Portal 2 .... I Owe You an Apology

I'm not going to review Portal 2. Everyone has already played it or read a hundred reviews about it. But I did need to write an admission that before I bought this game, I was a hater. I'm not proud, but I have seen the light.

I loved the original Portal. That game was and is still pretty amazing. So when I heard there was a sequel, my knee jerk reaction was to panic. Lots of other games have sequels that I look forward to. Assassin's Creed 2 blew my mind as did Bioware's sophomore addition to the Mass Effect franchise. But those games were dripping with intensely rich story and characters I was anxious to follow.

Portal, however, is not a game that is driven by story. At its core, there is a puzzle game. The simple concept of using only two different portals to get from one side of the room to the other was interesting and surprisingly difficult. The added bonus for all the players was the appearance of a soon-to-be classic villain GLaDOS. Her occasional comments and veiled insults were hilarious and helped to make this game an instant classic.

So when Portal 2 was announced, I was nerd scared. "What if they bring back GLaDOS ? They are going to way overuse her. Her quirky lines will become cheap and cliche. And how can this really be a sequel ? There isn't that much of a story to follow. How many times will I have references to the super annoying 'lying cake' meme shoved my throat ?" I didn't want to see my game go the way of Meet the Parents.

Luckily, all that worry was for nothing. The puzzles are interesting and challenging. The comments and one-liners are laugh out loud hilarious. And while I haven't finished the game yet, I am pleased that they haven't taken on the cake thing like a Bart Simpson catch phrase. This game is hella fun for almost any player no matter what their style of gaming is. I definitely recommend this as a Buy. As in, Buy it right now.

Valve, I am sorry I doubted you.