So a number of new devices are introduced, the designers toying succinctly with each before moving on to the next. The functional puzzle chambers are still the meat of the game, of course, but they're broken up with spells of up-tempo action or quiet exploration that give the puzzles room to breathe.Īnd those puzzles? There's nothing Valve can do to develop or perfect the first game's exploration of portals, whereby you use the two mouse buttons or triggers to 'fire' two doors onto certain surfaces, allowing you to teleport yourself and objects, or subvert the laws of physics and three-dimensional space to reach your goal. Artful details guide you through the space and the story, or hint at untold tales. Valve's virtual architects have long had an extraordinary gift for pacing and environment design, and it's in full effect in Portal 2. But even the robotics of Aperture Science's test chambers are lent personality and character, moving between slick, synchronised spectacle and the involuntary, violent tics of a madman. Their greatest achievements are the two robots players control in co-op: this mute comic duo is like a mechanical Laurel and Hardy brought to life by Pixar.
