Portal 2 does something that no video game has managed to do since probably the original Portal. Minimalism has never been more compelling. It's not the premise that wows me about Portal 2, it's the direction. Slowing down, listening up, paying attention to detail: these are the ways that gaming can avoid falling into the same messes that blockbuster movies-and games-stumble into every year.
Portal 2 already hooked me on its single-player game. I haven't even gotten into Portal 2's completely unique co-op puzzle mode, but I don't need to. I haven't seen a game this successful at chapter-based gaming since Heavy Rain. The bite-size chapters break up the game like a page-turning novel. Each level is also perfectly designed in terms of not being too hard or too easy, too short or too long. Other more-is-more action games (I can name quite a few in that territory) only achieve a certain numbness after a while. The empty rooms and small audiovisual cues are like well-directed moments in a movie: they make you sit up and pay attention. Like a skilled director, the pace of Portal 2 knows not to scream at you. While Portal 2 pulls few surprises in terms of its structure, the concept of FPS-as-puzzle game is so well executed and so well paced that it serves as an example to other game developers of how a game can succeed with less versus more. It's one of the first games of 2011 I've actually cared about playing. It's not enough to say it's one of the best games of 2011-that's not really the point. I've been sitting and trying to rack my brain about what it is I like so much about Portal 2.
#PORTAL 2 VOICE ACTOR CRACK#
Think you can fire a portal behind that crack in the wall? Go for it.Īpril might be a bit too early to crown a game the best of 2011, but there's no doubt Portal 2 will be in contention come December.įor more on Portal 2 including a demo of one of the early levels, please check out this week's episode of preGame. Think you can sneak behind that plate? Try it. Just because the game is waiting for you to do something doesn't mean you should. If we can give players one piece of advice, we'll pass along what Erik Wolpaw told us: Take your time explore and listen.
#PORTAL 2 VOICE ACTOR SOFTWARE#
This is a title for any age, the perfect software to show a friend or relative whose preconceived idea of video games is nothing but guns, blood, and guts. Portal 2's presentation oozes with top-notch production value, from the expertly crafted sound effects, music composition and layering, to the hysterical informational videos that litter each elevator room.īut perhaps what we like about Portal 2 best of all is the game's accessibility. It's this marriage of compelling gameplay and entertaining story that other games can only dream of achieving, but which Portal 2 is so convincingly able to pull off. Because we've all heard bad voice acting before, and know how jarring it is to any sense of participation, much less immersion.To Wolpaw's credit, Portal 2 is just as funny as it is challenging, something that just isn't found in a lot of video games. This video and audio doesn't betray any great secrets about Portal or Valve, but it is a curious window into how one of the most critical components of a video game gets done, and supplies a key storytelling device. The directors are Valve writers - including Erik Wolpaw - working on Portal 2. This is a very long soundfile, some 20 minutes, so it's probably best to just skip around to hear something interesting.
Thanks to a lot of cleanup work by Valve News Network, one can hear the directors giving him instructions. It's a soundfile of a recording session for Portal 2's announcer, found in the earliest (and no longer available) version of the demo.
The Steam VR Performance Test has gotten a ton of attention lately, but one of its cooler caches of buried treasure isn't the usual oblique reference to a sequel that's never coming.