eye and Cave Johnson the eccentric CEO of Aperture Science was the original voice on the testing field who spurred on the original test subjects and made formal announcements being voiced by J.K. Simmons (Oz, Juno, Megamind).
The voice acting in this game is beyond anything we’ve ever encountered, with McLain, Merchant and Simmons bringing their own experience and flair to their characters. If Portal didn’t have GLaDOS then it wouldn’t be half as good and the same can be said for the characters in Portal 2. So much of the world of Portal is based on our interaction with these characters and they’ve helped great a dark and cruel (but altogether funny) universe!
Portal 2 is out now to buy and download so grab your portal gun and get ready to be tested!
Good Points
Looks beautiful
Plays very well and challenging
Best voice acting ever!
Bad Points
Despite tough puzzles the game is short
Rating: 9/10
Ending song… very enjoyable don’t watch it if you haven’t finished the game!
Ending song… very enjoyable don’t watch it if you haven’t finished the game!
