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[itxaka]

Finally got back from holidays and finished the game in 8 hours.

Pretty good. Not as awesome as the first one but I guess that was expected as the first one was too different from anything else.

Its a shame it isn't much bigger. I feel like the liquids and new mechanics are not really used a lot except on the

Spoiler

"training" you do with them when you first find them

Loved Wheatly voice. I even changed the language of the game so I could listen to it. And it was much funnier than Glados on the first one.

Loved the start of the game. Tried a bit of co-op and it seems that there is where the game will shine and surpass the first one. The possibilities are amazing.

 

[The Albatross]

Portal 2 was excellent through and through. The single-player game is truly more of a single player experience this time around rather than the test chamber gauntlet that Portal 1 was. Nearly the entire game plays like the last level of Portal 1, which, at the time, I considered the best single level of any game that I had ever played.

That being said, while I loved Portal 2 and was pleasantly surprised by how "narrative" it felt, I was a little disappointed that they didn't add any of the elements that made Portal 1 (and Portal: Still Alive, the XBL downloadable game) so replayable. "Portal: Still Alive" did this best, but basically, it was just a downloadable game of test chambers, but then, with added challenges: complete the chamber in the fewest steps (with bronze/silver/gold for certain few steps), complete them in the littlest time, or the fewest portals, and so on. It was a tremendous addition to the game that added a lot more strategy.

The lack (or, actually, limit) of proper test chambers in Portal 2 left me a little wanting... I was looking forward to trying to master each chamber with only 2 or 3 total portals used, or, 5 total steps, or beat them in 25 seconds flat. The last of test chambers and the complexity of some, also, made it feel as if you weren't coming up with your own solution for the particular chamber, but simply, finding the solution that the game wanted you to use. In effect, there seemed to really only be 1 solution for marching your way through Portal 2... Where as most people who played through Portal 1 a second, third, or more times, rarely used the same technique to finish the game that they did the first time. THis was highlighted by the "Portal: Still Alive" additions of "Beat this in 3 portals or fewer," where you really had to think: "Damn, the first time I did this I used 12 portals... but there's a way to beat it with only 3?!"

Anyway. so the game was still incredible, but the lack of additional test chambers sorta hurt for me. Co-op has really made up for a lot of this, too, but I'm not always wanting to play a co-op game just to get that puzzle fix in. So, in short, I was hoping that upon beating the game, it would unlock a bunch of test chambers that you can play through ad nauseam, with trophies, goals, and so on. I'm disappointed that the great additions from Portal: Still Alive, didn't make it into Portal 2. But, still loved it, great game, etc.

Sorry tldr

 

[BocoDragon]

^ Maybe we will see things like that in DLC?

 

[Omotesando]

Just finished it, the ending was really good, my view of the game.

The game is great PSN/XBLA, full retail, not as much:


++ The world of Aperture Science is beautiful, only a handfull games can call themselves equal to what Valve created here. Videogames can be art and Portal 2 is a prime example
+ The game runs smoothly, sharp IQ, no graphical deficiencies. The graphical performance and one of the finest art directions this generation makes this one of the best looking games available
+ The sounds are exquisite, the voice acting especially GlaDos and Wheatley are outstanding. Even the minor robots are memorable through their charming sounds
+ The humor is applied contineously. Although I think every spoken word doesn't need to form a punch line, Portal 2 does a decent job to add this extra dimension to the characters
- The frequent loading really doesn’t bother me, until the Wheatley rescue and a loading time occurred in the middle of the escape. I thought the game bugged out on me, it was really out of place
-- The puzzle gameplay tends to get repetative even on first playthrough and the game has zero replayability. The multiplayer coop could bring you back for some more box dropping, but as a full retail
game, the content is meager
- As a platformer skill has no place in Portal 2. The puzzles requires minimal effort. It really makes the experience on the gaming front unsatisfying

7/10

 

[ZephyrFate]

The point of the single player is to be cerebral and to get you used to the mechanics, whereas the co-op has the tough and difficult puzzles. The co-op is more than enough to give it higher than 7/10.

 

[Omotesando]

The point of the single player is to be cerebral and to get you used to the mechanics, whereas the co-op has the tough and difficult puzzles. The co-op is more than enough to give it higher than 7/10.

This short review is purely of the single player, I dont think I'm up for coop mp, the mp coop puzzles should really be exponentially better, if so, then the singleplayer really dropped the ball even more.

 

[The Albatross]

Yeah, I'm hoping they released like a 20-level pack or something, with some of those "medals" from Portal: Still ALive. They also released 'challenge' maps which remade the original maps but with fewer areas to portal, or deadly goop instead of solid floors, etc. That's not really possible in Portal 2 because in almost every level, there's really only one way to solve each puzzle.

