First Portal 2 Reviews Are In

Out now in the United States, Portal 2 is definitely one of my most anticipated video games of 2011, and it seems the wait has paid off- in their review, IGN rated it at 9.5/10, branding it "an early contender for Game of the Year" and praising its cast of characters "brought vividly to life through brilliant writing and some of the best voice acting in video games". CVG and NowGamer were equally positive in their verdicts, giving it 9.3 and 9.5 respectively, the former noting that "though it's impossible to shake off the feeling of familiarity, Portal 2 is one of the best sequels we've ever played" and the latter simply stating "no fruity descriptions, no fancy words: just buy it." The Official Xbox Magazine took the somewhat overwhelming praise to another level, awarding the game a full 10 marks out of ten for "consistently rewarding challenges", "exceptionally entertaining co-op" and being "the funniest game this generation", with GiantBomb also giving it 5/5 for "retaining the cynical heart of the original" but "blowing out the scale on virtually every aspect of the execution". The only real point of criticism seems to be replay value, with there being little to do other than replay the storyline to find pieces of dialogue you missed and trying the equally challenging co-op mode, making for an experience that will end after around 12 hours. However, the same was true of Batman: Arkham Asylum and the original Portal, and that hasn't stopped them becoming amongst the best loved games of all time! Portal 2 retails here on Thursday, and you can expect my full review the day after!