Game Impressions

When Portal 2’s co-op mode was originally announced, I didn’t expect to actually play it. But when I mentioned the game a few weeks ago, MMOGC pointed out the amazing deal Amazon was running and we ended up planning to do the co-op portion.

The co-op game took us about five or six hours to finish, across three nights. I ended up as Blue (naturally) and GC played Orange. Organized as five courses, with eight puzzles in each, there’s nearly as much humor and story in the co-op mode as there is in the single-player game. Check out GC’s review here.

I thought having a co-op review for a co-op game would be fun, and GC agreed to do a little question an answer with me (this section is on GC’s blog as well)…

BlueKae: I had expected the co-op game to be fun, but it turned out to be a lot more fun than I realized. Challenging in different ways than the single player, and somehow easier too. What surprised you about playing co-op?

MMOGamerChick: From the start, I knew co-op was going to be about playing together, but what I didn’t expect to see was how often we were put into situations where we had to work together…but separately. Initially, I think I was picturing something akin to a two-player platformer, where you and your partner would go everywhere together, do everything together. There were some puzzles like that, but I’d say most of them involved each person doing very different things, sometimes in different parts of the room. It made things more interesting, in my opinion. It’s still very much about the teamwork because our chances of success still depended on both people accomplishing their respective tasks, but that meant trust was also very important — especially when we couldn’t see what the other person was doing and had to rely on coordination and communication.

Okay, my turn to ask a question. What did you find was most challenging about co-op?

BK: Remembering that I was playing with someone. I mean we were chatting the whole time so I knew you were there and all, but after playing through on single player I was so used to running into a new puzzle and starting to throw portals around that it was an adjustment to remember I was playing with someone. I know there were a few times when I wiped a portal of yours out with one of mine because I wasn’t thinking.

I very much agree with your surprise about how the co-op worked. I assumed that our portals would link up instead of being separate. It was definitely more about communicating, coordinating, and trust. The spike maze comes to mind. 🙂

The best part was having a second person to help figure out how to solve the puzzles. I wasn’t tempted to go look at Youtube once. If/when there’s a Portal 3 are you looking forward more to single player or more co-op?

MMOGC: Both. I mean, obviously the co-op is a huge draw, but single player has its moments. And both portions were filled with humorous moments, GLaDOS doing her thing. That’s what made the whole game, I think. It would be difficult for me to say which I prefer or look forward to more.

And I totally agree with you about remembering that I was playing with someone. Though with regards to wiping out each other’s portals, I just like to think of it more as both of us being on the same page. Great minds think alike and all that!

BK: True! I think the single player had a bit more personality, maybe that’s because it stretched across two games. Did it seem to you like the single player was more about how to solve a puzzle and the co-op was more about actually doing the solution?

MMOGC: Oh yeah, definitely. I approached single-player and co-op very differently. In co-op (and I think you might have noticed this too), the first thing both of us did with a new puzzle was run in there and start exploring, playing with whatever buttons or stuff we found. I found myself “working backwards” in co-op more than I did in single-player. First find the exit, then “do” the solution.

BK: I wasn’t quite that organized about it. Mostly I was just trying to make sure that when we picked a solution that it was using all of the different parts in the puzzle.

MMOGC: Let me ask you another thing. Were you stressed at any point? ‘Cause I know I was. I kept thinking, “Oh crap oh crap oh crap, I’m going to let Blue Kae down and he’s going to think I’m an idiot.” I’m not the best when it comes to coordination and reflexes. There were several times that I botched a jump or a portal and I just felt terrible.

BK: A couple of times, definitely. I worried about getting you killed on a couple of puzzles where there was timing involved. But most of the time it was so easy to run back in, that I didn’t worry much. I can’t remember getting frustrated at all though.

MMOGC: Well, it was definitely much more enjoyable to play with a friend.

BK: I totally agree. The frustrating parts for me in the single player game were figuring out what to do next. Having someone to talk with and point out things I missed made the game much much more fun.

MMOGC: I totally carried you. Haha, just kidding.

BK: There were definitely puzzles that you just got right off that I didn’t and vice versa. There was only one puzzle, I remember, that stumped us both for a bit.

MMOGC: That part really was cool. I saw where my own weaknesses were, and was grateful when you figured stuff out that I couldn’t. I was really happy that we were able to figure everything out between us without going to outside help.

BK: Yeah, I ended up hitting Youtube twice for puzzles in the singleplayer game when it stopped being fun.

MMOGC: And fun is what it’s all about.

No spoilers, I promise.

Portal came out as part of the Orange Box back in October 2007, nearly a year before I started this blog. I originally bought the Orange Box for the Half-Life 2, but I got so much more enjoyment from Portal than either that or Team Fortress 2. That’s especially surprising because I don’t like puzzle games or platformers. I’m not a fan of the Mario or Sonic games. I quit the first God of War (and the series) when I got to a wall of blades jumping puzzle.

The game was concise and fun. It had challenges but always prepared me in advance to solve them. These bits made for a very good game.

The humor made the game great.

So, four years later (roughly) Valve has released Portal 2. I’ve been looking forward to the game and yet avoiding nearly all of the marketing. Since it came out right as I was focused on Rift, I figured I’d wait until I was ready to play it then buy and download it (I’m trying to keep my mountain of unplayed games shorter than Everest). I was excited to play Portal 2 but wasn’t feeling and urgency to play.

Amazon forced my hand though by offering the PC version for $30. Even better, I apparently had $15 off promo for a game too which I found out when I checked out, so I ended up getting Portal 2 for $15. That’s a steal.

I feel bad though. I bought a physical disc and had it shipped to me, yet all I used was the license key. I literally opened the box and typed the key into Stream then started the download. The disc never left the box.

While not giving away anything whatsoever of the plot, let me just say that right from the first second of the game the humor is back and it’s amaaaaaazing! I had a great time making my way through the environments and enjoying the humor and personality in the game. It’s able to build on the history of the first game so there’s no ramp like in the first game where you don’t actually know there’s a story for the first half of the game (assuming I remember the pacing rightly).

As far as the pure mechanics of the game, puzzles are less about reflexes and more about understanding your environment. That can lead to some minor frustrations, but if I could figure it out then anyone could.

All in all, I think Portal 2 is an excellent sequel. I’m looking forward to trying the co-op when GC is ready.