Look, it’s not entirely my fault it took me so long. Portal 2’s co-operation mode isn’t exactly a piece of cake to get through, but more to the point the clue is in the title in that it absolutely demands co-operation! And unfortunately for me the only person I had around to go through the game with was Mrs. Comet, and not only was she not very familiar with Portal as a concept she’s also quick to throw in the towel when the going gets tough.
I’ve had to drag her through and, especially at the end, it was sometimes a case of just completing a single stage of an area before she’d call it a day. That makes getting to the end of this thing a long, drawn-out process. Jesus, there was one fucking time she decided taking a nap would be more appropriate and I was picking up my controller, progressing, then putting my controller down and picking hers up and working through in that manner. I only persevered in that manner because it was right near the end of the level - but this tells you a lot about the type of shit Mrs. Comet was giving when the going got tough.
It is to the game’s credit that the co-op mode was so substantial. Whilst it naturally didn’t possess all the cinematic thrill or stylised bells and whistles of the single player game what it did bring was a mass host of fiendish puzzle rooms, lots of quips and tomfoolery from GLaDOS and the two robot protagonists, and a completely self-sufficient plot (that, I believe, opens up potential avenues for further games in the series should there ever be any).
Whilst playing the game I wasn’t entirely sure where chronologically this co-operative story stood in the Portal scheme of things. For the most part I thought this was perhaps taking place after the events of the first game but before the second. I thought that GLaDOS was using these two robots to gain information and codes so she could launch some kind of attack on the outside world, potentially nuclear, and so set-up the probably post-humanity world that seems to exist in Portal 2.
Turned out that GLaDOS was, as expected, patently up to something devious but it wasn't apocalypse. As is revealed at the end, this is clearly set after the events of Portal 2 and GLaDOS is merely procuring for herself more test subjects. Plot wise, then, not exactly revelatory stuff but it kept me interested.
The gameplay was the key here, with the introduction of two players using two sets of portals employed to brain-bending effect. Seriously, I found some of these puzzles hard. Credit to Mrs. Comet, too, who did engage with the game and managed to figure out a few things for us.
It’s pointless to try and go into specifics of puzzles, or really even discuss how difficult they were – save to say they were tough, especially towards the final stages. I can’t imagine how anyone would get through the game playing co-op online without a headset. Whilst the game did have non-verbal commands at its disposal, I just don’t see how two people that can’t speak to each other would puzzle their way through the game together.
Mrs. Comet and I experienced our fair share of arguments and hostilities as we played the game – frustrated with one another for all kinds of reasons – so I can’t say it’s got that ‘feelgood’ factor for a 2-player co-op, but it was an immense gaming achievement to get through it and I was glad to get to the end and see the resolution of the story. All told, though, the single player campaign remains the far superior way to play Portal and it’s for that, really, do I consider Portal 2 to be the best game of the year so far.
Uncharted 3 will probably blow it away, though.
I’ve had to drag her through and, especially at the end, it was sometimes a case of just completing a single stage of an area before she’d call it a day. That makes getting to the end of this thing a long, drawn-out process. Jesus, there was one fucking time she decided taking a nap would be more appropriate and I was picking up my controller, progressing, then putting my controller down and picking hers up and working through in that manner. I only persevered in that manner because it was right near the end of the level - but this tells you a lot about the type of shit Mrs. Comet was giving when the going got tough.
It is to the game’s credit that the co-op mode was so substantial. Whilst it naturally didn’t possess all the cinematic thrill or stylised bells and whistles of the single player game what it did bring was a mass host of fiendish puzzle rooms, lots of quips and tomfoolery from GLaDOS and the two robot protagonists, and a completely self-sufficient plot (that, I believe, opens up potential avenues for further games in the series should there ever be any).
Whilst playing the game I wasn’t entirely sure where chronologically this co-operative story stood in the Portal scheme of things. For the most part I thought this was perhaps taking place after the events of the first game but before the second. I thought that GLaDOS was using these two robots to gain information and codes so she could launch some kind of attack on the outside world, potentially nuclear, and so set-up the probably post-humanity world that seems to exist in Portal 2.
Turned out that GLaDOS was, as expected, patently up to something devious but it wasn't apocalypse. As is revealed at the end, this is clearly set after the events of Portal 2 and GLaDOS is merely procuring for herself more test subjects. Plot wise, then, not exactly revelatory stuff but it kept me interested.
The gameplay was the key here, with the introduction of two players using two sets of portals employed to brain-bending effect. Seriously, I found some of these puzzles hard. Credit to Mrs. Comet, too, who did engage with the game and managed to figure out a few things for us.
It’s pointless to try and go into specifics of puzzles, or really even discuss how difficult they were – save to say they were tough, especially towards the final stages. I can’t imagine how anyone would get through the game playing co-op online without a headset. Whilst the game did have non-verbal commands at its disposal, I just don’t see how two people that can’t speak to each other would puzzle their way through the game together.
Mrs. Comet and I experienced our fair share of arguments and hostilities as we played the game – frustrated with one another for all kinds of reasons – so I can’t say it’s got that ‘feelgood’ factor for a 2-player co-op, but it was an immense gaming achievement to get through it and I was glad to get to the end and see the resolution of the story. All told, though, the single player campaign remains the far superior way to play Portal and it’s for that, really, do I consider Portal 2 to be the best game of the year so far.
Uncharted 3 will probably blow it away, though.
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