Guigz
2011
There’s a very peculiar kind of video games, experiences wholly unique where gameplay, level design and story telling meet in every perfect way.
Portal 2 is one of those games, a puzzle-FPS created by valve and available for PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Switch.
It tells the story of an unnamed character refered to as a « test-subject » trying to escape from an abandoned laboratory containing a series of « test-rooms » full of traps and turrets trying to kill you, this whole place being run by a sassy AI named Glados guiding and hassling the player along the way.
The problem solving in Portal revolves around the Portal gun, a physics breaking device able to open a set of portals that can be placed on walls, floors or ceilings, going through a portal will lead you to come out through the other portal, retaining your velocity in the process letting you make impossible jumps, trick turrets to deactivate them or deviate an energy beam to power a door and much more…
The level design is very good with an enjoyable difficulty curve of puzzles throughout the adventure with more and more mechanics introduced until the very late chapters of the game keeping the puzzles fresh and engaging.
All of this packeged with a story about Aperture science it’s, history, founders and secrets told by exceptionnal voice actors, beautiful animations and environments full of details and an incredible art style that aged very well.
The game runs on the Source engine, a very scalable and optimized graphics engine, the game will run on pretty much any PC, the Switch version is also very good, running a 60fps/1080p.
There’s also a co-op mode that can be played either online or local split-screen, very good fun with a friend to either have good laughs or argue on how to solve the puzzle.
All in all, Portal 2 is an incredible puzzler, it can be played by anyone, it’s the perfect first video game, but it’s also perfect for casual to veteran players.
Incredible storytelling, amazing gameplay, exigent puzzle rooms.
5/5
Portal 2 is one of those games, a puzzle-FPS created by valve and available for PC, Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Switch.
It tells the story of an unnamed character refered to as a « test-subject » trying to escape from an abandoned laboratory containing a series of « test-rooms » full of traps and turrets trying to kill you, this whole place being run by a sassy AI named Glados guiding and hassling the player along the way.
The problem solving in Portal revolves around the Portal gun, a physics breaking device able to open a set of portals that can be placed on walls, floors or ceilings, going through a portal will lead you to come out through the other portal, retaining your velocity in the process letting you make impossible jumps, trick turrets to deactivate them or deviate an energy beam to power a door and much more…
The level design is very good with an enjoyable difficulty curve of puzzles throughout the adventure with more and more mechanics introduced until the very late chapters of the game keeping the puzzles fresh and engaging.
All of this packeged with a story about Aperture science it’s, history, founders and secrets told by exceptionnal voice actors, beautiful animations and environments full of details and an incredible art style that aged very well.
The game runs on the Source engine, a very scalable and optimized graphics engine, the game will run on pretty much any PC, the Switch version is also very good, running a 60fps/1080p.
There’s also a co-op mode that can be played either online or local split-screen, very good fun with a friend to either have good laughs or argue on how to solve the puzzle.
All in all, Portal 2 is an incredible puzzler, it can be played by anyone, it’s the perfect first video game, but it’s also perfect for casual to veteran players.
Incredible storytelling, amazing gameplay, exigent puzzle rooms.
5/5