Release Date: Out Now!
Developer: Valve
Publisher: EA
Singleplayer: Yes
Splitscreen: Yes
Multiplayer: Co-op.
PEGI: 12+

Back in 2007 the Orange Box wowed gamers with its amazing value, but it also amazed for another reason: Portal. It took just a few hours to complete, but those few hours were some of the finest in gaming memory. The concept was a simple one: you had a gun which could create portals on whatever you fired it at, and if you walked through one portal you’d come out of the other one. This simple idea gave rise to devious puzzles that required gamers to use something they don’t often have to: their brain.

Skip ahead to 2011 and Valve smartly decided that Portal had massive potential, and that’s why Portal 2 exists as a full retail title with twice the singleplayer length and co-op missions thrown in for good measure.

The story picks up well after the events of Portal, and the main, and mute, protagonist Chell is back and it isn’t long until everyone’s favorite computer Glados returns as well. While the first game was a funny adventure they’ve kicked it into overdrive with Portal 2 creating one od the most amusing games in a long time, and it’s not the forced humour that many games have either, instead it’s well written and always comes at the exact right moment. It’s genuinely funny, and for that alone it deserves to do well.

No matter how good the writing is bad voice acting can ruin a game, but Portal 2 features some of the best in the business. The game starts off with your companion being a rather mental little robot called Wheatley who’ll guide you through the first half of the game. He’s perfectly acting with a manic personality that suits his bumbling antics well. During the second half of the game you’ll get some helpful messages through boss of Aperture, and once again the acting is superb which helps bring the world alive.

Over the course of the story you’ll learn the history behind Aparture Science, how Glados came to be and so much more. You’ll see how those deadly turrets are made and tested, and even see how they die. You’ll even get to explore the old Aperture Science building which is an immense structure. Valve have branched out massively here and have created a vast universe filled with little details just waiting to be discovered. This is some of the best writing and acting gaming has seen in recent years.

Acting, story and humour aside the gameplay is what Portal 2 has to deliver as it left itself a big legacy to follow. The previous games puzzles were a devious bunch requiring some real effort to solve. The good news is Portal 2 takes the concepts it introduced the first time around and runs with them, delivering new gameplay mechanics and perfectly balanced puzzles. At first nothing seems to have changed except your prison which is now falling down around your ears. It’s not long until you’ve got your trusty portal gun back in your hands and you’re solving simple puzzles which act as the tutorial for the game. Sure, Portal veterans are going to find the start slow, but not everyone will have played the first. Before long you’ll be taking on puzzles in the familiar surroundings of the testing zones, albeit they’re now looking a bit worse for wear. Aside from one or two little additions the first half of the game is fairly familiar territory, but then things take a turn and you’ll get to go through the  old Aperture buildings which introduce a major new element: gels. These things can allow you to slide across the floor at daft speeds, bounce around or create portals on any and everything. Throw in other things like Lightbridges and Valve have suddenly added in enough depth to make the game last another five hours, bringing the campaign total to around the ten-hour mark.

The pacing is spot-on throughout, with breaks between puzzles giving you enough time to relax and reflect  and soak up the characters and world of Aperture. The puzzles themselves don’t recycle idea’s often enough for you to get tired of them, instead you’ve always got something new to try to solve.  It’s also a testament to Valve that the difficulty curve of the game is so finely balanced. They carefully introduce every new idea into the game without ever making you feel like a baby taking tiny little steps. Before long you’ll be thinking your way through vast rooms filled with turrets and other nasty things. There are some real brain-busters hidden in there, and while you might sigh in frustration you never get overly angry as the game never punishes you harshly for failure. Solving each and every puzzle makes you feel like a genius.

They’ve also thrown in a co-op mode as well so you and a friend can bicker over who’s smarter.  Unlike most games which makes claims of needing co-op to succeed, Portal does actually require true communications and teamwork to succeed as the puzzles are quite literally impossible without it. Portals must be created at the exact right moment and switches hit with precise timing. Quite often teammates will kill each other by complete accident only to laugh it off and give it another go. Sure, it can be frustrating when your partner bumbles around but you can always use one of the many in-game gestures to show your displeasure, or just to give him/her a high-five for a confidence boost.

So, what flaws does this game have? Well, struggle as I did I really couldn’t find that many, but in the interest of fairness here we go.
The engine powering Portal 2 is starting to show its age. While the art-style is as superb as ever the actual technical aspects don’t hold up as well with things like the gels just looking a big weird and textures in general look dated. That slight disembodied feeling also remains, like you’re not actually touching the ground.

While the co-op mode does allow you to search for games many people won’t be comfortable with that, so without friends playing Portal 2 you may never get to experience the co-op mode which makes up a sizable chunk of the game. However, this isn’t exactly a flaw as it would have been nigh impossible to allow AI bot support.

And that’s really it; I encountered no bugs or glitches during play, and nothing that I could class as a fault or flaw within its designs which is slightly creepy. And that’s why I’ve given this game something that no other game on this site has ever gotten….

The Good:
+ It makes you THINK!
+ Genuinely funny writing.
+ Wheatley is just awesome.

The Bad:
– Engine is starting show its age.
– Some sound effects are a bit off, like the super quiet footsteps.
– um.

Scores:

Graphics: 8
The art-style mixes the crisp, clean look of the first with run-down environments, but it’s technically lacking.

Sound: 9
Is it the best voice acting on Xbox 360? It’s hard to judge, but suffice to say this is brilliant stuff. The music is still as good as ever as well.

Story: 9.5
The overall plot isn’t complex, but it’s packed with little revelations, facts, stunning characters and much more. Simply put, this is some of the best writing around.

Gameplay: 10
Ten. Sweet mother of jesus that’s a ten! Utterly addictive, amazingly devious and perfectly paced.

Lifespan: 8.5
A ten-hour campaign plus co-op equals a heft package. Replay value isn’t great as with most puzzle games, but finding the hidden secrets is well worth a second look

Overall: 10
Portal 2 scores the first ever ten out of ten score on this site. Does that mean it’s perfect? No, no game is ever perfect and a ten does not reflect that, but what a ten out of ten does mean is this is a game so well crafted, so fun and well written that it stands as one of the best games created, and every gamer should own it.