Oh, one minor minor thing I'd like to see is a 'suicide' option or a death button or something, especially for coop. My friend and I were playing coop and got to an area that we definitely should not have gotten to... And the game was pretty much locked up, had to restart the level, but it would have been useful to suicide out of that one. It's only happened a few times but yeah.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

- As a platformer skill has no place in Portal 2. The puzzles requires minimal effort. It really makes the experience on the gaming front unsatisfying

7/10

You posted this fantastic critique in both threads. This is my favourite observation.

 

[SteveWinwood]

You posted this fantastic critique in both threads. This is my favourite observation.

I don't even know what it means.

 

[The Lamonster]

Anyone who also hasn't touched co-op wanna run through a few levels with me? I have some time to kill.

 

[Summary Man]

I know that split-screen co-op is possible on the PS3, but can my co-op partner sign in to his account while I'm signed into my account, or does he just show up as my guest, basically?

 

[ZephyrFate]

This short review is purely of the single player, I dont think I'm up for coop mp, the mp coop puzzles should really be exponentially better, if so, then the singleplayer really dropped the ball even more.

If 'dropping the ball' is the same as 'that was not the point', then you don't know what 'dropping the ball' means.

 

[distantmantra]

I ordered the PS3 version of Portal 2 today. I don't have a Steam account, so could I technically "give" the PC copy to a friend of mine, or does the PSN email address have to be the same as the Steam email address?

 

[Exuro]

I ordered the PS3 version of Portal 2 today. I don't have a Steam account, so could I technically "give" the PC copy to a friend of mine, or does the PSN email address have to be the same as the Steam email address?

Make your friend a PSN account and tie it to his Steam account.

 

[faceless007]

Spoiler

I don't think it is possible to skip PotatOS. You have to pick her up to cause a change in the walkways. (A button under her triggers when you pick her up.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApG2ZX1Iac (spoiler)

 

[WrenchNinja]

I still want to know how Wheatly lived. He said something about a bird and that's it.

 

[TheExodu5]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApG2ZX1Iac (spoiler)

I did that on my first playthrough as well. Beat the game without getting the achievement.

 

[faceless007]

One minor criticism I have, I don't like how the reticle now shows you which portals are open (I find it pretty easy to remember that). I prefer 1's which indicated if a surface was portlable.

 

[Emitan]

One minor criticism I have, I don't like how the reticle now shows you which portals are open (I find it pretty easy to remember that). I prefer 1's which indicated if a surface was portlable.

But the first game showed you which was open, too.

 

[Summary Man]

But the first game showed you which was open, too.

It's been awhile since I've played it, but I think the first game also had a little indicator for the last portal you shot (for example, if the last portal you shot was the orange portal, a little mark would appear next to the orange side of the reticle). Pretty helpful, though Portal 2's ability of seeing your portals through multiple surfaces is really helpful as well.

 

[Articalys]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApG2ZX1Iac (spoiler)

Huh. You'd think Valve would have tested enough to catch that; no reason to leave it in, since unlike other sequence breaks you miss a pretty big plot point, unless there were really that many people during testing who used that route.

 

[Lionheart1337]

Huh. You'd think Valve would have tested enough to catch that; no reason to leave it in, since unlike other sequence breaks you miss a pretty big plot point, unless there were really that many people during testing who used that route.

Valve playtesters = soccer moms

 

[faceless007]

But the first game showed you which was open, too.

If it did I never found that useful. Much more useful to tell me if a surface is portlable. Wonder why they changed that.

This video shows how it worked in 1, it lights up when it's over a portlable surface.

 

[Deleted member 30609]

It's been awhile since I've played it, but I think the first game also had a little indicator for the last portal you shot (for example, if the last portal you shot was the orange portal, a little mark would appear next to the orange side of the reticle). Pretty helpful, though Portal 2's ability of seeing your portals through multiple surfaces is really helpful as well.

to be fair, the Portal gun in 2 still retains part of that, the little light on the gun glows the colour of the last portal you shot.

 

[xxracerxx]

I still want to know

Spoiler

how Wheatly lived

. He said something about a bird and that's it.

Probably the same bird who

Spoiler

took PotatOS

 

[webrunner]

Just getting out of the

Spoiler

Cave Johnson levels

.. so far my favorite dialogue is when

Spoiler

Wheatley was trying to 'hack' the neurotoxin computer... he goes on for like five minutes. "What have we got.. a.. computer. Not a surprise. To be expected, to be honest. Check that off the list. Computer identified.. tick. There's a.. box part.. here. We've got some.. electronics.. in there. And a monitor! That should be important, I imagine. I'll have to keep my eye on that..." there's something hilarious about an artificial intelligence that doesn't know what a keyboard is. Then he tries to hack the password by convincing the computer (a dumb terminal) that there's a lovely bird to look at. Actually, all of Wheatley's "hack" attempts are great. He doesn't.. really know what hacking is.

