Keep the Portals coming!

User Rating: 9 | Portal 2 X360
By phoenixfoundmac | Review Date:
When I bought the orange box a few years ago I fell in love with the quaint little game called Portal that was included. I wasn't the only one of course. Portal had fans clamoring for more and valve was happy to oblige. The result was Portal 2 and I'm glad to report that it lived up to expectations nicely. I'm going to get my grievances out of the way first. The game's visuals were a little dated; like half life 2 dated. The load screens were a little lengthy too. But lets face facts, these two issues are minor in the grand scope of things. Who cares about the visuals because this game is a puzzler and doesn't really have to dazzle you with looks. It might open up future doors if they can improve the graphics, but for now no biggy. As for the load times, well slow load time suck pretty much always. So there's that. Portal 2 picks up where the first left off. You are the same guinea pig woman from the first game and you once again find yourself at aperture science's disposal. You solve various enviromental puzzles using a portal gun. The gun fires blue and orange portals that conect to each other. This time they've added new wrinkles to the puzzling though. You still have jump platforms and you still have to use velocity physics. But now you've got light bridges, tractor beams, and several different gels that can alter surfaces(think bouncy, fast, and portal friendly). As such the puzzles can get fairly complicated and difficult, but the game moves you along slowly so that you can get a good understanding of what each new wrinkle presents. Portal 2's real asset is its humor. The first game was funny in a sly way. Portal 2 continues that briliantly. I found it even funnier. You've got a little AI with a british accent that follows you around. You'll see the return of Glados. And you will also be treated to the voice of the original creator of aperture science, voiced by the guy who does those Farmers insurance commercials(he's also chief Pope from The Closer). In my opinion he is the funniest of the bunch. They did a good job of giving you a little insight into these characters as well as their backgounds. The campaign is of reasonable length and they give you a few surprises along the way.

Summarization: Super addictive puzzle game that always delivers the laughs. One of the cleverest games on the market.

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