============
Game : Portal 2
Platform : PC
Price : $49.99
Reviewer : -paradox-
============
Portal 2 continues where the original left off and continues to expand on what was a very successful base. In the original Portal you were alone, it was a very lonely game where your only friend was the companion cube. In Portal 2 however you are almost immediately faced with a friend they call "Wheately". Wheately and the first scene being by telling us what has been happening now that you've killed "Glados". This lovable character expresses much more emotions than many characters in many other games to date. The best part about this is he's not even human, no. Wheately is a core and the developers managed to create emotions simply by the voice acting and the expressions a metal basketball can make. Now, I won't be talking too much about the story as it's for you to find out and enjoy on your own. So let's get started.
Graphics and Stability
Requirements for PC:
OS: Windows 7 / Vista / XP
Processor: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 (or higher) or AMD64X2 (or higher)
Memory: 1GB XP / 2GB Vista
Hard Disk Space: At least 7.6 GB of Space
Video: Video card must be 128 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for Pixel Shader 2.0b (ATI Radeon X800 or higher / NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or higher / Intel HD Graphics 2000 or higher).
Audio: DirectX 9.0c compatible
The requirements to run Portal 2 aren't extremely demanding and the game looks wonderful. There aren't any occasions that I stopped and looked around just to bask in the beauty of the game but that is because a majority of the game is spent inside with a lot of the same textures and very little variety. What is being shown however looks fantastic and in the rare cases that you do see something new you are able to indulge yourself in the visual aspect of the game.
The portals have been much improved in the sense that they don't bog down your computer as much as they used to and they continue to do the job right and look great doing it. For myself personally and a few friends Portal 2 runs better than the original and clearly looks better. There isn't too much to offer when you're basically trapped inside throughout the entire game but the improvement in how the game performs is noticeable.
Gameplay
My first playthrough of Portal 2 was somewhat satisfying up until the final boss, that was disappointing. There were a few times that I caught myself thinking out loud trying to figure out how to get to the next level of the game. The average playthrough of the game takes about 6-8 hours depending on how much you played the original Portal and how deep into the story of the game you want to get. I say this because my first playthrough I got really into the story and let Wheately talk whenever he wanted to say anything. I would sit and wait for him to say something else because he was just that awesome.
With that being said Portal 2 can be played and beaten in less than 2 hours because there aren't many "cut scenes", instead actions are triggered by your location and if you are flying through you can miss a lot of the story. Don't worry if this will be your first time playing though as I doubt you'll be able to do it in less than 3 hours. My best speed so far is 1 hour 50 minutes and that's after multiple playthroughs. However with the co-op aspect of the game you can add on a couple of hours into the gameplay. I will talk about the co-op later in the review.
The puzzles did not seem very challenging and my belief for the reason it was simple this time around is because the game is focusing a lot on the casual gamer. Especially since it was released for both consoles and PC at the same time, with the same features, and the same levels. There are a lot of casual console gamers, and that's where the money is at. Don't let this discourage you as an avid PC gamer though, you should know by now that Valves community loves to create custom maps and mods for everyone! If the custom maps created by the fan base are not enough valve has announced that there will be FREE downloadable content available to further your experience at Aperture Science.
A downside to playing the game through too quickly are the loading screens. If you're going to try and complete a speed run you will be faced with the loading screen constantly and have just as much time wasted watching your game load as you do running to the next test chamber, constant loading.
Now that you know the game can be played through at tremendous speed you may be wondering if you do "Portal 2 done pro". Unfortunately the accelerated backwards bunny hop seems to have been removed, as well as crouch jumping. This was a key feature in the original Portal that allowed gamers to beat the game in as little as 6 minutes.. If we include all of the other exploits used. Still, it was a key feature. So from the looks of it Portal 2 can not be done Pro.. At least until someone finds similar exploits in the levels that were found in the original.
The new elements in Portal 2 provide us with an amazing and unique experience. Just when you thought there wasn't much else that can be done with a game like Portal the developers bring us the gels, thermal discouragement beams, faith plates, and funnels and only you're expecting to just use a portal gun to continue the same "bland" experiments.
The only downside to the new elements was that it seemed to make the puzzles less exciting for me. They were more fun in the sense that you can to think in different ways but there just wasn't enough exciting portal action. What I mean is that there wasn't many occasions where you had to shoot your portals last second to perform huge jumps at huge speeds with amazing accuracy. You were able to be patient and do everything slowly. A little boring for my taste, I love flying through the air shooting portals left and right.
