Most of the positive feelings about Portal 2 that I have when starting to write this preview come from an astounding original game. Portal was a beauty mark of innovation in the industry at the time of its release. That said, if there is one thing Valve is good at, its making killer sequels.
Plot Summary
Portal 2 takes place hundreds of years after Chell puzzles her way through GLaDOS’s death trap in an overgrown but somewhat newly repaired Aperture Science Labs. A new ending was patched into the original Portal to show Chell being dragged off by a robot. Seeing as Chell is the main protagonist of Portal 2 we can theorize that this robot took her to a statis chamber of some sort. Chell is reawaken and has to compete against not only GLaDOS but many of here personality cores that were separated from her at the end of the original.
Gameplay
The core gameplay of Portal remains intact. You will have a portal gun and be tasked with finding your way from chamber to chamber to stay alive. However there are some new additions that promise to make Portal 2 even more challenging and exciting. Confirmed gameplay mechanics are as follows:
- Portal gun with two available portals
- Added environmental effects that can be transferred through portals such as tractor beams and air currents.
- A new weapon that shoots gels that alter the physical properties of objects and surfaces (ie. propulsion and repulsion).
- Three new object types to go with the storage cube including a reflective object to handle thermal beams, an aerial onject that can launch objects from itself, and a storage sphere that was seen in the more challenging puzzles in Portal.
Co-Operative Gameplay
For me the most enticing news about this game is the co-op feature. I am a huge fan of playing through games with my friends and Valve has made this a reality with Portal 2. The co-op section will feature and entirely different campaign where you can a friend play the roles of a modified sentry droid and one of GLaDOS’s split personality cores. You will work in tandem to complete puzzles that Valve says are the most challenging in the game.
Here is the trailer from E3
Conclusion
This for me was one of the strongest releases at E3 this year. Valve is very close to be my all-time favorite developer and Portal is one of their best works. This seems like it will be a must have game of 2011.
VGL_Andy
