Portal 2: What We Want

A few years back now, a game came along, somewhat discretely, as part of a collection from developer Valve. At first, the main attraction for that package was the latest installment in legendary series Half Life 2, and to a lesser extent Team Fortress 2. But then, finished with Gordon for another day, people turned to a cute little puzzler called Portal. The same Portal that has had a great effect on gaming in just 3 years since release. Before released it was cued up as innovative and fresh, but never would anyone have guessed the extent to which it would pull at our hearts and makes us rethink puzzle gaming as a whole.

With the recent giveaway of Portal, thousands of PC and Mac owners experienced the adventure for the first time. Now more than ever, all eyes are on Valve to bring the goods, but what do we at NXT Gamer want from the sequel to a game that 3 years later still lingers in our minds? Here’s eight things Valve should give a thought to.

1. Length:

When people sat down to play Portal back in ’07, many of them had it finished worryingly quickly. Understandable for such an experimental game, Valve had kept the experience to just 20-odd levels, ending after around 4 hours. People wanted more from the game, and the length would have been utterly unacceptable were it not bundled in with other quality titles. If Portal 2 wants to be a full retail game, it had better bring with it something seriously more meaty, doubling or tripling the original game’s longevity. Although, hopefully, that may not be necessary…

2. The Orange Box 2:

If Valve can’t bring the length, they’d better bring the extras. Rumours of a second Orange Box started forming together in 2008, with interviews suggesting that a new Counter-Strike game is in the works. Coupled together with the long-delayed Half-Life 2: Episode 3, the makings of a new Valve Box are becoming more and more obvious. Noise about any kind of sequel to TOB has been quiet for a while now, but it’s never too late for Valve to chuck in something fresh and give the people a nice little bundle to enjoy. Even if it means waiting even longer for some more from Dr. Freeman.

3. GLaDOS:

If there’s one thing, and one thing only, that the extra challenge maps proved to be true about Portal, it’s that the game isn’t nearly as enjoyable without a voice ominously guiding and simultaneously disturbing you throughout. GLaDOS brought humour to an otherwise depressing environment, and though she eventually, well, she eventually [the game's ending], the robotic woman was always there, reminding you of what you were doing and genuinely creeping out the player during the later levels. If GLaDOS herself cannot return, someone -or something- must take her place to maintain the magic and disturbing humour of Portal.

GLaDOS wasn't in the best of shape after the first game, but she's far more persistent than a few rockets to the circuitry. Her return seems likely.

4. Graphics:

The graphics in Portal were suitable for the theme and made reasonably good use of the Source engine, but much of the experience was spent in grey halls, the blue and orange portals being one of the few sources of colour. Jungle environments have been confirmed, but the grey being replaced by green won’t be enough to please all throughout a hopefully-lengthier experience. A full range of environments and a wider colour pallette would go far to improve the sequel’s enjoyment factor, may we suggest the moon? Or mars? Maybe not, but a zero-gravity Portal could be just what the sequel needs. Whatever environmental mechanics are included, a splash of colour and vibrancy now and again would be appreciated, Mr. Newell.

5. Something New:

Yeah, the Portal Gun was pretty cool. But that stuff’s so 2007. Valve are known for their innovation when it comes to weaponry, and with any hope Portal 2 should be no different. New abilities for the PG have been confirmed, and here’s hoping entirely new gameplay mechanics will be bundled in too. As above, zero-gravity could work. Or combat. I’m just spitballing ideas here, so who knows what those crazy cats at Valve have in store? May I suggest a short trip to Android Hell?

6. Multiplayer:

Not so much what we want, more that multiplayer is a near-inevitability. Gamestop still have included a multiplayer mode in their Portal 2 product description, the same product description that lists it as a standalone product, and gives a solid release date. But hey, what do Gamestop know? It seems now that pretty much every game that could conceivably include multiplayer does in some form (see: Bioshock), and a co-op could work incredibly well if given the side-campaign treatment that Splinter Cell: Conviction went with. A prequel campaign? Sure would be lovely. A co-op challenge mode? Could work. A Team Fortress 2-style shooter? Proven to work. If Valve are indeed to offer this as a standalone release, multiplayer would be a great way to validate that.

7. Multiplatform:

The original Portal, bundled in with the Orange Box, came to both 360 and PC. It made it to no other consoles in any kind of decent form, Valve themselves admitting that they made mistakes for the PS3 port. Returning to GameStop, the standalone retail listings for Portal 2 leave no mention of a PS3 version. A shame, but once again; what do GameStop know? Hopefully not too much, as PS3-only owners missing out on this sure-to-be great sequel would be unfortunate, to say the least. Valve have kept pretty quiet themselves about a possible Playstation port, so who really knows what to expect?

This is what happens when writers find their own images.

8. Cake:

Come on. She’s been through enough. Give Chell a Mini Roll or something at least.

So, with Valve’s E3-conference-cancelling “surprise” just round the corner, everything above and more remains up in the air. What role will Apeture’s Founder, Cave Johnson, play in the new title? Leaked scripts suggest something. What is Valve’s surprise, anyway? Will we have a reunion with our faithful companion cube? Only time (and Gabe Newell, presumably) will tell.

Extra Opinion Fun-Time:

That wraps up my general thoughts, but for your enjoyment only, here are the views of the other NXT Gamer team members:

Lightningz:

I don’t want much from Portal 2, I’d be quite content with a simple graphical refresh and a new environment! One thing I would definitely like to see would be extra downloadable maps, though.

TriggerHappyOli:

I would definitely like to see more of Glados, the Companion Cube, and of course, the cake. The well written dialogue and subtly crafted story was excellent and would be definitely welcome in the sequel!

You can make your own joke up for this.

Stranjak:

Portal had such a good sense of humour. First time a game really made me laugh. I hope they keep that sort of thing up in the sequel, but less creepy gun robots. Maybe see some more people throughout the game instead. Keep it mysterious, Valve.

Synonymble:

With Valve leading the industry in game design and technology, I would love to see the inclusion of new variables into the Portal puzzle formula. Already with the ability to drop physical objects through portals in the first game, I would love to see the capabilities of space and matter pushed further, perhaps transferring liquid from one space to the other, maybe using portals to morph pre-existing objects. It would be a huge leap in programming, and I doubt we’ll see it within the next 5 years, however with the newly developed “HydroEngine” for Hydrophobia, and with the genius at Valve, it could become a very reality sooner than we think.