Portal 2
Encyclopedia
Portal 2 is a first-person
puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation
. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game
based on new patches
to the original game. Though initially slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2010, the game was postponed to the week of April 18, 2011. The game was released by Valve through Steam for Microsoft Windows
and Mac OS X
, while the PlayStation 3
, Xbox 360
, and retail Windows/OS X versions of the game are distributed by Electronic Arts
. The game's release on Steam was preceded by a second multi-week alternate reality game, the Potato Sack
, involving 13 independently-developed titles which culminated in a distributed computing
spoof to release Portal 2 several hours early.
Like Portal, Portal 2 primarily comprises a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting
the player's character and simple objects using the "portal gun", a device that can create inter-spatial portals
between two flat planes. The game's physics allow momentum to be retained through these portals, which must be used creatively to maneuver through the game's challenges. Most gameplay elements of the original Portal were retained in the sequel, and more were added to Portal 2, including tractor beams, laser redirection, and paint-like gels that impart special properties to objects they cover. These gels were created by the team from the Independent Games Festival
-winning DigiPen student project Tag: The Power of Paint
.
Within the single player campaign, the player returns as the human Chell
, having awakened from stasis after many years. Chell must navigate the now-dilapidated Aperture Science Enrichment Center and its test chambers with the portal gun while the facility is rebuilt by the reactivated GLaDOS
, an artificially intelligent
computer that first appeared in Portal. The storyline is longer than that of Portals and introduces new characters, including the A.I. Wheatley
, voiced by Stephen Merchant
, and recordings of the deceased Aperture Science CEO Cave Johnson
, voiced by J. K. Simmons
. Ellen McLain
reprised the role of GLaDOS. Jonathan Coulton
and The National
produced one song each for the game. Portal 2 also includes a two-player co-operative mode, in which the robotic player-characters Atlas and P-Body are each given a portal gun and are required to work together to solve test chambers specifically designed to require cooperation. Valve provided post-release support for the game, including additional downloadable content
and a simplified map editor
to allow player to create and share test chambers with others.
Though many reviewers were initially concerned about the difficulty of expanding Portal into a full sequel, critics universally praised Portal 2. The game's writing, pacing, and black humor
were highlighted as stand-out elements, with critics applauding the voice work of McLain, Merchant, and Simmons. Reviews also highlighted the new gameplay elements, the game's challenging but surmountable learning curve, and the additional co-operative mode. At the player-selected Golden Joystick Awards
2011, the game was awarded the "Ultimate Game of the Year".
Portal 2 is a puzzle game presented from the first-person perspective. Players act as Chell
in the single-player campaign and as one of two robots, Atlas and P-Body, in the co-operative campaign. All three can move, look, and interact with the environment. The character can withstand damage for a brief period but will die under sustained injury. There is no penalty for falling onto a solid surface, even at high speed, but falling into bottomless pits or pools of toxic liquid kills the player-character immediately. When Chell dies in the single-player game, the game restarts from a recent checkpoint; in the co-op game, the robot respawns shortly afterwards without restarting the puzzle. The goal of both campaigns is to maneuver the character(s) through the Aperture Science facility. While most of the game takes place in modular "test chambers" with clearly-defined entrances and exits, other parts occur in behind-the-scenes areas where the objectives are less clear.
The initial levels provide a tutorial on general movement controls and how to interact with the environment. Afterwards, the player is required to solve puzzles using the "portal gun", formally the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, which can create two portals connecting two distant surfaces. Only some surfaces can accept portals; these are depicted as matte white, continuous, and flat. As in Portal, characters can use these portals to move unconventionally between rooms, or to "fling" objects or themselves across a distance. Unlike in Portal, outlines of placed portals are visible through walls and other obstacles for easy location.
New game elements include Thermal Discouragement Beams (laser
s replacing the energy balls from Portal), Excursion Funnels (tractor beam
s), and Hard Light Bridges, all of which can be transmitted through portals. The new Aerial Faith Plates launch the player or objects through the air, and sometimes into portals. The turrets from Portal return, and players must disable them or avoid their line of sight. The Weighted Storage Cube has been redesigned, and there are new types: Redirection Cubes, which have prismatic lenses that redirect laser beams, and spherical Edgeless Safety Cubes
, which made a brief appearance in one of Portals advanced chambers. The heart-decorated Weighted Companion Cube reappears briefly. Early demonstrations included Pneumatic Diversity Vents, shown to transport objects and transfer suction power through portals, but these do not appear in the final game because the technology was not ready in time. All of these game elements either open locked doors, or aid or hamper the character from physically reaching the exit.
Portal 2 also introduces paint-like gels that impart certain properties to a surface or object coated with them. Gels are dispensed from pipes and can be transported through portals. Orange Propulsion Gel boosts Chell's speed as she crosses a surface, blue Repulsion Gel allows her to bounce from a surface, and white Conversion Gel allows many surfaces to accept portals. Some surfaces, such as grilles, cannot be coated with a gel. Water can block or wash away gels, returning the surface or object to its normal state.
The game includes a two-player co-operative mode in addition to the single player mode. Two players can play at the same console with a split screen
, or at their own computers or consoles; Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and PlayStation 3 users can play with each other regardless of platform. Both player-characters are robots who control separate portal guns and can use the other character's portals as necessary. Each player's portals are of a different color scheme, one in blue and purple and the other in orange and red, to distinguish between the two sets. An initial "calibration
" chamber separates the characters to teach the players to use the communication tools and portals. Most later chambers are less structured and require players to use both sets of portals for laser or funnel redirection, launches, and other maneuvers. The game provides voice communication between players, and online players have the ability to temporarily enter a split-screen view to help coordinate actions. Players can "ping" to draw the other player's attention to walls or objects, start countdown timers for synchronized actions, and perform joint "gestures" such as waving or hugging. The game tracks which chambers each player has completed and allows players to replay chambers they have completed with new partners.
According to Valve, each of the two campaigns (single-player and co-operative) is 2 to 2.5 times as long as the campaign in Portal, with the overall game five times as long. Erik Wolpaw
, Portal 2s lead writer, estimates each campaign is about six hours long. Portal 2 contains in-game commentary
from the game developers, writers, and artists, as in previous Valve games. The commentary, accessible after completing the game once, appears on node icons scattered through the chambers.
that ran the Aperture Science Enrichment Center where the game is set. In Portals backstory, Aperture Science conducted experiments to determine whether human subjects could navigate dubiously safe "test chambers", until GLaDOS killed the scientists with a neurotoxin
. The ending of the first game, retroactively patched just prior to the sequel's official announcement, shows Chell being dragged away from the remains of GLaDOS by an unseen figure with a robotic voice, later identified by writer Erik Wolpaw as the "Party Escort Bot." A promotional comic shows that an estranged Aperture Science employee placed Chell into suspended animation
for an indefinite amount of time, in an effort to save her life.
The Portal series shares a universe
with the Half-Life series
. Portal takes place after Half-Life but before Half-Life 2
, and Portal 2 is set "a long time after" its predecessor.
), a personality core, moves the room—located in one of hundreds of shipping containers
in a giant warehouse—and the pair attempt to escape through the test chambers. In the process they discover the dormant GLaDOS (Ellen McLain
) and accidentally reactivate her. GLaDOS, who has not forgiven Chell for "murdering" her years ago, separates Chell from Wheatley and begins rebuilding the facility.
GLaDOS begins testing Chell in a series of new test chambers until Wheatley helps Chell escape. The pair disable the neurotoxin and turret manufacturing plant before confronting GLaDOS a second time. Chell performs a "core transfer," which replaces GLaDOS with Wheatley in the body that controls the facility. He becomes intoxicated with power, and places GLaDOS's personality into a module powered by a potato battery. He betrays Chell and sends both Chell and GLaDOS into an abandoned area of the facility miles underground. As they fall, GLaDOS chastises Chell for putting Wheatley in the position of power, claiming that he was designed to be "the dumbest moron who ever lived", producing illogical thoughts to hamper GLaDOS's decision-making processes in an attempt to make her less dangerous.
After landing deep underground, GLaDOS's potato is abducted by a bird, while Chell explores the decommissioned section of the facility where she finds herself. There, she ascends through a series of old test chambers in chronological order, and is greeted by recordings of Aperture Science's CEO, Cave Johnson (J. K. Simmons
). It is learned that Johnson became increasingly embittered and deranged as his company lost money and prestige, leading to him being fatally poisoned by moon dust
(which, coincidently, accepts portals). His assistant, Caroline (McLain), became a test subject for a mind-to-computer transfer experiment and ultimately became part of GLaDOS. Chell and GLaDOS are reunited and form a partnership to stop Wheatley before his incompetence destroys the complex, while GLaDOS struggles with the revelation about Caroline.
Chell and GLaDOS return to the modern facility and face Wheatley, who is driven by GLaDOS's body to continue to test them. In a final "surprise", Wheatley tricks Chell into a series of death traps. Chell escapes due to Wheatley's clumsiness and lack of logical thinking, and makes her way to his chamber. In their final confrontation, Chell attaches three corrupt personality cores (Nolan North
) to the body that Wheatley inhabits, allowing GLaDOS to initiate a second core transfer and put herself back in control. However, just as Chell is about to conclude the core transfer, Wheatley reveals that he has booby-trapped the process. As the facility's nuclear reactor enters its final phase of meltdown, the roof collapses, revealing the night sky. Chell shoots a portal at the moon overhead, causing the vacuum of space to pull her and Wheatley through the other portal still inside the chamber. GLaDOS pulls Chell back inside, where she falls unconscious, leaving Wheatley stranded in space, along with a corrupt, space-obsessed personality core.
When Chell awakens, GLaDOS explains that she learned valuable lessons about humanity from her Caroline persona. She promptly deletes this aspect of her personality, reverting to her usual antagonistic attitude. She finally allows Chell to leave the facility, explaining that trying to kill Chell has proven so difficult that it will be easier to just let her go. The game ends as Chell is taken to the surface and, after a brief interlude, exits into a wheat field from a corrugated metal shed. The charred and battered Weighted Companion Cube (supposedly incinerated during the events of Portal) is then flung out the door after her before it slams shut. In the epilogue, Wheatley floats helplessly through space and expresses regrets about betraying Chell.
. GLaDOS gleefully congratulates the robots on locating the humans, whom she sees as new test subjects. She then "violently disassembles" the robots, telling them "we still have a lot of work to do".
In the bonus course "Art Therapy", GLaDOS claims that it has been one hundred thousand years since the robots opened the vault, all the humans are fine, and that testing is "simply an artistic indulgence now." However, it soon becomes clear that something is wrong. When the disassemblers stop working, GLaDOS finally reveals that it has only been a week since the previous course, all the humans are dead (due to extreme testing trying to develop one into a "killing machine"), and that somebody (whom GLaDOS refers to as "she") is trying to take control over the facility from her using a prototype chassis. After a few more tests, GLaDOS sends the robots to the prototype chassis room where it is revealed that the "person" is actually the bird encountered in the single-player campaign, who is nesting on the keyboard. Panicking, GLaDOS tells the robots to abort their mission, but they are able to scare it off. When GLaDOS spots eggs in the bird's nest, she initially tells the robots to smash the eggs, but, upon seeing their reluctance, decides to move the eggs to her chamber. She immediately sees potential in the birds when one of the hatchlings manages to crack the glass containing them. The hatchlings' fate will be unknown until more courses are added.
, Valve decided to make Portal 2 its own product. Work began almost immediately after the release of Portal. They committed more resources than for the first game; Portal had a team of seven or eight people, but Portal 2 had a team of 30 or 40. The initial team of four expanded as subgroups formed to devise game mechanics and plot the story. Participants in internal review processes were inspired to join the project by what they saw. According to Erik Wolpaw, some Portal 2 developers worked on the Left 4 Dead
games to help them meet milestones, but then returned to Portal 2, "with extra people in tow." Kim Swift, Portals designer, left Valve for Airtight Games
halfway through Portal 2s development.
Project manager Erik Johnson said Valve's goal for Portal 2 was to find a way to "re-surprise" players, which he considered a "pretty terrifying" prospect. In March 2011, one month before the game's release, Valve president Gabe Newell
called Portal 2 "the best game we've ever done."
After Portal 2 release Geoff Keighley
reported that, according to Newell, "Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience". Keighley later stated that the use of the word "probably" suggests that "this could change." Newell said that Valve is not "giving up on single-player at all", but intends to include more social features on top of the single player experience, akin to the co-operative mode in Portal 2.
of some leaked aspects of the game's plot then under consideration, Newell directed the team to reconsider their plans for Portal 2, including the lack of portals.
Johnson stated that Valve's aim was not to make Portal 2 more difficult than its predecessor, but instead to produce "a game where you think your way through particular parts of the level, and feel really smart when you solve it." Portal 2 gives the player incremental steps in understanding game mechanics, an approach that led to two basic types of test chambers. The first type, which Valve calls "checklisting", provides a relatively safe environment for the player to experiment with a new gameplay concept; the second type combines elements in new ways to force the player to think laterally
, producing challenging and rewarding puzzles. Chambers were first developed through whiteboard via isometric
drawings. The developers performed a sanity check on the chamber before crafting simple levels with the Hammer level editor
. Extensive play-testing ensured the solutions to each chamber were neither too obvious nor difficult, as well to observe alternative solutions discovered by playtesters. Based on their input, the design team would either keep these alternative solutions viable or block them if they were too easy. Once a chamber was considered ready, artists would add elements such as detailed texturing, dynamic lighting, and vegetation, for rendering within an advanced version of the Source game engine. These versions would then be sent back for further play-testing to verify the new elements did not prevent players from finding solutions, with further iterations between artists and playtesters until such issues were resolved.
