Portal 2

[MachoMyers]

Re: Portal 2

that would be awesome. I've been hoping they could find a way to bring CounterStrike to the 360, whether it was by XBL arcade or as part of another Orange Box.

Counterstrike (Source anyways) is still a lot of fun to play and competitive online. I would really like to see an updated version with some new graphics/features like the now industry standard of recovering health. No damn perks or Battlefield stuff or anything just improvements for a much needed upgrade.

[sportsdude]

Re: Portal 2

Counterstrike (Source anyways) is still a lot of fun to play and competitive online. I would really like to see an updated version with some new graphics/features like the now industry standard of recovering health. No damn perks or Battlefield stuff or anything just improvements for a much needed upgrade.

yeah, no need to change it. Just a little face lift and a journey to the 360 would make me happy.

[mgoblue]

Re: Portal 2

I think they are aware they need to include more content to make it a full priced release, and will be adding new/more content than the $10 version.

At least I hope they are aware....

They've got to add a ton IMO. I loved Portal, but it was a 6ish (I think) hour awesome game with very limited replay value. No way would I pay 60 bucks unless it's got a lot more added on, especially since the story (while cool) was kinda limited. It's not like Heavy Rain, a single player game with lots of voice acting, story, character integration, etc. It's not like MW2, where the single player is short but really not the focus (Multiplayer is the focus there).

I'm sure they'll give us something worth our money, but I'm having a little bit of trouble seeing how you extend Portal in a good way to make that happen.

[bkfount]

Re: Portal 2

They've got to add a ton IMO. I loved Portal, but it was a 6ish (I think) hour awesome game with very limited replay value.

it was more like half that length, but it largely depends on how quickly you got the puzzles. It still worked because it was a fun game that completed its story, and didn't really need a full blown sequel.

Now if episode 3 turns out to be 3 hours long after all these years....

[Flawless]

Re: Portal 2

Thinking With Portals: Making A Portal 2 Test Chamber

“Portal 2 gives players the ability to paint surfaces in order to alter their properties, which takes the fundamental binary constraint of a traditional Portal puzzle surface and changes it into something very powerful. Players are used to having the world tell them what they can and can't do. Portal 2 strives to give players more control over the rules of the world and let them set their own terms. However, with that higher degree of freedom comes a higher degree of challenge when trying to design a puzzle. Because of the fluid (and messy) nature of the paint, maps very quickly change from clean and tidy to chaotic and mottled. The upside is that it gives players a much more varied and interesting set of options when solving puzzles, without the designers having to change the central portal gun mechanic.”

[Cusefan]

Re: Portal 2

Such an awesome game. I just wish the Orange Box 2 was going to contain Episode 3, Portal 2, and a new Counterstrike. Would have been the best thing since, well, The Orange Box.

I am curious to see how well Counter-Strike would compete with the other AAA FPSers. I cannot believe CS has not made it to the 360 yet though, If I was calling the shots at Valve, CS would have been one of my first Console games.

[Flawless]

Re: Portal 2

Portal 2 Pushed Back Into 2011

Aperture Science, doing business as Aperture Laboratories LLC, in partnership with Valve today announced the successful completion of an ethics-review-panel-supervised release date restructuring process. Portal 2, the sequel to the ground-breaking title that earned over 30 Game of the Year awards despite missing its original ship date, is now targeted for a 2011 release.

Representatives from both companies acknowledged that public safety concerns factored into the decision. They went on to say that even though Portal 2 will arrive slightly later than planned, all life on earth won't instantaneously stop as every molecule in your body explodes at the speed of light, which is what would happen should a rip ever appear in the fabric of Valve Time.

"Also, the game will be even better," they added, missing an historic opportunity to create the first product delay press release to mention that a product is being delayed to make it worse.

To ask questions about how close we all came to dying, or to ask futile questions about the previously announced E3 ***PORTAL-2-THEMED-FOR-GOD'S SAKE*** surprise or, less futilely, to schedule an appointment to attend a Portal 2 screening at the Valve booth during E3, please contact Valve's delegate to the EU's Valve Time Studies Group, [ED. REDACT]

[Blzer]

Re: Portal 2

[Flawless]

Re: Portal 2

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[Sandman42]

Re: Portal 2

I watched about 30 seconds of the demo and then shut it off. I want to experience everything new when I play the game. Putting myself on media blackout for this game.

