Portal 2

[Carnifex]

I'm surprised that no-one has created a thread for this yet.
So what do you think?
I've played both through single-player and co-op mode by now, and it's been an absolute treat. Haven't had to use my brain this creatively for a game in years! (atleast that's what it feels like). Co-op was especially rewarding in that regard, I've used that high-five gesture more than a few times :D
And the single player? Man don't even get me started :D I'll admit, I had the biggest feeling of relief when the ending credits rolled.
So beautiful.

[FightingSeraph]

I might have to check that out...

[wiggum]

I absolutely loved the first game. Everything about it was unique and fun. If this had been anyone other than Valve, I would have been nervous about the prospects of a sequel ruining the spirit of the game.

And, as per usual, Valve came through with what is probably my favorite game. The gameplay is excellent (although I thought the puzzles in the single player where a little easy, maybe I just played the first one too much for this to be a challenge...).

What really surprised me about it is the story. Specifically how much you find out about Aperture science and the history of GlaDos and Cave Johnson.

I would have expected the whole game to be a huge tease, or end up being a giant cop-out (like Lost). Normally storytellers don't like to reveal all the secrets because it can show that they had no idea what they where doing in the first place (Looking at George Lucas here). But Valve told us pretty much all there is to know about Aperature and GlaDos and it just makes everything better (okay, they don't reveal EVERYTHING, but they sure as hell told a lot more that I expected).

And then there are always the little bonuses. Anyone else find the hidden rooms with the singing turrets? The Portrait? The dry-dock of the Borealis? Take a look, thats all there and more...

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

I felt the single player was a little too short and, as Wiggum mentioned, too easy. As soon as I finish playing co-op I think it'll be one of the few games I actually trade in. It seems to lack re-play value in that once you know how to solve a test it's just a matter of doing it faster. A bit like Mirrors Edge, bought it for £40 at the time but can pick it up for around £4 now days, yet a game like MW2 still sells for around £20...

Edit: Just realized how negative that sounded. It was a great game as far as games go. The different types of Gel are one of the coolest things I've seen in a game in a long time. I remember watching trailers of the Gels in action and thinking how scripted they must be yet it turns out they're really not, and with that in mind they are surprisingly bug free.

[wiggum]

^^Hard to argue with that, but i wouldn't trade it in just yet. Valve already announced a free DLC pack coming to all three platforms that is supposed to include additional puzzles and a challenge mode similar to the one in the first game.

Actually, lack of a challenge mode was probably the biggest problem I had with this game...

[Carnifex]

heh, my biggest "problem" with it was that the ending song wasn't quite as catchy as the first one...;)
but no, actually i felt as if this second part was a bit more linear, in that you had fewer possibilities to where to place your portals. it didn't affect me too much though.

[FightingSeraph]

I really liked that ad on TV with the two sentries, and of course, it won't be long before it gets parodied.

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

Yea it definitely had all the charm, style and wit we've come to expect from valve. I must say I wasn't aware of that DLC pack, I guess I'll hang on to it for that. I've never actually got round to trading a game in and I don't really need to start now, heh.

[Smashed_Pumpkin]

oops double post...

[Carnifex]

I really liked that ad on TV with the two sentries, and of course, it won't be long before it gets parodied.

to give you an impression of gameplay (although this level is for demo purposes only and not used in game):
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and they're pretty much parodying themselves already ;)
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or atleast being very tongue-in-cheek :)

btw, have you ever played the first part?

[Cartogriffi]

I installed Portal 2 on Sunday and thoroughly enjoyed the single player campaign. I think they did a good job getting the pacing right with the longer campaign and did a wonderful job with the story and characters - but the puzzles were on the weak side. I think Yahtzee's Zero Punctuation review summed it up nicely, Portal was a puzzle game with a story attached while in Portal 2 the story takes precedence and the puzzles fall behind.

I would have been happy to excuse this if they included challenge maps like they did with Portal: figuring out the difficult maps and solving maps with limited portals was a real treat. Cutting this feature from Portal 2 while also simplifying the puzzles in single player was too much for me - still a great game, but it falls short of excellence. I'm not terribly interested in co-op which unfortunately is where the more challenging puzzles apparently are.

[BlightedArt]

Portal 2 made me love potatoes even more. :P

[Choob]

Ah, I love Portal 2, my game of the year so far. The first game was awesome, and this is just more of the same, and a lot more different stuff. Campaign is much longer, and the story is great. Lurve it.

Also, check out the concept art for it, they had a whole bunch of unused characers and cover designs.

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[wiggum]

I just watched that concept art video. I think its a bit strange that I liked pretty much every single one of the cover concepts better than the one they put on the cover...

I don't understand why games don't take more risks on cover art. I know that they want people to play the game, but the absolute overwhelming majority of people are not going to buy or not buy a game based on the cover art.

[JDSart]

Dear lord, it was beautiful.

The one thing i kinda nitpick about was that a lot of parts in the game involved finding the white wall spots rather than solving puzzles. The retro zone was great, but after a while i just wanted to get outta there and go back to the above zone.

I dont really complain about the dificulty, being hard wasnt the point of it, even in the developers commentary they mention how a lot of places had traps and timed jumps and how they placed a lot of crushers during tests, but that ended up stressing the testers and that wasnt what they wanted. Its about the ride and clever design more than difficulty.

I dont completely agree with Yatzee, i think i enjoyed this one more than the first. I almost shed a tear when the turrets started playing, come on, that was an epic ending after all the building up in the game.

And Wheatley was the best character ever, really funny dialogues.

[Ian Barker]

Just now played through Portal 1 for the first time. Loved every second of it and am now very tempted to buy 2 even though I don't have the money. Hmmmmm...>_>

[Nyau]

I only ever watched and listened to my husband play through the game..he sounded plenty frustrated on some of the later levels..It was a fun to hear. Haha.

[Darren1986]

The first game was incredible, the second game is probably one of my favourite games ever. I adore Portal and with multiplayer elements thrown in, it allows me to share the fun with a friend. Certainly my game of the year so far!