As for being disappointed by the last boss, or only boss scene in the game. Well, it was short, easy, and not dramatic at all. There isn't much to say about it as there wasn't much to it.
Co-Op
The co-op was fun, I played it with my best friend. Though it was also easy, we did get stuck a few times but not for very long. It's only 4~ hours of gameplay and most likely much less if you have a partner that is also a Portal lover.
Atlas and P-body (the two robots you play as in co-op) are also very lovable cute machines. As you progress through the game you unlock new actions to show off to the world, by the world I mean Glados and your partner. The few things that you are able to do are fun, especially because Valve did such a wonderful job advertising Portal 2 and having us fall in love with Atlas and P-Body just from the trailers. So a backflip while falling through infinite portals and hearing P-Body yell "wheee" is entertaining.
The story line was a little bland with nothing exciting really happening but the single player is where the focus was and should be so I'm not disappointed. I played co-op to play with friends and have fun that way, I much prefer a stronger single player story.
A very cool feature in the co-op is that if you press "Tab" you can see what your partner is seeing that runs extremely smooth. It didn't drop my framerate at all to have a picture in picture showing me what my friend is doing. It's also very convenient for when you're trying to mark the location of where you want your partner to shoot a portal. A microphone to communicate is definitely recommended. All in all, co-op is fun.
Storyline and Voice acting.
To my surprise the story was much greater than I expected it to be. Wheately played a big role in the game, but even if he didn't he would make the game for me. If he was just a buddy that followed you around while experimenting I would be happy; so the fact that he played a huge role in the game I was happy. The game did involve a few unexpected twists that really made you question what people are like, and what people are like when they have power. It shows just what having power can do to you, how it can change you. I don't want to focus too much on the story as it would spoil it for some so I'll skip right to the voice acting and the writing.
The journey from start to end contains a lot of historical events that will make the playthrough a truly worthwhile experience only Portal can deliver. The clever humor and witty remarks make Portal 2 one of a kind, I rarely feel truly connected to the protagonist and antagonist of a game; of course in portal 2 I fell in love with my companions and it was both the voice acting as well as the writing that caused this. I'm sure it's been said before and it will be said again, Valve managed to create robots that express more emotions than most developers can with people. You will find yourself standing still waiting for Wheately to say something because he's just that damn entertaining.
GLaDOS was of course entertaining as well because it's fun to be made fun of for 6 hours by someone while trying to figure out a puzzle that you're already pissed off for not figuring out. It's really nice to have a silent main character as it lets you think of replies on your own. It proved to be successful in the original portal as well as in the half life series. It seems a little more personal when it you that's playing and not Marcus Fenix.
Level Design
Of course the puzzles were great. They were very clean and very well thought out with only way way of beating them, usually. A game like Portal obviously needs great level design because it's a puzzle game, I wanted to focus on the levels in more ways than just how hard each chamber was.
As I said the chambers were great, but as soon as you step out of the chambers and you see more of the "underground" aperture science labs and caves you'll see that there isn't much to it. You're usually only able to see a couple hundred feet into the distance before it just fades into darkness unless you're meant to go that way. This is why there isn't too much to view in my opinion, it's a lot of the same visuals throughout the entire game. If you're not in a test chamber, you're in a cave; if you're not in either of those you're suspended in a test chamber or something similar in a giant open "room". Those are your three options, eh.
Overall
Portal 2 delivers a unique experience using the original formula of Portal 1 and expanding with new elements of the game that are sure to keep you entertained for hours, and if you're someone that likes to challenge themselves then the game provides you with the replayability that few games have. The difficulty is targeted towards the casual gamer so for most people it may be disappointingly easy but it's nothing to worry about as the portal community is sure to create maps that are fit for your taste. The co-op is easy, but definitely a fun experience that requires you to think in a much different way.
Graphics 9/10
Gameplay 8/10
Story 8/10
Writing/Voice Acting 10/10
Difficulty 7/10
Overall - 8.4/10
Now you may or may have not read my entire review, but I'm curious as to what you guys think of the difficulty. Was Portal 2 too easy? Also, tell me what your favorite lines in the game are. Please include them in a spoiler just in case anyone has not met our beloved corrupted core 1.
