A masterful and hilarious sequel to its predecessor. Portal 2 hits that sweet spot between frustration and exhilaration. This is not just a puzzle game, it’s a work of art. 

Portal 2 is the sequel to Valve’s 2007 hit game, Portal. We’ve often been asked whether or not you need to play Portal in order to enjoy Portal 2, and the answer is no, it’s not required. You can pick up a copy of Portal 2 and instantly start having fun with the witty humor, great graphics (for the time), and unique mechanics. The real answer I give, however, is yes. Before you even consider picking up Portal 2, I strongly suggest playing Portal first. Even if you don’t care about the rich story and deep characters, going through Portal and solving the puzzles, equips you to take on the arguably more challenging Portal 2 experience. 

Portal 2 was released in early 2011. The game is as good as the day it was first made, taking the best parts of Portal and building something truly magnificent. To really understand the game, you kinda need to see it in action. The concept can be a little weird to picture but bear with me. 

The game itself is a puzzle game at its core. To progress, you need to solve increasingly difficult puzzles. This, of course, is simple enough to grasp. What if we told you though that the only weapon you have access to is one that creates holes. Not bullet holes though. More like holes in reality, or portals if you like. These portals are the only way for you to solve puzzles and make progress. They are the backbone of the game and are what has brought such a unique experience to life.  

What we love about Portal 2

What’s not to like about Portal 2? The game offers a rich, compelling storyline with some of the best voice acting we’ve seen in a game, ever. The unique gameplay mechanic is something that, if not executed properly, could become novel and even boring after some time. Valve, however, managed to hit the nail on the head and no matter how much you use portals, they still feel just as satisfying as the very first time you use them. As a result of this fine balance, the puzzle gameplay feels challenging enough to make you want more of it, not less. 

Having this game be a single-player exclusive would have been the easier choice by far, but Valve doesn’t care about easy. They created a massively frustrating cooperative experience alongside the amazing single-player campaign. It’s not frustrating because they failed at something. Oh, no. It’s frustrating because, in order to progress, you need to rely on your partner constantly. If you want something that will test a friendship, playing co-op Portal 2 will do the trick, we promise. All joking aside, the fact that you get access to a hilariously funny and fun single-player storyline, as well as a two-player co-op mode, is great. 

We know, we’ve barely mentioned the puzzles. Puzzles are the bread-and-butter of Portal and Portal 2. They are challenging enough to make you want to pull your hair out, but doable enough that you keep coming back for more. This kind of balance is incredibly hard to get right, and the developers smashed it out of the park. You can go through an entire multi-hour session and feel as though only a few minutes have passed. If that’s not a measure of success, we don’t know what is. 

What we’re not so sold on

It’s hard to find anything not to like. Seriously, the game hasn’t got any major game-breaking bugs or anything of the sort. It’s not balanced, but it’s not really supposed to be. There are no micro-transactions or loot boxes that break the game. It’s just a really well-polished game. Or is it? 

We’ve found something you might only start to pick up on after your nth playthrough of the game. 

Linear progression. Portal was linear too, sure, but there were multiple ways to approach problems, and you often had to come up with unique solutions to progress at all. With the number of tools at your disposal in Portal 2, it can feel as though this testing and discovery process has been improved, whereas in reality it’s actually been phased out. In Portal 2, you either do it the way it was intended or not and if you choose not to, the likelihood of you progressing drastically shrinks. This makes the experience sometimes feel as though the creative discovery aspect has been lost, in favour of some flashy bells and whistles. It is something to be aware of when wanting to complete multiple playthroughs of the game. 

If you’re only hearing about this gem of a game today, we highly suggest you pick up a copy. There are only a few games that can give the experience Portal 2 does. If puzzle games are not your thing, still give it a try. You’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll be immersed in the environment and story. So much so that the puzzles take a back seat to simply wanting to progress and see where things go. 

Do you like what you see? We want to know if what we’re saying is something you are enjoying. Leave us a comment and let us know. Did you play Portal 2 and agree or disagree with us? We’re wanting to give you the best content we can. Let us know how we are doing in the comments below.