Portal 2 is a superb game that shouldn't be missed.
You begin as the character you played as in the original. You wake up several years after the ends of the original and quickly meet up with Wheatley, an entertaining basketball-shaped robot that is lovable in every way. You must break out of the labratory with Wheatley, figuring out how to get through the destroyed mazes that are left over from the lab. Things never go quite the way they should in situations like these, and of course, Portal 2 is no exception. I won't spoil anything, but some crazy things happen about half-way through the single player campaign. There's never a dull moment in Portal 2. Whenever you're not solving puzzles, you'll probably be hearing the fantastic voice work from some fantastic characters. Wheatly is a stand out, but you quickly run into your old test administrator, Glados. That's all I will say about the story, but it is terrific and is certainly worth playing through.
Portal 2 is a puzzle game at heart. The gameplay evolves around your portal gun. You make portals my hitting on either trigger on your controller against a white wall, just like the last game. You go through one portal, and come out the other. Simple, but the puzzles that Valve has created are real tests. They're brilliantly designed and are satisfying to solve. Of course, Valve has added in some new elements to keep things fresh. There are a bunch of gels, each with a different purpose. Blue gels make you bounce, white gels let you put portals into that space, and orange gels speed you up. Lasers and laser blocks also come into play early in to the game in addition to the classic cubes and turrets. Solving puzzles with all of these elements sounds daunting, but Valve makes the puzzles solvable regardless. The puzzles are so well crafted, that you won't mind getting stuck once in a while since you have those previously elements at hand. The key is how to use them. And Valve deserves credit for how well they designed. You'll proabably get stuck on multiple times, but there has not been anything as satisfying as solving these puzzles since completing the punishing levels in Super Meat Boy.
Portal 2 also includes a co-op mode. It's not a reason to buy the game, but it's more of a bonus. You and your partner play as two different robots which are amazingly expressive and entertaining to watch. Watching these two robots interact is hilarious, especially when using gestures, like high fives and hugs.Yes, your robots hug each other. Adorable isn't it? The actual puzzles are designed around two players, so one player won't be able to do any sleeping on the job. The complexity of the puzzles in the co-op is more advanced over the single player, and require constand co-operation, which can be frustrating when one player hasn't figured out what needs to be done. Valve has included some indicators for one player to show the other what to do or where to go, which is great, but there's still a lot of frustration. Of course, a headset can help. Overall, I found the co-op to be a nice addition, but didin't leave the lasting impression that the single player portion left on me.
Graphically, the game looks very solid across all platforms. The labrotory has come across hard times and is starting to crumble. This feeling has been conveyed extremely well in Portal 2. The lighting and textures are solid, but it's certainly not the best looking game on the market. However, the audio certainly is some of the best. The music and sound effects are good, but the voice work from the characters is astounding. Wheatley is a superb character with a suberb voice actor voicing him, but all the characters and turrets have fantastic voices. The game is often hilarious with outstanding writing. Some of the best moments of Portal 2 are listening to the characters and listening to what they have to say.
Differnces between the different versions or minor. The PC is the best due to mods and better visuals although the keyboard and mouse won't give much of an advantage over a gamepad unlike other FPS games. The PS3 version allows PS3 users to play PC gamers and includes steamworks, although free content has been announced for every platform including 360. Regardless of which platform to play it on. Portal 2 is an essential experience. There's not much replay value, but the campaign is so good, you'll be tempted to play through a second time. Valve has outdonme themselfs once again by providing a smart, yet enjoyable game that still manages to feel fresh despite being a sequel. Portal 2 is certainly a contender of the Game of the Year.
Overall- 9/10