Portal 2 ... YAY YAY

[HaemishM]

One of the concerns I had when P2 was announced was that they would feel the need to add hours of padding to lengthen the play time.  I'm glad they didn't, but I still think the game looks overpriced.  I'll likely grab it if it goes on sale for $10 or $15, but $50 is too much for a game I'd plow through in a day or two.

Yeah, this. I'm fine with Portal 2's singelplayer being that shot, I just think $50 for it is WAY overpriced. Hell, I only took about 5 hours and 2 sittings to finish the first and it was a perfect little morsel of gaming nirvana. For $50 though, I expect a bit more.

[K9]

A lot of people aren't counting co-op, which I can understand to a degree, but it was a major, if not the biggest selling point for the game from the point of their advertising.

I do miss the challenge modes though.

[Surlyboi]

Don't worry, you'll probably get the challenge modes as a DLC somewhere down the line.

That said, I too can't decide which ending song I like better.

[Tarami]

That sounds made up.

 

It's true, (Swedish has the name and noun karl with the same etymology) but that doesn't make it any less forced.

[Azazel]

Finished it. Took about 5 hours. Exceptional game. Better than the first. Snagged the title of best puzzle/platformer ever from the cold dead hands of Portal 1.

Singleplayer took me 8 hours, and although I haven't tried it yet I'm pretty certain coop will have to be completely different maps since the narrative behind the singleplayer maps won't make any sense at all if you're playing it with those 2 robot guys. (And it is much more story-heavy than Portal 1)

Sid, PSB: Another popular question from our readers: Is Portal 2 a longer, beefier game than the original Portal?
Erik, Valve: Oh yeah, it’s definitely longer. And…I’m not quite sure what the definition of ‘beefier’ is, but…sure, it’s beefier. Less cake, more beef?
Joshua, Valve: It’s tough to talk in terms of hours, as everyone plays through the game at their own pace. But just the single-player part of Portal 2 is about two-and-a-half to three times longer than all of Portal 1.

hmmmm.... I smell bullshit.
I did enjoy Portal 1, not to the level of best game EVAR that some here go to, but as a full-price game that's that much (not) longer than the original, I'll be picking it up for $5 sometime in the next 2 years. Or as a freebie with HL2 Ep3.

[apocrypha]

My copy arrived just after lunch today. It's now 18:30 and I need to stop and pee and eat. This is brilliant. There is more to it than Portal 1, if not in length then certainly in style, story, design and art.

Plus, £30 for PS3 and PC versions together? Yeah this feels worth it.

Only problem so far is that PSN has been down all day (rumours are that it's a DDoS) so I can't activate my PC copy yet or play any co-op.

[K9]

Portal 1 ~ 1.5-2 hours
Portal 2 ~ 5-8 hours

Looks like a they were being pretty honest there.

[NiX]

Portal 1 ~ 1.5-2 hours
Portal 2 ~ 5-8 hours

Looks like a they were being pretty honest there.

Yeah, was going to reply to that. That's 2.5 to 3 times longer, so they were pretty upfront about the length of the game.

[Azazel]

I think P1 took me about 4-5 hours. I think. It was quite awhile ago. Pretty certain it was more than 2 hours, but then I rarely play long sessions of SP FPS without lots of breaks.

[Hawkbit]

I did P1 in one 4 hour session.  I don't remember being all that challenged by it but had a ton of fun.  I remain suspect of the 1.5-2 hour claims.  Not saying it's impossible, but that seems pretty fast, imo.   

[Ingmar]

I think P1 took me about 4-5 hours. I think. It was quite awhile ago. Pretty certain it was more than 2 hours, but then I rarely play long sessions of SP FPS without lots of breaks.

If P1 took you that long I don't think you should really have any fears about the length of P2. Portal 1 had what, 19 test chambers plus the ending? Portal 2 has easily twice as many puzzles I am pretty sure. Maybe more. Plus the whole co-op thing on top of it.

[NiX]

I did P1 in one 4 hour session.  I don't remember being all that challenged by it but had a ton of fun.  I remain suspect of the 1.5-2 hour claims.  Not saying it's impossible, but that seems pretty fast, imo.   

Entirely depends on the person. I got through P1 in just under 3 hours. I'm about 3 or so hours into Portal 2 and it seems like I'm only half way.

