Those are the words to what is probably the most famous song to come out of a game for years. It also sums up the sequel perfectly. Unless you have lived under a rock for the last couple of years, then you would have heard of and most likely played Portal. If you have played Portal then chances are you have been swept up in the hype for Portal 2. There is this whole mythos to Valve, the world of Half Life and the part that Portal plays in that. So there have been theories and all sorts as to how Portal 2 will bring this altogether and how it fits in to this world.
If you have played Portal, then you know what happened at the end of the last game. If you haven't played the original, then stop reading, go and play it then come back “You Monster”. As you would have seen from the various trailers and marketing over the last few months, you are back at Aperture Science Laboratories and will once again use your logical thinking to navigate through a series of test chambers. The reason you are doing this is revealed early on and you are taken on a ride of epic proportions as you progress. It is story telling where Valve are at their best, they drive a story along using the world around and the characters that inhabit it. At times you forget that Portal is a puzzle game at its core as you become more and more immersed in the story, picking up little nuances here and there. Whether these be from the your surrounding or the characters themselves.
It is the characters who make the Portal experience such a fine one. You will remember GLaDOS from the original game and she will have left a lasting impression on you, especially here wonderful singing voice. Well once again she will feature heavily and her one liners are back too. You will find yourself chuckling along as she hurls insults at your character. You play as Chell who... Well she is good with a Portal Gun, but doesn't say too much, but she doesn't need to, especially as she'll struggle to get a word in edgeways with Wheatley on the scene. Wheatley, is a personality core who is voiced impeccably by Steve Merchant. There are times when you cannot help but stop what you are doing and just listen to him natter away. The casting is close to genius and it cannot be overstated just how perfect a fit Merchant is. His Bristol accent is not one you'd expect to come from a computer, yet it sounds just so right. The writing for Wheatley also deserves praise, as it never once starts to grate no matter how many times you hear him. Also it isn't often that weapons will get spoken about as being characters, but here in Portal 2 it is great to see the turrets are back and once again, at times you cannot help but stopping and listening to what they have to say, especially the defective ones. There are some new characters introduced later in the game, however to reveal them now would spoil a portion of the game.
Graphically you will hear a lot of talk about one version looking much better than another version and see comparisons on the web showing how one version has a slightly better looking and smoother graphic than another version and....YAWN. The truth is, the game looks stunning, no matter which version you play, the environments are wonderfully varied now and the run-down test chambers you encounter early on in the game will impress you. The mix of the sterile décor from Portal and the decay that has happened over many years is an amazing sight. As you progress you will start to notice the shift between the decaying state that Aperture Laboratories had been left and the near finish rebuild of the site by GLaDOS. The animations all around you too are just wonderful, they have a mechanical yet, organic feel to them. Look at the little things, such as turrets being built, or platforms moving into position and you will see just how much attention has been put into making the world as believable as possible.
When Portal first arrived on the scene as part of The Orange Box, it was a lovely surprise, the use of the portal gun was a new experience for most and the length of the game was spot on. However, this is a sequel and Valve could in no way expect to get away with just repeating the same mechanic for a full sized game. They had to come up with some new mechanics and inventive ways to navigate and solve the puzzles you will encounter. While the Portal gun does still play a huge part, there are various new mechanics to help and possibly hinder you. First up are the various gels you will encounter around midway through the game. The Repulsion Gel is designed to make you jump higher and further than you naturally can whenever you land on it. The Propulsion Gel makes you move a lot faster along its surface. You use this to great effect alongside your Portal Gun, making sure you place the gel at the right spots to sprint and leap your way to an exit.. The most fun to be had though comes in the form of Conversion Gel, this stuff will cover everything and turn any surface into one that can have a portal used upon it. It has to be used in some pretty inventive ways, but it can also be fun just covering as much as you possible can, just for the hell of it. There is one particular area where it can be easy to forget playing the game and just have fun with the white gooey stuff.
The weighted storage cube is back, but there is also a new type. The Redirection Cube allows you to redirect lasers with its reflective surface, you will use these a lot as lasers will play a big part in opening up exits. The further the game goes on the more clever you have to be with your usage. The storage cubes are used to good effect alongside the gels too, you really have to get inventive with your solutions at times. There are also the Excursion Funnel tractor beams and Hard Light Bridges which can be used for moving cubes, or yourself, or even protecting and defeating turret guns and much more. What Valve have done though is some design perfection, as you will often out think yourself and soon realise that your contrived solutions are getting you nowhere and the simple answer has been staring you in the face all along. However, every solution is completely logical, there is no real element of luck, it is knowing this that stops you getting overly frustrated when you can't quite work out a particular chamber.
Once you finish the single player campaign there is the little matter of the Co-Op. Well, we say little matter, when in actual fact it is a huge achievement. Here you and a friend, or random (best use a friend if you can) navigate a series of test chambers as either Atlas or P-Body a modified personalty core and turret gun. Each of these characters has their own portal gun and all the tools from the single player game as you work as a team to reach each exit. Some of the solutions are really intuitive and easy to spot, others require you to stop and discuss the possible solutions as a team, working out how best to use four portals in the best way. It feels like Valve have designed the Co-Op mode as a separate game and it is all the better for it, it never once feels tacked on in a 'me too' type of way and if truth be told, it is the stand out part of a game that is already a bit special.
There are so many little touches in the Co-Op experience that make it just a joy to play. The 'feedback' you get as you progress, as GLaDOS will often praise one of the robots over the other. By using you D-Pad you can select from a number of emotions to interact with your partner, from a simple wave, to playing a game of 'Rock, Scissors, Paper' and dancing in celebration. While the Co-Op can be played online, it also has Split-Screen options and it is here where the game is at its most fun. Sitting there with a friend, partner or family member as you chuckle along to the dialogue and share the frustrations of struggling to complete a chamber to the pride when you finally do. To sum up just how good the Co-Op is, you will play it through once for the first time, then you will play through again with another friend, then after that you'll be introducing it to members of the family just so you can play it again and again.
Despite nearly everything being positive, there are a couple of niggles to deal with. First up is the loading, there is a lot of loading and unfortunately it breaks from the immersion to show a loading screen, rather than having a dynamic on the fly loading, or using the lifts in some way. However, this is offset by loads never being more than 5-6 seconds at a time. It just feels like an odd design choice from Valve. Speaking of odd design choices, the other niggle is that once you have finished, you cannot just go back and play individual test chambers, the only option it to complete entire chapters again. The advanced chambers from Portal were a fine addition, it is a shame that they are not part of the sequel. It may well be the addition of a fully fledged narrative that causes this, and it is a minor annoyance, but each chapter is so fun to play that you soon forget that little niggle and enjoy it anyway.
Portal 2 is something special, it has amazing presentation, graphics are sublime, gameplay is balanced, the characters are memorable, it has plot twists, puzzles that drive a story along and a big finish. It is a game that is amazing because of the sum of its parts. It is unfair to pigeon hole it as a puzzle game, an action game or anything really. Portal 2 is a wonderful mix genres and a great advert for gaming,
There is no such thing as perfection, no matter how much we strive for it, therefore a couple of minor niggles do not distract from a top score. Portal 2 is the Game of the Year so far, it will take something special for it not to take that accolade. Sometimes the anticipation of a games release can leave the final thing feeling a little flat. That is not the case here as Portal 2 lives up to all expectations and then some.
