Portal 2 has a few plot twists which I want you to be unprepared for, so I will attempt to be as generic as possible, highlighting the smallest amount of story-specifics (except for the below note).
>>> WARNING: Due to how the aspect of the story in Portal 2 operates, the below will have spoilers about the first game. <<<
The Story
As you might have seen from various other outlets, Portal 2 starts quite a bit of time (to the tune of years, maybe even decades) after the first game. Needless to say, you will need to know that Portal had a changed ending approximately 2 years ago (in real time) to fit a "Portal 2 Hook". If you haven't played Portal 1, you will want to. Since it costs ~$5-10, and takes less than 2 hours out of your life, I highly recommend you do so. I'll wait...
The story is about 8 times more in-depth than the first game. It will give you the background into Aperture Science (including who the hell is Cave Johnson, and what happened to him). They will also setup a great storyline to justify why you are moving through the entire huge facility. This is a rare quality in video games, and I highly respect the writers for working together with level designers, artists, producers, and programmers to get the atmosphere great for this.
I advise you to play through the Singleplayer completely before you progress to Co-Op. The SP Campaign will set up the entire storyline and reasoning why the Cooperative Testing Initiative exists in the first place. The story "kind of" continues in Co-Op, however, the level of writing and story is more along the lines of a surprise "retcon" we got with a patch to Portal 1, rather than an actual story, along the lines of Portal 1 or 2's Single Player. It's still worth checking out.
The Controls
Little has changed from the original game. It was not really necessary. Left trigger fires one portal, right trigger fires another color portal. They link together. Jump with A, and interact/pick up with X. This simplistic control schema makes it incredibly easy to pick up for any player, from the new player to the veteran. The only (welcomed) addition to both modes is the Zoom Button, via Left bumper. Since Portal 2 includes much larger levels, zoom is almost essential.
Co-Op adds in two other controls: The ping (right bumper), which points out things to your teammate (also available, a 3 second countdown ping, good for synchronization), and the D-Pad. The D-Pad generally is cross-player interaction (waving, rock-paper-scissors). One thing to note is neither of these controls actually affect gameplay. Besides the forced tutorial in the beginning, neither of these two new controls are required. They certainly make Co-Op easier with randoms, though.
Overall, none of the controls will confuse you. The schema of the controller works well in any situation. All of the controls feel natural and will not make you run for the controller layout ever. This game works incredibly well as a controller game and a mouse/keyboard game. This isn't a PC port or console port (well, in controls at least).
The Writing/Voice Acting
As mentioned before, writing is top-notch. The dry/vicious humor is abound in droves. It will keep you chuckling through the entire game. It endears you to the three characters you will meet in the game. The Voice Acting is great, and every character stays in character, and never gets annoying. In fact, when they are attempting to be annoying is also when I've laughed the most in the story, and that is something that is really rare throughout all media, video games, movies or television.
The addition of two new characters into the fray also adds in "banter" which, proved in Dragon Age, can be the best thing. The cross-character banter also adds to the storyline and gives additional smiles.
The Gameplay
Gameplay is also highly unchanged from Portal 1. Squeeze off a portal there, throw a portal over there, step through, fling yourself, etc. All of this gameplay has remained highly unchanged from Portal 1. However, new additions to the testing element lineup have made Portal 2 a varied game because of it. Aerial Faith Plates fling you (or another object) reliably in the same direction each time. Light Bridges allow you to transverse chasms, or make barriers to prevent you from getting shot. Propulsion Gel allows you to run really fast. Repulsion Gel allows you to bounce like you're on a trampoline. White Gel changes gray (un-portalable) tiles to white tiles. Lasers add a degree of difficulty into the fray.
The unfortunate side-effect of adding in so many new elements, is, generally, each element is introduced, added upon twice, then a mastery level is added, and then you are whisked off to the next element. Due to such additions, much of these newer elements go underused, despite their fun potential. Also, due to how the levels are setup, generally you will feel only "shortly" accomplished on most levels. Levels move incredibly quick and there is only a rare 1 or 2 chambers which give you the "sigh of relief" feeling when you finally figure them out. Incredibly, there are no levels which are very expansive and requires a lot of jumps, skills and portals to accomplish. There were plenty of these in the previews.
Many have speculated if Portal 2 is harder than Portal 1. Unfortunately, since hardness is an opinion term. In my experience, I have felt that the first half of the game was relatively easy, while the second half of the game was very challenging, although some of the elements in the levels of the second half were just the requirement that I had to notice something I had but just didn't notice.
