Portal 2

At 25 pounds this game is just amazing. I paid 40 pounds for it and am happy to have played it.

However, everyone is going in superlatives about how the game is amazing etc. It's a really good game but it is not the second coming of Nathan Drake.

The game has a very strong ending, and a good opening, but the middle third kind of lets it down because it feels padded to some extent. Many of the puzzles in the first section are also recycled. The additions of gels and beams in the 2nd half are good but they kind of rob away from the purity of using portals only to solve puzzles.

I feel really weird playing this game, because I played Portal 1 about 7 times, and a lot of the time I just feel like Portal 2 tries too hard to be more than Portal 1. It just seems to me that Portal should not even have had a sequel ever.

Graphically the source engine is showing its age, and the gameplay is fun but there's really hardly any replay value once you finish the singleplayer. Multiplayer is quite good but again you need to have some friends to play with it and most of my friends would not bother to try to spend 5 minutes in the same room without killing anyone.

Do you like puzzle games? Yes? Then you owe it to yourself to play Portal 2, full stop.

However, if you're like me and you're not really into puzzle games so to speak then, well, you STILL owe it to yourself to play Portal 2. It's not often that it can be said a game has everything, but Valve have created a masterpiece here for puzzle and non-puzzle fans alike. The visuals are top notch, the storyline engaging, the script is well written and at times laugh-out-loud funny and, most importantly, the game play is spot on. This is a puzzle game so you'll need to get your logic hat on, but don't let that put you off if you're not a puzzle gamer. For while the challenges in Portal 2 can be clever, intricate and mind-blowing at times, what the game has nailed 100% is the fact every problem you encounter makes sense and all puzzles are solvable through logic. Sounds silly I know, but if you're a gamer then you'll know those moments in some games where everything you try doesn't work and when you do find out the solution, it seems so implausible that it can frustrate you even more - 'oh, of course, I needed the lightbulb from the lamp-post to give to the random man so he'd give me a dog to chase away the cat who was holding a golden ball of yarn that I need to gift to the other man so he'd give me his step ladder so I can get to the roof of the building where the matchstick is which I need to burn the candle to wake up the dinosaur who's asleep in front of the washing line I need to get to!' Or something. Portal 2 however, as I said, makes sense, mainly because of the physics of the game. Puzzles are believable and as you get used to the portal gun, you'll start to see all sorts of possibilities. Even the later levels, where the puzzles become quite difficult, you'll be happy to keep trying things out as you know the puzzles will be logical and solvable with a bit of forward thinking. As you go on there is a genuine sense of reward when you finally unlock the secret behind one of the puzzles (I don't think I've yelled 'YES!" as much playing a game since my uni days spent playing Pro Evo 4 hours on end).

The storyline continues a while after the end of the original Portal, once again you play as Chell. For those new to Portal, the game generally takes place in 'test chambers' in the Aperture Laboratory. It's presented in the first person, so if you like COD you'll be fine! You get a Portal gun that enables you to create pathways to different areas of a room - this is done by shooting a blue portal and an orange portal onto walls/floors. Think of them as holes, except when you create two holes they join up and become a pathway. A bit like a portal, really. Anyway, as you progress you gain access to other interesting elements that help you go faster, bounce higher, or even place a Portal onto any surface. The interesting thing about portals is just how they can be used to manipulate a room, it's not just a case of getting from point A to point B as hopefully you'll see if you play the game (or you'll know if you've played the 1st game). As you progress through these test chambers, the story unfolds and you then move onto other areas. I'll draw a line here though, as you don't want any spoilers now do you?! All I will say is that you start off with a friend called Wheatley (voiced brilliantly by Stephen Merchant) and you may or may not run into a certain foe called GLaDOS...other than that there's not much else to say that won't give out plot details (which is just as interesting as the puzzles!)

As I said at the start of this review, I'm not a puzzle gamer per-say. Portal 2 is so much more than a puzzle game though. It's emotive yet funny, clever yet simple, a puzzler-meets-adventure-meets-FPS game. You'll laugh, you'll have your heart strings tugged, you might get a bit stuck, but mostly you'll do as I did and spend a whole day playing it from start to finish because it's just THAT good. Then, when you've finished, you get the excellent co-op mode (and I do recommend playing single player first) which can be played locally via split screen or, online via PSN or even with someone on PC via the Steam Code included in the PS3 version of the game. I was going to review how well this part worked but at the time of writing PSN has been down for around a week now for reasons I'm sure you're all aware of. Local co op is great though (the puzzles are even more intricate when there's two of you!) and a fine extension to the main game.