 

[blamite]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApG2ZX1Iac (spoiler)

I spent like 10 minutes trying to fling myself to that elevator and slamming into the gate before I realized I was supposed to

Spoiler

get into the top floor of the control room

. I felt so dumb when I realized what I had missed.
That's my only real complaint with the level design; it can be pretty confusing to figure out where to go between test chambers in

Spoiler

retro Aperture

. I got stuck in situations like that at least a few other times before realizing the path I was supposed to be on.

 

[blamite]

Just getting out of the

Spoiler

Cave Johnson levels

.. so far my favorite dialogue is when

Spoiler

Wheatley was trying to 'hack' the neurotoxin computer... he goes on for like five minutes. "What have we got.. a.. computer. Not a surprise. To be expected, to be honest. Check that off the list. Computer identified.. tick. There's a.. box part.. here. We've got some.. electronics.. in there. And a monitor! That should be important, I imagine. I'll have to keep my eye on that..." there's something hilarious about an artificial intelligence that doesn't know what a keyboard is. Then he tries to hack the password by convincing the computer (a dumb terminal) that there's a lovely bird to look at. Actually, all of Wheatley's "hack" attempts are great. He doesn't.. really know what hacking is.

"Alright, I'm going to attempt a manual override on this wall, this may get a bit technical, so you'll probably want to hold onto something"
That line kills me every time.

 

[jax (old)]

I tried a bit with my 360 pad on PC and it left a bad taste in my mouth. Valve still hasn't really mastered the controller yet IMO.

Actually played through the whole thing on the Pc x360 controller - mostly fine except I noted later when I couldn't get past a puzzle that the controller wouldn't do the full run at max speed (ergo had to use the w key to pass these sections)

 

[webrunner]

"Alright, I'm going to attempt a manual override on this wall, this may get a bit technical, so you'll probably want to hold onto something"
That line kills me every time.

Or when he hacks the

Spoiler

glass door

or right after when he hacks the door and

Spoiler

doesn't realize it just opens

 

[Blizzard]

I spent like 10 minutes trying to fling myself to that elevator and slamming into the gate before I realized I was supposed to

Spoiler

get into the top floor of the control room

. I felt so dumb when I realized what I had missed.
That's my only real complaint with the level design; it can be pretty confusing to figure out where to go between test chambers in

Spoiler

retro Aperture

. I got stuck in situations like that at least a few other times before realizing the path I was supposed to be on.

I spent ages on the first room with the final color of gel.

Spoiler

I coated all OVER stuff with paint, wasted a bunch of time trying to launch myself up the target tower, and then finally realized that I needed to get up a side tower first. >_>

Also, I really thought I saw a YELLOW gel tube at one point but I suppose I was just imagining things.

 

[faceless007]

I thought the whole

Spoiler

"I need you to turn away while I do this" thing was kind of odd. I mean from a design standpoint. What was the point of making the player do that? It happens about 3 times but it doesn't actually affect the fiction or story and it doesn't add anything to Wheatley's character. Just very curious. Although it does set up the one time where him "hacking" the door is just him smashing it.

 

[Red]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VApG2ZX1Iac (spoiler)

I tried this my first playthrough but kept going too far or too high up. Never landed on the platform, always under/overshot it.

 

[B33]

I thought the whole

Spoiler

"I need you to turn away while I do this" thing was kind of odd. I mean from a design standpoint. What was the point of making the player do that? It happens about 3 times but it doesn't actually affect the fiction or story and it doesn't add anything to Wheatley's character. Just very curious. Although it does set up the one time where him "hacking" the door is just him smashing it.

Some pretty big spoilers below.

Brace yourself.

Spoiler

For the sake of humor

.

 

[webrunner]

I thought the whole

Spoiler

"I need you to turn away while I do this" thing was kind of odd. I mean from a design standpoint. What was the point of making the player do that? It happens about 3 times but it doesn't actually affect the fiction or story and it doesn't add anything to Wheatley's character. Just very curious. Although it does set up the one time where him "hacking" the door is just him smashing it.

It's a wierd quirk in Wheatley's character. Either he thinks what he's doing is super-top-secret or embarrassing when generally it is not.

 

[The Lamonster]

Anyone who also hasn't touched co-op wanna run through a few levels with me? I have some time to kill.

What about now?

 

[jax (old)]

I spent ages on the first room with the final color of gel.

Spoiler

I coated all OVER stuff with paint, wasted a bunch of time trying to launch myself up the target tower, and then finally realized that I needed to get up a side tower first. >_>

Also, I really thought I saw a YELLOW gel tube at one point but I suppose I was just imagining things.

