Portal 2 impressions: we’ve played it, and it’s brilliant!

Posted April 13, 2011 by James Pickard.

This feature documents the opening minutes of Portal 2 in some detail. So, if you’re quite that averse to spoilers, you have been warned.

“This is art.” Or so I am told by a robotic voice, as I stare blankly at a landscape painting on the wall of the Aperture Science Relaxation Room. It’s not unlike a cheap motel room, complete with a microscopic television screen and uncomfortable-looking bed.

This is where our protagonist, Chell, has been kept in stasis since being dragged away from the wreckage of her climactic confrontation with GLaDOS at the conclusion of the original Portal. Billed as the third feature on The Orange Box back in 2007, the three-hour aside went on to become recognised as one of the greatest games of that year – or, indeed, of any year. And now, four years on, the Portal concept and its existing lore have been brought into a fully fledged sequel.

Back in the room, a loud buzzer blasts out and the same voice informs Chell and I that we should now feel mentally reinvigorated. After being ushered back to sleep, Chell’s next period of stasis is interrupted by the personality core, Wheatley, pounding on the room’s door.

The cores cropped up briefly in the original game as the components you had to detach from GLaDOS and incinerate to defeat her. Wheatley has gained independence from GLaDOS following those events; he bursts into the room via a rail on the ceiling and frantically explains to Chell that he needs her help to escape the facility. Detaching Chell’s room from the main complex, he manoeuvres it awkwardly through the labyrinthine facility, spewing line after line of hilarious dialogue.

It is, of course, expertly written, but it’s Steven Merchant’s sublime delivery that really ensures every word feels natural. With the subtle yet expressive animation throughout the whole sequence and what follows, Valve have managed to create a character full of personality for what basically equates to a metallic sphere with a glowing eye. It quite easily rivals any of Pixar’s creations, including their Luxo Jr. mascot.

Unfortunately, Wheatley appears to reach a dead end and is unable to access the facility’s test chambers. He concludes that the only remaining option is a manual approach, which, when translated from ‘personality core’ to English, means ramming Chell’s room into the outer wall until it collapses. Fortunately, his persistence pays off and the wall tumbles down, leaving enough space for Chell to slip through and search for the portal gun.

Alone again, it’s quite a sight, moving through the ruins of the once familiar and sterile test facility. Now, flora permeates through every crack in the walls and the sound of birds echoes through each chamber. It’s made abundantly clear that a significant amount of time has passed since the earlier tests, and that the facility is clearly suffering from some serious issues.

A collapsing floor later and it’s somewhat strange to discover the portal gun atop a series of platforms, surrounded by drawings of Chell on the walls depicting her as a revered rebel. Valve are masters at crafting special moments around collecting important items, and this is no different. With portal gun in hand once again, it’s time to explore the test facility.

Early on, a number of puzzles pop up that do little more than reintroduce some of the game’s key concepts, such as the use of weighted storage cubes and how momentum is conserved between portals. Solving these early puzzles will be second nature to any Portal veteran, but I’m glad I took some time along with Chell to soak up the stimulating artwork, as it isn’t long before a number of new challenges appear to test your lateral thinking. That same gleam of satisfaction makes a welcome return as you solve each one, and it’s going to be interesting to see how the puzzles develop with the new mechanics Valve has introduced, such as the paint-gels.

Moments later, you reconvene with Wheatley and he puts in another exceptional robotic performance as he politely rejects conversation with sentry guns as if they’re trying to sell him some form of insurance, and shows signs of acrophobia when trying to detach himself from the overhead transport rails.

Passing through GLaDOS’ old chamber, Wheatley reminisces on the one person that was able to shut her down for good, completely oblivious to the fact that he’s venturing with her now. As we navigate through the back-end of the facility, we eventually reach an enormous cylinder of fuses. While feverishly searching for the one to activate an escape pod, Wheatley manages to send us rising on a platform in the cylinder, activating each fuse as we pass. At the top we arrive back in GLaDOS’ chamber and have somehow managed to reinitiate her.

I find myself laughing at Wheatley’s desperate attempts to override GLaDOS’s reboot procedure. But, at the same time, I realise the laughter is an attempt to repress the sheer terror as GLaDOS lurches back to life in front of me.

“Oh,” she says. “It’s you.”

It’s hard to tell whether she’s delighted to see Chell or resents her existence. It is, though, a testament to the virtues of a silent protagonist that GLaDOS’s direct address is so spine-chillingly effective. Her revival produces a huge tonal shift that ushers in the return of Portal’s dark humour in abundance.

Valve’s Erik Johnson once compared GLaDOS’s relationship with Chell to that of a “jealous ex-girlfriend”. There’s not another description that matches their bond so well. As Chell navigates through the dilapidated facility, GLaDOS helps by clearing rubble from the path, rebuilding the test facility in the process. She leads Chell towards the complete version of the portal gun, buried under more debris. I somewhat tentatively approach the portal gun, half-expecting GLaDOS to pull the floor out from beneath me for revenge.

But GLaDOS seems to have other, far more psychotic plans, and is more interested in testing Chell until her meat bag form ceases to be of use. From here, a familiar pattern returns of finding the solution to reach the room’s exit with GLaDOS’s passive-aggressive comments punctuating each one. Except, behind her obvious love of testing, GLaDOS is keen to remind Chell how much pain she has caused her.

And, trust me, where the Chell/GLaDOS dynamic leads from here is going to be one of the greatest delights of Portal 2.