A true sequel
I finished Portal back when I picked up a copy of the Orange Box on Xbox 360. I really enjoyed the puzzles that were both challenging, but not mind blowing and the very surprising story line. When Valve announced Portal 2, I was curious about how they were going to take Portal and make it a larger game without boring me with the puzzles by the end. Portal 2 takes my expectations and pushes them aside. Portal 2 builds upon the original Portal with a larger and still very funny story line, new environments and and varied enough puzzles to keep me interested through the game.
Portal 2 is not a very long game by an respects, I probably finished the game in about 10 hours, maybe less, but that is still a large jump from the first game. Despite the size, I am not disappointed in paying $40 for this game. The total package has been worth it. The environments are varied and interesting as you are taken out the stale testing rooms from the first and take you all over Aperature Labs, keeping things interesting through out. The puzzles are not just portal puzzles as Valve added various gel substances that allow you to place portals on walls you weren't able to before, a gel that cause you to jump and one to speed you up. These changes were enough to keep the puzzles interesting and challenging. I was curious about how the story line would continue and I was surprised and thoroughly entertained. New characters add to the story and had me laughing out loud throughout the game. The game is worth playing for the story line alone.
The game was totally worth my money and I would recommend this game to anyone. You can jump in and play Portal 2 without playing the first, but playing the first adds to the overall story line. My one disappointment so far has been the cost of the microtransactions on the Portal store. The costs of the flags and paints for the robots are more expensive than I am comfortable to pay for. I think the $1-2 range for a lot of the items are more reasonable.