The only place in the game that really pissed me off - and I spent some time with was at the

Spoiler

top of the "oil rig" like structure after you passed the "3 colour gel room"... couldn't figure out a way to go up anymore. Then after maybe 20+++ minutes, I noted the wall you can shoot up at through the vent that was dropping all the white gel. It was hard to tell otherwise. I did try shooting up the hole when I saw it but it must have hit at a bad angle or something. That was the point in the game, where I felt that what you had to do next wasn't clear.

 

[curryknight12]

Just finished the game and it was a spectacular ride.

I really enjoyed having a "behind the scenes" look at Aperture Science.

Everything had so much personality.

Spoiler

Shooting the moon with a portal?! Brilliant!

GLaDOS's personality

Spoiler

this time around surprised me a bit. I didn't really like it at first, then you realize what's going on and it makes more sense.

One thing that struck me as odd was how Cave was mentioning how

Spoiler

toxic the gels were, but somehow Chell seems to be immune to it? Maybe I missed something.

 

[GodfatherX]

any 360 owners looking for a co-op partner?

havent touched it yet, and i work late hours so im not on until about 3am EST/midnight pst

gamertag - GodfatherX360

 

[Deleted member 30609]

I thought the whole

Spoiler

"I need you to turn away while I do this" thing was kind of odd. I mean from a design standpoint. What was the point of making the player do that? It happens about 3 times but it doesn't actually affect the fiction or story and it doesn't add anything to Wheatley's character. Just very curious. Although it does set up the one time where him "hacking" the door is just him smashing it.

It's a joke. It's like saying I can't pee when someone is watching.

It also helps remind more casual players that there is a world beyond what they're currently looking at, I guess.

 

[darthbob]

One thing that struck me as odd was how Cave was mentioning how

Spoiler

toxic the gels were, but somehow Chell seems to be immune to it? Maybe I missed something.

I'm in the same boat, no idea.

No pun.

 

[UltimaPooh]

I'm in the same boat, no idea.

No pun.

Spoiler

She had a relatively low exposure to it while Cave had a lifetime of exposure.

It's probably like taking in high amounts of nuclear radiation. In a short amount of time you will be fine, over a longer period it can hurt you.

 

[darthbob]

Spoiler

She had a relatively low exposure to it while Cave had a lifetime of exposure.

It's probably like taking in high amounts of nuclear radiation. In a short amount of time you will be fine, over a longer period it can hurt you.

Spoiler

Or like asbestos. Sorry Chell, no canasta.

 

[Sibylus]

One thing that struck me as odd was how Cave was mentioning how

Spoiler

toxic the gels were, but somehow Chell seems to be immune to it? Maybe I missed something.

I don't know if anyone else got this impression, but

Spoiler

it seemed like he had ingested some of the gel (maybe got caught in a spray), though I have no confirmation of that outside of a hunch. He was trying to remove the poisons by portal travel (presumably on gel'd up surfaces), so it might seem that proximity wasn't the problem.

 

[darthbob]

I don't know if anyone else got this impression, but

Spoiler

it seemed like he had ingested some of the gel (maybe got caught in a spray), though I have no confirmation of that outside of a hunch. He was trying to remove the poisons by portal travel (presumably on gel'd up surfaces), so it might seem that proximity wasn't the problem.

Spoiler

Can only imagine what the effect gels would have on the inside of one's body.

 

[brandonh83]

This now has one of my favorite endings ever. Just wow. And they, IMO, managed to one-up Still Alive. Great song.

 

[Incendiary]

One thing that struck me as odd was how Cave was mentioning how

Spoiler

toxic the gels were, but somehow Chell seems to be immune to it? Maybe I missed something.

Spoiler

I thought it had something to do with the fact she was wearing those special boots. Although it doesn't explain why you can stand underneath the chutes and let it pour all over you.

 

[faceless007]

It's interesting to look at earlier-released vids to see what sorts of things change during the development process. This promo shows one of the gel tests largely unchanged from the final version except in this earlier version it was set within the normal Aperture facility, not the testing labs. And this promo shows a recognizable excursion gel test but with turrets that were removed in the final version and, most interestingly, originally it was set in normal Aperture Science but in the final game it's moved to

Spoiler

Wheatley Labs

.

Also, what the hell happened to this test? Looks like a good one. I do think the number of gel puzzles that made it into the final game was disappointingly low.

And these ones. Dammit, now I'm mad at Valve's playtesting process for cutting so many puzzles just because they require a little dexterity.

 

[~Kinggi~]

So, still waiting for PSN to come up so i can get my damn pc version omg so retarded.

 

[Brandon F]

Finished both Single and Co-op.

Enjoyable game, but WAY too similar to the first game. I felt like I was wading through endless test chambers in hopes of the narrative(or anything!) picking up again far too often. The co-op especially was disappointing in that regard(though having more advanced puzzles made it a good run).

Has very little chance of being on my top ten of the year, but it was a nice distraction this past week. The perfect scores are dramatically inaccurate though.