Superb writing, mind bending puzzles and great coop come together to make Portal 2 an excellent sequel to the original
The story is set many decades after the first game with Chell awakening from hyper sleep to find the Aperture Science laboratory ruined and eroded by nature. She soon meets up with Wheatly, a funny, friendly, and interesting robotic sphere and the two set out to escape from the crumbling facility. Things don't go to plan however and GLADOS, the demented, evil and disrespectful antagonist is reactivated. Portal 2's story is great due to Wheatly and GLADOS being such complex and excellent characters with hundreds of memorable and hilarious lines combined with a very unexpected twist or two through the course of the game.
Portal 2 is a fully fledged game rather than a simple test run for a new genre. The story mode stretches a good twelve hours with chamber challenges such as beating a puzzle in the fastest time or using the fewest portals can boost the longevity slightly. The game is structured like this, you'll enter a room, learn a new gameplay mechanic and then put it to the test along with other mechanics to solve a puzzle then take an elevator to the next room. You'll reacquaint yourself with the Portal gun early on, allowing you to shoot a blue and orange portal on different surfaces. The game does a brilliant job of introducing you to new mechanics as well as providing immense satisfaction upon beating a difficult puzzle. Checkpoints kick in frequently or can be saved yourself to save having to retrace steps upon death which happens either from turrets, toxic water or falling into a bottomless pit. Portal 2 introduces a brand new coop mode separate from the main story in which two robots (Atlas and Pbody) are tested by GLADOS in even more complex test chambers. Both players either online or split screen have portal guns and will respawn instantly upon death This is huge addition to the game and will likely add an extra fifteen hours to the longevity as players need deep cooperation and perseverance to clear the entire roster of coop puzzles. The mode does feature a gesture system to say ''place portal here'' or something similar but it's definitely preferable to play with a headset with a friend as some of the trickier puzzles can be aggravating at times. PS3 and PC players can also play together which is a nice touch from the developer. DLC for the coop mode has already been released with more to follow so there's plenty to keep you interested after April.
The gameplay remains mostly similar to the first with the simple walk through blue portal to come out orange and so on. Only this time the basic portal gun has been immensely expanded with many new mechanics. The gels allow Chell to jump, higher, run faster or put portals on whichever surface they touch. Laser beams can be redirected with reflector crates, faith plates to catapult Chell, light bridges to traverse gaps and excursion funnels to float objects. You'll be combining these mechanics and many more through some of the more devilish puzzles later in the game. These puzzles are challenging though never frustrating thanks to the satisfaction from finding a solution. The greatest strength in Portal 2's game play is that it makes you feel like a genius, especially if you play through the puzzles without using guides or cheats.
The source engine has been wearing thin since 2007's The Orange Box, Portal 2's graphics are respectable but not amazing due to lack of detail and pixellation in shadows and trees despite being given a greater variety in environments. But this is more than redeemed by the simply exceptional audio. The music fits the game well and the writing is so well done that you'll be willing to sit around and see what these characters have to say or rush to the next room to laugh at the next insult GLADOS throws your way. The game runs well on all systems but it wasn't without a cost, namely the excessive load times between each level that Valve still refuses to address since Half Life 2. Besides this Portal 2 delivers an acceptable visual package that turns attention to the tight gameplay.
Portal 2 is a brilliant sequel to the original that expands and improves the series to a fine finish. Action fans may be turned off by this puzzlers slower pace but if you're into mind bending games or great characters and dialogue then there's no reason not to own one of the best games of 2011.