The Boss
While not going into anything specific, the final boss was actually quite a letdown. Due to the many elements, it had the potential to be a very difficult fight, however, it had the same length and difficulty as the first game.
The Co-Op
The Co-Op adds in re-playability to Portal 2, besides perfecting levels, and completing pre-defined challenges. You take on the role of P-Body and Atlus. Two androids created by GLaDOS to engage in testing. I highly recommend you complete the single player to read why.
Co-Op is a "free roam, choose your level" type gameplay. Every center has 5-10 chambers which represent different major concepts, ranging from easy to really difficult. All challenges require both people to accomplish the objectives, via unlinked portal guns. The addition of a second player adds in a degree of chaos into the equation, so the social tools provided (Ping, Timed Ping), makes it a lot easier to play.
Co-Op can be played online (All platforms), System Link (XBL only), and Splitscreen (X360, PS3 Only). Playing with friends is recommended (by me and the game itself; random searches are actually buried 3 screens in.)
The DLC
Alright, as you may seen, Portal 2 has "downloadable content." However, I want to clear something up right now, this "downloadable content" is actually cosmetic pieces. That's right, remember that money you have been shelling out for your XBL Avatar? Valve monetenizes that same aspect, just on the look of the Co-Op Bots. I don't know where this "store" is on the X360 version, but there is zero true DLC for any of the platforms right now. If you base your opinion on Portal 2 based on this premise alone, you are a troll.
The Overall
Should you buy it? Maybe. The length of a full playthrough is roughly 3-6 hours for singleplayer, and 2-8 hours for co-op multiplayer. I have a higher degree of time with multiplayer because you could get someone who doesn't listen, and it could take a lot longer to play the MP because of it. However, if you beat levels really fast and talk together, it can take as little as 2 hours. Achievements add an extra 3-6 hours onto the equation if you're into that kind of stuff.
Roughly $60 for a good night or two of comedic gaming. On the scheme of things, it's a little expensive for something that only generally covers 2-3 nights. You could spend more money on other entertainment, however, while I felt this game was well worth the wait and time, this game is not for everyone. I highly recommend that if you have a friend that purchased the game that you borrow it from him for a weekend, and pass it on. This is also advisable because the game is humorous; if you don't like the humor and puzzles, you will not like the game. Due to the shortness of the game, the only replayability of the game is achievements (all of which have the potential to be unlocked during normal gameplay), and extra challenges.
>>> WARNING: Due to how the aspect of the story in Portal 2 operates, the below will have spoilers about the first game. <<<
The Story
As you might have seen from various other outlets, Portal 2 starts quite a bit of time (to the tune of years, maybe even decades) after the first game. Needless to say, you will need to know that Portal had a changed ending approximately 2 years ago (in real time) to fit a "Portal 2 Hook". If you haven't played Portal 1, you will want to. Since it costs ~$5-10, and takes less than 2 hours out of your life, I highly recommend you do so. I'll wait...
Basically, you wake up from suspended animation after being dragged off after "killing" GLADoS.
The story is about 8 times more in-depth than the first game. It will give you the background into Aperture Science (including who the hell is Cave Johnson, and what happened to him). They will also setup a great storyline to justify why you are moving through the entire huge facility. This is a rare quality in video games, and I highly respect the writers for working together with level designers, artists, producers, and programmers to get the atmosphere great for this.
I advise you to play through the Singleplayer completely before you progress to Co-Op. The SP Campaign will set up the entire storyline and reasoning why the Cooperative Testing Initiative exists in the first place. The story "kind of" continues in Co-Op, however, the level of writing and story is more along the lines of a surprise "retcon" we got with a patch to Portal 1, rather than an actual story, along the lines of Portal 1 or 2's Single Player. It's still worth checking out.
The Controls
Little has changed from the original game. It was not really necessary. Left trigger fires one portal, right trigger fires another color portal. They link together. Jump with A, and interact/pick up with X. This simplistic control schema makes it incredibly easy to pick up for any player, from the new player to the veteran. The only (welcomed) addition to both modes is the Zoom Button, via Left bumper. Since Portal 2 includes much larger levels, zoom is almost essential.
Co-Op adds in two other controls: The ping (right bumper), which points out things to your teammate (also available, a 3 second countdown ping, good for synchronization), and the D-Pad. The D-Pad generally is cross-player interaction (waving, rock-paper-scissors). One thing to note is neither of these controls actually affect gameplay. Besides the forced tutorial in the beginning, neither of these two new controls are required. They certainly make Co-Op easier with randoms, though.
