Portal + Portal 2: Two times the charm

(Please note that this review was done on the 28th of October 2017)

Dear readers, cast your mind to that time when Valve made games? My, that was a long time ago hasn’t? I wish Valve did have the incentive to keep making games because if they were able to keep up with the level of quality that their line up has shown they could be one of the best game devs in the industry.

Looks a bit worse for wear....

Portal two opens with Chell getting rescued from her containment cell by a bumbling AI called Wheatley (Stephen Merchant) who wants to escape the crumbling aperture science enrichment centre now that GLADos (Ellen McLain) is dead, unfortunately Wheatley accidentally revives GLADos who is understandably annoyed that Chell killed her in the last game and now wants revenge. However when GLADos is defeated by Chell, Wheatley turns on her and Chell now has to form an uneasy alliance with GLADos in order to prevent a nuclear meltdown. One way Portal 2 differences itself from its predecessor is a more focused story and explores the history of the science centre, all of it is very well written and brings depth to GLADos making her a more interesting character then I would say then in Portal one, I am glad that two went in this direction as the minimal story from the first would not have been as effective a second time round. It also made me more motivated to continue playing as it is a longer game then the first one.

Gravity is no problem here...

The game play at it’s core is very much the same, you have a portal gun and you need to work out various puzzles that revolve around the placement of said portals, however there have been some tweaks to the formula with the introduction of launch pads, gravity beams and goo which can change the terrain of the surrounding area whether it be from jumping higher, running faster or making non portable grounds portable. It is all very fun and challenging . No gripes here.

Production never stops...

The voice acting is once again great from all involved. Ellen McLain Stephen Merchant and J. K. Simmons all bring their A game and are extremely witty. How GLADOS insults me or Wheatley’s bumbling good natured (for the most part) antics are so well done and so well written it was a joy to experience. However the game is somehow more unstable then the first entry it crashed every time I minimised the game and once while loading a level. I don’t know if anyone else has experienced this but it caused great irritation.

The co-op..

Co op is great fun with friends and while I have not finished that yet what I have play of it is fantastic, puzzles are well designed and you do need the help of your friend, the multiplayer is not tacked on. Graphically I would say that it has aged quite well, textures are small and natural, the same goes for Portal one.

A ratman..

Overall despite some unstable software Portal 2 is a masterpiece of puzzles and comedy.

Now my short, short overview of Portal 1 as it is practically the same as Portal 2 just shorter.

Yay, cake!

Short, sweet and impeccability funny, Portal uses innovative puzzle mechanics(using portals to jump and fly to solve puzzles) and razor sharp wit from GLADOS to make one of the best games I have played as well as one of the funniest. I cannot really say more about this really go and buy it!

And that is it, two must haves for PC and two entries in the Hall of Fame.