"Look at you soaring majestically through the air, like an eagle. Piloting a blimp."-GLaDOS
Portal 2 is an incredible successor to the original Portal, and the effort put into it shows clearly. GLaDOS is still passive aggressive, but a few more speaking characters show up, that all contribute to the humour of the game.
The first new character we are introduced to is Wheatley, a personality core played by Stephan Merchant. A recurring gag near the beginning of the game is him saying that 'he was told that if he used [insert tool here], he would DIE.'
The second character is an automated announcer of sorts that doesn't really say anything other than contingencies for the end of civilization, including telling you that testing is the future, so that Aperture Science Testing would never stop.
GLaDOS is the 3rd character we meet, and she is just as funny as in the first game. She constantly jabs at Chell's weight and Ellen McLain, the actress, brings that through perfectly.
The fourth and final new character is Cave Johnson, the founder of Aperture Science. It is simply recordings of him, but his part of the game makes it very, very clear where Aperture Science got its insanity from.
The gameplay is still great, there's the portals and the turrets ("I don't hate you") but the biggest addition is the Gels. There's an orange gel that speeds you up, a blue gel that you bounce off of and a white gel that can be used as a portalable surface. One thing that is a bit different is that there are far less portalable surfaces than in the first game. It makes the game more of a puzzle, and there are almost no twitch reflex puzzles, like the ones with the pellet shooters from the first Portal. Some of the puzzles are hard, but they are very rewarding when completed.
The story is awesome and funny, but I won't say anything more except that the ending has a Trophy or achievement that actually has the description of "Yes, that just happened."
I have not had a chance to try the Co-op, as the PSN is down right now, but I will add another post on Portal 2 when I can use it.
