Review: Portal 2

Release Date: Steam: April 19, 2011, Retail: NA: April 19, 2011, EU/AUS: April 21, 2011
Developed By: Valve Corporation
Genre: First-person Puzzle
Platforms: PC, Mac, Playstation 3, Xbox 360
Platform Reviewed: PC

Fear not, this review will not contain spoilers. Any plot points mentioned here were revealed by Valve in trailers prior to the game's release.

The fact that I've felt it necessary to assure readers that this review will be spoiler free speaks volumes about the powerful effect Portal had on the gaming community. All over social networking sites and gaming forums people are being extra vigilant in what they read about Portal 2, begging those that have completed the game not to blurt out any details of its story. Portal received huge amounts of praise for the combination of its unique logical puzzle-solving gameplay and its brilliantly intelligent and witty story-telling, despite a confined setting with just one speaking character. The element of surprise was a core part of the Portal experience so it stands to reason that gamers have been looking forward to having the sequel throw everything they couldn't possibly have expected at them.

GlaDOS and Aperture Science have left a lasting impression on the gaming community. Portal 2, then, has the extremely daunting task of remaining absolutely true to the fiction and personality of its predecessor while introducing new elements to keep it from becoming 'just a sequel'. Almost immediately it's apparent that the story goes much deeper than in the first game as you're introduced to a new character in the first few minutes. Already the dynamic has shifted; Chell, the silent woman you'll once again be playing as, is no longer alone with GlaDOS. There's much more of a narrative this time round with some rather delicious and completely 'out there' plot twists that will genuinely keep you guessing as to how it's all going to unravel.

This is supported by the return of the dark humour that made the first game so memorable, with a well-written script complimented by fantastic voice acting. GlaDOS remains as chillingly menacing as ever, while the new characters are introduced with equally strong personalities. No one character ever steals the spotlight and it's likely you'll come out of the game finding it difficult to pick a favourite, as they each have a substantial effect on you in their own way. It's also interesting to see Aperture Science itself given a little more attention by allowing you to explore its history, but at the same time, you're not given so much that it loses any of the mystery that makes it such an intriguing company.

The voice actors for Portal 2 have been well chosen for their respective characters. Timing and delivery are spot on and allow for some genuine laugh-out-loud moments while at other times sending shivers down your spine.

Also noticeable is the increase in music over the original. The score includes a range of ambient background music as well as appropriately dramatic pieces for some of the more eventful moments. An interesting touch is the extra musical elements that are injected into the overall theme when interacting with specific objects in the game's environment. Even though they occur at the moment you perform a certain action, they somehow feel like they're a natural part of the music.

After becoming enthralled by the introduction and being taken back into the laboratory you've previously grown to love (and fear), you could be forgiven for almost forgetting that there's an actual game to play here too. Portal laid the foundations of a simple premise that facilitated some truly complex logic problems. For those that missed out, Portal and its sequel equip you with a device that allows you to place two portals on certain surfaces within the Aperture laboratories. Enter one of the portals and you exit through the other. It's simple, but add in puzzle elements such as blocks, buttons and lasers and you end up with some wonderfully tricky but logical conundrums. Portal 2 gives you a quick reminder as to how your portals work in some 'classic' test chambers before moving on to the new mechanics designed to further test your brain-power.

Like the story, the gameplay of Portal is fragile. Mess with it too much and you could end up losing whatever it was that made it work so well. Thankfully, Valve have struck a good balance of quantity and quality as only a handful of new elements are introduced, each working very well with the existing tools at hand. Some of the test chambers are truly devious and getting into the 'thinking with portals mindset' is definitely required to come up with solutions. There are plenty of those satisfying moments where, after you've been looking around a test chamber, prodding buttons and scratching your head for some time, it all suddenly clicks into place in your mind as you exclaim a triumphant "Oh... I get it!"

The single-player mode clocks in at around 7-8 hours, give or take depending on how many times you find yourself stumped. This may seem short for a full priced game that has been in development for so long but when I reached the end, it felt about right. It's clear that every one of those hours has been lovingly crafted as the game is consistently enjoyable throughout. Furthermore, any longer and it might have run out of steam* as the story could only tease you so for so long before rewarding you with a conclusion. It's also best to play Portal 2 in sessions of a couple of hours at a time as thinking with portals can be mentally taxing if engaged in for too long.

If you've got a Portal playing friend to bring along, Portal 2 offers a cooperative mode that, thankfully, never feels tacked on. Entering this mode makes you realise just how 'meant to be' cooperative Portal gameplay is. The addition of another player with an extra two portals allows for some interesting twists on the puzzles you experience in the single-player mode. The thought process that's usually confined to your mind now becomes a back and forth conversation of collective thinking, as you each work together to come up with a solution. Though voice chat is highly recommended, you're given tools, such as a countdown timer and the ability to place a marker where you want a portal creating, to facilitate the basic communication you'll need to get by. There's no less of the charm that makes the single-player great either, as GlaDOS is along for the ride once again to offer much needed sarcastic masochism.

Every now and then a sequel comes along that feels more like an important event than just a video game. Portal 2 is one such sequel. The original saw such huge popularity that the follow-up had to be no less than superior in every single way. Valve have excelled in pulling this off and it was a genuine pleasure to be able to experience a game that has had such a powerful emotional impact on myself and hopefully, many others.

Rating: 10/10

*Not a pun. Too predictable.