Today, I will be reviewing Portal 2. As said previously, it is a puzzle game, but with a very unique gimmick. Just like in the previous game, the player unlocks a portal gun, that shoots portals that act as doorways. If you go through one portal, you come out the other, meaning that mobility is very substantial. But, Portal 2 has different mechanics, characters, and other things that were not present in the previous installment. Let’s start with the gameplay.

The Gameplay

As I stated above, the gameplay is based around the portal gun. So the protagonist, known as Chell, has to progress through an underground defunct facility that was once called Aperture Laboratories. Many of their previous creations are still there, such as automatic turret guns, and of course, the portal gun. Do you get hurt from falling? No, because something that makes the gameplay more enjoyable is the long fall boots. These are boots that Chell wears that make you take no fall damage. Falling from heights and getting hurt can be very annoying in video games, so, fortunately, these are here to remove fall damage. The puzzles themselves are intriguing, and although you may get stuck, a good tip is to think outside the box. (Or the Companion Cube, really.) So we’ve settled that the gameplay is interesting and enjoyable. Let’s move on to the story/writing.

The Story/Writing

Portal 2 has a pretty clean story that is a nice follow-up to the original game. I’ll try to make this as spoiler-free as possible. After Chell has beaten the villain from the last game, GLaDOS, a robot drags her back into the facility. She wakes up in a room with a tiny “personality core” with a Kiwi accent and a lot of stupidity. After that, Wheatley notes that GLaDOS is still alive, so Chell and Wheatley go on a quest to terminate her. It’s an interesting take because you finally have a sentient companion. Wheatley is quite a charming individual with funny jokes. (Progress and you’ll see who’s really charming.) GLaDOS is back to her old self, and she’s just as chaotic as ever. So the story is pretty solid, but the writing is incredible. Every line is clever, with some being hilarious and some being melancholy. You can tell that the voice actors put a lot of passion into the game, and the atmosphere is perfect.

So all in all, I think Portal 2 is an incredible game, with fascinating gameplay and a solid story. I give it a 9.8 out of 10.