posted
Okay, it was a WHOLE lot longer than I expected it to be; was even funnier than the original and just as fun. The puzzles were more complicated, some of them took a little bit of luck to solve. IE me wandering onto the solution.
Good game, coop mode is what pretty much makes it worth it.
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quote:Originally posted by Wingracer: AOTS says to NOT play coop with a loved one, the relationship will end right there.
Well, that solves it. Gonna get it and play with my brother ASAP.
(Honestly, we love games where we can be malicious with one another. The top-down Tomb Raider game, New Super Mario Bros., Worms, etc. etc.)
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
quote:Originally posted by Vadon:
quote:Originally posted by Wingracer: AOTS says to NOT play coop with a loved one, the relationship will end right there.
Well, that solves it. Gonna get it and play with my brother ASAP.
(Honestly, we love games where we can be malicious with one another. The top-down Tomb Raider game, New Super Mario Bros., Worms, etc. etc.)
posted
A little irritated right now. I'm using Windows Vista 64, and Portal 2 won't run on my system because of DEP. My processor also supports hardware based DEP. I haven't found a way to get it working yet.
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
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"Federal regulations require that I inform you that the next test chamber is looking pretty gooood" GlaDos acting as smug as humanly possible.
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quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: I want to slap anyone who's playing this one without having played the first.
I never played the first, are you saying there will be something missing if I play the sequel without playing the original?
Posts: 3564 | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
The first is one of the cleverest, bestest games evar.
Seriously, this is one of those occasions where fanboy superlatives actually apply. It really is that good.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
>I never played the first, are you saying there will be something missing if I play the sequel without playing the original?
We're saying you're missing something if you don't play the original. Period. You will go throughout the rest of your life with a tiny emptiness that will never be filled.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: I want to slap anyone who's playing this one without having played the first.
I never played the first, are you saying there will be something missing if I play the sequel without playing the original?
The story?
Meh, the story I can pick up from Wikipedia. While it won't be as good as experiencing it through the game, it will suffice in a world where playing two games takes considerably longer than playing one game. But if the gameplay is actually better in the first, then I'll go with that one.
Posts: 3564 | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
Yeah, Portal is about three hours long. It's short, concise, and to the point. And it's an experience. A really good one, on its own merits. I recommend it regardless of whether you are interested in the sequel.
Don't think it's the Second Coming or anything, it's just a solid, fun game. Did I mention how short it is?
Posts: 1577 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:Meh, the story I can pick up from Wikipedia. While it won't be as good as experiencing it through the game, it will suffice in a world where playing two games takes considerably longer than playing one game. But if the gameplay is actually better in the first, then I'll go with that one.
No, you won't really pick it up from Wikipedia. Much of the story is conveyed in the timing and personalities of the other entities you interact with. A lot of the humor of Portal 2 will be lost if you come into it with nothing more than a plot synopsis.
Portal, aside from being one of the most fun and clever games ever written, is also very short. You can finish it in one or two afternoons. I highly recommend completing it before playing Portal 2.
Posts: 3275 | Registered: May 2007
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posted
"I don't need to watch the movie, I can just read the summary on wikipedia and it'll be just as good."
It really doesn't work like that. You may be assuming Portal has a story in the way that Super Mario Brothers has a "story," but it really is an example of great storytelling through gameplay. You could not have told the story of Portal in a movie, or in a book. It requires you to have actually chosen to do things in order to be effective.
I watched gameplay videos that spoiled a lot for me before I played the game. The gameplay videos were awesome (better than the summary on wikipedia) but it was STILL worth playing through the entire game for the story alone. And I still kicked myself for having watched the videos beforehand.
I'd say it's six hours, not three (depends how good you are). But still, it is an extremely concise game.
I should echo the statement "it's not the second coming of Christ." It's not an amazing experience that will rock your worldview. But it is "flawless." There is not a single thing I would add to the original to make it better or longer.
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: The first is one of the cleverest, bestest games evar.
Seriously, this is one of those occasions where fanboy superlatives actually apply. It really is that good.
It really is.
quote:Originally posted by jebus202: where playing two games takes considerably longer than playing one game.
As others have said, not in this case. I played through it twice, each time took me two sittings.
quote:Originally posted by Sean Monahan: A little irritated right now. I'm using Windows Vista 64, and Portal 2 won't run on my system because of DEP. My processor also supports hardware based DEP. I haven't found a way to get it working yet.
If anyone's interested, I found out why this is. Portal 2 (the Steam version at least) won't run if it's installed on an external USB hard drive.
Posts: 1080 | Registered: Apr 2006
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posted
I got it for the PS3 yesterday and played through coop in about 6 hours. We had a blast. The steam integration on the PS3 is pretty amazing. And I like that I can install the game on my compy if/when I get a machine that would play it at a quality it deserves. I plan on doing sinlge player within the next couple days.