It's hard to put into words how much I recommend trying this game. Even if you're apprehensive that it might not be your 'thing', similarly to Heavy Rain, it's the kind of game that may divide opinion but can genuinely be called an experience that I feel all gamers should try. I honestly don't have a negative to point out about this game, if we're being picky there's no advanced maps (like in the original), but that's a tiny criticism! Some have mentioned the longevity (I'd say a solid 8-10 hours for single player) but add in the co op and it's certainly longer. Also, as with the aforementioned Heavy Rain which clocked in around 9 hours, there's a definite case for quality over quantity and for me Portal 2 is as quality a game you will play this console generation (plus if there's a better ending to a game, well...you'll just have to play it and see!)

I don't usually write games reviews, partly because they take me an inordinate amount of time for me to write and partly because so many people review games that opinions can easily get lost in the clutter. But I felt compelled to write a review for Portal 2, if only to give my tuppence-worth on a game that some people seem to dislike simply because it so closely resembles the first Portal game. I haven't played that one, so I was coming at it with a completely open mind.

For those of you who don't already know, Portal 2 is a puzzle game through and through. You play the part of a person trapped in what ultimately amounts to a massive laboratory, being experimented on by a demented computer. But the experiments don't take the form of physical abuse like gene manipulation or having your arms chopped off, they're mentally-focussed challenges in which you just have to get from one part of each testing chamber to another using the ubiquitous portal, a two-sided doorway between two points. To assist you, you're given a portal gun that allows you to project one (and, later, both) sides of a portal onto flat surfaces in each chamber; using this gun, you can (for example) fire one side of a portal onto the wall next to you, fire the other side onto a wall on the other side of the chamber, and then walk between the two points at will.

This method of instantaneous transportation allows you to cross large gaps without the need for a bridge, to scale heights without a ladder, and to avoid obstacles like automated gun turrets simply by `portal-ing' around them. It sounds simple, but the game limits where you can place portals, so you do need to think about where you can go, where you need to go, and how you can reconcile the two; you're also limited to having only one portal in a chamber at any one time, so it's not just a case of zapping portals as you like. As the game progresses, you get given extra surprises like tractor beams, a liquid gel that lets you bounce around the level, and others that I won't go into for fear of spoiling the surprise.

At first glance, some of the chambers appear frighteningly complicated, and while it is true that you need to think things through quite logically, experimentation is quite simply the best way to get through each one. I was rarely stuck on any one level for more than 5 or 10 minutes, and when I found myself in that position, and then the solution came to me, I kicked myself for not getting it sooner. However, if you do find yourself frustrated at not being able to complete a particular level, my advice is to try EVERYTHING; zap portals everywhere, coat everything in gel, and above all explore the level in its entirety. It's very easy to miss something important, especially flat surfaces that you can place a portal onto that might be tucked away in the chamber somewhere.

The graphics are functional without being overly impressive; they don't push the boundaries of graphic design, nor do they push the limits of the PS3's power, but they do suit the game well. Then again, Portal 2 isn't the kind of game you buy for its graphical prowess, and in any event you'll be focussing so hard on solving each level the quality of the graphics may well pass you by without you even noticing. The voice-acting is also worth a mention, that of Stephen Merchant as your small robot assistant in particular; I've never been much of a fan of his work, but even I have to admit that he does a fantastic job here. It's important to get the voice-overs right when you're developing with a game that contains only 3 characters, but Merchant carries out his role superbly, with wittiness and malevolence in equal measure.

All in all, Portal 2 amounts to an extremely clever and time-consuming game that gives you enormous satisfaction as you progress through it, but that rarely lets you feel like you're completely stuck and want to resort to looking up the solution on YouTube. Granted, those times may happen, but if you have even the slightest bit of puzzling ability and you try everything you can in a level, then you should be okay. I bought Portal 2 on budget, but I can honestly say that I would gladly have paid full-price for it, and there aren't many PS3 games that I can say that about.