Uncanny Web-Slinger
Super Freak
Portal 2 single player campaign.
The Portal franchise is a unique game, indeed a genre in itself, but the overall quality of the game is lacking in many, and spectacular in other areas.
Gameplay 8/10
The gameplay of portal 2 uses the FPS mechanics combined with spacial puzzling game objectives and objects, the gameplay mechanics are smooth and easy to grasp, the various objects and puzzle elements are usefull and engaging as well as intergral to many but not all puzzles, creating non-repetetive puzzles. Among these elements are three types of goo that enable fast speed running, jumping/bouncing and the ability to place puzzles on surfaces you are not usually able to, these as well as switches, laserbeam and boxes all work well.
Story 4.5/10
Let me just say this firstly, this game though primarily a puzzle game, has a story included, thus making it a large part of the game.
Let me also say, I love Wheatly, everything about the character is awesome.
My biggest problem with portal 2 is the story, in most games there are a multitude of different characters with their own voices and personality as well as the characterisations of your main playable character, portal 2 has a no-name, no-voice, no-face character, it is dificult in modern gaming to have the lead character in this way as it forces the other elements of the game to compensate to create a great game.
The Bioshock and Fallout 3+ franchises employ this main character technique, however where these two games and Portal 2 differ in how it tells a story is that in bioshock and fallout 3 your character is revealed to you by the things found in the game and by other characters, in Portal 2 nothing is ever revealed about the why, who or where about your character, you are essentially playing a floating portal gun, in Bioshock your character does not talk but does interact with other unique characters as well as talking enemies, keeping the world alive and pulsating, in fallout 3 your character, though silent, can have conversations with many, many varying characters, in Portal 2 there are only two other characters that talk to you, but with whom you have little actual interaction.
The main fault with this game is that it is not a complete storytelling game that it is trying to be in a market of £40 selling games, the comparisons above are to demontstrate how the annonymous character you are playing needs to have others to interact with in order to work, there are only two characters in the game, not enough to keep the game engaging for more than one playthrough.
With that being said, i found the incredibly basic story of the game okay, just okay, the highlight is the brilliant comedy of Wheatly and to a lesser extent glados, for me the pristine testing chambers of Act 1 and Act 3 are bright colourful and modern giving you a positive feeling, however while these areas only asked you to get to the next chamber and the next until you reach the exit of the facility (which is apparently your characters goal) is okay, you understand it and figure you'll get there soon, the problem is in Act 2 where you are testing in a series of cave-like underground areas with scaffholding and girder walkways, the departure from the clean areas of Aperture testing chambers to grimy, dingy and darker underground tests is not a welcome one. This is because the colours make you feel like you cant wait to get out of there, which is understandable as that is your goal, however unlike the testing chambers of aperture labs, these underground areas tease you continually with the prospect of "getting out" with each area leading to the EXIT, only to find that time and time again the EXIT is blocked off, leaving you incredbily frustrated that you have to continue playing in the pit of aperture, while the audio messages of the aperture founder are somewhat entertaining they are too dark and sinister, detailing how for $50 your putting your life at risk, simply because you are homeless and desperate, is a sad sad humour.
The most story driven moment of the story was the ending which was enjoyable.
The lack of playable 'character' makes the game unable to tell a real story, or to be fair a story with any heart or meaning, its this that fails to capture the player.
The game is a unique puzzle game, but as a £40 game one expects more from the story, the developers have included a story, but simply seemed to throw it in justify charging the amount they have, and have simply not provided enough characters or gameplay interaction for a decent story to capture the player.
Sound 9/10
This is the highlight of the game, a characters voice will move about a room (with surround sound setup) as your character moves, and the character and voice work of Wheatly is by far the most redeeming aspect of the game. The music is good, and the only fault of the sound is that when you are spending a good amount of time figuring out a puzzle and no characters are talking, the music is a repetetive, base heavy monontous sound that becomes tiresome quickly.
Graphics 5/10
Graphically the game is again okay, nothing bad, nothing revolutionary, however aside from Act 2, the testing chambers are different shapes but all the same really, lacking any real dynamic enironment changes.
Replayability 2/10
The puzzles of the game are engaging, difficult and satisfying, however a large, large part of that is the puzzles being new, the moments of "oh my god, how can you get there" and "oh i get it, if i put that there and then a portal there, ahhhhh" its these things that make the initial playthrough puzzling, but once you have completed the puzzle, whenever you play the game again those above moments of discovery, anger and staisfaction cannot be repeated because it becomes "oh i remember" moments instead.
Overall 6/10
Simply put if i had bought this game instead of renting i would've been very dispaointed, i cant see this game being worth anything over £20, it is simply not a game that offers enough.
Verdict:
Pros
Wheatly, best thing about the game and best voicework in a game in a long time.
Difficult and satisfying puzzles, puzzle elements and gameplay
Cons
Everything else is decidedly standard or sub-par.
Price is double of what it should be.
Very little replayabilty
No XMB in-game music on PS3, which is a must for brain teasing puzzles and creating a relaxing soundtrack to work to.
