“Oh, it’s you. It’s been a long time. How have you been? I’ve been really busy being dead… after you murdered me!” GLaDOS has rebuilt herself and is prepared to begin testing you again in Valve’s highly anticipated Portal 2. I managed to get a screening of Portal 2 in Valve’s private meeting room at E3 and I am here to share what I saw.
My first impression is that Portal 2 has kept in line with the spirit of the original. This is a tall order as most of Portal’s success was due to its ability to surprise the user. During the screening there were several moments that had the whole room laughing at a witty line or the result of a couple well placed portals. I don’t want to go too in depth and give anything away, but rest assured that Valve is doing its best to maintain the humor of the Portal universe.
Valve’s approach to Portal 2 has been broken up into three major areas of focus. The first is the relationship between Chell , GLaDOS and the various personality nodes. These relationships drove the first game and helped make it the hit it was. Remember that poor companion cube? Secondly there will be a large emphasis on the game music. The Still Alive theme from Portal exploded with popularity, so expect lots of new musical interludes throughout Portal two. Valve isn’t talking specifics in order to maintain the surprise, but expect lots of ear candy.
The final area of focus is what Portal is really all about: portal puzzles. You will be able to use your portal gun in some surprising ways to navigate through the Aperture Science testing facility. One major obstacle returning from the first game are those polite but deadly gun turrets. One way to combat those pesky turrets will be manipulating a high-intensity laser beam with a combination of portals and mirrored “Redirection Cubes”. Another way is to use the suction of a high powered vacuum tube and a couple of well-placed portals. The demo even showed that the suction was powerful enough to tear the metal plates right off the wall, although GLaDOS quickly repaired them to prevent her subject from escaping.
One final tool used to solve puzzles is the various types of paints. Blue paint acts like a trampoline that Chell can bounce on while the orange paint greatly increases the speed at which she travels forward. Portals are used near giant faucets spewing the colored gunk in order to paint the various surfaces. Spewing paint in the right spot will be pivotal in getting through the many puzzles of Portal 2.
The challenges that use some of these new tools appeared pretty complicated, but Valve stressed that their goal is not to frustrate the gamer. They want to balance the game to make the player feel smart for solving the challenges and not really heavily on twitch skills such as placing Portals while flying through the air. I trust that the learning curve will be ironed out when the game is released next year, but given the new challenges and the run down look of the labs, I can imagine that some more casual players might find Portal 2 more intimidating than its predecessor.
As for myself, I am extremely excited. Aperture Science looks both familiar and yet completely new and exciting. The addition of a separate cooperative mode will add a new layer to the game for people who want to bring along a friend. I can’t wait for the surprises that are in store when Portal 2 appears on the PC, 360, and PS3 in 2011.
Popularity: unranked [?]
2 comments