So, Portal 2 released today and I was glad to pick it up at the midnight release at my local Gamestop. The first thing that I was concerned about was the length of the game considering how short Portal was. Not to mention, the portal gun puzzles really only kept me engage for so long in the original so I wondered how Valve was going to keep me so engaged for an full length game.
I’m happy to report that Portal 2 was more than engaging throughout the entire game, even though there were a few times when I felt like the game got a bit repetitive (although to be fair I had to replay several parts just to nail the puzzles). The story was much better than I was expecting and it held up to the standards that I’ve come to expect from Valve these days. In fact, the addition of an expansive background to the entire Aperture Science facility was interesting, fun and kept me “testing” for at least another two hours before I was back to navigating hidden hallways and crumbling corridors, traveling ever upwards toward the surface of an unknown world.
The graduated way that they introduce all of the new puzzling elements before you’re forced to use them all together is perfect. Honestly, when I saw the gameplay videos beforehand I was a little daunted by what I saw. Once I dove in though I found the use of the new elements to be self explanatory and easy to integrate.
I haven’t had a chance to play the co-op portion of the game yet, I can tell you that the single player campaign to Portal 2 is among the best in the first-person genre (although for me, Modern Warefare 2 and Black-Ops still take the cake which coincidentally isn’t a lie). All in all you’re looking at a 5-8 hour single-player campaign with many more hours of co-op. Even though I still see this as a short campaign, it was the first time in several months I wasn’t pissed I spent $65.00 on a game.