Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 to 20 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Masterpiece"

When a gamer has not played Portal 2, they aren't real gamers. This is a game that you need to play. I never really got into the first one, but I did with this one. When Portal 2 came out in April I didn't really care to much about it, but when I finally got it, my whole gaming experience had changed. This game is a blast of new scientific tools that can get you from puzzle to puzzle.

Now lets start with the (solo campaign) story. This is the huge strong point of the game. Valve has definitely stepped it up from the first one. Portal 2's story is so good, I couldn't put the game down. Your Chell once again, and you are being tested. You wake up in a room hearing a voice, a funny over head telling you how to move. When you start to feel the room shaking, Wheatley (a robot guide) comes to the rescue, kind of. Make a long story short, Wheatley and Chell wake up GLaDOS and she is once again putting you through testing. The reason I loved the story and characters so much is because the whole game isn't test chamber after test chamber. Valve adds a sense of adventure. There are twists and turns, and just keeps you on for a train ride. The game delivers very quirky and funny characters that literally made me "laugh out loud". Now there is a co-op campaign which is really awesome, but does lose my interest sometimes. You play as 2 funny little testing robots, GLaDOS had invented. Your goal is to save the "human" race.

Now lets continue to the graphics. These graphics, at times, can be a little blocky and blurry. But most of all, the Aperture Factories look amazing. Chell looks better than ever (when you put to portals by one another, and you go half way through one, you can see Chell). The turrets look great, and GLaDOS looks amazing as well. The atmosphere brings you in as if you are really there.

On to the gameplay. So this game adds a twist to modern FPS's, its a puzzle based game. This time around you get blue gel (which makes you bounce) and orange gel (which can..... lets not spoil it to much). Each of the gels are creative. Especially the puzzles. They are fun, but a tad bit easy. I wish they were a little harder. But it was still fun to mix the gel's, and it really feels awarding to complete a long puzzle. One thing that was really great was the co-op. I loved the idea. But once again it was a little to easy.

The soundtrack in this game is superb. The voice of GLaDOS and Wheatley we're pitch perfect. The music was perfect for every level.

This game is a definite contender for this game of the year. Every minute of the game was truly rewarding. Buy it play it. I'd say the solo campaign is about 12-15 hours, and the co-op is about 5-7 hours. Hope you enjoyed.

Story: 10

Graphics: 8.5

Gameplay: 9.5

Soundtrack: 10