Portal 2 Is Out

[MusicallyInspired]

It was released last night on Steam and retail releases should be out by now I think. I've been playing it last night and it's quite fantastic. GlaDOS is as ruthless is ever if not moreso. How many picked this one up or plan to?

[AndreaDraco]

I plan to.

[Tawmis]

I am a sinner.

I didn't see the thrill of the first one. I did about 20 of the "maze" trouble shooting things. And just couldn't get into it.

My brain apparently doesn't enjoy trouble shooting how to get from one room to the next, when I spend 8 hours a day on the phone, trouble shooting people's problems.

[Collector]

My brain apparently doesn't enjoy trouble shooting how to get from one room to the next, when I spend 8 hours a day on the phone, trouble shooting people's problems.

Especially when they can't tell their a$$ from a hole in the ground.

[Tawmis]

My brain apparently doesn't enjoy trouble shooting how to get from one room to the next, when I spend 8 hours a day on the phone, trouble shooting people's problems.

Especially when they can't tell their a$$ from a hole in the ground.

As is usually the case.
And perhaps that is why I didn't like the original Portal. As it involved creating "holes" so that specific things would pass a specific way...

That said, the general population seems to love PORTAL and very excited about PORTAL 2.

[DeadPoolX]

Maia and I pre-purchased Portal 2 (one copy for each of us) since it costs less to get it on Steam versus buying it in the store. Anything that bypasses HST is a good thing.

I am a sinner.

I didn't see the thrill of the first one. I did about 20 of the "maze" trouble shooting things. And just couldn't get into it.

My brain apparently doesn't enjoy trouble shooting how to get from one room to the next, when I spend 8 hours a day on the phone, trouble shooting people's problems.

A major part of Portal is the sense of humor in it, mostly thanks to GLaDOS. The puzzles themselves weren't too difficult.

Tawmis, I recall you once saying that you often listen to music while you play games. If you did that with Portal you probably missed out on GLaDOS's dialogue.

Portal 2 has co-op in it, so that's a major draw for Maia and me. Even if it didn't have it, however, we still would've bought it.

[Qbix]

I wouldn't have paid the full price for it, but so far it is fun.
Played it co-op this evening and if I understand it right. We finished that campaign already; saw the credits.

[Tawmis]

Tawmis, I recall you once saying that you often listen to music while you play games. If you did that with Portal you probably missed out on GLaDOS's dialogue.

I listen to music when playing first person shooters, usually. Some Megadeth + Gears of War 2, for example. And that's usually after I have beaten the game, so I am not missing anything. For example, the first two times I played Gears of War 2, there was no music. I was super picky about it because I beat it once, with no (additional) music, then beat it again to try and pick up on anything I may have missed initially. Now, I throw Gears of War 2 onto the X360, jump on multiplayer, and just start shooting like mad at anything that moves. But for the actual game play story, I don't listen to music. Same can be said for Dragon Age, or any other game. First couple of play throughs, it's me and the game. After I have beaten it a few times, if it has multiplayer, it's me, some victims on X360 Live, and some loud pounding music. So all that rambling to say, I wasn't listening to music when playing the original Portal. But that's bound to happen. Not everyone likes what I like, or we'd have a 30 page thread about the awesomeness of Gears of War or Neverending Nights or Metal bands.

[DeadPoolX]

Well, you see, that's just it -- Portal isn't really an FPS. It uses the Source Engine, but it's more of a FPPG or First-Person Puzzle Game. The point isn't to blast or kill everything in sight. There is some combat later on in the game, but it's minimal and you can usually outthink your opponents.

Regardless, I think the reason Portal became such a hit was because it was unexpected and most of all, very different. In all honesty, I think Valve was just as surprised. I imagine they originally considered Portal to the "B Side" of their other more publizced games, like Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2.

[MusicallyInspired]

I wouldn't have paid the full price for it, but so far it is fun.
Played it co-op this evening and if I understand it right. We finished that campaign already; saw the credits.

It should be noted that the co-op campaign is completely different from the single player campaign.

[Tawmis]

http://blog.games.yahoo.com/blog/615-mi ... ears-best/

It's not just still alive -- it's alive and kicking.

Cleverly written, boldly innovative and filled to the brim with some of the most brilliant gameplay ever put to ones and zeroes, the short but sweet first-person puzzle game Portal was an instant hit when it was released as part of The Orange Box compilation of Half-Life games in 2007.

While it never enjoyed the broad crossover success of blockbusters like Halo and Call of Duty, Portal introduced a deliciously duplicitous meme, topped countless Game of the Year lists, and set the stage for a serious coming out party in its sequel.

Thanks to a few ugly delays, that took a bit longer than expected. And now that Portal 2 has arrived for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, can it live up the immense hype?