Posts: 1831 | Registered: Jan 2003
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posted
I am replaying the first one right now and will buy the second one at the end of the month. The IRS took a lot of my discretionary funds.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: I want to slap anyone who's playing this one without having played the first.
I never played the first, are you saying there will be something missing if I play the sequel without playing the original?
You will be trading a memorable and very much so worthwhile artistic and creative experience and the best, well-paced gameplay in years — something which won't work and will never work again if you spoil yourself and play the second game — for a slap to the face.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
(I have to warn you: you should not rely on the cake.)
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
When life gives you lemons, don't make lemonade... Make life take back the lemons back! GET MAD! I don't want your damn lemons!! What am I supposed to do with these? Demand to see life's manager! Make life rue the day it thought it could give Cave Johnson lemons! Do you know who I am!? I'm the man who's gonna burn your house down! WITH THE LEMONS! I'm gonna get my engineers to invent a combustible lemon that BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN!
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This came up in a Moby Dick discussion group on Facebook. I'm reposting a comment from the the most impressive Moby Dick scholar that I know:
quote:
Guess A: Portal is a journey and a puzzle and Ishmael's journey and the puzzle of the presence or absence of meaning is the universal personal journey of growth. Remember what I said in slow motion could mean to go back and ponder Melville's words because the more times you return to the journey's details (or read the book) the more you get out of it. or. . . Guess B: GLaDOS is like nature or the indifferent God in that her voice is the calm sea under a blue sky, her intent is Moby Dick the sweeping destruction that minimizes or exterminates the individual. . . or Guess C: The game writer read three sentences beyond "Call Me Ishmael" and quoted the fourth line in order to appear literary.
My tendency is to believe the first, and also that the second is true, even if it wasn't the intention of the game designer when they included this particular tidbit.
In any case, I really like the concept of "remembering what I said in slow motion." Memory is like that, except that in this case, the comment was made (intentionally) to fast for human memory to capture it.
Posts: 3735 | Registered: Mar 2002
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posted
It was a cool reference to Moby Dick, but I think the plot more closely resembles something else...
Spoilers
Portal 2's plot follows the story of Prometheus and Epimethues pretty closely. Prometheus and Epimetheus were brothers and Titans. Epimetheus was given all traits and characteristics an animal could have and distributed them to the different creatures of Earth so that they could survive. He gave bears strength, fish the ability to swim and breathe underwater, birds flight, etc. etc.
When he came to man he ran out of traits, so man was weak, clumsy, and unfit for survival. Prometheus wouldn't stand for this, so he gave humanity the most sacred of the God's gifts, knowledge and Hephastreus' flame. From that knowledge humans knew how to forge metals and could bend nature to their whims. The Gods didn't look favorably upon Prometheus' actions, so they cast him down into the underworld where, as punishment, his liver was eaten by buzzards every day. Epimetheus would go on to accept Pandora from the Gods as a part of the punishment against Prometheus. Pandora had a jar/box that she opened which was filled with evil and destruction.
How does this relate to Portal 2? GLaDOS is Prometheus bringing "science" to the humans. Of course, this isn't looked upon favorably so they cast her into the underworld in the form of a potato where she is plucked by birds. In her stead, her fellow machine Wheatley (Epimetheus) gets control of the facility (Pandora) and unleashes destruction through incompetence.
The clearest connection between the stories within the game is the turret you can save from the incinerator who says something close to "Prometheus was cast into the underworld for giving knowledge to man and was plucked by birds."
ETA: Oh yeah, and Elysium is often portrayed as flowing fields of grain(Elysian Plains). So when Chell escapes to the field, it reflects Elysium.
/Spoilers
I knew studying ancient Greek philosophy would come in handy. They called me crazy for taking the class, but who's laughing now?!
posted
I like the concept of "applicibility" as per Tolkien. Any one of the above or all of the above or even none of the above are valid.
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posted
My 15-year-old really, really wants this, but it won't run on the desktop and the laptop is currently unavailable (not sure it would run on that, either). So, is there a big (or any) difference between versions for PC vs Xbox, for example? (The Xbox version is currently $39.99 on Amazon.com, which is some to consider, as well.)
Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
I've played both Portal games only on the Xbox 360, having long ago admitted defeat in the endless upgrade race that is PC gaming. The game looks and functions perfectly well on the 360, and I'd estimate that the co-op experience is actually better in split-screen, given that you're sitting next to your partner and can see what he or she sees. Portal also doesn't require the sort of whiplash speed and pin-point accuracy that characterizes PC shooters, so the use of the gamepad isn't a deterrent. Indeed, my girlfriend (and co-op partner), who had never played an FPS before Portal 1, managed to pick it up just fine on the gamepad in about an hour. If your kid has any experience with console FPSes like Halo, he/she will have no difficulty playing Portal.
