LogFAQs > #932998271

#21





Years of release: 2011 (PC/360/PS3)
Beaten?: Only the single-player campaign (!)

I will ALWAYS remember the first time I picked up the portal gun in the first Portal game for as long as I live. I remember thinking that Portal was just going to be a puzzle game in which you, like, put down standard video game teleporters that would hop you from one place to another, and while that might be an ok puzzle mechanic it didn't sound revolutionary. But then I saw how the portals actually worked; the way you could look through them and see where they lead on the other side, that you could walk through them and it would seamlessly transition you from one place to another, or that you could even throw objects through them and have them come out the other side with their physics carrying through. I was absolutely mesmerized - this still might be the single biggest technological marvel that I've seen in a game in a long time, and I'm somehow not overstating that. I spent at least 20 minutes just fucking around in the first room where you get the portal gun - and remember, you only have the ability to shoot ONE portal at that time, the other one is affixed to the wall and unmovable. I was still completely transfixed on how just a single connection of portals in an unremarkable room worked, like a caveman discovering fire for the first time. Getting the second portal was just giving that caveman a flamethrower.

The rest of the game, of course, was great, and I think most people here are probably familiar with it by now. Much like ME2, while I wouldn't consider it a top 10 personal favorite, I would most definitely rank it as one of the finest video games ever made; an unquestioned hall of fame, put-in-a-time-capsule candidate for sure. It's short and sweet, the puzzles are fun throughout the entire game's length, the twist and the ending are the stuff of legends, and it all left me wanting more in a good way.

I think, strangely enough, that the reception to Portal 2 was just a bit mixed at first. Like, it was definitely a good game, but I think it could never truly recapture the novelty and magic that the first Portal offered, and I don't think it really tried to. For me, though, I think it's really damn hard for me to tell which game is better. Sure, the first one had novelty, but the second one is just packed full of content and new puzzle gimmicks that only improve upon the concept, and the renewed focus on the game's story, writing, and comedy made it feel like a very different game.

I feel like 80% of the humor I associate with Portal actually comes from Portal 2. Evil GlaDOS, Wheatley, Cave Johnson, all that good stuff. It's been a really long time since I've played Portal 2, but there are just so many funny moments that I still remember; I remember the game's final chapters in particular being a real rollercoaster ride. The balance of entertaining and challenging puzzles and seeing what funny and clever thing the game was going to do next made it all feel perfectly paced. I REALLY need to replay both of these games, as I think my ranking of Portal 2 might be doing it some level of injustice.

Even worse, I haven't actually played the co-op campaign yet! I have a couple of different people in mind for who I might play it with someday, we'll see. I kinda almost decided to rank this game higher just because I know there's still an entire half of the game that I haven't seen, but just the single player campaign alone is worth my love. Knowing that there's more to see definitely means Portal 2 is deserving of being one of the greatest games of the decade. There are still, somehow, 20 games that I ranked above this one. It was a good decade.