Several of Portal 2s early chambers were built by applying decay, collapse, and overgrowth to Portal chambers. This was done to give Portal players a sense of nostalgia and a sense of how much time had passed in the game world. It also let the team replace the less resolved textures from the first game with higher-resolution, dirty textures the newer engine could support. The middle section of the single-player campaign takes place in larger in-game spaces, where the developers made most surfaces unable to accept portals, to force players to find creative ways to cross them. In the final section, when Wheatley controls the Aperture facility, "the level designers just had a blast" creating deranged chambers reflecting Wheatley's stupidity, according to writer Jay Pinkerton
. The designers recognized that solving puzzles would tire players mentally, so they inserted occasional "experiences" to give the player a rest and advance the plot.
Portal 2 integrates a game mechanic from Tag Team's Tag: The Power of Paint
: paint-like gels that impart special properties to surfaces or objects they coat. Impressed by Tag, Valve hired its creators to develop the mechanic further and only later decided to include it in Portal 2; however, Valve's vice president of marketing says that "the decision to combine their tech with Portal 2 came naturally". Journalists have likened Tag to Narbacular Drop
, the DigiPen student project that became Portal. The Repulsion (jumping) and Propulsion (running) gels in Portal 2 are original to Tag. Using the third Tag gel, which allows the character to walk on any coated surface regardless of gravity, caused motion sickness in playtesters. It was replaced by Conversion gel, which integrates with the portal mechanic. The gels give the player more control over the environment, which increased the challenge for the puzzle designers. The gels are rendered using fluid dynamics
routines specially developed at Valve by the former Tag Team.
In addition to the gels, Portal 2 uses advanced rendering techniques for liquid pools, developed for Left 4 Dead 2
. Portal 2 combines "flowing" surface maps to mimic the motion of water with "debris flow" maps and random noise to create realistic real-time rendering of water effects.
The co-operative gameplay came about from requests from players as well from anecdotes of players working together on the same computer or console to solve the game's puzzles, likened by Wolpaw to players working together on the same computer to solve point-and-click adventure games
. The co-operative campaign was also inspired by Valve's Left 4 Dead
co-operative games, where players would enjoy discussing their personal experiences with the game when they were done playing. While the single player campaign in Portal 2 is designed to avoid frustrating the player, the co-operative levels are focused on coordination and communication, and are recognized by Valve as being much more difficult than the single-player puzzles. Valve avoided including timed puzzles into the single-player experience in Portal and Portal 2, but found that their inclusion into the co-operative mode was effective, as it gives players a positive feeling after they successfully plan and execute difficult maneuvers. Each puzzle chamber in the co-operative mode requires four portals to solve it; this is to prevent puzzles being solved by the actions of only one player. As soon as a playtester discovered a way to complete a puzzle with one set of portals, the level was sent back to the drawing board for further work. Except in a few cases, the chambers were designed so that both players would remain in sight of each other in order to promote communication and co-operation. Some of the puzzle chambers were designed as asymmetric chambers, where one player would manipulate portals and controls to allow the other player to cross the room. This helped emphasize that the two characters, while working together, are also separate entities. The ability to tag surfaces with instructional icons for one's partner was soon realized as a necessary element, as it was found to be much more effective for co-operation than simple verbal instruction.
In addition to the co-operative mode, Valve considered a competitive mode. According to Wolpaw, the mode resembled a variation of speedball
, where one team would attempt to transport a ball from one side of the playing field to the other using portals, while the other team would attempt to stop them with their own use of portals. Wolpaw said the matches would begin with this objective in mind, but quickly descend into chaos. They realized people enjoyed solving puzzles with portals more and therefore focused on the co-operative mode.
and Left 4 Dead
writer Chet Faliszek. Wolpaw and Pinkerton wrote the single-player campaign story, while Faliszek developed GLaDOS's lines for the co-operative campaign. There are 13,000 lines of dialogue in the single player and co-operative campaigns combined. While the writers felt they needed to create a larger story for a stand-alone title, they wanted the game to "feel relatively intimate", and avoided adding too many new characters. The writers considered expanding on the "sterility and dryness" from Portal, while injecting more comedy. Wolpaw noted that while some developers have been moving towards art game
s, no one had made a comedic video game. The game's story was developed in tight coordination with the gameplay development and testing.
Portal 2 was originally envisioned as a prequel to Portal, to be set in the 1950s, long before GLaDOS's takeover of the Aperture Science facility, with events set in motion when Aperture CEO Cave Johnson becomes trapped within a computer. Johnson would have eventually led an army of robots against the player to rise to power within Aperture. In June 2008, based on information from a casting call website and leaked script samples, Kotaku
reported that Valve was seeking voice actors for Johnson, naming him as an AI
and identifying the game as a prequel. Valve attributed this leak to an "overeager agent". Following negative playtester feedback to the omission of Chell and GLaDOS, Portal 2 was re-conceived as a sequel. The team returned to the idea of exploring parts of the facility from Aperture's early days, and reincorporated Johnson through a series of recordings.
Wolpaw commented that while many story elements of Portal are revisited in Portal 2, he avoided some of the memes
—such as the frequently-repeated "the cake is a lie"—stating that "if you thought you were sick of the memes, I was sick of it way ahead of you". However, Wolpaw "couldn't resist putting in just one" cake joke. The writers did not attempt to predict or write new memes, believing that "you can't really plan for [dialogue to become a meme] because if you do it probably seems weird and forced". The sequel did spawn its own memes, most notably Johnson's tirade to "make life take the lemons back" and the space-obsessed personality core from the final battle.
Richard McCormick of PlayStation 3 Magazine has identified several elements of Portal 2s story relating to the mythological tale of Prometheus
, with GLaDOS personified as Prometheus as granting knowledge—in the form of the portal gun— to humanity and then being punished by being bound to a rock, pecked at by birds, and cast into the pits of Tartarus
, and Wheatley as his foolish brother Epimetheus
. Within the game, a sentry gun makes reference to the Prometheus mythology, the word "Tartarus" can be seen in the supporting columns in the depths of Aperture Science, and one portrait of Cave and Caroline also shows Aeschylus
, the presumed author of Prometheus Bound
. Journalists and players have also found connections between Portal 2 and Half-Life 2. In a crossover, Portal 2 suggests that an experiment accidentally teleported Aperture Science's cargo ship, the Borealis, into the seemingly impossible position in which was discovered at the end of Half-Life 2: Episode Two
.
Valve explored introducing a new protagonist for Portal 2. Though playtesters accepted playing as a different character for the first part of the game, they became disoriented when GLaDOS did not recognize them. Ultimately the writers returned to Chell, the protagonist of Portal. Valve artists explored different outfits for Chell, and considered changing her (ambiguous) nationality. Ultimately they returned to the orange "dehumanizing" jumpsuit from Portal, now with the top tied around Chell's waist to enhance freedom of movement and help her "stand out more as an individual". PSM3
called the new look "controversially sexy". As in the first game, Chell's facial appearance is based on that of voice actress Alésia Glidewell
. Chell continues her role as a silent observer, as the straight man in response to the insanity around her and as a way to refuse to give her antagonists any satisfaction.
GLaDOS, the primary antagonist in Portal, returns as a major character, with Ellen McLain
again as voice actor. As part of her overall character arc, the plot moves GLaDOS from a state of anger with Chell for her actions in Portal, which Wolpaw believed "was going to get old pretty quick", to an internal struggle.
The writers considered introducing about six personality cores stored in portable spheres, whose main function would be story advancement. They planned cores based on Morgan Freeman
's character Red from The Shawshank Redemption
and Quint from Jaws
, among others. Ultimately they decided to concentrate on a single core, Wheatley, recycling two of the rejected cores in the final boss fight. Wheatley is voiced by Stephen Merchant
; early demonstrations at trade shows used the voice of Valve animator Richard Lord. The writers wrote Wheatley's lines with Merchant in mind, citing his unique "vocal silhouette" and his ability to ad lib in a "frantic" manner. They initially assumed Merchant would be unavailable and contacted The IT Crowd
s writer Graham Linehan
to try to get Richard Ayoade
, but then discovered Merchant was interested. Merchant spent around sixteen hours recording lines and was given freedom to improvise. Karen Prell
led the animation team for Wheatley and the other personality cores.
J. K. Simmons
voices Cave Johnson
, Aperture Science's founder and CEO. Simmons's selection helped to solidify the character's development. Pictures of Johnson, based on the face of lead animator Bill Fletcher, appear throughout Portal 2. Though comparisons have been made between Johnson and Andrew Ryan
, the wealthy industrialist that created the fictional underwater city of Rapture
in BioShock
, Wolpaw says they did not consider this character while creating Johnson. The writers required another character to play off Johnson, but did not want to hire another voice actor. Having already enlisted McLain to play GLaDOS, they had her voice Johnson's assistant, Caroline. The reuse of McLain's voice led to the creation of a backstory and subplot about GLaDOS's creation. This element was also directed by the writers having a "true moment of incredible panic" when they realized that their plans to have Chell and GLaDOS play off each other like in a buddy cop film
would only work if both partners spoke. To remedy this, the creation of the Caroline subplot gave GLaDOS an external situation to deal with and to drive the story during the middle act of the game.
The co-operative campaign contains a separate story involving the two robotic characters and GLaDOS. Initial plans called for Chell and a new human character, "Mel", with dialogue for GLaDOS playing off their "image issues" that was retained after the switch to robots. GLaDOS seems troubled by the robots' cooperation, and attempts to aggravate their relationship through verbal trickery, such as praising one robot over the other. Valve initially considered having GLaDOS deliver separate lines to each player, but they found this to be a significant effort for minimal benefit. The writers also tried adding lines for GLaDOS that would make the players compete against each other for rewards such as meaningless points, but playtesters did not respond well. Faliszek noted that in co-operative games, it can be difficult to deliver key dialogue or in-game events to players, who may not be looking in the right direction at the right time. Instead, using lessons learned from Left 4 Dead, Faliszek and Wolpaw kept the story and key comedic lines short, and repeated them frequently.
The two robotic characters were originally more human and less robotic, similar to designs seen in the movie Westworld
. The final designs are a modified personality core and a turret gun with haphazardly attached limbs. The numerous deaths players would endure throughout the game would be rather gruesome with human or human-like characters, but the deaths of robotic characters provide comical animations, such as struggling while being crushed by a lowering ceiling. The artists felt the look of the robots would help tell the story, and the fact that they are holding hands emphasizes the co-operative mode. "Expressive noises" are used in place of distinguishable dialogue, and mannerisms were designed to be a double act
, similar to Laurel and Hardy
. The robots' voices were provided by voice actor Dee Baker, who had done similar robot voices for the various Star Wars: The Clone Wars
media.
The writers saw Aperture Science itself as a character. It is depicted as a "living, breathing place", and "a science company that's gone mad with science." In the Lab Rat comic, the facility is described as a "beautiful and terrible" place, "a metastasized
amalgam of add-ons, additions and appropriations. Building itself out of itself."
music created by Valve's composer, Mike Morasky. The game also includes two songs; "Want You Gone" recorded by Jonathan Coulton
, used as the final credits song for the single player mode, and "Exile Vilify" by the band The National
, used in the background of one of the Rat Man's dens. The full soundtrack "Songs to Test By", containing most of the songs in the game, was released as a free download across three volumes between May and September 2011.
, "There'll be more Portal, for sure." Portal designer Kim Swift confirmed work on Portal 2 the next month. Swift said multiplayer Portal was possible "from a technology standpoint" but would be "less fun than you'd think."
Portal 2 was officially announced on March 5, 2010. Events during the preceding week foreshadowed the announcement. On March 1 Valve released a patch for Portal that included a new achievement, "Transmission Received", requiring the player to manipulate in-game radios. This revealed new sound effects that became part of an alternate reality game
(ARG). The effects included Morse code
strings that suggested GLaDOS was rebooting and SSTV
images from a grainy Aperture Science video. The images included hints to a BBS phone number that, when accessed, provided a large number of ASCII
-based images relating to Portal and segments of fictional Aperture Science documents. Many of these ASCII pictures were later published in Game Informer. New ASCII images continued to appear on the BBS after the official announcement. Background on the ARG is embedded in additional SSTV images found in a hidden room in Portal 2. According to these, the ARG had a budget of US$100 and was designed to attract casual players, who would find radios in Portal, and more enthusiastic players, through the decoding and deciphering. The BBS connected to a PC in a Valve employee's kitchen; the Valve office phone lines were too modern to support a BBS.
A second Portal patch on March 3 altered the game's ending sequence. Gaming journalists speculated that an announcement of Portal 2 was imminent. On March 5 Game Informer
unveiled the cover of its April issue; Portal 2 was officially launched.
