Review: Portal 2
Hello there! Today I will be reviewing Portal 2, a first-person puzzle game by Valve. This review will be a shorter one, due to the limited story, characters and such stuff. But that still doesn't mean that it's not a good game...
Game: Portal 2
Genre: Puzzle/Adventure
Platforms: PC - Mac OSX - Xbox 360 - Playstation 3
Rating: PG - Mild themes, violence and coarse language
Reviewer: Captain_Shredder
Game: Portal 2
Genre: Puzzle/Adventure
Platforms: PC - Mac OSX - Xbox 360 - Playstation 3
Rating: PG - Mild themes, violence and coarse language
Reviewer: Captain_Shredder
Review: Portal 2
A standard level in Portal 2
Right, I'll just get into it. Portal 2 is a puzzle/adventure game made and published by Valve corporations, and is available through digital retail via www.steampowered.com. The whole game is built around the fact of the player having a portal gun, without which the game is impossible. The gun allows you to shoot two portals, allowing you to walk (or fall) through one and come out the other. When you start the campaign, you are dropped into a nice, modern room, complete with a pretty bed, posters and even a TV in the corner of the wall. After a voice tells you to look up and down, you are instructed to sleep in a bed. When you wake up, it seems like the room is set at a time of a post-apocalypse, as everything looks wrecked, such as wallpaper being torn, everything being dirty and the bed's stuffing escaping. after hearing some sounds, a spherical robot comes into the room, riding a metallic railing on the roof. after jumping a few times to try and say apple, the robot leaves and the room start shaking violently. Many of the panels fall off, revealing that the room is being transported to someplace. The robot keeps making you feel safe, although at one point the room comes to a stop - Then suddenly the floor explodes, and you fall through and then -
That is all my big mouth is saying. Although this one isn't necessarily a new game, Portal 2 challenges gamers to think about what to do instead of just shooting everything they see to smithereens. The levels are constructed in smart ways, so that there is almost always only one working solution. Aside from the portal gun that you wield, there are also other inventions in the game, such as weighted companion cubes, fixed and broken turrets, reflector cubes and more. You can use all of these to your advantage to solve each puzzle. Although the turrets have cute, childish voices with which to threaten or apoligise to you, they can sure as whatever get annoying! Some levels are easily solvable without the presence of (a) turret(s). Most of the puzzles aren't just about shooting portals to get to the exit, rather encouraging you to throw objects through portals, including yourself, to acheive a way across. Another game mechanic is various types of gloop (such as bouncy gloop, which is a very bouncy liquid that can be manipulated to help you bounce your way to the solutions to problems.) But, sometimes, all that it takes to complete a difficult puzzle is by simply looking up a seeing a solution.
The environments are well made as well, with several plants, stains, bits of rubbish and even potato batteries/trees decorating the game. Portal 2 also features a level editor, which allows you create custom testing chambers that you can share through Steam. They let you use all the stuff from the campaign, which include fizzlers (that destroy cubes and erase existing portals when entered), laser fields (instant death), the gloops mentioned above and lots of other stuff, namely the exit door which can only be used once.
The multiplayer requires players to work together (see Common Sense of the Universe if you didn't understand that) to solve puzzles much like the campaign ones. This could be a bit tricky for more competitive players wishing to do everything themselves. For those people, I recommend the campaign, as your only companions are Wheatly and Glados (who is later replaced by a yet-to-be-evil Wheatly).
In conclusion to this review, I would like to say that Portal 2 is a great game for players seeking a laugh and a challenge. Many game critics applaud Portal 2. Critics like me. And that says a lot (I hope, lol) I am giving this game an 8.5 out of 10. It would have gotten a nine if it was just a tad easier for those younger gamers, but it is still very great.
Score: 8.5/10
That is all my big mouth is saying. Although this one isn't necessarily a new game, Portal 2 challenges gamers to think about what to do instead of just shooting everything they see to smithereens. The levels are constructed in smart ways, so that there is almost always only one working solution. Aside from the portal gun that you wield, there are also other inventions in the game, such as weighted companion cubes, fixed and broken turrets, reflector cubes and more. You can use all of these to your advantage to solve each puzzle. Although the turrets have cute, childish voices with which to threaten or apoligise to you, they can sure as whatever get annoying! Some levels are easily solvable without the presence of (a) turret(s). Most of the puzzles aren't just about shooting portals to get to the exit, rather encouraging you to throw objects through portals, including yourself, to acheive a way across. Another game mechanic is various types of gloop (such as bouncy gloop, which is a very bouncy liquid that can be manipulated to help you bounce your way to the solutions to problems.) But, sometimes, all that it takes to complete a difficult puzzle is by simply looking up a seeing a solution.
The environments are well made as well, with several plants, stains, bits of rubbish and even potato batteries/trees decorating the game. Portal 2 also features a level editor, which allows you create custom testing chambers that you can share through Steam. They let you use all the stuff from the campaign, which include fizzlers (that destroy cubes and erase existing portals when entered), laser fields (instant death), the gloops mentioned above and lots of other stuff, namely the exit door which can only be used once.
The multiplayer requires players to work together (see Common Sense of the Universe if you didn't understand that) to solve puzzles much like the campaign ones. This could be a bit tricky for more competitive players wishing to do everything themselves. For those people, I recommend the campaign, as your only companions are Wheatly and Glados (who is later replaced by a yet-to-be-evil Wheatly).
In conclusion to this review, I would like to say that Portal 2 is a great game for players seeking a laugh and a challenge. Many game critics applaud Portal 2. Critics like me. And that says a lot (I hope, lol) I am giving this game an 8.5 out of 10. It would have gotten a nine if it was just a tad easier for those younger gamers, but it is still very great.
Score: 8.5/10