[Sjofn]

I think Portal 1 took me three-ish hours? Portal 2 took me a little over twice that, without doing any multiplayer (which I enjoyed, I am not sure how much Ingmar likes it though  ).

[NiX]

I need to find me a co-op buddy. Time to harass climbjtree or Strazos.

[K9]

Is there any point an attempting co-op with out some sort of VOIP?

[Ingmar]

Is there any point an attempting co-op with out some sort of VOIP?

They do provide you some tools - emotes, a 'countdown' thing - but I think it would be pretty difficult to do some of the stuff without talking. Also, potentially more hilarious.

Voice is built into the game, though, so as long as you have a mic you're set.

[Sjofn]

You can also ping the world to be all HEY DUMBASS PUT A PORTAL HERE, that's the most important thing. And you can look through your partner's eyes, which is a big help.

[Fordel]

All you need to know about Portal 2 Co-Op, you can learn from the Yogscast.


-edit- Why do you fight me Youtube link thing!

[tmp]

Also, I have decided my favorite moment was:

[caladein]

Even using in-game voice my friend and I used the hell out of the marking tool, picture-in-picture, and the countdown.

PIP rocks.

[Jeff Kelly]

[Surlyboi]

Also, I have decided my favorite moment was:

[Ironwood]

I do think Still Alive is a better song though, maybe I need to get used to the new one.

Nah.

[Falconeer]

Come on, Still Alive is so much better.

And for the records, it took me about 5 hours to finish the first Portal, and 12 to finish this one.

[Surlyboi]

The only reason Still Alive was better is because it was unexpected.

[Ironwood]

Yeah.  They're both great but the Want You Gone is just a much better Song.  You may have an opinion that differs from mine, of course.  Don't worry about it;   It's fine to be wrong every now and again.

[Sobelius]

Sweet, three years of development and we can play Portal for another thirty minutes!

You win the Portal Prediction Precognition Prognosticator award.

[MuffinMan]

My time was definitely padded from looking around at all the scenery and especially making sure I heard all of the dialogue before I moved forward. I think I finished at about 8.5 hours. Can't think of even one complaint about any of the game.

[Simond]

There's three reasons why people are saying its only four hours long:
1) They're looking at the "time played" stat in Steam, which is flat-out wrong a lot of the time.
2) They did a blind speed-run just to say they finished it in four hours.
or 3) They're trolling. Most of the 1/10 player ratings on Metacritic? /v/ pissing in the wind.

[Samwise]

I finished the Portal 2 single player in 5 hours according to Steam (which I think is about right; I remember playing two and a half hours on launch night, one hour the next, and an hour and a half the next), and I wasn't particularly trying to hurry; I listened to all of the dialogue and spent a decent amount of time poking around for easter eggs.  Some of y'all just suck at puzzles.

I can't say for certain how long Portal 1 took me, but I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of two hours, maybe a little less.  I remember thinking that it was about the length of a movie.

Both felt like they were good lengths.  I was actually expecting Portal 2 to feel too long, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good the pacing was for most of it.  The one part where I felt like it dragged a little bit was traversing the giant underground space; it felt a bit like the bits of Half-Life 2 that I wasn't crazy about.

[Simond]

There's a "Valve game tie-in/crossover" in Portal 2, other than the one you're thinking of. All the locked doors with the combination keypads?
The "one" button is dirtier and more smudged than the rest of them.
http://youtu.be/ZTj6tauY1JU

 

[Wasted]

I'm normally the type of guy that complains about the portion sizes at fancy restaurants but Portal 2 was pretty much perfect, and I haven't touched the co-op yet.

[NiX]

I'm normally the type of guy that complains about the portion sizes at fancy restaurants but Portal 2 was pretty much perfect, and I haven't touched the co-op yet.

The co-op is awesome. I'm still trying to determine if it would be more fun if you didn't use voice. Either way, I got my moneys worth just on watching Strazos try to launch himself through a portal and slamming into the ceiling for a good 10-15 seconds.

[Simond]

The YOGScast blokes are doing Portal 2 co-op. It's about what you'd expect. 

[CmdrSlack]

I saw three billboards for Portal 2 today. There were two headed into Chicago, and one on the way out.

I'm not shocked to see video game ads, but I was a bit surprised by the billboard blitzkrieg.