During the week following Portal 2s announcement, Gabe Newell's speech accepting the Pioneer Award at the Game Developers Conference
2010 ended with a fake blue screen of death
appearing on a screen behind him. The message purported to be from GLaDOS and hinted of further Portal 2 news at the upcoming E3 2010
. Two weeks before the E3, game journalists received a cryptic e-mail, worded as a press release from Aperture Science, hinting that the presentation on Portal 2 would be replaced with "a surprise" jointly hosted by Aperture Science and Valve. This prompted speculation that the surprise would be the announcement of Half-Life 2: Episode Three, but Valve confirmed that it would be about Portal 2. The surprise was the announcement of Portal 2 on PlayStation 3.
, who had worked on comics for Valve games Team Fortress 2
and Left 4 Dead
, and Valve in-house artist Andrea Wicklund drew the comic. Ted Kosmatka wrote most of the story with input from the Portal 2 writers. The 27-page comic was made available online in two parts about two weeks before the game's release and was also bundled with the game itself. Dark Horse Comics
plans to publish "Portal 2: Lab Rat" in a printed anthology of Valve comics, Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, in November 2011.
In the comic, the Rat Man, a.k.a. Doug Rattmann, is a scientist working in the Aperture facility. He escapes GLaDOS's initial neurotoxin attack, but suffers symptoms as his schizophrenia
medication runs out, including hallucinating his talking Weighted Companion Cube. Noticing that Chell is uniquely tenacious among the test subjects held by Aperture, Rattmann moves her to the top of the queue of testing subjects, thus starting the events of the first Portal. After Chell defeats GLaDOS Rattmann escapes Aperture, but returns against the Companion Cube's objections when he sees the Party Escort Bot dragging an unconscious Chell back inside and into a disabled cryo chamber. He ensures that Chell is kept in indefinite suspended animation
, but he is shot by a turret in the process. He then enters a stasis pod himself, and what becomes of him afterward is unknown.
Portal 2 was the first Valve product simultaneously released for Windows and Mac OS X computers through the Steam platform. Retail copies for all platforms are distributed by Electronic Arts
.
Valve created their own series of television commercials to promote Portal 2. Valve had worked with advertising agencies in the past, but Lombardi found the advertisements created had shown little ingenuity; Lombardi's frustrations included "Copycat treatments. Cliché treatments. Treatments that reveal the agency wasn't listening in the initial meeting." Using viewer feedback, Valve tailored the ad content until they were satisfied with the results. The ads took eight weeks to complete. Valve also developed additional online promotional videos, featuring J. K. Simmons narrating as Cave Johnson, to promote new elements of Portal 2s gameplay. These videos were part of a larger effort described by Newell as a "documentary-style investment opportunity" for Portal 2. An earlier video release on February 14, 2011, promoted the co-operative aspect of Portal 2 as an ideal Valentine's gift. The video "lit up our preorders, our buzz, all the metrics that are used and collected by publishers and retailers". Lombardi felt the videos "dwarfed the demos and interviews we did". Valve also offered Portal 2-themed merchandise, such as posters, drinking glasses, and t-shirts, including one that parodies the Three Wolf Moon
shirt.
Portal 2s release was preceded by another alternate reality game, called the Potato Sack
, which includes thirteen independently-developed games. Envisioned by Newell around December 2010, the developers were brought to Valve to discuss and plan the "Cross Game Design Event", to culminate with the early release of Portal 2 on Steam. The developers were given access to Valve's art and audio assets to incorporate Portal-themed content into their games. The game was launched on April 1, 2011, with a Steam bundle sale of these titles. Players worked to solve the multi-tiered puzzle, coordinating efforts through web sites and chat rooms, which some journalists believed pointed to the release of Portal 2 on April 15, 2011, instead of the target release date of April 19, 2011. Eventually, on April 15, the players discovered "GLaDOS@Home", a distributed computing
spoof that encouraged participants to play the various games to unlock Portal 2 earlier. As a result of these coordinated efforts, the game was unlocked about ten hours early.
The game includes bonus content, primarily four promotional videos and the Lab Rat comic. It also includes an interactive trailer for the 2011 film Super 8
, constructed with the Source game engine. A feature called "Robot Enrichment" allows players to customize the co-op campaign characters with new gestures or cosmetic items such as hats or flags. These can be earned in-game, traded with other players, or bought through microtransactions at the in-game store.
for Portal 2, with the first content, "Peer Review", released on October 4, 2011. The content, which is free for all users regardless of platform, includes a new co-op campaign which loosely extends the game's story where, after a week from the end of the co-operative campaign, GLaDOS prepares Atlas and P-Body to deal with an intruder within Aperture Science—the bird that had previously abducted her as a potato. The content also adds a "challenge mode" similar to that which appeared in the first Portal—players attempt to complete specific chambers with the shortest time or fewest number of portals used, both which are tracked on overall and friends leaderboards. The challenge modes are available for both single player and co-operative modes.
According to Faliszek, user-generated content
for Portal 2 will be available on all platforms through various delivery methods, but the necessary modding tools will only be available for Windows due to software dependencies. Valve released beta versions of the modding tools on May 10, 2011. Keighley has also reported that Valve has been working on highly-simplified level editing tools, "a Photoshop for test chambers", to allow novice editors to assemble test chambers without learning how to use the modified Valve Hammer Editor
, as well as an in-game system to deliver user-created levels to players. This mapping system is expected to be released sometime in 2012 alongside additional downloadable content. Valve helped to back a contest held by the community mapping site, "Thinking with Portals" in May 2011, providing prizes for the top-selected maps.
Valve also continues to support fan reuse of Portal 2 content, offering selected assets and aid. The Microsoft Windows release of the independently-developed game, Bastion
includes a weapon inspired by Portal 2s Conversion Gel and turrets; its developer, Supergiant Games, received some writing assistance from Eric Wolpaw and new lines for the turrets voiced by McLain. Similarly, the Steam release of the game Dungeon Defenders
includes pre-order content based on the portal gun from Portal and various Team Fortress 2 items. Wolpaw and McLain also helped to create additional lines spoken by GLaDOS for a custom single player map commissioned by Gary Hudston, which he used to propose marriage to his fiancee, Stephanie.
came as a surprise, because Gabe Newell had criticized that console in the past citing difficulties in the port of The Orange Box. The move toward the PlayStation 3 was a result of growing frustration with Microsoft
's policies for Xbox 360 content, including the difficulty of pushing patching
and new content to players. Newell saw Sony's publication model as more open, allowing for Steam-like features on the console side.
Portal 2 is the first game on the PlayStation 3 to support a subset of features from Steamworks, including auto-updates, downloadable content
, and community support. The game supports cross-platform play between the PlayStation 3 and the Windows and Mac OS X versions. On the PlayStation 3, the Steam overlay shows the player's friends on both Steam and the PlayStation Network, with achievements
rewarded for both Steam and PlayStation Network trophies. PlayStation 3 players can unlock the game on Steam for Windows and Mac OS X for no additional charge. The integration of Steamworks on the PlayStation 3 allows Valve to collect data about problems that arise after shipping and push appropriate updates. Valve has stated they do not plan on integrating other PlayStation 3 features, such as 3D television
or PlayStation Move support.
Valve has said that, despite additional support for PlayStation 3 over Xbox 360, the "core game" is the same across both platforms.
motion controller
for PC that allows enhanced control of some game elements. Ten additional single-player levels are available as downloadable content for this version. Writer Chet Faliszek said Razer developers spent nine months to a year in-house at Valve preparing the native version. A limited edition of the Razer Hydra comes bundled
with a copy of Portal 2 for PC.
, selected by a large number of journalists and critics, awarded Portal 2 the title of Best PC Game and Best Action/Adventure Game, and nominated the game for Best of Show and Best Console Game. IGN
named Portal 2 as its Best of E3 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 systems as well as Best Puzzle Game, and nominated the game as Best Overall Game. Gamespy
named Portal 2 the Best Overall Game and Best Puzzle Game of E3. Portal 2 won the 2010 Spike Video Game Award for "Most Anticipated Game for 2011".
; several reviewers identified Portal 2 as an early contender for "Game of the Year", while others called it one of the best games of all time. Prior to its launch, several critics had expressed concern that Valve might be unable to take the shorter, experimental, Portal from The Orange Box
and make it into a full retail game, but upon release the game was widely considered to be as good as or better than the original. Eurogamer
's Oli Welsh said that the game was able to avoid the normal pitfalls that developers introduce in sequels, stating that "Portal is perfect. Portal 2 is not. It's something better than that." Gus Mastrapa of the A.V. Club commented that with Portal 2, Valve had alleviated any doubts that "Portal could be expanded into a big, narrative experience with all the bells and whistles of a mainstream gaming hit". IGN
's Charles Onyett considered that the sequel "makes the original look like the prototype it was" by expanding the game in gameplay and story.
Most reviewers praised the writing and voice acting in the game. Entertainment Weekly
Dan Stapleton of PC Gamer
was able to predict many of the plot twists within Portal 2 story but "still looked forward to witnessing exactly how the characters would react"; he praised the development of the characters, as "their charm makes what would otherwise be an empty and lifeless world feel boisterous and alive". The individual characters were well-received. Oynett believed that Merchant's "obvious enthusiasm for the role benefits the game" and that the "consistently clever writing perfectly complements the onscreen action". Game Informer
Adam Biessener considered Johnson to be an even better character than GLaDOS, a tribute to "pitch-perfect delivery" from Simmons with "brilliant comedic timing". In contrast, Peter Bright of Ars Technica
commented that, compared to the loneliness and despair he felt while playing the first game, the additional characters, specifically Wheatley and GLaDOS, lost some of this feeling and "the inane babble served only to disrupt the mood".
Portal 2s additional gameplay elements, like light bridges, lasers, and the gels, were praised as appropriate additions to the game. Furthermore, the reviewers were pleased with the level of difficulty of the puzzles throughout the game, appearing visually complicated at first but with uncomplicated solutions. Narcaisse had stated that he feared the addition of the new gameplay elements would "dilute the purity of the experience", but instead was pleased with the results as "everything's still executed with Valve's high level of charm and panache". Tom Hoggins of The Telegraph
praised the manner which with these elements were introduced through a "brilliant learning curve of direction, rather than instruction", and considered it a "design ethos that is supremely generous, but dealt with marvellous economy". Kohler considered that the game's puzzles "never require excessively complicated solutions", and that much of the puzzle solving is "filled with moments that will have you slapping your forehead". Stapleton was not as pleased with the gel additions as with the other new mechanics, calling it "difficult to control". He felt that they have "only a couple of uses at most". Bright felt that Portal 2 was easier than its predecessor, in part that he felt much of the game was effectively tutorials for the new gameplay additions, requiring "careful use of the tools provided", leaving him with the impression that "the game was on rails".
The co-operative puzzle solving aspect was highlighted as a valuable addition to the game. Welsh called the co-operative mode "one of the most satisfying and genuinely collaborative gaming experiences you can have with a friend". Onyett praised Valve for using the lessons they learned from Left 4 Dead to build the co-operative mode that requires "a game design that doesn't simply encourage but requires you to work together". Several reviewers praised the non-verbal cues that players could initiate to work with their partners.
Portal 2 was praised for its detail in design, sound, and music. Nelson credited the "sheer amount of detail" put into the game's world, and felt it was "very real and natural with brief moments where you're simply sucked into this world". Onyett was impressed with the amount of visual details and capabilities Valve achieved from their Source game engine and that the added details and animations of the levels "consistently serv[ed] not only to entertain the eye but to expand our understanding of the game's characters". Hoggins believed that the game's world reacted to the player "in a startlingly organic way", and praised Valve's design as "an achievement of world-building that compares favourably with BioShock underwater city of Rapture". Some reviewers did note that the second act of the game, taking place in the less-structured portion of the old Aperture facilities, while filled with impressive vistas, may be confusing to some players. Young believed in this section the game "cranks up the difficulty level at a speed that may dishearten casual gamers", and recounted several difficulties, including having "absolutely no idea where I was supposed to head next". Kohler further considered that, while the player would explore the abandoned areas of Aperture, there is very little to do in these areas, and called them "a lot of sterile, duplicated, non-interactive environments".
Watters noted that the loading time between the game's levels, in contrast to earlier Valve games, are "long enough to make you take notice and wish they were shorter". Watters also commented on the lack of challenge chambers or other advanced features packaged with the shipped product that were present in the original, though that Portal 2 is "not light on content" without these. Welsh noted that the attempt to recapture the spirit of the song "Still Alive" in the end credits of Portal 2 "was a mistake".
Journalists noted that many of the user reviews for Portal 2 on Metacritic
evoked a negative opinion of the game. These users cited complaints about the game being too short (with some saying it is only four hours long), the existence of paid downloadable content at launch for some versions, and supposed evidence that the game on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X were ports of the console version. Journalists have defended Valve in these claims, countering that the game's length depends on the amount of immersion the player puts into the game, that the downloadable content is only cosmetic additions for the co-op mode, and that the quality of the graphics on the Windows and Mac version do not suggest a simple console port. Some journalists also identify that the minimal impact of The Potato Sack alternative reality game on the early release of Portal 2 may be influencing the user scores.
. The game received twelve nominations including "Game of the Year" for the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, the most of any title.