[Cyros]

Re: Portal 2

Maybe it's because I didn't play the first one, but I think those puzzles are going over my head. I'm the kind of person that solves a game puzzle, but doesn't realize how he got to the solution.

[Blzer]

Re: Portal 2

I watched about 30 seconds of the demo and then shut it off. I want to experience everything new when I play the game. Putting myself on media blackout for this game.

Exactly. No reason to spoil myself with how to do it before I actually do it.

Maybe it's because I didn't play the first one, but I think those puzzles are going over my head. I'm the kind of person that solves a game puzzle, but doesn't realize how he got to the solution.

When I played the first Portal, it was because I wasn't doing anything else. I hadn't even heard of the game prior to playing it. I was just across the hall in my friend's dorm room and he had the main menu for The Orange Box. He never played it either and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. It took me literally forever to understand the whole idea of the "portal" system, and when I finally did I was hooked.

The new levels take you by storm and you will eventually stand back and think about everything that you have to do to get through. It gets really fun when you do the right things, because you kind of feel smart when you do it.

[Flawless]

Re: Portal 2

Valve Dates Portal 2

Valve's sequel will be released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC platforms on February 9, 2011. That's great news for fans, since hard release dates are usually a rarity for the company. Additionally, Game Informer reports British robot Wheatley will be voiced by Stephen Merchant, former actor and current writer for the hit comedy show The Office.

[Flawless]

Re: Portal 2

IGN: Co-op Preview

Leave it to Valve to give us a pair of robots with more personality than most human characters you'll see in games.

In co-op you'll be playing with a partner as a pair of Robotic Test Subjects, engineered to be fearless and apparently not too bright either. One player wields orange and red portals, and the other blue and purple. This cool vs. warm color scheme really helps to keep things straight when the portalry goes crazy, as does the visual difference between the two robots. There's a tall one and a short, fat one, and both are very expressive in ways that are immediately apparent but surprisingly simple, from simple gestures (which the players can initiate themselves) to "looks" on their "faces," if you will.

The first, most important, and most head slapping "I can't believe we don't see this in more games" addition is the "ping" system. Each player can set markers around the levels to indicate where they'd like their partner to fire a portal. Valve explained that this is something complementary to voice chat, since even when your partner can hear you, it's hard to really accurately describe where "over there" is.

The other new addition is the "Hard Light Bridge." These are bridges made of, well, hard light that can be routed using portals to access particular areas. These require very careful manipulation, as one wrong portal toss can divert the bridge and send pairs of robot companions into unhappy circumstances.

Of course, it just wouldn't be Portal without GlaDos chiming in, and she's in fine form. From making sure that players know exactly who got to a portal gun first, and who's doing better during each stage.

Other incidental bits of Portal's clever writing are also apparent in the some puzzle layouts' potential for comedy. The final puzzle Valve showed the crowd involved the momentum loops from the first game. You remember them, even if they had no practical application: you'd place one portal on the floor and another directly over it and jump in, building up terrifying levels of speed. The co-op aspect allows some very particular uses, like building up your partners speed, opening a portal on a different wall and watching them fly across a chamber. Then the standing player opened a new portal on a slanted platform, flinging their partner across a toxic moat… into a wall, which they sort of splattered against, sliding into the deadly goop below.

Valve used this as a chance to demonstrate a little robot reconciliation, as the careless portal thrower initiated a crafty hug maneuver with his pal to demonstrate that there were no hard feelings between test subjects. I'll be honest. It was very cute. Valve didn't say whether there would be any gameplay implications to robot cuddling, but for a game so dependent on demanding cooperation, a hug here and there might be just the thing to ensure peaceful coexistence between partners.

...

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[bcruise]

Re: Portal 2

Delayed until April 2011

http://kotaku.com/5693783/portal-2-delayed-to-april

But....

Spoiler

I'm not even angry. I'm being so sincere right now.