LogFAQs > #950546033

#25. Portal 2 (PS3, 2011)
I know a lot of people like the original Portal more. It was certainly more succinct, with the story unfolding more naturally with gameplay, and its narratives playing out in much the same way- such as being able to convey so much emotion for a simple block with a heart on it. Portal 2 is much more a real game, and while thats not necessarily criteria for it being better, it really helped flesh the game out here, giving it an incredibly funny and witty plot and the same for its additional characters.
Portal 2s single player campaign and its entirely separate co-op campaign could each individually be on my top 100, both together is a sure thing.

The single player, as I said before is a fantastic follow up to the first, fleshing out the character of GLaDOS and giving her a backstory, introducing fantastic and hilarious new characters in Wheatley and Cave Johnson (who are also fantastically voice-acted), and telling its story in a smart and efficient way, through the gameplay. Even if its not as compact or efficient as the first, its a lot funnier, and the environment of the puzzle chambers, or the game in general, is a lot more varied, than simply going behind the scenes. And though its a bit slower, its definitely not slow and has a nice balance between story and gameplay, like the bit near the beginning with the collapsing hotel room while Wheatley chimes at you. Of course, the puzzles are still center stage, and they are great puzzles, adding in a bunch of new features like the light bridges, launchers, gravity tunnels, and the portal goo in the older abandoned Aperture-the latter being especially great. Glados joining you as a potato near the end of the game, exploring the science fair, Cave Johnson taking over as the narrator-all excellent. Though I think my favorite narrative part of the game is the part with the defective turret scanner, those guys really make me laugh. Also the 3 cores at the end. Those 3 and the defective turrets voiced by Nolan North, naturally.

The co-op continues to blow the roof off. It may just be back to Gladoss show, but the co-op puzzles, and therefore addition of 2 portals, plus all the aforementioned new features adds an incredible amount of puzzle depth, and really opens up a lot of new ways to do these puzzles, combined with the fact you need to work together of course. It works great whether both of you havent done the puzzles, or one of you have and lets the other one try to figure out the puzzles. The little interactions between P-Body and Atlas are great, and Gladoss annoyance at them is a fun motivator throughout. Obviously theres not really much of a story in this mode, but the puzzles more than make up for it, and the humor is still there. The pinging system was also pretty innovative at the time!

In all, a supercharged and better version of Portal, perhaps a bit clunkier, but an all-around better experience.



Next up: The most physically exhausting game on my list.

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