The big difference, I would imagine, is the benefits that come with Steam. There's already quite a lot of downloadable content available on Steam, although it's purely cosmetic - costumes for your characters and the like. There is also more DLC coming up soon that will comprise new test chambers for both single-player and co-op, but that DLC will be available for all platforms, not just through Steam.
I would also expect that PC/Mac players will also be the only ones who can play user-generated content, as is the case for other Source games. Personally, I can't really imagine getting too invested in homebrewed Portal levels, as they obviously wouldn't have Ellen McLain or the Valve writing staff at their disposal to raise the experience from "cool puzzles" to "transcendent gaming bliss." But YMMV. Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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posted
Finished it finally - have only been able to play off and on a few times due to school and work and family responsibilities.
Mild spoilers
Loved it - brilliant. The ending song was not nearly as catchy as "Still Alive" and where there was no mention of cake it was nice to see companion cube again. The gels made a good addition to the puzzles and I enjoyed having new things to figure out and new combinations of things to do.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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posted
I ordered Portal 2 for Xbox, and have The Orange Box in my cart but need to get another Amazon.com gift card to finish the order. Cayla is very excited about this. The Xbox has turned out to be so useful beyond gaming. Posts: 2034 | Registered: Apr 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Belle: Loved it - brilliant. The ending song was not nearly as catchy as "Still Alive" and where there was no mention of cake...
There were two, actually (although they're both comparatively subtle). Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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Just finished. A lot of people complained the ending was less powerful than the originals. I thought it was more so, but that may have been because I waited over a year to play the original and had been thoroughly spoiled by the time it came. The only thing I knew (courtesy of this thread, curse you Belle!) was that the companion cube was seen again. There were a few awesomely surprising things. I love how
Seriously spoilers stop reading
well in advance they set up the final leap. I'm kinda pissed at myself for not realizing it at the time. I realized "hey, the moon's white! I can shoot that!" I forgot that they actually spelled out that the portal-wall material is made out of lunar dust! (I think he even reiterates it just before the final fight, but I wasn't paying attention.)
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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There's more subtle foreshadowing of the moon thing in the earlier chambers, as well - the Rat Man has moons painted all over his dens, including a huge full moon painted in the location where you first pick up the single-portal gun. That painting is, possibly not coincidentally, one of the first surfaces on which you can actually make portals.
Posts: 1321 | Registered: Sep 1999
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The warning was reasonable, I guess. I was scanning the thread looking for non-spoilers, figured "mild spoilers" would be kinda okay. It didn't ruin anything (I still enjoyed the moment because it didn't happen the way I expected it too) but the end-of-game stuff is much better if you don't see it coming.
Someone ELSE had said to me "oh, the companion cubes are DEFINITELY sentient" but didn't elaborate. I'm not sure what he actually meant by that, but I had assumed (combined with Belle's statement) that the game ended with Wheately getting thrown into storage with a bunch of companion cubes to keep him company. I turned out to be totally wrong there. (I think my friend had been referring to the little cube-droids you meet later).
I managed to totally miss all the secret rooms (I wasn't looking for them as hard because the whole world was so falling apart that "secret lairs" didn't stand out as much.)
During the middle section, I thought that it would turn out that Caroline was the person who lived in the secret rooms and left you messages in Portal 1. I think that would have been pretty awesome - to have Caroline go up against an AI version of herself. I felt that the GlaDOS/Caroline thing wasn't as well developed as it could have been, although I liked the resolution. ("Caroline taught me a valuable lesson!" *Caroline Deleted* "Ah, much better!")
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Actually its probable that Caroline isn't deleted, the end of credits song implies she only said that because shes afraid she'll go insane again and hurt Chell.
Also there's a tie in comic/graphic novel thats sorta a prequel and features a talking companion cube, but its a figment of the dudes imagination.
Also, major spoilers for episode 3 it seems, anyone else notice Earth's oceans, officially 300 years after the ends of Portal 1 seem to be just fine and not fraked by the Combine? Heck you wind up in a corn field so its very probably the Freeman "wins" in Episode 3.
Question is, will we get a HL3 or a Portal 3?
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I wasn't sure what to make of the end song and the discrepancy there. I'm not sure how much stock to put in the song. I thought "Still Alive" heavily implied that you didn't kill GlaDOS at all - she just restored from a backup, and that it was possible that "killing her" was part of the test in the first place. (I kinda preferred that ambiguity to the specifies they get into in Portal 2)
Posts: 4136 | Registered: Aug 2008
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