The Portal franchise is a unique game, indeed a genre in itself, but the overall quality of the game is lacking in many, and spectacular in other areas.
Gameplay 8/10
The gameplay of portal 2 uses the FPS mechanics combined with spacial puzzling game objectives and objects, the gameplay mechanics are smooth and easy to grasp, the various objects and puzzle elements are usefull and engaging as well as intergral to many but not all puzzles, creating non-repetetive puzzles. Among these elements are three types of goo that enable fast speed running, jumping/bouncing and the ability to place puzzles on surfaces you are not usually able to, these as well as switches, laserbeam and boxes all work well.
Story 4.5/10
Let me just say this firstly, this game though primarily a puzzle game, has a story included, thus making it a large part of the game.
Let me also say, I love Wheatly, everything about the character is awesome.
My biggest problem with portal 2 is the story, in most games there are a multitude of different characters with their own voices and personality as well as the characterisations of your main playable character, portal 2 has a no-name, no-voice, no-face character, it is dificult in modern gaming to have the lead character in this way as it forces the other elements of the game to compensate to create a great game.
The Bioshock and Fallout 3+ franchises employ this main character technique, however where these two games and Portal 2 differ in how it tells a story is that in bioshock and fallout 3 your character is revealed to you by the things found in the game and by other characters, in Portal 2 nothing is ever revealed about the why, who or where about your character, you are essentially playing a floating portal gun, in Bioshock your character does not talk but does interact with other unique characters as well as talking enemies, keeping the world alive and pulsating, in fallout 3 your character, though silent, can have conversations with many, many varying characters, in Portal 2 there are only two other characters that talk to you, but with whom you have little actual interaction.
The main fault with this game is that it is not a complete storytelling game that it is trying to be in a market of £40 selling games, the comparisons above are to demontstrate how the annonymous character you are playing needs to have others to interact with in order to work, there are only two characters in the game, not enough to keep the game engaging for more than one playthrough.
With that being said, i found the incredibly basic story of the game okay, just okay, the highlight is the brilliant comedy of Wheatly and to a lesser extent glados, for me the pristine testing chambers of Act 1 and Act 3 are bright colourful and modern giving you a positive feeling, however while these areas only asked you to get to the next chamber and the next until you reach the exit of the facility (which is apparently your characters goal) is okay, you understand it and figure you'll get there soon, the problem is in Act 2 where you are testing in a series of cave-like underground areas with scaffholding and girder walkways, the departure from the clean areas of Aperture testing chambers to grimy, dingy and darker underground tests is not a welcome one. This is because the colours make you feel like you cant wait to get out of there, which is understandable as that is your goal, however unlike the testing chambers of aperture labs, these underground areas tease you continually with the prospect of "getting out" with each area leading to the EXIT, only to find that time and time again the EXIT is blocked off, leaving you incredbily frustrated that you have to continue playing in the pit of aperture, while the audio messages of the aperture founder are somewhat entertaining they are too dark and sinister, detailing how for $50 your putting your life at risk, simply because you are homeless and desperate, is a sad sad humour.
The most story driven moment of the story was the ending which was enjoyable.
The lack of playable 'character' makes the game unable to tell a real story, or to be fair a story with any heart or meaning, its this that fails to capture the player.
The game is a unique puzzle game, but as a £40 game one expects more from the story, the developers have included a story, but simply seemed to throw it in justify charging the amount they have, and have simply not provided enough characters or gameplay interaction for a decent story to capture the player.
Sound 9/10
This is the highlight of the game, a characters voice will move about a room (with surround sound setup) as your character moves, and the character and voice work of Wheatly is by far the most redeeming aspect of the game. The music is good, and the only fault of the sound is that when you are spending a good amount of time figuring out a puzzle and no characters are talking, the music is a repetetive, base heavy monontous sound that becomes tiresome quickly.
Graphics 5/10
Graphically the game is again okay, nothing bad, nothing revolutionary, however aside from Act 2, the testing chambers are different shapes but all the same really, lacking any real dynamic enironment changes.
Replayability 2/10
The puzzles of the game are engaging, difficult and satisfying, however a large, large part of that is the puzzles being new, the moments of "oh my god, how can you get there" and "oh i get it, if i put that there and then a portal there, ahhhhh" its these things that make the initial playthrough puzzling, but once you have completed the puzzle, whenever you play the game again those above moments of discovery, anger and staisfaction cannot be repeated because it becomes "oh i remember" moments instead.
Overall 6/10
Simply put if i had bought this game instead of renting i would've been very dispaointed, i cant see this game being worth anything over £20, it is simply not a game that offers enough.
Verdict:
Pros
Wheatly, best thing about the game and best voicework in a game in a long time.
Difficult and satisfying puzzles, puzzle elements and gameplay
Cons
Everything else is decidedly standard or sub-par.
Price is double of what it should be.
Very little replayabilty
No XMB in-game music on PS3, which is a must for brain teasing puzzles and creating a relaxing soundtrack to work to.
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