, Portal 2 was the best-selling game in the United States in the first week of its release. It fell behind others, including Mortal Kombat, in its second week. According to NPD Group
, Portal 2 was the second-best selling game in the U.S. in April 2011, at 637,000 copies, and the fourth-best selling in May. However, NPD does not include sales on Valve's Steam platform.
Portal 2 was the best selling game in the United Kingdom in the week of its release, the first time a Valve game had placed first. It retained the top spot during its second week.
Portal 2 was released days before the PlayStation Network outage
. Gamasutra
analyst Matt Matthews concluded, based on NPD Group data, that the outage "did not seriously affect retail sales of software", but some developers did report drops in sales. ShopToNews analyst Joe Anderson expected that the effect of the outage on UK sales of Portal 2 would be mild.
On June 22, Newell announced that Portal 2 had sold 3 million copies. As of late July 2011, Electronic Arts has stated that more than 2 million copies of Portal 2 at retail have been sold worldwide. In an August 2011 interview, Newell stated that "Portal 2 did better on the PC than it did on the consoles".
First person (video games)
In video games, first person refers to a graphical perspective rendered from the viewpoint of the player character. In many cases, this may be the viewpoint from the cockpit of a vehicle. Many different genres have made use of first-person perspectives, ranging from adventure games to flight...
puzzle-platform video game developed and published by Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
. The sequel to the 2007 video game Portal, it was announced on March 5, 2010, following a week-long alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
based on new patches
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
to the original game. Though initially slated for release in the fourth quarter of 2010, the game was postponed to the week of April 18, 2011. The game was released by Valve through Steam for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, while the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
, and retail Windows/OS X versions of the game are distributed by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
. The game's release on Steam was preceded by a second multi-week alternate reality game, the Potato Sack
Potato Sack
The Potato Sack is the name of an alternate reality game created by the Valve Corporation and the developers of thirteen independent video games to promote the release of Valve's title, Portal 2, in April 2011...
, involving 13 independently-developed titles which culminated in a distributed computing
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
spoof to release Portal 2 several hours early.
Like Portal, Portal 2 primarily comprises a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting
Teleportation
Teleportation is the fictional or imagined process by which matter is instantaneously transferred from one place to another.Teleportation may also refer to:*Quantum teleportation, a method of transmitting quantum data...
the player's character and simple objects using the "portal gun", a device that can create inter-spatial portals
Portals in fiction
A portal in science fiction and fantasy is a magical or technological doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime. It usually consists of two or more gateways, with an object entering one gateway leaving via the other instantaneously....
between two flat planes. The game's physics allow momentum to be retained through these portals, which must be used creatively to maneuver through the game's challenges. Most gameplay elements of the original Portal were retained in the sequel, and more were added to Portal 2, including tractor beams, laser redirection, and paint-like gels that impart special properties to objects they cover. These gels were created by the team from the Independent Games Festival
Independent Games Festival
The Independent Games Festival is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference, the largest annual gathering of the indie video game industry. It was founded in 1998 to assist and inspire innovation in video game development and to recognize the best independent video game developers...
-winning DigiPen student project Tag: The Power of Paint
Tag: The Power of Paint
Tag: The Power of Paint is a first-person action and puzzle hybrid video game. The game was developed in 2009 for Microsoft Windows by Tag Team, a group of students from the DigiPen Institute of Technology. The game's core mechanic is the use of a special paint sprayed from the player's paint gun...
.
Within the single player campaign, the player returns as the human Chell
Chell (Portal)
Chell is the protagonist and player character of the Portal series. Chell first appears in Portal, where she is taking part in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center's test under supervision by GLaDOS. GLaDOS tries to kill her as Chell then tries to escape the Enrichment Center, attempting to kill...
, having awakened from stasis after many years. Chell must navigate the now-dilapidated Aperture Science Enrichment Center and its test chambers with the portal gun while the facility is rebuilt by the reactivated GLaDOS
GLaDOS
GLaDOS, short for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, is a fictional artificially intelligent computer system in Valve Software's Half-Life video game series and the main antagonist in the video games Portal and Portal 2. She was created by Erik Wolpaw and Kim Swift and is voiced by Ellen...
, an artificially intelligent
Artificial intelligence in fiction
Artificial intelligence is a common topic in science fiction, whether it is in literature, film, television or theatre. Science fiction sometimes focuses on the dangers of artificial intelligence, and sometimes on its positive potential.- Myths :...
computer that first appeared in Portal. The storyline is longer than that of Portals and introduces new characters, including the A.I. Wheatley
Wheatley (Portal)
Wheatley is a fictional artificial character in the 2011 video game Portal 2. He is voiced by British comedian Stephen Merchant and created in part by Portal 2s designer Erik Wolpaw. To date, he only appears in Portal 2....
, voiced by Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
, and recordings of the deceased Aperture Science CEO Cave Johnson
Cave Johnson (Portal)
Cave Johnson is a fictional character in the 2011 video game Portal 2. He is portrayed by American actor J. K. Simmons and created in part by Portal 2s designer Erik Wolpaw. To date he only appears in Portal 2...
, voiced by J. K. Simmons
J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on television as Dr. Emil Skoda in NBC's Law & Order , Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in TNT's The Closer, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, on film as J...
. Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain is an opera singer and voice actress from Nashville, Tennessee, USA. McLain provides voices for many characters in several video games from Valve...
reprised the role of GLaDOS. Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
and The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
produced one song each for the game. Portal 2 also includes a two-player co-operative mode, in which the robotic player-characters Atlas and P-Body are each given a portal gun and are required to work together to solve test chambers specifically designed to require cooperation. Valve provided post-release support for the game, including additional downloadable content
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
and a simplified map editor
Level editor
A level editor is a software tool used to design levels, maps, campaigns, etc and virtual worlds for a video game. In some cases the creator of a video game releases an official level editor for a game, but other times the community of fans step in to fill the void...
to allow player to create and share test chambers with others.
Though many reviewers were initially concerned about the difficulty of expanding Portal into a full sequel, critics universally praised Portal 2. The game's writing, pacing, and black humor
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
were highlighted as stand-out elements, with critics applauding the voice work of McLain, Merchant, and Simmons. Reviews also highlighted the new gameplay elements, the game's challenging but surmountable learning curve, and the additional co-operative mode. At the player-selected Golden Joystick Awards
Golden Joystick Awards
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards are the world's oldest gaming award ceremony, awarding the best computer and video games of the year, as voted for by the general public...
2011, the game was awarded the "Ultimate Game of the Year".
Gameplay
Chell (Portal)
Chell is the protagonist and player character of the Portal series. Chell first appears in Portal, where she is taking part in the Aperture Science Enrichment Center's test under supervision by GLaDOS. GLaDOS tries to kill her as Chell then tries to escape the Enrichment Center, attempting to kill...
in the single-player campaign and as one of two robots, Atlas and P-Body, in the co-operative campaign. All three can move, look, and interact with the environment. The character can withstand damage for a brief period but will die under sustained injury. There is no penalty for falling onto a solid surface, even at high speed, but falling into bottomless pits or pools of toxic liquid kills the player-character immediately. When Chell dies in the single-player game, the game restarts from a recent checkpoint; in the co-op game, the robot respawns shortly afterwards without restarting the puzzle. The goal of both campaigns is to maneuver the character(s) through the Aperture Science facility. While most of the game takes place in modular "test chambers" with clearly-defined entrances and exits, other parts occur in behind-the-scenes areas where the objectives are less clear.
The initial levels provide a tutorial on general movement controls and how to interact with the environment. Afterwards, the player is required to solve puzzles using the "portal gun", formally the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, which can create two portals connecting two distant surfaces. Only some surfaces can accept portals; these are depicted as matte white, continuous, and flat. As in Portal, characters can use these portals to move unconventionally between rooms, or to "fling" objects or themselves across a distance. Unlike in Portal, outlines of placed portals are visible through walls and other obstacles for easy location.
New game elements include Thermal Discouragement Beams (laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
s replacing the energy balls from Portal), Excursion Funnels (tractor beam
Tractor beam
A tractor beam is a device with the ability to attract one object to another from a distance. Since the 1990s, technology and research has labored to make it a reality, mostly at microscopic level. Less commonly, a similar beam that repels is called a pressor beam or repulsor beam...
s), and Hard Light Bridges, all of which can be transmitted through portals. The new Aerial Faith Plates launch the player or objects through the air, and sometimes into portals. The turrets from Portal return, and players must disable them or avoid their line of sight. The Weighted Storage Cube has been redesigned, and there are new types: Redirection Cubes, which have prismatic lenses that redirect laser beams, and spherical Edgeless Safety Cubes
Ball
A ball is a round, usually spherical but sometimes ovoid, object with various uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch, marbles and juggling...
, which made a brief appearance in one of Portals advanced chambers. The heart-decorated Weighted Companion Cube reappears briefly. Early demonstrations included Pneumatic Diversity Vents, shown to transport objects and transfer suction power through portals, but these do not appear in the final game because the technology was not ready in time. All of these game elements either open locked doors, or aid or hamper the character from physically reaching the exit.
Portal 2 also introduces paint-like gels that impart certain properties to a surface or object coated with them. Gels are dispensed from pipes and can be transported through portals. Orange Propulsion Gel boosts Chell's speed as she crosses a surface, blue Repulsion Gel allows her to bounce from a surface, and white Conversion Gel allows many surfaces to accept portals. Some surfaces, such as grilles, cannot be coated with a gel. Water can block or wash away gels, returning the surface or object to its normal state.
The game includes a two-player co-operative mode in addition to the single player mode. Two players can play at the same console with a split screen
Split screen (computer graphics)
Split screen is a display technique in computer graphics that consists of dividing graphics and/or text into non-movable adjacent parts, typically two or four rectangular areas. This is done in order to allow the simultaneous presentation of related graphical and textual information on a computer...
, or at their own computers or consoles; Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and PlayStation 3 users can play with each other regardless of platform. Both player-characters are robots who control separate portal guns and can use the other character's portals as necessary. Each player's portals are of a different color scheme, one in blue and purple and the other in orange and red, to distinguish between the two sets. An initial "calibration
Calibration
Calibration is a comparison between measurements – one of known magnitude or correctness made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a second device....
" chamber separates the characters to teach the players to use the communication tools and portals. Most later chambers are less structured and require players to use both sets of portals for laser or funnel redirection, launches, and other maneuvers. The game provides voice communication between players, and online players have the ability to temporarily enter a split-screen view to help coordinate actions. Players can "ping" to draw the other player's attention to walls or objects, start countdown timers for synchronized actions, and perform joint "gestures" such as waving or hugging. The game tracks which chambers each player has completed and allows players to replay chambers they have completed with new partners.
According to Valve, each of the two campaigns (single-player and co-operative) is 2 to 2.5 times as long as the campaign in Portal, with the overall game five times as long. Erik Wolpaw
Erik Wolpaw
Erik Wolpaw is an American videogame writer. Erik along with Chet Faliszek were the two writers behind the now-defunct Old Man Murray video game commentary web site. As of 2011, he works for Valve Software in Seattle...
, Portal 2s lead writer, estimates each campaign is about six hours long. Portal 2 contains in-game commentary
Audio commentary
On disc-based video formats, an audio commentary is an additional audio track consisting of a lecture or comments by one or more speakers, that plays in real time with video...
from the game developers, writers, and artists, as in previous Valve games. The commentary, accessible after completing the game once, appears on node icons scattered through the chambers.
Plot
Portal 2 follows the player-character Chell after the end of Portal, in which she destroys the rogue artificial intelligence construct GLaDOSGLaDOS
GLaDOS, short for Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System, is a fictional artificially intelligent computer system in Valve Software's Half-Life video game series and the main antagonist in the video games Portal and Portal 2. She was created by Erik Wolpaw and Kim Swift and is voiced by Ellen...
that ran the Aperture Science Enrichment Center where the game is set. In Portals backstory, Aperture Science conducted experiments to determine whether human subjects could navigate dubiously safe "test chambers", until GLaDOS killed the scientists with a neurotoxin
Neurotoxin
A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue...
. The ending of the first game, retroactively patched just prior to the sequel's official announcement, shows Chell being dragged away from the remains of GLaDOS by an unseen figure with a robotic voice, later identified by writer Erik Wolpaw as the "Party Escort Bot." A promotional comic shows that an estranged Aperture Science employee placed Chell into suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
for an indefinite amount of time, in an effort to save her life.
The Portal series shares a universe
Shared universe
A shared universe is a fictional universe to which more than one writer contributes. Work set in a shared universe share characters and other elements with varying degrees of consistency. Shared universes are contrasted with collaborative writing, in which multiple authors work on a single story....
with the Half-Life series
Half-Life (series)
The Half-Life series of video games share a science fiction alternate history. Nearly all of the games are first-person shooters on the GoldSource or Source engines, and most are linear, narrative, single-player titles....
. Portal takes place after Half-Life but before Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2
Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
, and Portal 2 is set "a long time after" its predecessor.
