Portal 2 – Review (360, PS3, PC)

written by gazzara on 19.4.11

Portal 2 is nearly upon us and mature-gaming got the chance to review Portal 2 before launch. An insta classic or a game full of holes?

In just a few days Valve’s eagerly anticipated Portal 2 will be released to the world.  Will the sequel live up to the hype? And if so how could it possibly get any better?

The original Portal was launched way back in 2007 when it came packed with four other awesome games. The Orange Box as its known housed the game which turned out to be one of Valves little gems, having won numerous awards such as Game of the Year at GDC.

It’s no secret Valve make amazing games so a lot is to expected from this title.

Portal 2 kicks off with you playing as Chell (the protagonist from the original). Chell finds herself locked in what appears to be a motel room where she is told to go to sleep by a robot called Wheatley. After awakening she finds the room had overgrown with plants, implying a number of years had passed.

With Wheatley’s help you try to escape but by doing so you accidentally wake up GLaDOS and despite her apparent destruction at the end of the original Portal, GLaDOS is ‘still alive’ and kicking.

During that time GLaDOS was rebuilding the testing facility, presumably waiting for you.

Again Portal 2 is set in Aperture Science labs however this time round they have been infested with plants and overgrown bushes. The environment is being controlled by GLaDOS, where you feel she’s after your blood. The sounds of machinery and mechanises shifting, moving and crunching gives you the impression GLaDOS is constantly teasing you.

Not wanting to go into the story too much to avoid any spoilers but essentially you can sort of expect the same with a few twists and turns.

To those who are familiar with Portal the mechanics are fundamentally the same. Shooting with the right trigger creates a blue entry point whilst shooting the left creates an exit point. Pressing down A makes you jump and RB zooms in the camera – pretty simple.

Again the portals work like they did in the first game, though there are more opportunities to use interesting physics effects, such as with wind vents and tractor beams. Tractor beams allow you to float from place to place, and this, too, can be manipulated using Portals. Jump pads will also be used to great effect, and in some scenes you use the power of vacuums to suck up the gun turrets. Put a portal underneath the suction, put another one near enemies, and watch them be sucked away.

There will also be a larger variety of items to interact with like a Weighted Storage Cube and the Reflection Cube where you can redirect laser beams to be used as a weapon. Furthermore a new “paint” has been implemented that allows players greater speed and higher jumps when stepped on.

The opening 3 chapters were relatively easy to complete with no huge challenge so any previous Portal players should feel right at home. This obviously is a puzzle game so patience is key. Be prepared to invest a lot of time in this game because you’ll find yourself scratching your head a lot of the time in the later stages of the game.

There is also a two-player co-op mode that’s totally separate from the single player experience. In co-op you and your buddy play as robots who must work together to solve puzzles and get through the course together making it a more intricate experience.

What’s disappointing to see is the game is still powered by the Source engine which deputed back in 2004. This gives the game a little dated feel and makes you think why Valve didn’t power it with anything new, (maybe they’re waiting for Half Life 3…).

The environments do still look pretty though with some nice crisp shadings of the wildlife that’s growing and the textures of the walls and the portal gun itself.

Its not a huge leap forward in terms of graphics but who plays Portal for graphics right..?

Portal 2 is an amazingly fun and addictive game. You can spend minutes, hours maybe even days figuring out these puzzles but once completing them a great accomplishment and feeling of reward seeps through you. Maybe not a huge step forward as some may have hoped but Valve has certainly done it again in creating an engaging game that fans of the series and newcomers alike will truly love.

Written By:- David Salman