Portal 2 (2011)

Graphics are clean and fitting for the setting, with some moments of genuine surprising beauty such as the first sighting of the overgrown testing facility.

Glados is as iconic as ever, and Wheatley is a great new addition. Chell continues to be a typical silent protagonist with no real personality of her own, but it's not an issue with a game of this type.

All of the voice actors included, particularly the two major VAs behind Glados and Wheatley, are top-notch. Some great delivery of comedic lines adds to the humour.

There are two separate storylines for single-player campaign and co-op, which is a great touch. Both are fun, engaging, and genuinely funny. There's up to 2-person co-op available, with its own specially designed multiplayer puzzles. I would heavily advise you to play with someone over call and not with a stranger - communication methods without having a Discord voice chat or something similar up are pretty lacking and could be frustrating.

Although maybe not quite as "ageless" as the first game, Portal 2 does the incredible and actually improves on the gameplay of the first and is still deadly funny and clever.

The expanded world building and fleshed out backstories for the main characters are all well handled and enjoyable to learn about.

The game uses environmental storytelling tactics as well to fill out the corners of the world.

I wish Valve could learn to count to 3 because I'd love more.

5 / 5 Stars

If the first Portal was the savory appetizer, Portal 2 is the 5-star entrée. Plus dessert. And another appetizer. Breadsticks. Soup of the day. Chef's salad. But no olives. Screw olives.

If you liked Portal 1, you'll love Portal 2. Puzzle gameplay is more streamlined than the OG, and somehow also more expansive. More stuff to puzzle with, more room to play with the stuff, more story to explain the rooms. It's the perfect level of brainteasers that keep you mentally engaged without frustration or exhaustion.

Improved visuals and UI. Impeccable pacing and absorbing backstory. Plus some of the funniest damn comedy bits I've heard in a game. It got to a point where I wanted to solve the puzzles largely for the quips after each one.

Cannot recommend enough. Easy to jump into, hard to pull yourself away from, and impossible to not think about once it's over. Throw in a stupendous co-op puzzle mode, and baby, you got a stew going. Made of cake.

Portal 2 is one of the best puzzle games I've ever played. The game challenges players' brains with its challenging and thought-provoking puzzles. At the same time, the game's story and characters are very interesting and engage players in the game.

The game is ideal for players who want to enjoy the joy of generating creative solutions with the portal gun. The game's puzzles are very well-designed and require players to try different approaches. This also increases the replayability of the game.

The story of Portal 2 is also very well-written. Throughout the game, players learn about the dark past of Aperture Science and Chell's place in this story. This story is both entertaining and thought-provoking.

The characters of the game are also very well-written. Characters like Glados and Wheatley make significant contributions to the atmosphere of the game.

Portal 2 is a very entertaining and high-quality game. If you haven't played this game yet, I highly recommend you to try it.

Valve games remind me of Pixar movies. They are immensely clever, have wide appeal, feature great writing, and always come off with purpose and clarity of vision. This one is even family friendly and it isn't terrible for it. Portal 2 features some of the best writing in any video game ever and is pretty much guaranteed to put a smile on your face. The small cast of disembodied voices that accompany you through your journey into puzzle-solving madness balances the brain scratching with a good chuckle in a sort of reward system that keeps you compelled to figure the next room out. I'll admit I got pretty stumped a few times but the game introduces new elements and ramps up the difficulty so smoothly, I was never truly lost. This game, although massively successful, unfortunately turned out to be Valve's swan song as a developer of great games for QUITE A LONG TIME, causing a lot of people a GOOD DEAL OF RESENTMENT.

Anyway, I'm told Half-Life Alyx is good, so that's cool.

So I signed up for GeForce Now the other day. Thought I might check it out. Well it turns out that GeForce Now really doesn't have many games, and of their limited section of games I only own one: Portal 2. I tested it, it plays quite well. The app regularly tells me I have a spotty connection. Note that I am getting that warning on a network that is twelve times Nvidia's recommended speed for 1080p 60fps. However, despite the warning the image is exceptionally smooth.

In full honesty I own several more games that are supported in GeForce Now, however I own them via the Epic Store. Currently those games are only supported if purchased on Steam, and the grand total number of Epic store games supported appears to be about five.

It appears that my biggest problem is that I don't own a lot of big AAA games on Steam, so it seems that I am the wrong customer for GeForce Now. I do have 90 days free, so I'll watch to see if additional games are made available but I don't think this will be the streaming service for me.

Microsoft's Project xCloud streaming starts beta testing in Canada soon. I've signed up for that, so we'll see if that offers better options for my needs.

When Valve was trying to make the sequel to Portal, they came up with something they called "F-Stop". I think this sequel was to take place in the 60s, but it had this special mechanic that Valve said they wanted to keep secret just in case they ever wanted to use it. It's been a secret forever... until now. Somehow, this indie team got permission and the original source code for F-Stop, and now we can see that mechanic is something called the "Aperture Camera". Watch the first reveal and taste of what will be a deep-dive into the mechanic, or something.

Nowhere else will you find a puzzle game with this much charm, replay value, and unique experience. This game takes you on a journey of comedy, adventure, and craziness all while forcing you to solve puzzles by shooting at walls and it makes even that fun. My favorite part is definitely the characters that although limited in numbers make up for it with big personalities and a very talented writing team. Solving puzzles in closed out rooms while plotting your escape can get a little daunting at a certain point right? Well, its something Portal 2 improved on its predecessor by ensuring that halfway through the story the gameplay drastically changes by switching up the environment. The game stays fresh, at points hard, but always smooth and entertaining. The game is also very memorable due to its wit and humor which is a big feat in my opinion whenever done right in the gaming world. One of my all-time favorites that will sadly never see a part 3, RIP.

Considering this is the most, highest rated video game on Grouvee, I've decided to review it. I'm going to work on playing through and reviewing the top 250 on Grouvee for the rest of this year.

Portal 2 is a wonderful game and a great sequel to the original Portal game. While the first game had you running through many puzzle rooms until you eventually get free to run from GLaDOS, in this game you awaken to an operating core named Wheatley. After being awakened from your recovering slumber that began at the end of Portal 1, Wheatley has woken you up in order to acquire your aid in replacing GLaDOS in the main control module.

The twist in the middle was kinda telegraphed hard. Most players will see it coming. I think the parts where you are going through each puzzle room with a pocket GLaDOS attached to a potato are quite adorable. The writing and the dialogue are extremely good and you get a wonderful backstory for Aperture Laboratories, GLaDOS, and Cave Johnson (who kinda looks like Bill Nighy or James Cromwell.) The relationship between GLaDOS and Chel towards the end is an interesting one and the song at the end was good. I suppose this second one isn't as good as the first for most people, but I rather like it.

The multiplayer campaign was pretty fun. I played through it once with my girlfriend, and once with someone online. I was actually surprised to see how easy it was to figure out what someone online wanted to do or was trying to figure out, even without a microphone. It's lots of fun and I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in co-op puzzle games. It's a little harder though for those without proper walk-and-aim hand-eye coordination required using a controller or a keyboard and mouse.

There are comics that talk about what happens in between the two games. I believe they also explain the writing on the wall that happens in the first game. Cave Johnson is a pretty great dude. I have 2 Portal shirts. One is a Cave Johnson quote about lemons, and the other is a Aperture Science shirt with Wheatley superimposed on top of the text. There is a very charming music video for the song at the end as well. Here it is.