Single-player campaign
Chell wakes to find herself in what appears to be a motel room. An announcer's voice guides her through a cognitive test before she is put back to sleep. When she next awakens, many years have passed and the Aperture Science facility has become dilapidated and overgrown. Wheatley (Stephen MerchantStephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
), a personality core, moves the room—located in one of hundreds of shipping containers
Intermodal container
An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
in a giant warehouse—and the pair attempt to escape through the test chambers. In the process they discover the dormant GLaDOS (Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain is an opera singer and voice actress from Nashville, Tennessee, USA. McLain provides voices for many characters in several video games from Valve...
) and accidentally reactivate her. GLaDOS, who has not forgiven Chell for "murdering" her years ago, separates Chell from Wheatley and begins rebuilding the facility.
GLaDOS begins testing Chell in a series of new test chambers until Wheatley helps Chell escape. The pair disable the neurotoxin and turret manufacturing plant before confronting GLaDOS a second time. Chell performs a "core transfer," which replaces GLaDOS with Wheatley in the body that controls the facility. He becomes intoxicated with power, and places GLaDOS's personality into a module powered by a potato battery. He betrays Chell and sends both Chell and GLaDOS into an abandoned area of the facility miles underground. As they fall, GLaDOS chastises Chell for putting Wheatley in the position of power, claiming that he was designed to be "the dumbest moron who ever lived", producing illogical thoughts to hamper GLaDOS's decision-making processes in an attempt to make her less dangerous.
After landing deep underground, GLaDOS's potato is abducted by a bird, while Chell explores the decommissioned section of the facility where she finds herself. There, she ascends through a series of old test chambers in chronological order, and is greeted by recordings of Aperture Science's CEO, Cave Johnson (J. K. Simmons
J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on television as Dr. Emil Skoda in NBC's Law & Order , Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in TNT's The Closer, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, on film as J...
). It is learned that Johnson became increasingly embittered and deranged as his company lost money and prestige, leading to him being fatally poisoned by moon dust
Lunar soil
Lunar soil is the fine fraction of the regolith found on the surface of the Moon. Its properties can differ significantly from those of terrestrial soil...
(which, coincidently, accepts portals). His assistant, Caroline (McLain), became a test subject for a mind-to-computer transfer experiment and ultimately became part of GLaDOS. Chell and GLaDOS are reunited and form a partnership to stop Wheatley before his incompetence destroys the complex, while GLaDOS struggles with the revelation about Caroline.
Chell and GLaDOS return to the modern facility and face Wheatley, who is driven by GLaDOS's body to continue to test them. In a final "surprise", Wheatley tricks Chell into a series of death traps. Chell escapes due to Wheatley's clumsiness and lack of logical thinking, and makes her way to his chamber. In their final confrontation, Chell attaches three corrupt personality cores (Nolan North
Nolan North
Nolan Ramsey North is an American actor and voice actor born in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been described as "the nearest thing the games industry has to a bona fide leading man."-Biography:...
) to the body that Wheatley inhabits, allowing GLaDOS to initiate a second core transfer and put herself back in control. However, just as Chell is about to conclude the core transfer, Wheatley reveals that he has booby-trapped the process. As the facility's nuclear reactor enters its final phase of meltdown, the roof collapses, revealing the night sky. Chell shoots a portal at the moon overhead, causing the vacuum of space to pull her and Wheatley through the other portal still inside the chamber. GLaDOS pulls Chell back inside, where she falls unconscious, leaving Wheatley stranded in space, along with a corrupt, space-obsessed personality core.
When Chell awakens, GLaDOS explains that she learned valuable lessons about humanity from her Caroline persona. She promptly deletes this aspect of her personality, reverting to her usual antagonistic attitude. She finally allows Chell to leave the facility, explaining that trying to kill Chell has proven so difficult that it will be easier to just let her go. The game ends as Chell is taken to the surface and, after a brief interlude, exits into a wheat field from a corrugated metal shed. The charred and battered Weighted Companion Cube (supposedly incinerated during the events of Portal) is then flung out the door after her before it slams shut. In the epilogue, Wheatley floats helplessly through space and expresses regrets about betraying Chell.
Co-operative campaign
The co-operative story takes place after the single player campaign and has some ties into it, but players do not "necessarily need to play them in that order". Player characters Atlas and P-Body are bipedal robots, each with a fully functioning portal gun, who navigate five sets of test chambers together. The robots are introduced in the single player campaign as replacements for GLaDOS' human test subjects. After completing a test chamber, the robots are disassembled and reassembled at the next chamber. After completing each set of chambers, they are returned to a central hub. The puzzles in each set of chambers focus on a particular testing element or technique. In the first four sets, GLaDOS prepares the robots to venture outside of the test systems of Aperture Laboratories to recover a data disk. She then destroys them and restores their memories to new bodies, similar to what happens when they die from a test chamber hazard. At first GLaDOS is excited about her non-human test subjects, but later becomes dissatisfied because the two robots can't actually die. At the conclusion of the co-op game, the robots discover and gain entry into "the Vault", where humans are stored in stasisStasis (fiction)
Stasis , or hypersleep, is a science fiction concept akin to suspended animation. Whereas suspended animation usually refers to a greatly reduced state of life processes, stasis implies a complete cessation of these processes, which can be easily restarted or restart spontaneously when stasis is...
. GLaDOS gleefully congratulates the robots on locating the humans, whom she sees as new test subjects. She then "violently disassembles" the robots, telling them "we still have a lot of work to do".
In the bonus course "Art Therapy", GLaDOS claims that it has been one hundred thousand years since the robots opened the vault, all the humans are fine, and that testing is "simply an artistic indulgence now." However, it soon becomes clear that something is wrong. When the disassemblers stop working, GLaDOS finally reveals that it has only been a week since the previous course, all the humans are dead (due to extreme testing trying to develop one into a "killing machine"), and that somebody (whom GLaDOS refers to as "she") is trying to take control over the facility from her using a prototype chassis. After a few more tests, GLaDOS sends the robots to the prototype chassis room where it is revealed that the "person" is actually the bird encountered in the single-player campaign, who is nesting on the keyboard. Panicking, GLaDOS tells the robots to abort their mission, but they are able to scare it off. When GLaDOS spots eggs in the bird's nest, she initially tells the robots to smash the eggs, but, upon seeing their reluctance, decides to move the eggs to her chamber. She immediately sees potential in the birds when one of the hatchlings manages to crack the glass containing them. The hatchlings' fate will be unknown until more courses are added.
Development
After the success of Portal, which was originally an add-on product to the game compilation The Orange BoxThe Orange Box
The Orange Box is a video game compilation for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Mac OS X and PlayStation 3. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions were produced and published by Valve Corporation and released on October 10, 2007 as a boxed retail copy...
, Valve decided to make Portal 2 its own product. Work began almost immediately after the release of Portal. They committed more resources than for the first game; Portal had a team of seven or eight people, but Portal 2 had a team of 30 or 40. The initial team of four expanded as subgroups formed to devise game mechanics and plot the story. Participants in internal review processes were inspired to join the project by what they saw. According to Erik Wolpaw, some Portal 2 developers worked on the Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
games to help them meet milestones, but then returned to Portal 2, "with extra people in tow." Kim Swift, Portals designer, left Valve for Airtight Games
Airtight Games
Airtight Games is an independent video game developer founded in 2004 that is made up of several former members of FASA Studio, Will Vinton Studios and Microsoft, as well as several other studios. The key members include president and creative director Jim Deal, art director Matt Brunner, technical...
halfway through Portal 2s development.
Project manager Erik Johnson said Valve's goal for Portal 2 was to find a way to "re-surprise" players, which he considered a "pretty terrifying" prospect. In March 2011, one month before the game's release, Valve president Gabe Newell
Gabe Newell
Gabe Logan Newell is the co-founder and managing director of video game development and online distribution company Valve Corporation.-Work:...
called Portal 2 "the best game we've ever done."
After Portal 2 release Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley
Geoff Keighley is a Canadian video game journalist. His work spans online, print, and TV outlets, and he has been writing about games since 1992....
reported that, according to Newell, "Portal 2 will probably be Valve's last game with an isolated single-player experience". Keighley later stated that the use of the word "probably" suggests that "this could change." Newell said that Valve is not "giving up on single-player at all", but intends to include more social features on top of the single player experience, akin to the co-operative mode in Portal 2.
Design
Initially, the development team planned to drop the portals from Portal 2. For five months Valve focused on a new gameplay mechanic called "F-Stop", the specifics of which are not yet known outside of Valve, because they have considered using it for a new game. Though the new mechanics prompted some positive feedback, every playtester expressed disappointment at the omission of portals. Following a report in KotakuKotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
of some leaked aspects of the game's plot then under consideration, Newell directed the team to reconsider their plans for Portal 2, including the lack of portals.
Johnson stated that Valve's aim was not to make Portal 2 more difficult than its predecessor, but instead to produce "a game where you think your way through particular parts of the level, and feel really smart when you solve it." Portal 2 gives the player incremental steps in understanding game mechanics, an approach that led to two basic types of test chambers. The first type, which Valve calls "checklisting", provides a relatively safe environment for the player to experiment with a new gameplay concept; the second type combines elements in new ways to force the player to think laterally
Lateral thinking
Lateral thinking is solving problems through an indirect and creative approach, using reasoning that is not immediately obvious and involving ideas that may not be obtainable by using only traditional step-by-step logic...
, producing challenging and rewarding puzzles. Chambers were first developed through whiteboard via isometric
Axonometric projection
Axonometric projection is a type of parallel projection, more specifically a type of orthographic projection, used to create a pictorial drawing of an object, where the object is rotated along one or more of its axes relative to the plane of projection....
drawings. The developers performed a sanity check on the chamber before crafting simple levels with the Hammer level editor
Valve Hammer Editor
Valve Hammer Editor, formerly known as Worldcraft and now commonly called Hammer, is Valve Software's map creation program for their game engine, Source. Old versions of Worldcraft also supported Quake and Quake II. Versions prior to 4 supported exclusively GoldSrc, Source's predecessor. The...
. Extensive play-testing ensured the solutions to each chamber were neither too obvious nor difficult, as well to observe alternative solutions discovered by playtesters. Based on their input, the design team would either keep these alternative solutions viable or block them if they were too easy. Once a chamber was considered ready, artists would add elements such as detailed texturing, dynamic lighting, and vegetation, for rendering within an advanced version of the Source game engine. These versions would then be sent back for further play-testing to verify the new elements did not prevent players from finding solutions, with further iterations between artists and playtesters until such issues were resolved.
Several of Portal 2s early chambers were built by applying decay, collapse, and overgrowth to Portal chambers. This was done to give Portal players a sense of nostalgia and a sense of how much time had passed in the game world. It also let the team replace the less resolved textures from the first game with higher-resolution, dirty textures the newer engine could support. The middle section of the single-player campaign takes place in larger in-game spaces, where the developers made most surfaces unable to accept portals, to force players to find creative ways to cross them. In the final section, when Wheatley controls the Aperture facility, "the level designers just had a blast" creating deranged chambers reflecting Wheatley's stupidity, according to writer Jay Pinkerton
Jay Pinkerton
Jay Pinkerton is a nationally published humorist and a former editor of both CRACKED.com and Cracked magazine.Prior to joining Cracked, Pinkerton served as the managing editor of NationalLampoon.com, the website of the national comedy and film brand...
. The designers recognized that solving puzzles would tire players mentally, so they inserted occasional "experiences" to give the player a rest and advance the plot.
Portal 2 integrates a game mechanic from Tag Team's Tag: The Power of Paint
Tag: The Power of Paint
Tag: The Power of Paint is a first-person action and puzzle hybrid video game. The game was developed in 2009 for Microsoft Windows by Tag Team, a group of students from the DigiPen Institute of Technology. The game's core mechanic is the use of a special paint sprayed from the player's paint gun...
: paint-like gels that impart special properties to surfaces or objects they coat. Impressed by Tag, Valve hired its creators to develop the mechanic further and only later decided to include it in Portal 2; however, Valve's vice president of marketing says that "the decision to combine their tech with Portal 2 came naturally". Journalists have likened Tag to Narbacular Drop
Narbacular Drop
Narbacular Drop is an environmental puzzle video game developed by Nuclear Monkey Software. It was released free online in 2005 on PC . It was the senior game project of students attending DigiPen. The gameplay consists of navigating a dungeon using an innovative portal system...
, the DigiPen student project that became Portal. The Repulsion (jumping) and Propulsion (running) gels in Portal 2 are original to Tag. Using the third Tag gel, which allows the character to walk on any coated surface regardless of gravity, caused motion sickness in playtesters. It was replaced by Conversion gel, which integrates with the portal mechanic. The gels give the player more control over the environment, which increased the challenge for the puzzle designers. The gels are rendered using fluid dynamics
Fluid dynamics
In physics, fluid dynamics is a sub-discipline of fluid mechanics that deals with fluid flow—the natural science of fluids in motion. It has several subdisciplines itself, including aerodynamics and hydrodynamics...
routines specially developed at Valve by the former Tag Team.
In addition to the gels, Portal 2 uses advanced rendering techniques for liquid pools, developed for Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2
Left 4 Dead 2 is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It is the sequel to Valve Corporation's award-winning Left 4 Dead. The game launched on November 17, 2009, for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 in the United States and November 20 in Europe; in 2010, Left 4 Dead 2 was made available to...
