Overall 9.7 Graphics 8.5 Sound 8 Addictive 9.3 Story 8 Depth 8.3 Difficulty 7.5
9.5
Start thinking with portals ender44
*I'm shaking up the system, so no, I'm not making any jokes about cake, unlike EVERY SINGLE OTHER PORTAL REVIEW!
For those of you who know me, it shouldn't come as any surprise that I like puzzle games.... a lot. And portal seems to be one of the most innovative of the bunch, it took one of the most mind numbing genres, first person shooters, and combined it with fantastic puzzle mechanics that form a franchise that I adore. Development for portal 2 started soon after portal was made in 2007, eventually being released in 2011. Portal was released by valve, a company behind many popular franchises like "Team Fortress" and "Half-Life". Portal exists in the half-life universe and the first game of both series happen at the same time. But I'm not talking about portal 1 or half-life, I'm talking about portal 2, lets do this.
Gameplay: This game revolves around getting from point A to point B, though this can be more difficult than it sounds. It is always physically impossible to get to point B. Because of that, you have to use something also physically impossible. You use blue and orange portals to get to new places in the map. Walking through one portal takes you through the other portal. You may think that all you have to do is shoot a portal at point B and then be done with it, but doing so isn't so simple. Portals can only be shot at white walls, which will be very obvious and distinct from the rest of the testing chamber. Portals are momentum based, so if you jump 40 feet into the blue portal, you will be launched out of the orange portal, and that can be used in your favor as a way to getting to point B. And don't worry about fall damage, as Chell (the main character) has long fall boots on that allow her to fall from any distance and not be harmed. Solving puzzles are involves the use of bridges that come out of portals, a gel that causes you to bounce, gel that makes you run incredibly fast, gel that makes it so that you can shoot a portal against anything on it, crates, and much more. Let it be known that you have no weapons in the game, and there exist some enemies, turrets being the only ones that pose a real threat. You will have to use portals, thought, and stealth to be able to kill these things without weapons, and of course without them killing you. This games HUD is simple, it shows the cursor to help you aim, and shows which portals you have shot. This game uses the game engine of the half life series, so if you notice the similarities between the two, that's why.
Graphics: This game looks great. You may not think it looks great, but that's for a simple reason. This game has good graphics, but the environments are meant to look run down and dull in the chambers, I mean the place has literally been abandoned for, well it isn't clear about that, but it has been a very long time. Comparing it to other 2011 releases like Modern Warfare 3, it isn't as colorful, but it is way more pleasing to the eye.
Sound: This game doesn't have much sound, and I'm so glad that it doesn't. Some epic tune to shoot portals to really doesn't fit with the atmosphere of this game. Like the last game, portal 2 tries to make you feel totally alone in those testing chambers. This game is supposed to enforce ominous isolation. Chell is alone in those chambers with an AI that would just love to kill her. And when Chell is brought to (and this is a legitimate spoiler alert) the original aperture science and Aperture, it is supposed to be run down and creepy, and the small amount of music enforces that. Music isn't the only sound in this game though. While most of the voice acting is mechanical voices, characters like Wheatley and Cave Johnson have phenomenal actors. Wheatley is voiced by big name actor and comedian Stephen Merchant, who does a fantastic job. The dialogue in this game ranges from pretty serious to absolutely hilarious and it will have you laughing.
Addictiveness: It is really hard to gauge the effectiveness of puzzle games. These games cause you to think, and a fair amount people don't like to think while they play video games, while others prefer games that challenge their brain and make them think. It really depends on what you're into. But, if you need some gauge, check out all of the reviews that rate it in the 4-5 star area. Gamespot and IGN both rated it very highly. I would play this game again and again, though I like to wait until I forget the puzzles before I do it again.
Story: First of all, keep in mind that this is a puzzle game, they rarely have stories at all, to find a story this good in a puzzle game is rare. We start the game with Chell, an Aperture science test subject. This game starts soon after portal ended. Chell is in sleep to keep her alive for longer. We then wake up after what the recording says is 99999... before it cuts off. We then meet up with Wheatley. Chell and Wheatley make their way to the portal gun, and Chell uses that to make her way a little further until she runs into GLaDOS, an evil AI that killed many thousands of people at Aperture science and was then killed by Chell. GLaDOS poorly pretends to forgive Chell and brings her into a testing chamber. Throughout the next ten or so chambers, GLaDOS will thinly veil her attempts to kill Chell through testing. Eventually you meet up with Wheatley again and try to stop GLaDOS. Chell then deposes GLaDOS from her position of control over Aperture science and places Wheatley in charge. Wheatley goes mad with power, turning GLaDOS into a potato (yeah, you heard right) and accidentally shoves Chell and her into a pit, where Chell falls a few thousand feet. Chell then finds herself in the original Aperture science, when she realizes that she will have to get Wheatley out of his position of power and get herself back to the enrichment center.
