Portal 2 Review

[Awexsome]

Maybe I'll pick it up but without a very good PC all of my experience with Valve games have been shit. I swear they're a great PC developer but they haven't made one good console title.

Judging from the people saying multiple times faster load times on the PC it looks like this is no different. Valve just can't make good console games. They can make OK ones. L4D was ok. But I haven't played one good Valve game on my 360.

 

[MmmFiber]

I can't say I agree with the difficulty comment that a few people seem worried by, the puzzles in this game are much more complex and difficult than in the first game.

They are more complex. But at times I would think the puzzles might be more challenging if I hadn't played the first game. So, on that part, I kind of agree with Russ.

I probably like the story more than he seems to. It didn't delve deep enough into the back story for me, but I enjoyed the dialogue for the most part. At the end is the only part I didn't like because the characters got a little annoying.

4 stars seems reasonable. I might have given a 4.5, but 4 still means it's a good, solid game. The bar was just probably set a little high for being a sequel to a beloved game. And Russ comes off a bit too disappointed in tone for such a good game, not that I blame him. Valve had no chance to live up to the charm of the original. It's still really funny, however the "magic" isn't at the same level.

The ending song was, again, epic.

PS: I'm in Space!

 

[Jumpingbean3]

So they made the puzzles easier, eh, that statement alone has pretty well curbed my enthusiasm for this new installment.

"Easier" is a matter of perspective. You may personally find it harder than the original. Plus being difficult wasn't what made Portal great it was simply how clever and humorous it was.

 

[Jumpingbean3]

Looking forward to the gibs flying when Yahtzee reviews this...

What is it with people recently assuming Yahtzee's going to hate everything (that is what you were implying right?)

 

[Android2137]

...Ohhh man! Do I want spoilers or do I want to find everything out myself on my own time? Ahhhh! I was determined to wait a few years for the price to drop!

 

[Avaloner]

Looking forward to the gibs flying when Yahtzee reviews this...

What is it with people recently assuming Yahtzee's going to hate everything (that is what you were implying right?)

Well tomorrow we will see alot of "why didn't you do portal 2" spamming his video I guess.

Other than that I just replayed the game... yeah I know its just around 8 hours, but it has a perfect time, any longer would either mean introducing more puzzles or bore people.

 

[lancar]

I can only echo the sentiments that the PC version loads very fast between levels. My loading times between each level were all about 5-10 seconds, which is completely acceptable imho.
I do agree that they come a bit too frequently, however.

The game also ran extremely well on my old PC. I got an Nvidia 8800 GTS and Intel Core2Quad Q6600, and the game self-configured nearly all settings to "high", but despite that i got no slowdowns whatsoever.

As for the difficulty, I'd say it was slightly harder than the first game. My game time, substracting food & bathroom breaks, clocked in at about 9h 30 mins.

 

[dragongit]

Just beat the game a few minutes ago. Beautiful game! And wonderful ending! Won't spoil, but I had a blast playing! Totally worth the wait. Sure its only about 6 hours or so for the main story, but the first one was about 2. You also get the benifit of a co-op online mode so it will extend your replayability a bit. I forgot if there were challanges... but still, plenty to do, and you can always come back later just for the hell of it. Definatly worth the buy.

 

[NathLines]

Holy balls, that was awesome. I just finished singleplayer. I didn't like where the story was going, but it fixed itself perfectly. Gameplaywise, it's more Portal; just like I wanted. Man, my head is spinning. I've finished both the singleplayer and co-op.

Co-op is also great. It's more to the point(solving test chambers) than the singleplayer. It worked remarkably well to play with another person. Now I'm just hoping for loads of custom maps and stuff.

The ONLY downside for me were the frequent loading screens. It destroys the immersion quite a bit. They loaded quickly though.

 

[Marowit]

Easier puzzles is a nonstarter for me - aside from the humor the puzzles were what made the original Portal so incredible.

A discount bin purchase it is!

 

[Fingerthing]

First issue.

Why did almost ALL of the footage you use for the video review was in the last chapter? Warn with spoilers at the very least as Portal 2 largely relies on it's "surprise factor" (much like the first one)

Second issue.

The puzzles really aren't that easy. You won't get frustrated, no, just challenged.

Third issue.

Xbox review for a pc/ps3 game? Just don't, mkay?

Plus. SCIENCE!

 

[i don't know]

What's up with the potato being stuck to the gun's claw?

 

[Fingerthing]

PS: I'm in Space!

SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE

 

[Raeil]

What's up with the potato being stuck to the gun's claw?

It's a potato. I hear they are actually good suppliers of energy.

The full answer is a spoiler and is rather humorous, so I will leave that to you to look up if you really want to know the major plot event of the second third of the game.

 

[Kakkoi]

I've heard that the PC version has much slower wait times. And I'm on the PS3 and I barely notice them. So maybe it's just a 360 thing?

 

[Susan Arendt]

Interesting that people don't think it's easier. The first third - the story mode is definitely chopped into thirds, btw - is mind-numbingly easy. Perhaps not if you didn't play the first game, though...so maybe it was intended as an introduction for complete newbies?

The co-op is loads of fun, though, I highly recommend it.

 

[tokae]

Science!
A pity I won't be able to play it until friday.

 

[GeorgW]

SCIENCE!!!
I'm a bit disappointed by the 4/5, was hoping this would be like the second coming. I will still see the world as B.P. and A.P.

 

[Howlingwolf214]

I was playing on the PC and didn't have any problems with loading times at all, bar the very first loading screen after starting a new game. It only took a few seconds to load between maps.

I thought Portal 2 improved on the original in many ways. At the very basic level, the overgrown rooms and collapsing environments are a lot more interesting than Portal's primarily White and Grey levels.

 

[Twilight_guy]

She blinded me with... wait I forgot.

Sounds like about what I expected. Time to que the massive QQ saying its not as good as the original from all the people who over-hyped Portal for so long.