Portal 2

[Forbin]

as far as i've been able to tell, you can't get achievements in commentary mode. even worse than that, there's no saving so you have to do entire chapters at a time and if you die you have to go back to the beginning of a level (not chapter) instead of a checkpoint. also there's not that many commentary nodes and even then half of them aren't very interesting.

I've got at least 2 achievements in commentary mode.

No level select is a shame though.

[Erkki]

:tup:The deformation stuff is amazing – I'm surprised I haven't heard more people gushing about this aspect of Portal 2. Ever since they hired that Weta guy and the railway bridge collapsed in Episode 2, I've been excited to see what they would do with the tech for their next game. Apparently they just went crazy with shit colliding, bending, breaking, stretching, tearing and bursting. Whenever I noticed something was about to move, I just kept waving the camera around, trying to catch every detail.

Yeah, that stuff was awesome, but I think there was another not so awesome side to that (or maybe unrelated): some debris and collapsed structures were really detailed, but in the physics engine they seemed to be pretty much box-shaped and there was a larger than usual mismatch between graphics detail and physics detail. It's a really small point though, I don't hold it against them.

[Squid Division]

K-Bohls and I just gone done with the coop campaign. Most of it was without mics. The campaign was great, but really, a lot has to be said for the gestures and pointing mechanics - really great. Between that and typing we really didn't even need mics.

[vimes]

Only 2 hours into Portal 2 due to not having a lot of time this week. Curious about these Idle Thumbs references...

That makes me very curious.

[pabosher]

That makes me very curious.

I only noticed one, and that was at the very end.

[toblix]

Also, it wasn't a reference. It's very cool in a thumb context, and it's hinted at earlier in the game, but I doubt they wrote the ending with Idle Thumbs in mind.

[Erwin_Br]

Finished single player mode yesterday. Steam says I did it in 16 hours, but I think it was closer to 10 hours. I kept the game on the menu a few times when I went to get something to eat.

I don't have much to add about Portal 2 what's already been said here. I think it's fantastic, and the only detail that could've been improved is the loading screens. My favorite part is what Toblix describes as the depressing 60s/70s thing with the huge domes. Partly because of Cave Johnson (great character), but also because I liked you got to see how the company evolved through the years.

Now I hope there's still people left for me to play coop with.

[ThunderPeel2001]

I only noticed one, and that was at the very end.

Also, it wasn't a reference. It's very cool in a thumb context, and it's hinted at earlier in the game, but I doubt they wrote the ending with Idle Thumbs in mind.

Explain?

[pabosher]

Explain?

Have you finished it?

Toblix is right when he says it's not a 'reference' per se - it's not like Glados says "Baboo, the Wizard, far cry 2, trine" etc. But

it does involve THE FUCKING MOON

which I thought was awesome, and did make me think of Idle Thumbs.

[Erkki]

Toblix is right when he says it's not a 'reference' per se - it's not like Glados says "Baboo, the Wizard, far cry 2, trine" etc. But

it does involve THE FUCKING MOON

which I thought was awesome, and did make me think of Idle Thumbs.

Haha. If anyone is seriously considering

the moon

to be an Idle Thumbs reference, you are clinically insane.

[pabosher]

Haha. If anyone is seriously considering

the moon

to be an Idle Thumbs reference, you are clinically insane.

Again, I use 'reference' loosely. It's definitely not an intentional reference on the part of the designers, but it did make me go "haha oh yeah fuck yeah [redacted] idle thumbs"

[Forbin]

http://i.imgur.com/avwUB.jpg (spoiler level: low)

[ThunderPeel2001]

Again, I use 'reference' loosely. It's definitely not an intentional reference on the part of the designers, but it did make me go "haha oh yeah fuck yeah [redacted] idle thumbs"

Sorry to be a ballbreaking stickler, but it's not a reference if it's not intentional. But that still leaves open what Marek was referring to... A deliberate attempt at making us look for references, perhaps?

[Nappi]

Glados says "Baboo, the Wizard, far cry 2, trine"

Holy shit! Can't wait to play this now.

But my mom says I can't play video games until I work on my concentration.

[pabosher]

Sorry to be a ballbreaking stickler, but it's not a reference if it's not intentional. But that still leaves open what Marek was referring to... A deliberate attempt at making us look for references, perhaps?

No, I think Marek saw Chris's tweet, and just called it a reference.

[Noyb]

Perhaps Bronstring Marek Bronstring is just wondering what all of the spoilered comments in this thread are referring to?

This thread is getting way too meta.

[Brannigan]

Chris Remo is clearly the spaaaaaaaaaaaaaaace personality sphere.

[Erkki]

No, I think Marek saw Chris's tweet, and just called it a reference.

Yeah, I think it was a reply to this:

Oh my God. Idle Thumbs readers need to complete Portal 2. What.