As the evil robot GLaDOS might say, it's a monster.

Though it's been out for barely a day, it's averaging an astonishing 95% at Metacritic, currently making Portal 2 the best reviewed game of 2011.

Taking place many, many years after the events of the original game, Portal 2 once again drops silent lead character and unfortunate test subject Chell into a series of ruthless spatial challenges overseen by a passive-aggressive, malevolent robot. And while the first game was no slouch, this one goes much, much bigger.

"It's a work of masterful craft, mechanically constructed with military precision, artistically wrapped in a tremendous story and environment," gushes The Telegraph's Tom Hoggins, adding that it "effortlessly represents the medium at its very best." He gives it a perfect 10/10.

But is it as fiendishly funny as the first game? According to Game Infomer, you betcha.

"The dialogue's pitch-perfect delivery is half of Portal 2's genius," the pub proclaims, thanks in large part to a few new characters. "I never once thought I'd place [evil robot] GLaDOS second on any list of Portal characters, but J.K. Simmons' character surpasses the malevolent AI even though she's as amusing as ever. I was never bored of the dialogue, settings, or puzzles," insists writer Adam Biessener in a glowing 9.5/10 piece.

IGN scored it the same, in part because they were blown away by the game's look and feel. Running on the same Source engine that powered the first game and fellow critical darling Half-Life 2, it's still a serious powerhouse.

"The attention to detail throughout is nothing short of stunning," says reviewer Charles Onyett. "Metal girders and structural supports break and crash into each another, snapping apart in chaotic and natural ways, consistently serving not only to entertain the eye but to expand our understanding of the game's characters."

But like most games, the real star of the show is in Portal 2's gameplay. The portal gun -- which opens two portals between surfaces, allowing players to literally walk through walls -- makes a return, along with new toys like a gel gun that can turn basic surfaces into trampolines. The result makes for some seriously devious puzzles...in a very, very good way.

"Portal 2 smartly introduces each idea one at a time before requiring you to use them in concert," points out Giant Bomb's Ryan Davis, who loved it so much he "actually felt a little melancholy once Portal 2 was over" because it was just that awesome. His score? What else -- a 5/5.

The game's new co-operative mode (which features a standalone story) also gets high marks, leaving the one consistent source of criticism aimed toward the game's somewhat slower second act. "The pacing sags and the story becomes more concerned with the past than anything else," says IGN.

But when you're scoring 95% across over 20 critics, there's really, truly not much wrong with you. Take it away, GamePro.

"Valve's latest is an absolute must-own, plain and simple," gushes the site in a 5/5 review, noting that it was "more than worth the wait."

And that, it seems, is no lie.

[MusicallyInspired]

Just beat it tonight. Simply fantastic game. The end sequence is especially cool and freak-tastic! Now I just have to play the co-op campaign.

[DeadPoolX]

Just beat it tonight. Simply fantastic game. The end sequence is especially cool and freak-tastic! Now I just have to play the co-op campaign.

I guess it's not a very long game then, is it?

[MusicallyInspired]

It feels like it's about twice as long as Portal. Maybe a little more. It certainly didn't feel too short. But then, I didn't think the first Portal was too short either, for what it was. Certainly feels like a nice long campaign. Also, I was playing almost every moment of the day. I started it Monday night when it was unlocked and played until 2 in the morning. I then played for most of the day on Tuesday until finally beating it Tuesday night.

It is easier than I would have hoped, but that doesn't mean it wasn't fun or exciting. The new puzzles were fun and satisfying to pull off. And there's yet another full-length campaign for co-op as well. So there's a lot of game there. I assumed that because it's a sequel Portal 2 would be harder than the first, but Doug Lombardi dropped my hopes (luckily) before the release by saying that wasn't the goal at all. They are certainly challenging sometimes, but not anything that requires super quick reflexes or "ninja moves." That said, I do miss the bonus advance-style maps from Portal 1.

Either way, I think you'll enjoy it and get a lot of fun out of it, seeing as you're as avid a Portal fan as I am and seeing as I didn't think of it as disappointing.

[Tawmis]

Was going to say, MI could have been playing it all night...

I did the same thing with MK9 last night. Did a few standard "Arcade" mode matches to get a feel for the game. Then began story mode. Started at 9:15am, finished at 4am. And got an achievement just before quitting that I was half way through. Now most sane people would not sit, and play MK for 7 hours straight with no breaks. But sometimes when you really get into a game, you just dump all this time into one sitting (which is an indication at least you're finding the game enjoyable!)

I am suffering at work for being up till 4am, but all I can think of is getting home and trying more... (I am currently stuck on fighting Shao Kahn, who is nearly impossible after like six attempts!)