Just finished portal 2!
Really the best game I ever played, and probably the best piece of media i enjoyed even. I dont know how the developers did it, but it was epic. Very well paced plot, full of surprises. People tend to think of games as simple plain things that have a poor plot, but I think portal 2's plot is better than many movies and books out there. Chapter 6 and 7 (the latter especially) may get draggy when you enter back areas and no one's talking, its just you trying to solve terribly complicated puzzles in a dark murky place, but I think that is the only drawback of the entire game. Chapter 9 was seriously super good and I really liked the ending of the boss battle. The chorus at the end was pretty weird though, but it didnt affect the gameplay nor the conclusion of the matter so doesnt matter heh. Oh, and when chell gets back on the surface, haha that last little thing xD. Excellent plot overall, even though I already spoilt myself, it was still very refreshing and I would certainly expect someone who doesnt already know the plot to find himself fascinated by it.
Not a horror game but has its fair share of heart pounding moments, where the plot is amplified due to the excellent use of music and surroundings. Like chapter 6 when you walk through the debris towards the condemned areas, its so intimidating. Yes, the graphics and soundtrack are brilliant by the way, 11 gigabytes for a rather small world. The developers put alot of effort into little details, posters, scribbles, hidden rooms that add to the plot, the whole general feel of a place. Puzzles are seriously challenging and one really shouldnt attempt portal 2 until after he has played portal (its better for the plot too anyway). There are numerous times where I actually spent 20 minutes stuck in one place unable to figure out what to do. I used guides twice in my run through heh (and the solutions always make me go 'ohshit what the heck').
The best thing about portal 2 cannot just be described by these alone though, its really how they integrated with one another, how the atmosphere created accentuates the plot and so on. And of course, dont forget the humour. Portal is hilarious, I have never laughed so much playing a game. With GLaDOS and Cave Johnson's dark humour and Wheatley's plain retardedness, it makes the whole gaming experience very enjoyable. Wheatley enjoys talking so much that I tend to just stand around and let him say all his lines before moving on. And like I said earlier, the little things have their effects, even the posters in the game are amusing.
Play it yourself to know how good it is. Be warned though, its not a game of skill, but it requires alot of thinking.
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Pretty amusing thing, my comp kept shutting down because of overheating problems when I was playing portal. Solution? Create your own external fan!
I wasnt sure it was going to work, but it did. Ha. I played the whole of chapter 9 like this xD.
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