Depth: There are tons of chambers, using different objects and strategies to get through them. There are also different environments that you will traverse. If you remember the strange paintings that Doug Rattman made in the first portal game,(am I the only one who found them to be really creepy?) you can find those in the enrichment center as a secret Easter egg, I have only found one and I'm not entirely sure if that is the only one or not. There are different objects you can use to beat the different chambers.
Difficulty: If you have experience with the portal mechanics and the series itself, then you have an advantage. This game features puzzles that are incredibly difficult and when you do figure them out, it is SO satisfying. Yeah, its difficult, it isn't Ghosts n Goblins difficult, its a difficulty level that keeps you thinking. Here is a quick outline.
9- If you don't have much experience with portal or puzzle games.
8- If you have a decent amount experience with puzzle games and portal.
7- If you have a large amount of experience with puzzle game and portal.
6- If you are the man when it comes to puzzle games and portal
Thanks for reading you guys, that's all for this review. This game is truly worth checking out and I encourage you to get your hands on it. The controls, the story, the sound, the environments, it is all breathtakingly great and I hope puzzle games take some inspiration from this.
Graphics 8 Sound 6 Addictive 9 Story 8 Depth 8 Difficulty 9
Review Rating: 5/5
Submitted: 06-10-13
Updated: 06-10-13
Review Replies: 4
9
This was a triumph (Portal 2 review) alsonic
Now, you might be wondering,'alsonic, why aren't you on much?' Well Greg, 1. I've have been to busy trying to... ok, I'm a gamer like all of you people. I have a life... sort of. I bought Portal 2 on PC one day and thought, 'This is gonna be great! Portal 2!?!? I saw all the commercial and everything! I'm SO excited!!!' Though I saw the commercial around 5 years ago, I still remember every detail. (I'm not gonna describe the whole commercial, that's crazy) But now, for my ULTIMATE review of Portal 2! Without mentioning cake... oh... I just blew it, didn't I?
(Please note this review is SPOILER HEAVY)
Graphics: 9/10 Honestly, the graphics are okay, but nothing special. IT looks exactly like every other Valve game (Except Team Fortress 2, that's special) The turrets, cores (or spheres in this game), and practically BETTER then the first game. And I'll be honest, This isn't anything special.
Sound: 10/10 Now, this game is choke full of music. I just lied, there's only, like, 5 tracks. But everything, or everyone, voiced in this game sounds like they're supposed to. the voice acting is fluid, nothing seems forced, and everything sounds how it should be. Except the Space Core, his voice freaks me out and haunts my dreams.
Addictiveness: 8/10 Now I'll tell ya, Nothing wants me to do the main campaign EVER again. Like, ever. However, There is a Co-op mode that I'll likely do again, if my partner isn't a jerk. The feature that lets you make your own chamber and put it on the Steam Workshop I liked, but I'm not gonna lie, there could have been more items to put in the chamber.
Story 9/10 Now note this is the part where I kill you, I mean this is the part where the most spoilers are in. If you haven't played it, just skipped over this section. If you played it or you don't care about me ruining the story, read on.
Now our story begins in in the deepest part of Aperture Laboratories. You have awakened from your sleep. You have to do some physical exercise (Like looking at the ceiling) Then you go back to sleep... GOOD MORNING you have been asleep for nine nine nine nine- nine nine ni- days! Then sudde- you know what I can't do this. I'll just tell you the main parts. Wheatly helps you escape, oops, you wake up GLaDOS, go test, Wheatly helps you escape again, Put Wheatly in control of the facility, Wheatly put GLaDOS into a Potato, You go BACK TO THE PAST. (Not really) You meet the CEO of Aperture Science through voice recorded messages, you go back up, do more tests, show a pit who's boss, you send Wheatly to space. You leave the facility. The End.
