Portal 2 provides an engaging expansion on the original!
Portal was released in 2007 as part of a much larger package called "The Orange Box", which was a series of games all released for the price of one standalone game as a Valve corp. apology for the lengthy development period of Half Life 2 Episode 2. Unfortunately, what was unforeseen at that time, was the significantly longer wait for Half Life 2 Episode 3 or Half Life 3, which, after the release of Duke Nukem Forever, remains the internet's most infamous example of vaporware. So how they will attempt to make it up to us when they do finish the next Half Life installment remains a point of my avid speculation.
What Valve also failed to realize, was that Portal, even though intended as a side attraction to the big release of HL2 EP2, was nothing short of a sleeper hit of 2007 and my personal pick for game of the year of 2007. While realistically, it could never win due to its short playing time (3 hours on the first playthrough) there was something about it, be it, charm, wit, or comedy, that kept me coming back. "It's a shame." I said, "if only it were longer and we could find out a little history of this place".
Well, Valve must have gotten my 1,058 messages to make another game because in April of 2011, at about 6am, I picked up my copy of Portal 2.
I will preface this by saying that I am a sucker for cheesy comedy so, if you are not, you will probably find Portal 2's early sections...a little tedious. Portal 2 is a standalone, full length game for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. The Valve team is much expanded on this project and it shows. It has a much larger storyline, complete with three puzzle solving areas that correspond to three different successions of one storyline and you can bet that you will find out all about the history of Aperature Science during this game.
Rest assured that Portal 2 takes place after the events of the first game and doesn't do that thing like Metal Gear 3 where it adds a number on to the name but gives you a prequel. Somehow you end up back in a relaxation chamber and are greeted by a computerized voice...but it isn't GlaDOS, whom you dealt with in the first game. Instead, this feels like a much gentler Aperature Science than we were introduced to in the first game. However, all is not to last, with the destruction of GlaDOS, the whole facility is peeling itself apart. The story fills you in on what happens fairly well, so I won't spoil it for you here, but it is quite the story to be told, I promise!
Visually Portal 2 looks better than Portal ever did, it's hard to say if that is an artifact of the technology getting better or if they decidedly made an effort show it off more. I'm thinking that it is more so the latter, due to the intensity of improvements of the Half Life original game into the new "fan made" release "Black Mesa" that I recently finished playing, so it is more likely that the engine was always capable of looking this good, but they just didn't feel the need to show off the environments in such a short game as the original Portal. The environments are stunning in Portal 2, much larger than Portal. Though size...doesn't matter...at least, this is what I tell myself. See, the thing is, while all these big environments are great and scenic, they do little in the way of adding substance to the game. A few large areas assure that you feel the size of the facility you are in and the gravity of the situation and story, however, a few of the areas are so big that you spend a few minutes looking for the one spot of available portal surface before moving on to the next GIANT room. It isn't a puzzle, it doesn't require thinking or application of the skills you have acquired while playing the game, it's just busy work It takes away from the flow of the game a little.
In terms of puzzles, Portal introduces new substances to add to the complexity of the puzzles, the repeal gel, the speed get and the portal gel. These gels make you think slightly add to the dimensions of the puzzles with which you are faced, however you never feel like the game is too hard or is trying to trick you, it manages to keep you constantly in that "sweet spot" and that deserves commendation!
The voice work is provided by Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons, the latter of which you will know from movies like Spider-Man where he played James Jonah Jamison, the owner of the Daily Bugle, or if you are particularly savvy in his work and enjoy a good subtle comedy, The Ladykillers. Anyway, I find the additions of both of their characters, Wheatley and Cave Johnson respectively, to be critical in explaining the back-story to Aperature and to lending variety to the story.
Remember that Portal was kind of an isolated experience, as you begin to play it, you start to realize that no one is watching the tests, in fact it seems that there were subjects before that have since been killed, you might be the last person in this facility. It provided amazing atmosphere in this way, and made you feel truly alone, how the hell are you going to get out of this place and escape, and how soon before the creepy AI voice, which sounds like my mother sometimes in the way she says things, turns on you and decides to kill you? Portal 2 is quite the opposite feel, there is usually a character with you, providing backing dialogue or hilarious prerecorded messages to keep the silence from getting to you. Honestly, it feels different...not better or worse...but different...
There are twists, surprises, and fun to be had in this game. While the game is very different from Portal, I would say that it keeps a number of the old elements that work and tosses the overused elements out the door for most of the game to keep the game fresh, in fact, that's a great way to put it. The game feels fresh and different from Portal and in short, YOU SHOULD PLAY IT!
I did encounter a minor problem when the game the crash to the desktop but when played on a different PC no such problem was observed. It is probable that Valve has since produced a patch for the game, but, honestly, the problem is so minor that I haven't been tempted to look for it.
Portal 2 is an engaging experience that expands on the previous game in all the right ways and though the environments are too big sometimes, the puzzles always feel euphoric when they are solved and never frustrate you to the point of inserting your fist in the nearest wall or friends mouth. It's a spell binding game that will have you playing it a number of times to revisit the storyline and amazing characters or, if you're really into exploring, maybe you'll discover the Half Life call backs! Regardless, there is a ton of fun to be had in this adventure and I thoroughly enjoyed it, so much so that on April 22nd at 3:30am, I declared it my pick for game of the year and many people seemed to have agreed with me at years end. That isn't saying that I closed down to the idea of other games being better than it, but I was confident that a game like this only comes around so often and you owe it to yourself to partake in this amazing journey.
