Portal 2 Review Round-up: A Phenomenal Success

It's been almost four years since Portal arrived on the PC, blowing gamers away with its smart gameplay and even smarter storytelling. The game even spawned an influx of memes that last to this day. “The cake is a lie.” Ending sentences with “…you monster.” Or doing things “for science.” The list goes on. Portal was—and still remains—nothing short of a gaming phenomenon.

Was Portal’s release really that long ago? It doesn’t seem like it, but time does tend to fly when you’re having fun.

The days leading up to the release of Portal 2—which is within our reach, at long last—have been only slightly less exciting than the prospect of playing the game itself. Valve, wily as ever, has built on the growing anticipation of gamers everywhere with widespread advertisements in worlds both physical and digital, and compounded the hype with an alternate reality game, or "ARG,” which has thus far managed to supersede the likes of both Lost’s ARG and Halo’s “I Love Bees” campaign in both complexity and interactivity for its participants. In other words, Valve has taken the game to the next level with its insertions of cryptic codes not only in YouTube trailers and gaming websites, but in advertisements found on dump trucks, buses and even other video games.

Collaborating with indie game developers, Valve created a “Potato Pack” which contains some of the most popular indie games and put it on sale for a very reasonable price. If that wasn’t reason enough to purchase the pack, Valve included special Portal-related updates for each of the games included within the pack as enticements for fans of the game, along with more cryptic hints for participants.

The ARG has finally come to a head, with Valve incentivizing players to invest their time in the “Potato Pack” titles to unlock Portal 2 before its official release date. The fervor that fans have shown in anticipation of the game’s release was nothing short of phenomenal, which is favorable indeed for the launch of Portal 2.

It is a wonder whether any other publisher could have cultivated the same amount of zeal for the release of their games. To be sure, Portal 2 had the benefit of being a highly anticipated title ever since gamers discovered what Valve was working on, but the enthusiasm for the game can’t be solely credited to its reputation alone. Valve has earned the love of gamers by the way it treats gamers, and for harnessing the cognitive surplus of gamers who—above all else—enjoy playing games. Instead of treating its titles as mere “products”, Valve has managed to treat even the acquisition of its games as a game unto itself. Valve understands gamers, and gamers have more respect for Valve because of it.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Portal 2 will live up to its predecessor and to the expectations of its millions of players—but hopes are high. Critical reviews have already started to come in, and the verdict has been nothing but positive. But ultimately, it will be the gamers themselves who decide if the game is a success.

It stands to reason that if Valve had any lack of faith in the game, it wouldn’t have put as much effort into creating the hype for its release knowing that doing so would only create disappointment. Valve took a colossal risk with Portal 2’s hype machine, but it was a gambit upon which the company was willing to stake its entire reputation.

The situation is “do or die”—either Portal 2 succeeds as a game, or the experience leading up to the release would cause no small amount of disappointment.

I have my fingers crossed, and I’m sure Valve does too, but given their reputation for creating great experiences, I think it may be safe to say that Portal 2 will see some measure of success. Regardless of how it measures up to the first game, Portal 2 is sure to be a memorable experience, and the hype machine will have left a permanent mark—for good, or ill—on the history of video games.

10

g4tv.com review
We live in an era when game journalists can cynically nitpick faults, or forgive a favorite franchise for multiple sins. I see the temptation for both approaches. A game can be riddled with flaws but still somehow be fun, and a game can be perfectly polished yet a total bore. When you review, you need to think about your predilections and your preconceptions. I admit I am a gamer who loves strategy - I am happiest when I am being mentally challenged by my games, and I strive to be smarter and faster than everyone else. I put more value in beating someone in Starcraft than I ever did in my kill/death ratio.
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10

gamexplain.com review
Whereas Portal 1 engaged my mind, Portal 2 captured my heart. A fantastic sequel to a benchmark game and serves as the most effective argument against the annualization trend burdening many popular series. I *companion cube* Portal 2.
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10

eurogamer.net review
Portal is perfect. Portal 2 is not. It's something better than that. It's human: hot-blooded, silly, poignant, irreverent, base, ingenious and loving. It's never less than a pure video game, but it's often more, and it will no doubt stand as one of the best entertainments in any medium at the end of this year. It's a masterpiece.
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10

videogamer.com review
I think you knew all along this was going to be great. Fantastic, even. All the same, I don't think you'll be prepared for it being this good. I may have buttoned my lip in terms of concrete spoilers, but a mere ten minutes here will yield more memorable moments than you're likely to squeeze out of the entirety of most other games this year. In all aspects of its design, Portal 2 is genius.
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10

giantbomb.com review
Valve falls further down its own rabbit hole with this expansive sequel that retains the cynical heart of the original Portal, while blowing out the scale on virtually ever aspect of the execution.
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10

strategyinformer.com review
Portal 2 never rests on its laurels either. Each new chapter brings entirely new concepts, not of which are gimmicky, and all of which made us say 'oh yes please' each time. It feels like you're constantly being punched in the face with a fistful of goodness and euphoria.
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9.5

gameinformer.com review
Valve caught us all a little off guard with the original Portal, but the game’s clever gameplay and dark humor sent the franchise in the meme stratosphere. While jumping through portals is no longer as novel as it once was, Valve keeps the series fresh by introducing a mix of new mechanics. Portal 2’s puzzles are more varied thanks to the fact that you can send lasers, tractor beams, and energy walkways through your portals, and I absolutely loved how the gels affected the world around me. The game’s simple, portal-based mechanics are so addictive that you’ll probably catch yourself placing imaginary portals all over your house.
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9.5

ign.com review
The original Portal benefitted from its brevity. It had a concise story paired with inventive first-person puzzle mechanics that challenged you to be creative while pulling the trigger. Portal 2 makes the original look like the prototype it was. It's filled with a larger cast of characters vividly brought to life through brilliant writing and some of the best voice acting in video games. Its puzzles are challenging without being unreasonable, and, once you're finished with the single-player mode, one of the best co-operative experiences on the market awaits. Valve cuts no corners and finds ways to make you care about everything from the major characters to the cubes used to solve puzzles. From the beginning of the single-player story to the end of the co-op mode, Portal 2 is a novel, unforgettable experience.
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9.4

pcgamer.com review
We’ll definitely remember all of Portal 2 fondly, though, and as one of the best-written and finely polished gaming experiences in recent memory.
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9.0

gamefront.com review
Once I got through Portal 2, I loved it — but I had to learn to love it, and it took a while for me to really commit to it. The original Portal really was a video game that was so much more than just a game, reaching beyond the barriers of narrative or video game conventions to become something no one expected. Much of Portal 2 can’t make the same boast: the game’s opening levels feel too elementary and run-of-the-mill for it to achieve perfection.
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8.8

vgchartz.com review
Portal 2 is one of those rare games that makes its predecessor completely obsolete. There are more puzzles, more characters, better graphics and sound, more variables in the puzzles, and a surprising story that went above and beyond my expectations. Unfortunately, once you’ve beaten both campaigns, there’s nothing left to do. Even with that shortcoming, however, Portal 2 is one of the most enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve had for quite a while.
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