[miffy495]

Just completed it. As Remo tweeted about the ending: What. Also, awesome as hell. Not living in the UK and having never seen any of Merchant's commercials, I thought he was perfect as Wheatley. Every single part of that game impressed me. I too got stuck at the same place as people have been talking about,

launching yourself through the Aperture sign at the start of the Cave Johnson section

, but aside from that I found the challenge level to be perfect. I struggled now and then, but always got it and felt like a goddamned genius. I laughed my ass off from time to time, and can't really think of a time when the dialogue didn't feel right. The one gripe I have with it was that

I saw Wheatley turning on you from a mile away.

I agree that there would have been a better way to handle it once

he was in charge of the facility.

Even just saying

"Whoops, he can't cope and keep things under control. Now he's going to blow everything up by accident and you need to get GladOS back in charge so that the three of you don't all die."

would have been enough. Oh well, minor complaint in a game that I can't really see being unseated as my Goty in 8 months time.

Made tentative plans with Patters to check out the co-op on Tuesday afternoon, which I hope work out. I have internet for a week while I'm housesitting and want to get a bunch of time in that mode in while I can. Tuesday, Wednesday, maybe Thursday, and probably Friday afternoons I should be up for a game if anyone is interested, though I'm giving first dibs to Patters as I've already talked with him about it. I didn't bring my headset with me to the house I'm at though, so I'm either going to have to see how the onboard microphone on my laptop fares or do without voice chat.

On a side note: Man, remember what it's like to have a new single player game from Valve? Fuck that felt good. The first hour or two of this game were just complete bliss for me as I took in that amazing feeling. I immediately re-installed every single installment in the Half Life series, and intend to replay them ASAP. Where the fuck is Episode 3?

[ThunderPeel2001]

*wistful sigh*

Just reading your review of the game brings back joyful memories of playing it on release day. I'm almost afraid to play it again, because I think it might sully my memories (and because it's probably not going to be as much fun now I know how to solve the puzzles).

At least there's some decent achievements this time, though! The first Portal's achievements were irritating, and in most cases, obscenely difficult and unfun. (The challenges spring to mind -- so insanely unbalanced that the same number of people have bronze medals as gold: 0.5% of players.) I think I'll go back through Portal 2 with an eye to getting these new ones, though.

[Lu]

Indeed, I'll probably go back and try to do some of the ones I missed. I'd also like to do some of the co-op challenges yet. In any case, Miffy's review: Nailed it! I agree 100%.

[Forbin]

Giant bomb's podcast feed just got a Portal 2 spoilercast. It's Ryan Davies basically interviewing the guys at Valve.

The moon is explained

Edited April 25, 2011 by Forbin

[vimes]

About the ending

The moon made sense right away : in chapter 8 or 9, Johnson rants about buying a few millions of dollars worth of moon rocks to create the conversion fluid which render any surface portal compatible. So the moon is portal compatible. It's over the top, and I didn't see it coming at all; but it made perfect sense. Which is :tup:

[a purple future]

from what i understand

the moon was supposed to be an easter egg but people liked it so much they made it part of the real story.

[Jake]

Vanaman pointed this out and I didn't notice it but in retrospect it bums me out a little --

Cave Johnson

's dialog eventually entirely broke the fourth wall, without really having any contextual reason to. It started with him talking to "you" as in "the Aperture Science test subject," but by the end he was just talking to "you, the player." There's no narrative reason why he would be blaring audio diaries over the PA system about

how he should be planted in a computer and how if he can't, his assistant should

. That dialog was also weird just for how on the nose it was. I imagine most everyone had already figured that plot point out on their own through the preceding dialog, but then

Cave

suddenly showed up on the PA and blared out a very personal, exposition-laden note across his lab. It felt like Valve suddenly got worried that their audience was super dumb.

I know that is the tiniest nitpick ever, but whatever.

Also, the load screens bummed me out. I've always liked that Valve single player games are (when played perfectly) a single long take. There are loads, yes, but they happen over a still frame, and then continue perfectly after that. Portal 2, fading out between each elevator (and worse, right in the middle of random hallways) to load felt like a series of vignettes instead, which is a very different experience. It didn't really ruin anything, but it was a definite change in the player experience, and not one that I preferred over their previous games.

But, to be clear, I guess: I loved Portal 2. It's by no means perfect, and I think I liked the first game more in the grand scheme of things, but Portal 2 was an incredible and weird experience, unlike anything I've played. It felt very much like a project during which the team just said "fuck it," and went completely bananas with every weird idea that came along. That's usually a disastrous plan (especially on a sequel), but Portal 2 kept it together and was the better for it. The way the insanity just kept stacking until the final moment of the game

portal to the moon!

, and still somehow held together, was so good, and completely rare. Nobody does that. The co-op sitting around on the side being a more traditional Portal 1-style experience is nice as well.