Overall, none of the controls will confuse you. The schema of the controller works well in any situation. All of the controls feel natural and will not make you run for the controller layout ever. This game works incredibly well as a controller game and a mouse/keyboard game. This isn't a PC port or console port (well, in controls at least).
The Writing/Voice Acting
As mentioned before, writing is top-notch. The dry/vicious humor is abound in droves. It will keep you chuckling through the entire game. It endears you to the three characters you will meet in the game. The Voice Acting is great, and every character stays in character, and never gets annoying. In fact, when they are attempting to be annoying is also when I've laughed the most in the story, and that is something that is really rare throughout all media, video games, movies or television.
The addition of two new characters into the fray also adds in "banter" which, proved in Dragon Age, can be the best thing. The cross-character banter also adds to the storyline and gives additional smiles.
The Gameplay
Gameplay is also highly unchanged from Portal 1. Squeeze off a portal there, throw a portal over there, step through, fling yourself, etc. All of this gameplay has remained highly unchanged from Portal 1. However, new additions to the testing element lineup have made Portal 2 a varied game because of it. Aerial Faith Plates fling you (or another object) reliably in the same direction each time. Light Bridges allow you to transverse chasms, or make barriers to prevent you from getting shot. Propulsion Gel allows you to run really fast. Repulsion Gel allows you to bounce like you're on a trampoline. White Gel changes gray (un-portalable) tiles to white tiles. Lasers add a degree of difficulty into the fray.
The unfortunate side-effect of adding in so many new elements, is, generally, each element is introduced, added upon twice, then a mastery level is added, and then you are whisked off to the next element. Due to such additions, much of these newer elements go underused, despite their fun potential. Also, due to how the levels are setup, generally you will feel only "shortly" accomplished on most levels. Levels move incredibly quick and there is only a rare 1 or 2 chambers which give you the "sigh of relief" feeling when you finally figure them out. Incredibly, there are no levels which are very expansive and requires a lot of jumps, skills and portals to accomplish. There were plenty of these in the previews.
Many have speculated if Portal 2 is harder than Portal 1. Unfortunately, since hardness is an opinion term. In my experience, I have felt that the first half of the game was relatively easy, while the second half of the game was very challenging, although some of the elements in the levels of the second half were just the requirement that I had to notice something I had but just didn't notice.
The Boss
While not going into anything specific, the final boss was actually quite a letdown. Due to the many elements, it had the potential to be a very difficult fight, however, it had the same length and difficulty as the first game.
The Co-Op
The Co-Op adds in re-playability to Portal 2, besides perfecting levels, and completing pre-defined challenges. You take on the role of P-Body and Atlus. Two androids created by GLaDOS to engage in testing. I highly recommend you complete the single player to read why.
Co-Op is a "free roam, choose your level" type gameplay. Every center has 5-10 chambers which represent different major concepts, ranging from easy to really difficult. All challenges require both people to accomplish the objectives, via unlinked portal guns. The addition of a second player adds in a degree of chaos into the equation, so the social tools provided (Ping, Timed Ping), makes it a lot easier to play.
Co-Op can be played online (All platforms), System Link (XBL only), and Splitscreen (X360, PS3 Only). Playing with friends is recommended (by me and the game itself; random searches are actually buried 3 screens in.)
The DLC
Alright, as you may seen, Portal 2 has "downloadable content." However, I want to clear something up right now, this "downloadable content" is actually cosmetic pieces. That's right, remember that money you have been shelling out for your XBL Avatar? Valve monetenizes that same aspect, just on the look of the Co-Op Bots. I don't know where this "store" is on the X360 version, but there is zero true DLC for any of the platforms right now. If you base your opinion on Portal 2 based on this premise alone, you are a troll.
The Overall
Should you buy it? Maybe. The length of a full playthrough is roughly 3-6 hours for singleplayer, and 2-8 hours for co-op multiplayer. I have a higher degree of time with multiplayer because you could get someone who doesn't listen, and it could take a lot longer to play the MP because of it. However, if you beat levels really fast and talk together, it can take as little as 2 hours. Achievements add an extra 3-6 hours onto the equation if you're into that kind of stuff.
Roughly $60 for a good night or two of comedic gaming. On the scheme of things, it's a little expensive for something that only generally covers 2-3 nights. You could spend more money on other entertainment, however, while I felt this game was well worth the wait and time, this game is not for everyone. I highly recommend that if you have a friend that purchased the game that you borrow it from him for a weekend, and pass it on. This is also advisable because the game is humorous; if you don't like the humor and puzzles, you will not like the game. Due to the shortness of the game, the only replayability of the game is achievements (all of which have the potential to be unlocked during normal gameplay), and extra challenges.
