It's still a triumph, and I'm making a note here. You know what it says? HUGE success. It really is quite hard to overstate my satisfaction with Portal 2 (and I  can't promise I'll stop referencing the eternally great 'Still Alive' now) - this is simply one of the best, most challenging and most hilarious gaming experiences I've had for years.

By Dan Curtis

Aperture Science..

Kicking off where we last left our mute protagonist Chell after she was dragged back down into the depths of Aperture Science by the 'Party Escort Bot', our silent heroine awakens to find herself in a picturesque hotel room which she glimpses only briefly before being forced into suspended animation. When she reawakens, she discovers that a lot of time has passed as the room is in a great state of obvious decay, and the voice of the computer above her announces that she has been asleep for an unprecedented amount of years. Thus begins Portal 2, and after finding yourself rudely ejected from your comfortable hotel room, you'll find yourself once again in the Aperture Science Testing Facility, full of puzzles, companion cubes, decay and the dreaded and eternally witty GLaDOS, the murderous AI construct who was thought to be destroyed at the end of the first game.

I'm not going to spoil much, but as you've probably gathered, GLaDOS isn't totally dead. She'll wake up at some point in the story, and ends up as usual completely taunting Chell with her sarcastic responses and rapier-like wit. After finding her facility in a state of total disrepair, everyone's favourite computer then decides to rebuild the entire facility, meaning test chambers will literally start re-arranging themselves as you enter, with wall panels sliding neatly into place and the consruction becoming more and more obvious as your progress.

If you're unfamiliar with Portal's unique gameplay mechanics, let me educate you. Portal 2 is all about - as you may have guessed - creating portals using your portal gun. You get one blue, one orange portal and putting each of these on a surface will allow you to travel between portals. For example, shooting a Portal at the ceiling, then one at the wall, will cause you to (upon entering the wall portal) to fall through the ceiling portal, back down to the floor. It was a clever, engaging mechanic for the original game and it carries over brilliantly into the second, crafting some truly superb puzzles that will challenge your mind without becoming too much of a frustration. See that's the incredibly clever thing here - somehow developers Valve have managed to craft a puzzle experience that is perfectly balanced between rewarding and challenging. I can guarantee the sense of superiority you'll feel upon finally completing a difficult challenge will be extremely high. You'll almost feel like you're GLaDOS herself.

Of course, any sequel wouldn't be complete with new mechanics, and Valve has delivered brilliantly and built upon the original Portal formula. New mechanics include several types of gel which alter the gameplay experience dramatically. For example, the orange gel present in Portal 2 is used to create velocity, allowing the player to build up the necessary speed to traverse long gaps. Blue gel is used for creating bouncy platforms and white gel is then used to create Portal surfaces where there wasn't any before.  These new gels all combine together to create some unique and challenging puzzles where you'll really have to think about where to position your gel to reach a high platform. There's also light bridges, which can be positioned using strategic portals, as well as kinetic movement tunnels that will push or pull you (or objects) towards or away from somewhere else. Combine all these mechanics together with using portals and you've got a reasonably confusing but rewarding puzzle game that will challenge your mind as GLaDOS continues to taunt you as you go on your merry way.

We Do What We Must, Because We Can...

Marrying together Portal 2's engaging gameplay is yet another brilliantly acted and interesting narrative tale. I don't want to spoil too much here but you'll be exploring more of Aperture Science this time around than you did previously, revealing interesting information about the company's attitude towards test subjects like Chell, GLaDOS's history and just how big the entire facility is. The tale itself is well paced, interesting at every turn, full of things to discover and helps flesh out the setting dramatically, really giving you an idea of the history behind Portal. There's a dramatic plot twist halfway through that will surprise you pretty well - I won't spoil it, but I'll just say it involves a potato and an elevator shaft.