. Portal 2 combines "flowing" surface maps to mimic the motion of water with "debris flow" maps and random noise to create realistic real-time rendering of water effects.
The co-operative gameplay came about from requests from players as well from anecdotes of players working together on the same computer or console to solve the game's puzzles, likened by Wolpaw to players working together on the same computer to solve point-and-click adventure games
Graphic adventure game
A graphic adventure game is a form of adventure game. They are distinct from text adventures. Whereas a player must actively observe using commands such as "look" in a text-based adventure, graphic adventures revolutionized gameplay by making use of natural human perception...
. The co-operative campaign was also inspired by Valve's Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
co-operative games, where players would enjoy discussing their personal experiences with the game when they were done playing. While the single player campaign in Portal 2 is designed to avoid frustrating the player, the co-operative levels are focused on coordination and communication, and are recognized by Valve as being much more difficult than the single-player puzzles. Valve avoided including timed puzzles into the single-player experience in Portal and Portal 2, but found that their inclusion into the co-operative mode was effective, as it gives players a positive feeling after they successfully plan and execute difficult maneuvers. Each puzzle chamber in the co-operative mode requires four portals to solve it; this is to prevent puzzles being solved by the actions of only one player. As soon as a playtester discovered a way to complete a puzzle with one set of portals, the level was sent back to the drawing board for further work. Except in a few cases, the chambers were designed so that both players would remain in sight of each other in order to promote communication and co-operation. Some of the puzzle chambers were designed as asymmetric chambers, where one player would manipulate portals and controls to allow the other player to cross the room. This helped emphasize that the two characters, while working together, are also separate entities. The ability to tag surfaces with instructional icons for one's partner was soon realized as a necessary element, as it was found to be much more effective for co-operation than simple verbal instruction.
In addition to the co-operative mode, Valve considered a competitive mode. According to Wolpaw, the mode resembled a variation of speedball
Speedball
Speedball is one of the two distinct game variants in the sport of paintball, the other being woodsball. It is a general term for a game in which the playing field is composed of bunkers, of the same location and number on each side of the field, that provide an equal playing field for each team...
, where one team would attempt to transport a ball from one side of the playing field to the other using portals, while the other team would attempt to stop them with their own use of portals. Wolpaw said the matches would begin with this objective in mind, but quickly descend into chaos. They realized people enjoyed solving puzzles with portals more and therefore focused on the co-operative mode.
Writing
Erik Wolpaw returned to write the game's script, along with National Lampoon veteran Jay PinkertonJay Pinkerton
Jay Pinkerton is a nationally published humorist and a former editor of both CRACKED.com and Cracked magazine.Prior to joining Cracked, Pinkerton served as the managing editor of NationalLampoon.com, the website of the national comedy and film brand...
and Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead is a cooperative first-person shooter video game. It was developed by Turtle Rock Studios, which was purchased by Valve Corporation during development. The game uses Valve's proprietary Source engine, and is available for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Mac OS X...
writer Chet Faliszek. Wolpaw and Pinkerton wrote the single-player campaign story, while Faliszek developed GLaDOS's lines for the co-operative campaign. There are 13,000 lines of dialogue in the single player and co-operative campaigns combined. While the writers felt they needed to create a larger story for a stand-alone title, they wanted the game to "feel relatively intimate", and avoided adding too many new characters. The writers considered expanding on the "sterility and dryness" from Portal, while injecting more comedy. Wolpaw noted that while some developers have been moving towards art game
Art game
An art game or arthouse game is a video game that is designed in such a way as to emphasize art or whose structure is intended to produce some kind of reaction in its audience. Art games typically go out of their way to have a unique, unconventional look, often standing out for aesthetic beauty or...
s, no one had made a comedic video game. The game's story was developed in tight coordination with the gameplay development and testing.
Portal 2 was originally envisioned as a prequel to Portal, to be set in the 1950s, long before GLaDOS's takeover of the Aperture Science facility, with events set in motion when Aperture CEO Cave Johnson becomes trapped within a computer. Johnson would have eventually led an army of robots against the player to rise to power within Aperture. In June 2008, based on information from a casting call website and leaked script samples, Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
reported that Valve was seeking voice actors for Johnson, naming him as an AI
Ai
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
and identifying the game as a prequel. Valve attributed this leak to an "overeager agent". Following negative playtester feedback to the omission of Chell and GLaDOS, Portal 2 was re-conceived as a sequel. The team returned to the idea of exploring parts of the facility from Aperture's early days, and reincorporated Johnson through a series of recordings.
Wolpaw commented that while many story elements of Portal are revisited in Portal 2, he avoided some of the memes
Internet meme
The term Internet meme is used to describe a concept that spreads via the Internet. The term is a reference to the concept of memes, although the latter concept refers to a much broader category of cultural information.-Description:...
—such as the frequently-repeated "the cake is a lie"—stating that "if you thought you were sick of the memes, I was sick of it way ahead of you". However, Wolpaw "couldn't resist putting in just one" cake joke. The writers did not attempt to predict or write new memes, believing that "you can't really plan for [dialogue to become a meme] because if you do it probably seems weird and forced". The sequel did spawn its own memes, most notably Johnson's tirade to "make life take the lemons back" and the space-obsessed personality core from the final battle.
Richard McCormick of PlayStation 3 Magazine has identified several elements of Portal 2s story relating to the mythological tale of Prometheus
Prometheus
In Greek mythology, Prometheus is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals...
, with GLaDOS personified as Prometheus as granting knowledge—in the form of the portal gun— to humanity and then being punished by being bound to a rock, pecked at by birds, and cast into the pits of Tartarus
Tartarus
In classic mythology, below Uranus , Gaia , and Pontus is Tartarus, or Tartaros . It is a deep, gloomy place, a pit, or an abyss used as a dungeon of torment and suffering that resides beneath the underworld. In the Gorgias, Plato In classic mythology, below Uranus (sky), Gaia (earth), and Pontus...
, and Wheatley as his foolish brother Epimetheus
Epimetheus (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus , a pair of Titans who "acted as representatives of mankind" . They were the inseparable sons of Iapetus, who in other contexts was the father of Atlas...
. Within the game, a sentry gun makes reference to the Prometheus mythology, the word "Tartarus" can be seen in the supporting columns in the depths of Aperture Science, and one portrait of Cave and Caroline also shows Aeschylus
Aeschylus
Aeschylus was the first of the three ancient Greek tragedians whose work has survived, the others being Sophocles and Euripides, and is often described as the father of tragedy. His name derives from the Greek word aiskhos , meaning "shame"...
, the presumed author of Prometheus Bound
Prometheus Bound
Prometheus Bound is an Ancient Greek tragedy. In Antiquity, this drama was attributed to Aeschylus, but is now considered by some scholars to be the work of another hand, perhaps one as late as ca. 415 BC. Despite these doubts of authorship, the play's designation as Aeschylean has remained...
. Journalists and players have also found connections between Portal 2 and Half-Life 2. In a crossover, Portal 2 suggests that an experiment accidentally teleported Aperture Science's cargo ship, the Borealis, into the seemingly impossible position in which was discovered at the end of Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Half-Life 2: Episode Two
Half-Life 2: Episode Two is the second episode in a series of sequels to the 2004 first-person shooter video game Half-Life 2. It was developed by Valve Corporation in tandem with Episode One, the first game in the series, and released in Q4 2007 via Valve's Steam content distribution platform...
.
Character design
Though Portal 2 introduced some new characters, the writers wanted to maintain the one-on-one relationship between each character and the player-character. Wolpaw observed that the game actually has three endings, one for each of the main characters: GLaDOS learns a lesson until she deletes it; Wheatley learns a lesson and longs to apologize for it; and Chell escapes into an unknown world possibly controlled by the Combine, the brutal transhuman empire from Half-Life 2.Valve explored introducing a new protagonist for Portal 2. Though playtesters accepted playing as a different character for the first part of the game, they became disoriented when GLaDOS did not recognize them. Ultimately the writers returned to Chell, the protagonist of Portal. Valve artists explored different outfits for Chell, and considered changing her (ambiguous) nationality. Ultimately they returned to the orange "dehumanizing" jumpsuit from Portal, now with the top tied around Chell's waist to enhance freedom of movement and help her "stand out more as an individual". PSM3
PSM3
PSM3 is a video game magazine specialising in all Sony video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. PSM3 is published by Future Publishing, a UK-based publishing company....
called the new look "controversially sexy". As in the first game, Chell's facial appearance is based on that of voice actress Alésia Glidewell
Alésia Glidewell
Alésia Toyoko Glidewell is an American voice actress and owner of a small film production company. She has provided voices for video games, including Sly 2: Band of Thieves, where she plays Carmelita Fox and Constable Neyla; Star Fox: Assault, where she plays Krystal; and Super Smash Bros...
. Chell continues her role as a silent observer, as the straight man in response to the insanity around her and as a way to refuse to give her antagonists any satisfaction.
GLaDOS, the primary antagonist in Portal, returns as a major character, with Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain
Ellen McLain is an opera singer and voice actress from Nashville, Tennessee, USA. McLain provides voices for many characters in several video games from Valve...
again as voice actor. As part of her overall character arc, the plot moves GLaDOS from a state of anger with Chell for her actions in Portal, which Wolpaw believed "was going to get old pretty quick", to an internal struggle.
The writers considered introducing about six personality cores stored in portable spheres, whose main function would be story advancement. They planned cores based on Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
's character Red from The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption
The Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman....
and Quint from Jaws
Jaws (film)
Jaws is a 1975 American horror-thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's novel of the same name. In the story, the police chief of Amity Island, a fictional summer resort town, tries to protect beachgoers from a giant man-eating great white shark by closing the beach,...
, among others. Ultimately they decided to concentrate on a single core, Wheatley, recycling two of the rejected cores in the final boss fight. Wheatley is voiced by Stephen Merchant
Stephen Merchant
Stephen James Merchant is an English writer, director, radio presenter, comedian, and actor. He is best known for his collaborations with Ricky Gervais, as the co-writer and co-director of the popular British sitcom The Office, as the co-writer, co-director and a co-star of Extras, and as the...
; early demonstrations at trade shows used the voice of Valve animator Richard Lord. The writers wrote Wheatley's lines with Merchant in mind, citing his unique "vocal silhouette" and his ability to ad lib in a "frantic" manner. They initially assumed Merchant would be unavailable and contacted The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd
The IT Crowd is a British sitcom by Channel 4, written by Graham Linehan, produced by Ash Atalla and starring Chris O'Dowd, Richard Ayoade, Katherine Parkinson and Matt Berry...
s writer Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan
Graham Linehan is an Irish television writer, actor, comedian and director who, often in partnership with Arthur Mathews, has written or co-written a number of popular television comedies...
to try to get Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...
, but then discovered Merchant was interested. Merchant spent around sixteen hours recording lines and was given freedom to improvise. Karen Prell
Karen Prell
Karen Prell is best known as the performer of Red Fraggle on Fraggle Rock. She also performed some characters in other Jim Henson films, and has enjoyed a significant second career as a computer animator for such studios as Pixar and DNA. On Sesame Street she performed Deena Monster, which was a...
led the animation team for Wheatley and the other personality cores.
J. K. Simmons
J. K. Simmons
Jonathan Kimble "J. K." Simmons is an American actor. He is best known for his roles on television as Dr. Emil Skoda in NBC's Law & Order , Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in TNT's The Closer, neo-Nazi Vernon Schillinger in the HBO prison drama Oz, on film as J...
voices Cave Johnson
Cave Johnson (Portal)
Cave Johnson is a fictional character in the 2011 video game Portal 2. He is portrayed by American actor J. K. Simmons and created in part by Portal 2s designer Erik Wolpaw. To date he only appears in Portal 2...
, Aperture Science's founder and CEO. Simmons's selection helped to solidify the character's development. Pictures of Johnson, based on the face of lead animator Bill Fletcher, appear throughout Portal 2. Though comparisons have been made between Johnson and Andrew Ryan
Andrew Ryan (BioShock)
Andrew Ryan is a fictional character in the 2007 video game BioShock. The character has received significant praise from critics, and so has his voice actor, Armin Shimerman, whose voice talent was cited as one of the contributing factors to BioShock and won "Best use of sound" from IGN...
, the wealthy industrialist that created the fictional underwater city of Rapture
Rapture (BioShock)
Rapture is an underwater city that is the setting for the games BioShock and BioShock 2. The game's back-story describes the city as envisioned by business tycoon Andrew Ryan in the mid-1940s as a means to create a utopia for mankind's greatest thinkers to prosper in a laissez-faire environment...
in BioShock
Bioshock
BioShock is a first-person shooter video game developed by 2K Boston and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360 on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007...
, Wolpaw says they did not consider this character while creating Johnson. The writers required another character to play off Johnson, but did not want to hire another voice actor. Having already enlisted McLain to play GLaDOS, they had her voice Johnson's assistant, Caroline. The reuse of McLain's voice led to the creation of a backstory and subplot about GLaDOS's creation. This element was also directed by the writers having a "true moment of incredible panic" when they realized that their plans to have Chell and GLaDOS play off each other like in a buddy cop film
Buddy cop film
The "buddy cop" is a subgenre of buddy films and crime films with plots involving two men of very different and conflicting personalities who are forced to work together to solve a crime and/or defeat criminals, sometimes learning from each other in the process...
would only work if both partners spoke. To remedy this, the creation of the Caroline subplot gave GLaDOS an external situation to deal with and to drive the story during the middle act of the game.
