Upon having completed Portal over three years ago I felt as though I’d
just played a near perfect game. So where does that leave its sequel?
After all, it’s a game that manages to improve upon everything the
original brought to the table, and then it goes the extra mile and adds
even more.
It’s been a while since the events at the end of Portal and it goes
without saying that GLaDOS is none too pleased about how that all turned
out. You play as Chell yet again, the same mute, imprisoned protagonist
and test subject from the first game, as you attempt to escape once
more from a quickly deteriorating Aperture Science complex.
Helping you escape is Wheatley, a dim, well-intentioned personality core
charged with looking after the human test subjects, of which you are
the lone survivor. As you make your way through the facility you’ll run
into GLaDOS once more and begin testing all over again as the homicidal
AI rebuilds the chambers.
One of the best parts of the original game was the dark humor provided
by GLaDOS’ commentary as you made your way through the chambers. Of
course, this was before she revealed herself to have a penchant for
murder and so the same wouldn’t work this time around. Instead, GLaDOS
jumps any opportunity to toss an insult your way during your time in the
test chambers. Over time this becomes increasingly grating and the
jokes simply fall flat at times as a result. Thankfully, Wheatley’s
position as comic relief is more than enough to make up for this, and
GLaDOS’ role from the first game is taken up by a disembodied male voice
providing you with weird and ridiculous facts about Aperture Science
and the universe.
The overall scope has grown immensely in Portal 2 when compare to its
predecessor. While the original did break away from the sterile and
bright test chambers midway through the game, in Portal 2 you’ll spend
just as much time exploring the innards of Aperture as you will solving
puzzles in the dilapidated test chambers, which serve as a stark
reminder that things have really gone to hell around here since the last
escape attempt. The amount of detail placed into every cavernous hall,
and every assembly room is absolutely astounding. The Source engine has
clearly received a nice fresh new coat of paint as the environments and
lighting look gorgeous.
While the music and sound effects are all top notch, the voice work is
where Portal 2’s sound design really shines through. Considering it’s
place as a comedy game, the voice acting alone is what could single
handedly make or break the experience. Stephen Merchant and J.K. Simmons
both deliver perfect performances as Wheatley and Aperture Science
founder, Cave Johnson, respectively. Ellen McLain also returns to
reprise her role as GLaDOS, and let’s just say that she does a wonderful
job of making sure you understand that GLaDOS is angry, and also
incredibly terrifying.
You should come into Portal 2 expecting two things: mind bending
puzzles, and gut busting humor; and for the most part the game delivers
on both.
While GLaDOS casts a dark, sinister cloud over the beginning of the game
with her constant insults and jabs, overall Portal 2 is funnier than
the original with both sharper writing, and comical set pieces mostly
thanks to Wheatley’s antics, and Cave’s crazy yet sound ideals. And for
those of you wondering, there is almost a complete lack of cake jokes,
with there only being one appearance that tastefully handles a meme
spawned by the original that had quickly spun out of control.
Having Wheatley following you around also lets the humor feel more
engaging; despite Chell being a completely silent protagonist, it
doesn’t fell as though you’re simply being talked to in a one-way
conversation as GLaDOS would in the original. Specifically, Wheatley has
a handful of jokes that will only progress with some form of action
from the player, making you feel much more involved in the whole
process.
Up until the midway point of the game, most of the puzzles feel very
straightforward, and fairly easy to solve. The introduction of the
various colored gels will certainly get you stumped at one point or
another as you’re required to use what you’ve already learned in
relation to portals while applying your newly gained knowledge and
abilities. As a result, through most of the second half of the single
player campaign the game manages to be challenging while avoiding overly
frustrating the player, or seeming too easy.
Those really looking for a challenge however should find a friend, look
to the cooperative campaign. It follows a similar structure to the
single player layout, progressively getting more and more challenging as
you encounter many of the same basic concepts such as flinging and
gels. The extra pair of portals is what will end up tossing a monkey
wrench into your normal Portal puzzle solving methods though.
Ideally, you’d be playing coop with a friend sitting with you in the
same room, and if you’re willing to give up some screen space the
console versions support split-screen play. Though if that’s not an
option, and voice chat of any kind is out of the question as well,
Portal 2 comes with a very handy “ping” tool. It opens up a radial menu
for you to select from, letting you tell your partner where you want
them to move, or where you’d like them to place a portal. In puzzles
where both players need to act within a small window of time it will
also let either player initiate a countdown so that you can both stay on
the same page.
The pay off at the end of each puzzle is made all the better when you
and your partner have just managed to solve a particularly tricky
puzzle, or one that required you to work closely together to make it
through. And that’s without taking into account the events at the end of
the campaign, which I’ll let you discover for yourselves.
While
Portal 2 simply can’t take us all by surprise like the original did for
many, it is sharper, funnier, and just plain better than the original
in every other way. It looks, sounds, and plays better; and the writing
along with the performances from the game’s main players is sharper and
funnier than before. Simply put, Portal 2 will be one of the best games
you play this year, no questions asked.
