EXCLUSIVE: Portal 2 Review (10/10)

Before you go thinking that score is biased and a result of there being so few must-have games released so far in 2011, think again: Portal 2 is the perfect successor to Valve's cunning puzzler, mixing the best plot and voice acting I've ever seen in a video game and difficult yet satisfying challenges to form the ultimate package. Stephen Merchant lends his vocal talents to artificial intelligence Wheatley, and truly the character's banter with GlAdOs and the boss of Aperture Science makes for hilarious listening as you tackle the test chambers of Aperture once more as Chell. The plot is a lot more integrated this time around, but while for some games this would prove a failing, the change is genuinely refreshing and ensures that you're never left working out a puzzle's solution in silence for more than five or ten minutes, one of my main gripes with the original. You'll get a good 6-10 hours out of the campaign provided you take the time to soak in the masterfully scripted storyline and the incredibly immersive environment, yet this isn't where the game stops: a full, totally seperate multi-player campaign is also included! Assuming you play the solo campaign first, this acts as a huge challenge of everything you learnt there, streching the ingenuity of the title's level design to unthinkable limits and equally giving the two players more satisfaction in the knowledge that they have bested a real toughie using their brains. Although there's not as much plot to co-op, there's still a great storyline spanning a good five hours minimum, and the optional interactions between robots Atlas and P-Body should get everyone in hysterics, even if GlAdOs is none too pleased. Replay value is a little lacking here, with only a fun developer commentary to unlock after beating the game, but I rate a game on the actual experience, and for that Portal 2 can only get full marks. If there's one puzzle game you play this year, make it this- and don't be surprised if you see it on Game of the Year shortlists!