Rating

A-

Specific Ratings

GraphicsA-
SoundA+
GameplayA+
Replay ValueD-
Learning CurveA

Pros and Cons

Pros
  • Lots of funny dialogue
  • You'll find yourself constantly laughing
  • Unique two player co-op (splitscreen)
  • Fun, challenging campaign
  • Admirable environmends
  • It's a Valve game - LOL
Cons
  • Little to no replay value

Portal 2 (Xbox 360)

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Summary

Portal 2 is a game meant to keep you glued to the screen. To no suprise, Valve succeeds.

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Description

The latest Valve game, Portal 2, is a mind blowing game that constantly keeps you on your toes. From the moment you begin the game there is funny dialogue, great graphical value, and unlike many games nowadays, there is actually a decent tutorial. I personally love co-op games (splitscreen), and this gave my brother and I a fun couch co-op campaign that had us competing, working together, and laughing as any co-op should do. I was stunned by the visuals, the sound quality, and literally everything else this game had to dish out, as I spent hours trying to get through the insane, witty puzzles that were thrown at me. There is a great sense of success when you complete a test chamber but only to get to a harder chamber to where you will only be more ambitious to figure out the solution.

I'll start with the gameplay structure in case you don't know what Portal is. The basic idea is you shoot a portal on one wall, then the second on another wall. You go through one and come out the other - sounds simple but anyone that has played Portal 1 knows otherwise. This is obviously not a game for everyone, because you will not find yourself shooting anything with an actual gun, just the portal gun. You must use the portal gun and basic gravity knowledge to solve easily over 50 difficult rooms. It sounds short, but that's not true because I would give serious props to anyone that can finish everything in the game in a single day without getting frustrated or using guides.

Now for plot. In the campaign you play a woman (I never did find out her name) trapped in a series of testing chambers and is "rescued" by an AI robot named Wheatley. Not too far into the story, the woman you play and Wheatley awaken GLaDOS (if you've played the first game, you know about this) and then the testing begins. Through the multiplayer (splitscreen) you play as two robots, Atlas and P-Body. They are supposed to solve portal puzzles for GLaDOS to "save the human race" once again. Funny, and will keep you on your toes all the way to the end.

Now, lets talk about dialogue,sounds, and graphics. From the moment I started the game, I was in stitches from the things said. Nearly everything said has a very sarcastic tone to it that even if you're not very sarcastic you will get a hold of quickly, and nearly every line of dialogue will leave you with a smile on your face. There is a lot of in the background dialogue as well - listen closely and you will truly get the best of this game. The sound effects make you feel like you're there, from the flying through the air to the falling in acid, you always have a sense of being there just based on the great sound usage in Portal 2. The last pro of this review is the graphics. It's no open world game, but the graphics did feel and look very appealing when you went through the entire game, and it's always a treat to look at every room you walk into and just admire every model put into the game.

I don't have much bad to say about this game except, being it's a puzzle game, once you do finish a room there is no way to go back and relive the experience because you've already figured out how to beat it. Once a room is beat its beaten. I also think the online is somewhat pointless because I personally like to figure things out on my own, and if you play online with someone that's beaten the game already, then that person will ruin the fun of figuring it out.

Portal 2 is a very fun game filled with great sound, fun dialogue, and amazing cooperative opportunities. I have never had as much FUN with any game as I have with this game. Co-op is fun, single player is great, and I spent a good 15 hours on this game trying to solve every puzzle in the game. The only problem with this is once you're done with the game, you're done with the game. There is no replay value, and the use of online play seemed questionable to me (unless you don't have someone else to play it with). I had a ton of fun with this game, and I think Portal 2 is worthy of my first review on GameTZ.com. If you can find this game and have someone to play it with, don't hesitate - just do it.

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