The co-operative campaign contains a separate story involving the two robotic characters and GLaDOS. Initial plans called for Chell and a new human character, "Mel", with dialogue for GLaDOS playing off their "image issues" that was retained after the switch to robots. GLaDOS seems troubled by the robots' cooperation, and attempts to aggravate their relationship through verbal trickery, such as praising one robot over the other. Valve initially considered having GLaDOS deliver separate lines to each player, but they found this to be a significant effort for minimal benefit. The writers also tried adding lines for GLaDOS that would make the players compete against each other for rewards such as meaningless points, but playtesters did not respond well. Faliszek noted that in co-operative games, it can be difficult to deliver key dialogue or in-game events to players, who may not be looking in the right direction at the right time. Instead, using lessons learned from Left 4 Dead, Faliszek and Wolpaw kept the story and key comedic lines short, and repeated them frequently.
The two robotic characters were originally more human and less robotic, similar to designs seen in the movie Westworld
Westworld
Westworld is a 1973 science fiction-thriller film written and directed by novelist Michael Crichton and produced by Paul Lazarus III. It stars Yul Brynner as a lifelike robot in a futuristic Western-themed amusement park, and Richard Benjamin and James Brolin as guests of the park.Westworld was the...
. The final designs are a modified personality core and a turret gun with haphazardly attached limbs. The numerous deaths players would endure throughout the game would be rather gruesome with human or human-like characters, but the deaths of robotic characters provide comical animations, such as struggling while being crushed by a lowering ceiling. The artists felt the look of the robots would help tell the story, and the fact that they are holding hands emphasizes the co-operative mode. "Expressive noises" are used in place of distinguishable dialogue, and mannerisms were designed to be a double act
Double act
A double act, also known as a comedy duo, is a comic pairing in which humor is derived from the uneven relationship between two partners, usually of the same gender, age, ethnic origin and profession, but drastically different personalities or behavior...
, similar to Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy
Laurel and Hardy were one of the most popular and critically acclaimed comedy double acts of the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema...
. The robots' voices were provided by voice actor Dee Baker, who had done similar robot voices for the various Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 TV series)
-Production:At April 2005's Star Wars Celebration III, Lucas stated that "we are working on a 3-D continuation of the pilot series that was on the Cartoon Network; we probably won't start that project for another year." In July 2005, pre-production had begun on the series, according to Steve...
media.
The writers saw Aperture Science itself as a character. It is depicted as a "living, breathing place", and "a science company that's gone mad with science." In the Lab Rat comic, the facility is described as a "beautiful and terrible" place, "a metastasized
Metastasis
Metastasis, or metastatic disease , is the spread of a disease from one organ or part to another non-adjacent organ or part. It was previously thought that only malignant tumor cells and infections have the capacity to metastasize; however, this is being reconsidered due to new research...
amalgam of add-ons, additions and appropriations. Building itself out of itself."
Music
Portal 2 contains both scored and procedurally generatedProcedural generation
Procedural generation is a widely used term in the production of media; it refers to content generated algorithmically rather than manually. Often, this means creating content on the fly rather than prior to distribution...
music created by Valve's composer, Mike Morasky. The game also includes two songs; "Want You Gone" recorded by Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton
Jonathan Coulton is an American singer-songwriter, known for his songs about geek culture and his use of the Internet to draw fans...
, used as the final credits song for the single player mode, and "Exile Vilify" by the band The National
The National (band)
The National is an indie rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1999 and currently based in Brooklyn, New York. The band's lyrics are written and sung by Matt Berninger, a baritone...
, used in the background of one of the Rat Man's dens. The full soundtrack "Songs to Test By", containing most of the songs in the game, was released as a free download across three volumes between May and September 2011.
Announcement
In January 2008 Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi told EurogamerEurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
, "There'll be more Portal, for sure." Portal designer Kim Swift confirmed work on Portal 2 the next month. Swift said multiplayer Portal was possible "from a technology standpoint" but would be "less fun than you'd think."
Portal 2 was officially announced on March 5, 2010. Events during the preceding week foreshadowed the announcement. On March 1 Valve released a patch for Portal that included a new achievement, "Transmission Received", requiring the player to manipulate in-game radios. This revealed new sound effects that became part of an alternate reality game
Alternate reality game
An alternate reality game is an interactive narrative that uses the real world as a platform, often involving multiple media and game elements, to tell a story that may be affected by participants' ideas or actions....
(ARG). The effects included Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
strings that suggested GLaDOS was rebooting and SSTV
Slow-scan television
Slow-scan television is a picture transmission method used mainly by amateur radio operators, to transmit and receive static pictures via radio in monochrome or color.A technical term for SSTV is narrowband television...
images from a grainy Aperture Science video. The images included hints to a BBS phone number that, when accessed, provided a large number of ASCII
ASCII
The American Standard Code for Information Interchange is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, communications equipment, and other devices that use text...
-based images relating to Portal and segments of fictional Aperture Science documents. Many of these ASCII pictures were later published in Game Informer. New ASCII images continued to appear on the BBS after the official announcement. Background on the ARG is embedded in additional SSTV images found in a hidden room in Portal 2. According to these, the ARG had a budget of US$100 and was designed to attract casual players, who would find radios in Portal, and more enthusiastic players, through the decoding and deciphering. The BBS connected to a PC in a Valve employee's kitchen; the Valve office phone lines were too modern to support a BBS.
A second Portal patch on March 3 altered the game's ending sequence. Gaming journalists speculated that an announcement of Portal 2 was imminent. On March 5 Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
unveiled the cover of its April issue; Portal 2 was officially launched.
During the week following Portal 2s announcement, Gabe Newell's speech accepting the Pioneer Award at the Game Developers Conference
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference is the largest annual gathering of professional video game developers, focusing on learning, inspiration, and networking...
2010 ended with a fake blue screen of death
Blue Screen of Death
To forse a BSOD Open regedit.exe,Then search: HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\i8042prt\ParametersThen make a new DWORD called "CrashOnCtrlScroll" And set the value to 1....
appearing on a screen behind him. The message purported to be from GLaDOS and hinted of further Portal 2 news at the upcoming E3 2010
Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010
The Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010, commonly known as E3 2010, was the 16th Electronic Entertainment Expo held. The event took place on June 14–17 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. E3 is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry presented by the Entertainment Software...
. Two weeks before the E3, game journalists received a cryptic e-mail, worded as a press release from Aperture Science, hinting that the presentation on Portal 2 would be replaced with "a surprise" jointly hosted by Aperture Science and Valve. This prompted speculation that the surprise would be the announcement of Half-Life 2: Episode Three, but Valve confirmed that it would be about Portal 2. The surprise was the announcement of Portal 2 on PlayStation 3.
Portal 2: Lab Rat
To help develop the fictional history of Aperture Science, Valve created a digital comic to tell the story of the "Rat Man", who is unseen in the games themselves but creates murals and scrawlings that guide Chell in both games. The comic, "Portal 2: Lab Rat", takes place both during and after Portal, explaining the events that led to Portal 2. The Rat Man's artwork appears early in Portal 2, where it retells the plot of Portal. Michael Avon OemingMichael Avon Oeming
Michael Avon Oeming is an American comic book creator, both as an artist and writer. He is known for using a stark art style to tell stories with sophisticated and mature subject matter.-Career:...
, who had worked on comics for Valve games Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
and Left 4 Dead
Left 4 Dead (series)
The Left 4 Dead franchise is based on a series of cooperative first-person shooter, survival horror video games developed by the Valve Corporation...
, and Valve in-house artist Andrea Wicklund drew the comic. Ted Kosmatka wrote most of the story with input from the Portal 2 writers. The 27-page comic was made available online in two parts about two weeks before the game's release and was also bundled with the game itself. Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
plans to publish "Portal 2: Lab Rat" in a printed anthology of Valve comics, Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories, in November 2011.
In the comic, the Rat Man, a.k.a. Doug Rattmann, is a scientist working in the Aperture facility. He escapes GLaDOS's initial neurotoxin attack, but suffers symptoms as his schizophrenia
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
medication runs out, including hallucinating his talking Weighted Companion Cube. Noticing that Chell is uniquely tenacious among the test subjects held by Aperture, Rattmann moves her to the top of the queue of testing subjects, thus starting the events of the first Portal. After Chell defeats GLaDOS Rattmann escapes Aperture, but returns against the Companion Cube's objections when he sees the Party Escort Bot dragging an unconscious Chell back inside and into a disabled cryo chamber. He ensures that Chell is kept in indefinite suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
, but he is shot by a turret in the process. He then enters a stasis pod himself, and what becomes of him afterward is unknown.
Marketing and release
The March 2010 announcement called for Portal 2 to be released in late 2010. In August 2010 Valve announced that the game's release had been moved to February 2011, with a Steam release date of February 9. This was to complete changes to the game's dialogue, to fill and connect the sixty-some test chambers already created, and to finish refinements to the gel gameplay mechanic. Valve announced a further delay in November 2010, setting the week of April 18, 2011, for worldwide release through retail and online channels. Wolpaw stated that this delay of eight weeks at the end of the project was used to expand the content of the game before reaching an internal milestone called a "content lock", where no further content could be added. The remaining development work involved debugging. Newell allowed the delay, given the added benefits of the new content, because he felt there would not be the loss of any commercial opportunities as a result. On February 18, 2011, Newell confirmed that Valve had completed the development work on Portal 2 and that they were "waiting for final approvals and to get the discs manufactured".Portal 2 was the first Valve product simultaneously released for Windows and Mac OS X computers through the Steam platform. Retail copies for all platforms are distributed by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
.
Valve created their own series of television commercials to promote Portal 2. Valve had worked with advertising agencies in the past, but Lombardi found the advertisements created had shown little ingenuity; Lombardi's frustrations included "Copycat treatments. Cliché treatments. Treatments that reveal the agency wasn't listening in the initial meeting." Using viewer feedback, Valve tailored the ad content until they were satisfied with the results. The ads took eight weeks to complete. Valve also developed additional online promotional videos, featuring J. K. Simmons narrating as Cave Johnson, to promote new elements of Portal 2s gameplay. These videos were part of a larger effort described by Newell as a "documentary-style investment opportunity" for Portal 2. An earlier video release on February 14, 2011, promoted the co-operative aspect of Portal 2 as an ideal Valentine's gift. The video "lit up our preorders, our buzz, all the metrics that are used and collected by publishers and retailers". Lombardi felt the videos "dwarfed the demos and interviews we did". Valve also offered Portal 2-themed merchandise, such as posters, drinking glasses, and t-shirts, including one that parodies the Three Wolf Moon
Three Wolf Moon
Three Wolf Moon is a T-shirt featuring three wolves howling at the moon printed by the company The Mountain. The numerous false and misleading reviews for this on Amazon.com have become an Internet phenomenon...
shirt.
Portal 2s release was preceded by another alternate reality game, called the Potato Sack
Potato Sack
The Potato Sack is the name of an alternate reality game created by the Valve Corporation and the developers of thirteen independent video games to promote the release of Valve's title, Portal 2, in April 2011...
, which includes thirteen independently-developed games. Envisioned by Newell around December 2010, the developers were brought to Valve to discuss and plan the "Cross Game Design Event", to culminate with the early release of Portal 2 on Steam. The developers were given access to Valve's art and audio assets to incorporate Portal-themed content into their games. The game was launched on April 1, 2011, with a Steam bundle sale of these titles. Players worked to solve the multi-tiered puzzle, coordinating efforts through web sites and chat rooms, which some journalists believed pointed to the release of Portal 2 on April 15, 2011, instead of the target release date of April 19, 2011. Eventually, on April 15, the players discovered "GLaDOS@Home", a distributed computing
Distributed computing
Distributed computing is a field of computer science that studies distributed systems. A distributed system consists of multiple autonomous computers that communicate through a computer network. The computers interact with each other in order to achieve a common goal...
spoof that encouraged participants to play the various games to unlock Portal 2 earlier. As a result of these coordinated efforts, the game was unlocked about ten hours early.
The game includes bonus content, primarily four promotional videos and the Lab Rat comic. It also includes an interactive trailer for the 2011 film Super 8
Super 8 (film)
Super 8 is a 2011 American science fiction action film written and directed by J. J. Abrams and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, and Kyle Chandler and was released on June 10, 2011 in conventional and IMAX theaters...
, constructed with the Source game engine. A feature called "Robot Enrichment" allows players to customize the co-op campaign characters with new gestures or cosmetic items such as hats or flags. These can be earned in-game, traded with other players, or bought through microtransactions at the in-game store.
Downloadable content
Valve plans to produce downloadable contentDownloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
for Portal 2, with the first content, "Peer Review", released on October 4, 2011. The content, which is free for all users regardless of platform, includes a new co-op campaign which loosely extends the game's story where, after a week from the end of the co-operative campaign, GLaDOS prepares Atlas and P-Body to deal with an intruder within Aperture Science—the bird that had previously abducted her as a potato. The content also adds a "challenge mode" similar to that which appeared in the first Portal—players attempt to complete specific chambers with the shortest time or fewest number of portals used, both which are tracked on overall and friends leaderboards. The challenge modes are available for both single player and co-operative modes.