Depth 9/10 This game has lots to do. Once you finish the main campaign, you can do the co-op, once your done with the co-op, you can make test chambers, once you make test chambers, you can go back to the singleplayer to get achievements you missed!
Diifficulty: 6/10 Now this game starts out easy, but once you get to old aperture, it's GAME ON. It's funny, some of the chambers at the end are easier than the 1st one. ha.
Overall: 9/10 This game is great, with great voice acting, exceptional graphics, amazing story, ran out of positive words, and great replayability, this gets my rating of 9/10 or play it.
alsonic, out
Graphics 9 Sound 10 Addictive 8 Story 9 Depth 9 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 07-08-13
Review Replies: 2
10
One of the best on the Xbox Cjjjj
The portal series is one of my favorite of all time. It's fun, addicting, and hilarious. So in this review I'll tell you all the wonderful things that make this game great.
The game's graphics are a gigantic improvement over Portal 1. Everything is nicely textured, the lighting is great and the animations of characters like GLaDOS and Wheatly are rather nice. I also have yet to see any graphical glitches so its all coded quite well. So for graphics I give this game an 8/10.
the sound in this game is great. There are many more voices then in Portal 1, and the voice acting is all around just better. Cave Johnson's, and the adventure core's voice actors did a particularly great job in my opinion, they made it feel like the character where really speaking to you. There really isn't much music in the game, well there is but there more like soundscapes, but I like this because it allows you to focus more on the puzzles that you're trying to solve. So for sound I'll give a 7/10.
This game is really addictive. I've played through it at least 3 times and it never gets old. All on top of that it has an amazing co-op mode which make's it all the more replayable. It's a blast to hear all the funny comments that the character make and just to discover new things throughout the Apature Science test lab. So for addictiveness I'm gonna have to give it a perfect score of 10/10.
The story of this game is simple, get your ass out of the test lab before a sadistic computer kills you. But there is an underlying story as you go through the game that uncovers much of apature science's past, long before the when the game takes place.I'm not going to talk much about this part because I really don't want to spoil the game for you. So for story it gets a 7/10
This game is rather deep. It has quite a few underlying messages and references to things like mythology and human nature. But I'm going to let you find them yourself. The story is somewhat lacking at the beginning but it gets much deeper as you go along. So in depth I'll give it a 7/10
This game is quite hard. Because it's very complex. Many test only have one possible way to finish and finding it can be very difficult. But that's why it's great, every time you beat a level you just feel very good about yourself.there's really not much else to say here so on with the score. I'll give it a 8/10
This game is one of the best ever made, and one of my favorites sitting on my list of favorites right next to ocarina of time and Super Mario World. In my opinion this game was perfect. So I'm going to have to give it a 10/10. Thanks for reading my review, I hope you enjoyed it.
~C.J
Graphics 8 Sound 7 Addictive 10 Story 7 Depth 7 Difficulty 8
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 01-18-13
Review Replies: 0
10
Portal 2 Review Suicidal_Steve
Hello! My name is Suicidal Steve and I'll be reviewing Portal 2!
Graphics: 9/10 This game has good graphics but its so PIXELY (I mean when you get close).
Sound: 9/10 The Game has a lot of voice acting and sound but sometimes the sound speeds up making the game hard to experience.
Addictiveness: 10/10 I've played this game though 3 full times and think that the game has more to offer.
Story: 8/10 Meh, the story isn't so good I mean most of it follows the original Portal game, but to make this longer, I'm going to tell you some of the story: The robot that pulled you in made you go in suspension (or
sleep) for something days. Blah blah blah exercise up, down, art. 999,999,999,999 days later (I think) a core named Wheatley knocks on the door of your relaxation room. You answer and then... you know what? I'm just going to put that in a different thread called: The Story of Portal 2.
Depth: 9/10 This game has a Plethora of stuff to offer, this game is very short but has many secrets to find.
Difficulty 7/10 this game my friend needed lots of walkthoughs to pass most of the 50's levels. But the rest is really easy.
Overall: 10/10 this game is (almost) perfect! I loved most of the things about it! One of the best games ever created (in my opinion)
Thank you for taking your time reading my thread. This was one of Suicidal Steve's Spiffy review, signing out.
Graphics 9 Sound 9 Addictive 10 Story 8 Depth 9 Difficulty 7
Review Rating: 2/5
Submitted: 09-15-13
Review Replies: 2
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