Portal 2

[CommanderCrazy]

Thats about right Retribution.

 

I had to get a new internet plan because my current one effectively stopped 'working', and then I got an error from steam and had to start the download fresh :wallbash:

Edited April 22, 2011 by CommanderCrazy

[ub3rman123]

They made a physical edition? I just preordered it over Steam because all the game stores within 100 miles of my house don't have PC games sections.

[AliasTheory]

“Look at you, flying majestically. Like an eagle. Piloting a blimp.”

 

I just got this yesterday and have been playing a little co-op with my roommate. A day prior, I played through the first game in about an hour. GLaDoS is hilarious as ever. Also,

 

"Blue just taught Orange a valuable lesson in trust. For that he earns five science collaboration points."

 

The quotes are so great, and Wheatley is enjoyable as well. I also noticed that it is easier to fall through portals now...or maybe that is just me.

[Nysba]

I also noticed that it is easier to fall through portals now...or maybe that is just me.

Yeah, it felt much smoother than Portal 1, which felt just like CS:S or HL2. Not that smooth, kinda blocky you might say.

 

 

And the story was pretty awesome, especially compared to Portal 1 which I just felt like it was only about doing the tests, nothing more.

 

Haven't played co-op yet, waiting for people to buy it, but sounds very interesting.

 

Do recommend.

[ub3rman123]

"I'm going to have your skeleton laminated and posed in the lobby."

 

GLaDOS in full evil mode is scary. I got nightmares of the scene where she comes back to life. At least it Portal she was friendly for most of the game.

 

(Spoiler) GLaDOS lied about the incinerator. The Cube is ALIVE!

[LordWushin]

Hey I just love it to death! Definitely better than the first one. And yes the co op is pretty epic too.

[AliasTheory]

Just played a bunch of co-op with my roommate. Man, we had so many herp and derp moments. GLaDOS talks about how I'm so entertaining since I just jump in the water all the time, as my platforming skills are amazing. Lots of fun times had...to be had! In one particular puzzle that involved using the currents and the light bridges as a shield, my roommate forgot which portal he used to set the bridge when I got the current ready. So he used the wrong one, and as such, there were just two regular old portals. We got in the current, but there were a ton of turrets. So I just told him, "This is one of those times when I hate you so much it's unbelievable." And then we got all shot up.

[WrathOfDeadguy]

Three gripes.

 

One, the loading screens. Every other game in the entire Half-Life/Portal universe does not have them, and their sudden appearance is jarring. The level transitions are seamless enough that the loading screens are utterly unnecessary (at least in singleplayer) and IMHO an unwanted breach of immersion in what is otherwise a very atmospheric game.

 

Two, a slight Big-Lipped Alligator Moment right at the end. If you haven't seen it yet, you'll know it when you see it. If you have, then all I have to say is that

the giant leopard-print turret wearing a crown,

while a funny nod to a much earlier moment, should have appeared during the credits or on a monitor,

not as a physical object in the background.

 

 

Three, most of the major puzzles had one and only one viable solution. It took a while to figure out sometimes, but once discovered it quickly became apparent that the testing environments would not have supported any other approach. Perhaps co-op will offer a bit more variation; I don't know- but I was expecting a slightly more free-form experience especially with the gels... which could be spread all over the place but not necessarily used wherever placed.

 

That's it. I loved exploring the facility and its history, and the Wheatley-GLaDOS banter was absolutely hilarious. The puzzles never got too repetitive, nor were they so frustratingly difficult as to make me want to take breaks or look up solutions. The addition of zoom was definitely a plus; it removed all of the headaches of popping portals on distant tiles.I wouldn't call it a hardcore game by any standard, but neither was Portal 1. Sometimes it's nice to play a game where you've got some time to sit back and think in between being shot at, blown up, and chased into deathtraps.

 

Unfortunately, unless I miss my guess, this will probably be the last Portal... or at least the last singleplayer Portal. The SP story did conclude with some degree of finality this time... which hopefully bodes well for the Half-Life side of the universe, since Valve has apparently learned (finally!) to not leave gargantuan cliffhangers on the end of every single SP game they make.

 

Plot comments (don't read if you've yet to finish; spoilers and all that):

 

 

I'm actually somewhat pleased that there wasn't any further deepening of the Half-Life connection in Portal 2- every other spin-off of every other major SP game seems to be stuffed full cameos by core story characters and plot points; there were only a handful of mentions of Black Mesa in Portal 2 and given the enormous time gap it seems likely that Gordon Freeman's story would have been resolved some time before Chell's re-awakening in any case. That's good... it strengthens the Portal characters (all four of them, including Aperture's founder who only speaks through old recordings) on Portal's end and reinforces the scale of the world Valve has spent so many years building. Portal and Portal 2 do not have the world-shattering consequences of the Earth-Xen and Earth-Combine conflicts that Dr. Freeman is famous for, but the events of these wonderful spin-offs are at no point in time overshadowed by the core story of the series that spawned them. Great writing by Valve on that point. It can be very difficult to resist the temptation to tie everything together in a neat little bow, but Valve has done just that and both branches of their flagship universe have been strengthened by the wider separation between individual stories.

 

With regards to Portal specifically, I like that GLaDOS turned out to be more than just your garden variety psychotic AI. The hints were sparing at first, but with the ultimate revelation that she was originally a woman whose mind was copied into the mainframe then driven mad by the addition of multiple personality cores... she's still nuttier than a fruitcake, but given the reason for it she's a much stronger character. I look forward to seeing what new twists she'll take in the co-op half of the game.

 

I am, however, a bit sad that Chell won't get any further development... her origins are strongly hinted at several times in the game (though only once does the evidence come from a reliable source- that is, from a found object rather than via one of the AIs), but with her final release from the facility it seems unlikely that she'll appear again even if there is another Portal somewhere down the line. Unless Valve goes the prequel route, which IMHO would cheapen the Portal 1 experience.

 

 

8/10 so far, for the reasons mentioned above. Great game; can't wait to drag a friend in and give co-op a spin.

[ub3rman123]

I don't think Chell is intended to be a developing character. In Portal and Portal 2, she acts more as the narrator to the unfolding story of GLaDOS and Aperture.

 

IGN's review said the archaic test chamber section was too slow-paced, but I thought Johnson's recordings were ludicrously funny, particularly if you follow what happened with Aperture from the 50's to the present.

[Lateralizm]

Who else almost die when Cave Johnson was talking about the lemons?

"Ok, I have been thinking. When life gives you lemons, DON'T MAKE LEMONADE. MAKE LIFE TAKE THE LEMONS BACK. GET MAD, I DON'T WANT YOUR DAMN LEMONS. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THESE? DEMAND TO SEE LIFE'S MANAGER. MAKE LIFE RUE THE DAY IT THOUGHT IT COULD GIVE CAVE JOHNSON LEMONS. DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? I AM THE MAN WHO IS GONNA BURN YOUR HOUSE DOWN, with the lemons. I AM GOING TO HAVE MY ENGINEERS INVENT A COMBUSTIBLE LEMON, THAT BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN" -Cave Johnson