According to Faliszek, user-generated content
User-generated content
User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...
for Portal 2 will be available on all platforms through various delivery methods, but the necessary modding tools will only be available for Windows due to software dependencies. Valve released beta versions of the modding tools on May 10, 2011. Keighley has also reported that Valve has been working on highly-simplified level editing tools, "a Photoshop for test chambers", to allow novice editors to assemble test chambers without learning how to use the modified Valve Hammer Editor
Valve Hammer Editor
Valve Hammer Editor, formerly known as Worldcraft and now commonly called Hammer, is Valve Software's map creation program for their game engine, Source. Old versions of Worldcraft also supported Quake and Quake II. Versions prior to 4 supported exclusively GoldSrc, Source's predecessor. The...
, as well as an in-game system to deliver user-created levels to players. This mapping system is expected to be released sometime in 2012 alongside additional downloadable content. Valve helped to back a contest held by the community mapping site, "Thinking with Portals" in May 2011, providing prizes for the top-selected maps.
Valve also continues to support fan reuse of Portal 2 content, offering selected assets and aid. The Microsoft Windows release of the independently-developed game, Bastion
Bastion (video game)
Bastion is an action role-playing video game produced by independent developer Supergiant Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. The game's visual style is inspired by anime and its narrative style takes the form of a dynamic voice-over...
includes a weapon inspired by Portal 2s Conversion Gel and turrets; its developer, Supergiant Games, received some writing assistance from Eric Wolpaw and new lines for the turrets voiced by McLain. Similarly, the Steam release of the game Dungeon Defenders
Dungeon Defenders
Dungeon Defenders is a video game developed by Trendy Entertainment that combines the genres of tower defense and action RPG. The game takes place in a fantasy setting where players control the young apprentices of wizards and warriors and defend against hordes of monsters...
includes pre-order content based on the portal gun from Portal and various Team Fortress 2 items. Wolpaw and McLain also helped to create additional lines spoken by GLaDOS for a custom single player map commissioned by Gary Hudston, which he used to propose marriage to his fiancee, Stephanie.
PlayStation 3
The announcement that Portal 2 would be available on PlayStation 3PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
came as a surprise, because Gabe Newell had criticized that console in the past citing difficulties in the port of The Orange Box. The move toward the PlayStation 3 was a result of growing frustration with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's policies for Xbox 360 content, including the difficulty of pushing patching
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
and new content to players. Newell saw Sony's publication model as more open, allowing for Steam-like features on the console side.
Portal 2 is the first game on the PlayStation 3 to support a subset of features from Steamworks, including auto-updates, downloadable content
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
, and community support. The game supports cross-platform play between the PlayStation 3 and the Windows and Mac OS X versions. On the PlayStation 3, the Steam overlay shows the player's friends on both Steam and the PlayStation Network, with achievements
Achievement (video gaming)
In video gaming parlance, an achievement, also sometimes known as a trophy or challenge, is a meta-goal defined outside of a game's parameters...
rewarded for both Steam and PlayStation Network trophies. PlayStation 3 players can unlock the game on Steam for Windows and Mac OS X for no additional charge. The integration of Steamworks on the PlayStation 3 allows Valve to collect data about problems that arise after shipping and push appropriate updates. Valve has stated they do not plan on integrating other PlayStation 3 features, such as 3D television
3D television
A 3D television is a television set that employs techniques of 3D presentation, such as stereoscopic capture, multi-view capture, or 2D-plus-depth, and a 3D display – a special viewing device to project a television program into a realistic three-dimensional field.- History :In the late-1890's,...
or PlayStation Move support.
Valve has said that, despite additional support for PlayStation 3 over Xbox 360, the "core game" is the same across both platforms.
Razer Hydra
Valve developed a version of Portal 2 native to the Razer HydraSixense TrueMotion
The Razer Hydra is a motion and orientation detection game controller developed by Sixense Entertainment, a company founded in 2007, in partnership with Razer USA...
motion controller
Motion Controller
A motion controller controls the motion of some object. Frequently motion controllers are implemented using digital computers, but motion controllers can also be implemented with only analog components as well.-Implementation:...
for PC that allows enhanced control of some game elements. Ten additional single-player levels are available as downloadable content for this version. Writer Chet Faliszek said Razer developers spent nine months to a year in-house at Valve preparing the native version. A limited edition of the Razer Hydra comes bundled
Product bundling
Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as one combined product. This strategy is very common in the software business , in the cable television industry Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products for sale as...
with a copy of Portal 2 for PC.
Pre-release
Portal 2 was a strong favorite of gaming journalists during closed-door previews at the E3 2010 convention. The Game Critics AwardsGame Critics Awards
The Game Critics Awards are a set of annual awards held after the E3 video game conference since 1998. The awards are given to products displayed at E3 with the title Best of E3 of their category. The nominees and winners of the awards are chosen by individual judges representing 35 major North...
, selected by a large number of journalists and critics, awarded Portal 2 the title of Best PC Game and Best Action/Adventure Game, and nominated the game for Best of Show and Best Console Game. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
named Portal 2 as its Best of E3 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 systems as well as Best Puzzle Game, and nominated the game as Best Overall Game. Gamespy
GameSpy
GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current...
named Portal 2 the Best Overall Game and Best Puzzle Game of E3. Portal 2 won the 2010 Spike Video Game Award for "Most Anticipated Game for 2011".
Post-release
Portal 2 received universal acclaim from reviewers on its release, resulting in an average score of 95 out of 100 according to review aggregator MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
; several reviewers identified Portal 2 as an early contender for "Game of the Year", while others called it one of the best games of all time. Prior to its launch, several critics had expressed concern that Valve might be unable to take the shorter, experimental, Portal from The Orange Box
The Orange Box
The Orange Box is a video game compilation for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, Mac OS X and PlayStation 3. The Windows and Xbox 360 versions were produced and published by Valve Corporation and released on October 10, 2007 as a boxed retail copy...
and make it into a full retail game, but upon release the game was widely considered to be as good as or better than the original. Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
's Oli Welsh said that the game was able to avoid the normal pitfalls that developers introduce in sequels, stating that "Portal is perfect. Portal 2 is not. It's something better than that." Gus Mastrapa of the A.V. Club commented that with Portal 2, Valve had alleviated any doubts that "Portal could be expanded into a big, narrative experience with all the bells and whistles of a mainstream gaming hit". IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Charles Onyett considered that the sequel "makes the original look like the prototype it was" by expanding the game in gameplay and story.
Most reviewers praised the writing and voice acting in the game. Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
Dan Stapleton of PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
was able to predict many of the plot twists within Portal 2 story but "still looked forward to witnessing exactly how the characters would react"; he praised the development of the characters, as "their charm makes what would otherwise be an empty and lifeless world feel boisterous and alive". The individual characters were well-received. Oynett believed that Merchant's "obvious enthusiasm for the role benefits the game" and that the "consistently clever writing perfectly complements the onscreen action". Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
Adam Biessener considered Johnson to be an even better character than GLaDOS, a tribute to "pitch-perfect delivery" from Simmons with "brilliant comedic timing". In contrast, Peter Bright of Ars Technica
Ars Technica
Ars Technica is a technology news and information website created by Ken Fisher and Jon Stokes in 1998. It publishes news, reviews and guides on issues such as computer hardware and software, science, technology policy, and video games. Ars Technica is known for its features, long articles that go...
commented that, compared to the loneliness and despair he felt while playing the first game, the additional characters, specifically Wheatley and GLaDOS, lost some of this feeling and "the inane babble served only to disrupt the mood".
Portal 2s additional gameplay elements, like light bridges, lasers, and the gels, were praised as appropriate additions to the game. Furthermore, the reviewers were pleased with the level of difficulty of the puzzles throughout the game, appearing visually complicated at first but with uncomplicated solutions. Narcaisse had stated that he feared the addition of the new gameplay elements would "dilute the purity of the experience", but instead was pleased with the results as "everything's still executed with Valve's high level of charm and panache". Tom Hoggins of The Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
praised the manner which with these elements were introduced through a "brilliant learning curve of direction, rather than instruction", and considered it a "design ethos that is supremely generous, but dealt with marvellous economy". Kohler considered that the game's puzzles "never require excessively complicated solutions", and that much of the puzzle solving is "filled with moments that will have you slapping your forehead". Stapleton was not as pleased with the gel additions as with the other new mechanics, calling it "difficult to control". He felt that they have "only a couple of uses at most". Bright felt that Portal 2 was easier than its predecessor, in part that he felt much of the game was effectively tutorials for the new gameplay additions, requiring "careful use of the tools provided", leaving him with the impression that "the game was on rails".
The co-operative puzzle solving aspect was highlighted as a valuable addition to the game. Welsh called the co-operative mode "one of the most satisfying and genuinely collaborative gaming experiences you can have with a friend". Onyett praised Valve for using the lessons they learned from Left 4 Dead to build the co-operative mode that requires "a game design that doesn't simply encourage but requires you to work together". Several reviewers praised the non-verbal cues that players could initiate to work with their partners.
Portal 2 was praised for its detail in design, sound, and music. Nelson credited the "sheer amount of detail" put into the game's world, and felt it was "very real and natural with brief moments where you're simply sucked into this world". Onyett was impressed with the amount of visual details and capabilities Valve achieved from their Source game engine and that the added details and animations of the levels "consistently serv[ed] not only to entertain the eye but to expand our understanding of the game's characters". Hoggins believed that the game's world reacted to the player "in a startlingly organic way", and praised Valve's design as "an achievement of world-building that compares favourably with BioShock underwater city of Rapture". Some reviewers did note that the second act of the game, taking place in the less-structured portion of the old Aperture facilities, while filled with impressive vistas, may be confusing to some players. Young believed in this section the game "cranks up the difficulty level at a speed that may dishearten casual gamers", and recounted several difficulties, including having "absolutely no idea where I was supposed to head next". Kohler further considered that, while the player would explore the abandoned areas of Aperture, there is very little to do in these areas, and called them "a lot of sterile, duplicated, non-interactive environments".
Watters noted that the loading time between the game's levels, in contrast to earlier Valve games, are "long enough to make you take notice and wish they were shorter". Watters also commented on the lack of challenge chambers or other advanced features packaged with the shipped product that were present in the original, though that Portal 2 is "not light on content" without these. Welsh noted that the attempt to recapture the spirit of the song "Still Alive" in the end credits of Portal 2 "was a mistake".
Journalists noted that many of the user reviews for Portal 2 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
evoked a negative opinion of the game. These users cited complaints about the game being too short (with some saying it is only four hours long), the existence of paid downloadable content at launch for some versions, and supposed evidence that the game on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X were ports of the console version. Journalists have defended Valve in these claims, countering that the game's length depends on the amount of immersion the player puts into the game, that the downloadable content is only cosmetic additions for the co-op mode, and that the quality of the graphics on the Windows and Mac version do not suggest a simple console port. Some journalists also identify that the minimal impact of The Potato Sack alternative reality game on the early release of Portal 2 may be influencing the user scores.
Awards
Portal 2 has won the title of "Ultimate Game of the Year" at the 2011 Golden Joystick AwardsGolden Joystick Awards
The Golden Joystick Awards, also known as the People's Gaming Awards are the world's oldest gaming award ceremony, awarding the best computer and video games of the year, as voted for by the general public...
. The game received twelve nominations including "Game of the Year" for the 2011 Spike Video Game Awards, the most of any title.
Sales
Based on sales data from Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, Portal 2 was the best-selling game in the United States in the first week of its release. It fell behind others, including Mortal Kombat, in its second week. According to NPD Group
NPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
, Portal 2 was the second-best selling game in the U.S. in April 2011, at 637,000 copies, and the fourth-best selling in May. However, NPD does not include sales on Valve's Steam platform.
Portal 2 was the best selling game in the United Kingdom in the week of its release, the first time a Valve game had placed first. It retained the top spot during its second week.
Portal 2 was released days before the PlayStation Network outage
PlayStation Network outage
The PlayStation Network outage was the result of an "external intrusion" on Sony's PlayStation Network and Qriocity services, in which personal details from approximately 77 million accounts were stolen and prevented users of PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable consoles from playing online...
. Gamasutra
Gamasutra
Gamasutra is a website founded in 1997 for video game developers. It is owned and operated by UBM TechWeb , a division of United Business Media, and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine Game Developer...
analyst Matt Matthews concluded, based on NPD Group data, that the outage "did not seriously affect retail sales of software", but some developers did report drops in sales. ShopToNews analyst Joe Anderson expected that the effect of the outage on UK sales of Portal 2 would be mild.
On June 22, Newell announced that Portal 2 had sold 3 million copies. As of late July 2011, Electronic Arts has stated that more than 2 million copies of Portal 2 at retail have been sold worldwide. In an August 2011 interview, Newell stated that "Portal 2 did better on the PC than it did on the consoles".
External links
- Valve Corporation
- Eric Wolpaw Portal 2 presentation as part of the New York UniversityNew York UniversityNew York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
Game Design Series, May 6, 2011 - "The Final Hours of Portal 2" Digital book by Geoff Keighley
- Thinking With Portals - community map/mod site for Portal 2