Portal 2

Portal 2 is the lovechild of fantastic writing, crazy comedians and tight, focused gameplay. Never before have these elements come together in a more interesting way. While the first game was a minor but relevant distraction, what with being released along with Half-Life: Episode 2 and Team Fortress 2, Portal 2 is a stand-alone game and rightly so.

You’re Chell, the protagonist of the original Portal. After being being rudely awoken at a derelict science facility, you find yourself being forced to solve puzzles fraught with robotic turrets, toxic waste and lasers in the hope of trying to escape from the clutches of the insane AI, GLaDOS that’s running the show.

With a portal gun being your sole weapon you find yourself weaving in and out of walls, ceilings, jump pads and floors, using gravity and momentum to your advantage. There are some new additions such as propulsion gels and co-operative mode that adds to replay value. It’s a cerebrally stimulating experience that tickles parts of your brain that you never knew existed and is immensely satisfying to boot.

Intellectual stimulation aside, there’s UK comedian Stephen Merchant who does a fantastic job of voicing Wheatley, an admin robot at the facility who does his best to help you escape. He adds the much needed laughs in contrast with GLaDOS, making this dark adventure a lot more humorous with some hilarious dialogues that showcase the strength of the writing.

Apart from the life-like animations best experienced in the game’s co-operative mode, the graphics aren’t anything to write home about. It looks the same on all formats though if you’re the sort to play it on multiple formats we’d recommend the PS3 version simply because you get the PC and Mac versions free. The only issue that’s across all versions of the game is the loading screens that are far too many between levels.

On the whole, Valve have created a great puzzler that gets more challenging and interesting as you go along. And while you don’t end up indulging in wanton acts of violence there’s enough to keep you going to its decidedly fantastic end.