Portal 2: Wheatley, you're making me feel uncomfortable
Arriving 4 years after the breakout success of Valve's Portal, Portal 2 is a fine piece of digital storytelling that is without a doubt one of the best games of the year. You play as Chell, a woman being experimented on like a lab rat by a sociopathic artificial intelligence called Glados. You are given a truly astonishing piece of technology called a portal gun which can make an entrance and exit on any compatible surface letting you link almost any two bits of geography to each other, creating pathways through rooms.
While the first game led you into believing you were doing actual fair tests for some respected scientific corporation, before you realised that both the disembodied voice and company were something akin to Frankenstein and his monster, Portal 2's cat is out of the bag and yet it does a fantastic job of building its world and characters.
You are joined on your quest by Wheatley (voiced by co-writer of BBC tv series "The Office", Stephen Merchant) who puts in a charming and funny performance. A major twist in the second half of the game sees his character go through extreme changes, all handled brilliantly by both the games' animators and Merchant giving this robot eyeball the kind of anthropomorphic care that at times rivals the work of Pixar.
A brisk 8-12 hours later and you'll have made it through Portal 2's numerous deathtraps. The puzzle designs are a little more complex than the first game, but there shouldn't be much to hold you back, which may come as a disappointment to some of the more veteran players. There is also a 2 player co op mode included which shares the same care and attention to detail as the single player campaign. It takes excellent communication skills to complete and the game provides you with many options in this regard, such as synchronised countdowns and tools to point to areas in the world.
Valve have class. There is just a massive aura of quality surrounding this game and that unexplainable feeling that everyone who worked on it really cared about what they were making. It's funny, thoughtful and plain old fun. Also, cake.