Game : Portal 2
Platform : PC
Price : $49.99
Reviewer : -paradox-
============
Portal 2 Review
Portal 2 continues where the original left off and continues to expand on what was a very successful base. In the original Portal you were alone, it was a very lonely game where your only friend was the companion cube. In Portal 2 however you are almost immediately faced with a friend they call "Wheately". Wheately and the first scene being by telling us what has been happening now that you've killed "Glados". This lovable character expresses much more emotions than many characters in many other games to date. The best part about this is he's not even human, no. Wheately is a core and the developers managed to create emotions simply by the voice acting and the expressions a metal basketball can make. Now, I won't be talking too much about the story as it's for you to find out and enjoy on your own. So let's get started.
Graphics and Stability
Requirements for PC:
OS: Windows 7 / Vista / XP
Processor: 3.0 GHz P4, Dual Core 2.0 (or higher) or AMD64X2 (or higher)
Memory: 1GB XP / 2GB Vista
Hard Disk Space: At least 7.6 GB of Space
Video: Video card must be 128 MB or more and should be a DirectX 9-compatible with support for Pixel Shader 2.0b (ATI Radeon X800 or higher / NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or higher / Intel HD Graphics 2000 or higher).
Audio: DirectX 9.0c compatible
The requirements to run Portal 2 aren't extremely demanding and the game looks wonderful. There aren't any occasions that I stopped and looked around just to bask in the beauty of the game but that is because a majority of the game is spent inside with a lot of the same textures and very little variety. What is being shown however looks fantastic and in the rare cases that you do see something new you are able to indulge yourself in the visual aspect of the game.
The portals have been much improved in the sense that they don't bog down your computer as much as they used to and they continue to do the job right and look great doing it. For myself personally and a few friends Portal 2 runs better than the original and clearly looks better. There isn't too much to offer when you're basically trapped inside throughout the entire game but the improvement in how the game performs is noticeable.
Gameplay
My first playthrough of Portal 2 was somewhat satisfying up until the final boss, that was disappointing. There were a few times that I caught myself thinking out loud trying to figure out how to get to the next level of the game. The average playthrough of the game takes about 6-8 hours depending on how much you played the original Portal and how deep into the story of the game you want to get. I say this because my first playthrough I got really into the story and let Wheately talk whenever he wanted to say anything. I would sit and wait for him to say something else because he was just that awesome.
With that being said Portal 2 can be played and beaten in less than 2 hours because there aren't many "cut scenes", instead actions are triggered by your location and if you are flying through you can miss a lot of the story. Don't worry if this will be your first time playing though as I doubt you'll be able to do it in less than 3 hours. My best speed so far is 1 hour 50 minutes and that's after multiple playthroughs. However with the co-op aspect of the game you can add on a couple of hours into the gameplay. I will talk about the co-op later in the review.
The puzzles did not seem very challenging and my belief for the reason it was simple this time around is because the game is focusing a lot on the casual gamer. Especially since it was released for both consoles and PC at the same time, with the same features, and the same levels. There are a lot of casual console gamers, and that's where the money is at. Don't let this discourage you as an avid PC gamer though, you should know by now that Valves community loves to create custom maps and mods for everyone! If the custom maps created by the fan base are not enough valve has announced that there will be FREE downloadable content available to further your experience at Aperture Science.
A downside to playing the game through too quickly are the loading screens. If you're going to try and complete a speed run you will be faced with the loading screen constantly and have just as much time wasted watching your game load as you do running to the next test chamber, constant loading.
Now that you know the game can be played through at tremendous speed you may be wondering if you do "Portal 2 done pro". Unfortunately the accelerated backwards bunny hop seems to have been removed, as well as crouch jumping. This was a key feature in the original Portal that allowed gamers to beat the game in as little as 6 minutes.. If we include all of the other exploits used. Still, it was a key feature. So from the looks of it Portal 2 can not be done Pro.. At least until someone finds similar exploits in the levels that were found in the original.
The new elements in Portal 2 provide us with an amazing and unique experience. Just when you thought there wasn't much else that can be done with a game like Portal the developers bring us the gels, thermal discouragement beams, faith plates, and funnels and only you're expecting to just use a portal gun to continue the same "bland" experiments.
The only downside to the new elements was that it seemed to make the puzzles less exciting for me. They were more fun in the sense that you can to think in different ways but there just wasn't enough exciting portal action. What I mean is that there wasn't many occasions where you had to shoot your portals last second to perform huge jumps at huge speeds with amazing accuracy. You were able to be patient and do everything slowly. A little boring for my taste, I love flying through the air shooting portals left and right.
