Portal 2 Review

Thankfully, Portal 2 avoids these issues with scientific precision. It introduces puzzles similar to those of the first game and it incorporates new elements that will challenge your problem solving skills and push your creativity to a whole new level. Its unique gameplay, combined with a darkly humorous storyline, and a whole series of new challenges make Portal 2 a unique gaming experience worthy of your time.

Portal 2 takes place in the fictional Aperture Science Laboratories, an underground testing facility for portal technology that was once carefully run by the artificial intelligence computer system known as GLaDOS before going rogue. The user plays as the previous protagonist of Portal, Chell, a female test subject who was responsible for the destruction of GLaDOS. In the game, Chell awakens from stasis to find herself back at Aperture Science hundreds of years after the events of Portal and what had once been a state of the art testing facility is now overrun by nature and decay. After Chell gains consciousness she meets Wheatley, a sphere shaped robot with a witty personality who becomes her guide through the initial stages of the game. Soon, the two characters encounter the remains of GLaDOS and in an effort to restore power to the facility, Wheatley inadvertently powers her on. Recognizing Chell and remembering how she led to her demise, GLaDOS angrily places Chell back under more tests, confident that this time she will not be able to beat the challenges she has in store for her.

The game challenges players through a series of elaborately built test chambers that vary in difficulty. Portal 2 adds a lot of new elements to the game such as lasers, tractor beams, and light bridges and it introduces special gels that can be used to give surfaces different effects such as increased movement speed when walked on. These features challenge players to find diverse ways around puzzles while at the same time encouraging creativity in their solutions. Advancing to a new test room can be as simple as placing a block on a large button on the floor or as complex as re-directing a series of lasers to control moving platforms and doors with timing and accuracy. All of this would not be possible however, without the help of the portal gun players are equipped with.

Despite the many ways the portal gun can be used in Portal 2's setting and the sheer size and complexity of some of the puzzles, there is always one solution to them. Some puzzles you'll immediately "just get" while others will become frustrating to the point of quitting before you realize the simplicity of the answer and wonder how you could have missed something so obvious. This can nevertheless be enough to overwhelm players lacking patience, observation, and careful planning.

The environment of Portal 2 is carefully designed to make it fun to play in and at times just fascinating to look at. The dimensions of some of the areas of the game range from classroom sized testing rooms to places deep underground whose colossal proportions could easily fit several warehouses. Portal 2's use of an advanced version of the Source engine gives the game its graphical dynamics and easily makes Portal 2 Valve's best looking game yet. The game's soundtrack, with its electronic beats and melodramatic tones, reflect the technological setting of the game and the dark nature of its storyline thus adding to the player's experience and immersion into the game.