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Is Portal 2 Any Good?

The Cake is Still a Lie
Portal 2 - A Pretty Late Video Game Review by Nathan Brooks

As I was playing the first Portal I thought, "Man, this is great. Clever puzzles, ingenious gameplay, hilarious writing, how could it get an better?" Then I played Portal 2.

Story
The issue I had with the first Portal's story was it's simplicity. It was entertaining, but if it wasn't for GLaDOS and the excellent writing it could barely count as a story. Fortunately that's not a problem with Portal 2. As well as telling the story of you, after you wake up in a stasis chamber after a long sleep and your return to Aperture Science, the game also tells the backstory of Aperture Science in a very clever way.

GLaDOS, just after her revival.
Good move.
The main story first introduces you to new character Wheatley, a pretty much useless robot voiced brilliantly by Steven Merchant. He guides you through the facility, trying to help you escape, but eventually you find yourself reviving GLaDOS, voiced excellently once more by Ellen McLain, who is still mad at you about the events of the first game. It's quite an entertaining story, filled with entertaining writing, great characters and multiple twists, but this isn't where the story truly shines.

The story truly shines when it tells you the backstory of Aperture Science. Instead of lazy flashbacks, you find yourself exploring the remains of Aperture Science, starting from the beginning and eventually leading up back to the present. As you do this, the tale of Aperture Science as well as GLaDOS is told through voice recording of the former CEO of Aperture Science; Cave Johnson, voiced (excellently obviously) by J.K. Simmons. As well as his lines being hilarious, they also manage to tell the sad story of Aperture Science in a subtle and clever way.

Sometimes a story is only as good as the way it is told. Fortunately I couldn't think of a better way this story could've been told.
10/10

Gameplay
Trampoline goo, because why not?
Once more, the gameplay is genius. It's basically the same thing, but with a more excellent mechanics added, all of which are used to their full potential. Plus, the ruined areas of Aperture Science are, being ruined, all designed to require the use of portals to traverse, making it a challenge just to get to the next test chamber. I've basically said everything I could in my review for the first game, but once again there is nothing I could fault this gameplay on. It's still ingeniously designed, perfectly balanced and a blast to play. It's perfect.
10/10

Presentation
Being released in 2011, the graphics are slightly shinier in Portal 2. Not the shiniest, but there is no need for them to be made any shinier. The atmosphere, once more, is outstanding. It's just as weird and eerie as the first, but what it does better is when you explore the ruins of old Aperture Science. These are definitely the most unsettling of all the areas and I could probably find myself babbling on about them for hours.

There appears to be something
missing here, like a
humongous explosion.
The music is used pretty much exactly the same as it is in the third game; not very often. It's only used a couple of times, usually when there's a lot of action going on onscreen, which enhances the intensity of it all. There's also two ending songs, one opera song called 'Cara Mia Addio' sung by robots (it'd probably be best for you to just look it up) and a follow up to 'Still Alive', sung by GLaDOS once more, called 'Want You Gone'. It's not quite as good as Still Alive, but it's still pretty good.

Basically, get the first game and add 4 years of technology to it. Boom, now you've got Portal 2.
10/10

Lasting Appeal
At launch, the lasting appeal of this game was limited to the main campaign and a multiplayer mode, also with a small campaign. The main campaign was considerably longer than the first and the multiplayer mode's a fun addition, but other than that, there wasn't much.

Now your designing with Portals.
Then Valve released the 'Perpetual Testing Initiative' in 2012, which allowed players to make their own test chambers and play other chambers. Basically now their where endless chambers. 

Admittedly, a lot of the test chambers are probably a bit rubbish, but it will still keep you playing a lot longer.
8/10

Final Thoughts
Portal 2 is the defining sequel in my opinion. It sets an example what every good sequel should do; look at the original, think of everything that could be better about it and then do everything in your power to make it better than the original. Even though the content in this game isn't super extensive, it is exceptional. The first Portal is a masterclass in how to make a great game. Portal 2 is a masterclass in how to make a perfect game. I can only imagine how good Portal 3 would be if Valve keeps this up, but then again, everyone who works there only has two fingers.

Overall: 10/10

So, there's been two Portal games, Portal 1 and 2,
and 1 + 2 = 3. So do you know what that means?
Probably nothi- HALF LIFE 3 CONFIRMED!

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