As for being disappointed by the last boss, or only boss scene in the game. Well, it was short, easy, and not dramatic at all. There isn't much to say about it as there wasn't much to it.
Co-Op
The co-op was fun, I played it with my best friend. Though it was also easy, we did get stuck a few times but not for very long. It's only 4~ hours of gameplay and most likely much less if you have a partner that is also a Portal lover.
Atlas and P-body (the two robots you play as in co-op) are also very lovable cute machines. As you progress through the game you unlock new actions to show off to the world, by the world I mean Glados and your partner. The few things that you are able to do are fun, especially because Valve did such a wonderful job advertising Portal 2 and having us fall in love with Atlas and P-Body just from the trailers. So a backflip while falling through infinite portals and hearing P-Body yell "wheee" is entertaining.
The story line was a little bland with nothing exciting really happening but the single player is where the focus was and should be so I'm not disappointed. I played co-op to play with friends and have fun that way, I much prefer a stronger single player story.
A very cool feature in the co-op is that if you press "Tab" you can see what your partner is seeing that runs extremely smooth. It didn't drop my framerate at all to have a picture in picture showing me what my friend is doing. It's also very convenient for when you're trying to mark the location of where you want your partner to shoot a portal. A microphone to communicate is definitely recommended. All in all, co-op is fun.
Storyline and Voice acting.
To my surprise the story was much greater than I expected it to be. Wheately played a big role in the game, but even if he didn't he would make the game for me. If he was just a buddy that followed you around while experimenting I would be happy; so the fact that he played a huge role in the game I was happy. The game did involve a few unexpected twists that really made you question what people are like, and what people are like when they have power. It shows just what having power can do to you, how it can change you. I don't want to focus too much on the story as it would spoil it for some so I'll skip right to the voice acting and the writing.
The journey from start to end contains a lot of historical events that will make the playthrough a truly worthwhile experience only Portal can deliver. The clever humor and witty remarks make Portal 2 one of a kind, I rarely feel truly connected to the protagonist and antagonist of a game; of course in portal 2 I fell in love with my companions and it was both the voice acting as well as the writing that caused this. I'm sure it's been said before and it will be said again, Valve managed to create robots that express more emotions than most developers can with people. You will find yourself standing still waiting for Wheately to say something because he's just that damn entertaining.
GLaDOS was of course entertaining as well because it's fun to be made fun of for 6 hours by someone while trying to figure out a puzzle that you're already pissed off for not figuring out. It's really nice to have a silent main character as it lets you think of replies on your own. It proved to be successful in the original portal as well as in the half life series. It seems a little more personal when it you that's playing and not Marcus Fenix.
Level Design
Of course the puzzles were great. They were very clean and very well thought out with only way way of beating them, usually. A game like Portal obviously needs great level design because it's a puzzle game, I wanted to focus on the levels in more ways than just how hard each chamber was.
As I said the chambers were great, but as soon as you step out of the chambers and you see more of the "underground" aperture science labs and caves you'll see that there isn't much to it. You're usually only able to see a couple hundred feet into the distance before it just fades into darkness unless you're meant to go that way. This is why there isn't too much to view in my opinion, it's a lot of the same visuals throughout the entire game. If you're not in a test chamber, you're in a cave; if you're not in either of those you're suspended in a test chamber or something similar in a giant open "room". Those are your three options, eh.
Overall
Portal 2 delivers a unique experience using the original formula of Portal 1 and expanding with new elements of the game that are sure to keep you entertained for hours, and if you're someone that likes to challenge themselves then the game provides you with the replayability that few games have. The difficulty is targeted towards the casual gamer so for most people it may be disappointingly easy but it's nothing to worry about as the portal community is sure to create maps that are fit for your taste. The co-op is easy, but definitely a fun experience that requires you to think in a much different way.
Graphics 9/10
Gameplay 8/10
Story 8/10
Writing/Voice Acting 10/10
Difficulty 7/10
Overall - 8.4/10
Now you may or may have not read my entire review, but I'm curious as to what you guys think of the difficulty. Was Portal 2 too easy? Also, tell me what your favorite lines in the game are. Please include them in a spoiler just in case anyone has not met our beloved corrupted core 1.
SPPPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCEEE!!!!