Naturally the voice acting is to a great standard. GLaDOS' Ellen McLain is as ever brilliant, full once again of memorable lines that will give you a giggle while questioning her true motives. See that's the thing with GLaDOS, you never know what she's going to do next. One minute she's congratulting you with confetti, then the next she's attacking you with turrets. I think the unpredictability of the villain is one of the many charms Portal 2 possesses - thank god for GLaDOS. However, GLaDOS in many ways takes a bit of a backseat this time around to the utterly brilliant Stephen Merchant who stars as Wheatley, the personality sphere. His incredibly English, erratic, eccentric and over-the-top performance really gives the character a sense of urgency and bumbling brilliance - many a time I would find myself guffawing as Wheatley told me to turn around, apparently embarassed because he can't operate machinery in front of someone's gaze. Wheatley in many ways seems as if he's never quite in control of his surroundings, worrying about what's happening all the time and is a welcome addition to the cast that differentiates greatly from GLaDOS' cool tones.

I usually actually have a gripe with mute gaming characters but Valve always does them to great effect, as I think giving Chell a voice as well would conflict with the other characters who are already doing a stellar job constructing the narrative. Chell therefore is instead the bystander in all the madness around her, allowing you to construct your own thoughts in your head about what's going on while GLaDOS taunts you about 'being heavy' and congratulates you on putting on weight despite being in suspended animation for such a lengthy time.

For The Good of All of Us..(Except the Ones Who Are Dead)

Graphically, Portal 2 is a really nice looking game. Despite running on Valve's ever-popular Source engine which has been around for years now, the team behind Portal 2 has actually managed to use it to full effect, creating diverse and interesting locales that really give a sense of scale to the Aperture Science facility. What is particularly excellent about the facility is the way it starts out in a state of utter decay then literally will start to rebuild itself around you, with panels slotting together and rooms becoming distinctly cleaner as you progress.  Physics and lighting effects for the new mechanics I mentioned previously are all top-notch stuff, particularly the gel which really has a sense of weight and direction to it.

In many ways the Aperture Science facility seems more like a character than a locale, full of interesting backstories and interesting things to see and do. Each different area you visit (including several old and forgotten testing areas) is generally rendered in a different style, sometimes futuristic, sometimes old and decrepid with rusty walkways that will collapse under you. The sense of scale also made by the facility has been ramped up considerably as this time you'll be exploring much more of the whole thing, be it deep underground or in the lofty heights of GLaDOS' original testing areas. Everything just slots together neatly, meaning every area is meticulously planned and rendered in order to get the most out of it. The way the facility itself is used to solve Portal puzzles is also highly intelligent - personally I couldn't of thought of these things even if I had all the time in the world, so Valve has to be congratulated on creating such an intelligent and thoughtful gaming experience.

There's also a real sense of loneliness in the corridors of Aperture - this is a facility that has long since been eradicated of any human touch. Instead robotic turrets, malevolent AI's and insanity is the way of the locale here. You'll discover more about why this is as you play the narrative, but the way everything is presented graphically really shows just how long it has actually been since the events of Portal 1 took place.

But There's No Sense Crying Over Every Mistake...

My Co-operative gameplay review is going to go here, but due to the PSN being down I can't currently access it. Expect this in the future.

You Just Keep On Trying Till You Run Out of Cake

I've only got one or two minor gripes with Portal 2 and they're nothing major. The single player campaign is a little bit on the short side (about eight hours worth) but is memorable enough in the time you have with it for you to fondly remember it. There's not that much replayability once you've finished it, but going back to get some of the achievements you may have missed has some allure, as does searching for the various secrets that you may have missed on your first attempt.

Above all this is one of the finest examples of gaming I've had the pleasure of playing. Valve has crafted a superb experience with a memorable narrative, great characters, engaging gameplay and a significant challenge/reward mechanic that will have you loving every second. This is a game that pushes the boundaries of wit, delivering hilarious acting and a storyline to remember and above all this should be a game that is on any discerning gamer's shelf, displayed proudly next to a companion cube ornament.

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