Sadly, Portal 2 is not perfect, so I will break it down very quickly:
The Good: The voice acting in Portal 2 is flawless. Literally perfect. No other video game ever created has featured such genuine talent, delivery, and to a degree, scripting. The dynamics between Stephen Merchant as Wheatley, J.K. Simmons as Cave Johnson, and Ellen McLain as GLaDOS are flawless from start to finish throughout the game. While the voice acting is top-notch, some of the humor is a bit predictable (we all know GLaDOS' brand of humor by now), and sometimes a bit cheeky (surely Cave Johnson is not serious!). Portal 2 is also excellently paced, ramping up just as the first game did, and clocking in around 5 - 6 hours from start to finish, although I managed to get my second play-through down to just under four hours. The new gels that alter the environment are fun, and the environment itself is awesome: going through Aperture Science's labs over the decades provide a lot of neat insight into the background of the company.
The Bad: Portal 2 is short. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. While it is definitely longer than the first game and much meatier thanks to a fully-fleshed story, a skilled gamer can clear the entire game in 3 to 4 hours. Also less-than-steller: the vast majority of the game is essentially on-rails. Portals can only be placed on particular surfaces, and solving most puzzles simply involve knowing what portals need to be placed where and when. As where Portal had entire rooms that allowed portals to be placed (allowing for multiple solutions to some puzzles), Portal 2 simply forces you onto specific platforms in specific ways - in other words, less imaginative.
I have yet to play the cooperative side of Portal 2, but thus far I have been mostly impressed with the game. The single-player game is a fantastic ride from start to finish, never mind how brief or controlled it may be.
B3 out.
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