Valve hyped up Portal 2 massively and were talking about it like some epic game with a long story and long coop. They did the whole ARG thing which I didn't take part in but they kept allowing people to spend their money to unlock the game early. Only what we didn't know was the task in hand would take almost as long as the release date any ways. So I understand why people who bought that package of mediocre games they wouldn't play in any other situation but to unlock Portal 2.
Portal 2 feels like a Mini game that I completed in just over four hours and for a full priced game, I feel ripped off. I had a little play with the coop to try and make it last longer, but the gameplay isn't compelling enough to keep you playing for anything else but Glados. Even then the story felt mediocre, it was like they were using all the same jokes of the old game. I was hoping they would open up the story and develop the characters abit, none of that happened and just ended up with something really forgettable.
Although it has a nice art style, the graphics feel really dated and I'm running the game at just over 300FPS so that just proves it. I dunno what happened to Source and physics but they all fall through you like you're on no clip. You notice this especially at the start of the game when the room is breaking up. That coupled with the invisible walls and you really feel like your character isn't in the world.
All the loading screens are another thing that takes you out of the world to the point they just become annoying. Atleast HL2 masked them by having you still in the game and just loading popping up. This game has them every five mins and with a proper full loading screen to take you out of the game and feel like you're being warped about, rather than being on a journey.
Things like "do not turn off your console while saving" or the console like FOV or the L4D flashy console like menus or even the general lack of ambition with the game leads me to believe it's a console port. Valve have really hinted at this with how L4D played and Portal 2 takes it one step further with Steam for the PS3. I'm just now scared HL3 will turned out to be COD like everyother shooter lol.
All in all I think Valve hyped this game too much. I also think Half-Life hints in all this ARG stuff made me hope for so much more. Mainly that we saw something of Half-Life or we saw hints of Half-Life actually in Portal 2. None of this happened and after every game they've released or annouced and it turned out not to be Half-Life, people have become more and more pissed off and let down. Until Valve actually announce a new Half-Life then their fans will continue to be let down. What we really want from Valve is Half-Life and Portal 2 feels like a mini game. Like it should have been packaged in the Orange Box 2 with Half-Life Ep 3 CS2 or DOTA or something.
I'm also not happy about the selling of in game items that Valve has done on day one. I get it to sell community made items so people can earn real money from it. However this is just another bitch move from Valve which is turning me off them more and more each time they do it. If Portal 2 wasn't hyped so much and was sold with a smaller price tag then I could say it was a good game worth a try. It just doesn't justify the price tag and the hype, it doesn't justify not having the DLC as part of the price.
I will not be buying another Valve game on merit for their past again.
