Portal and Portal 2
A long time ago I did a list of my favorite games. It was a Top 10 list without ten games because I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to the games I really like. Anyways, Portal was number three. I think at the time I mentioned that Portal was better then my 1 and 2 spots, but as that list was of my favorite games and not what I considered to be the best, there were other things that factored in like Nostalgia and characters and personal experience.
Recently Portal 2 came out and all you need to know for the moment about my feelings towards it is that my top ten games list does in fact have ten games in it now. It seems like there are always two types of people when a good sequel comes out; there are those that think it's good, but do not think it meets the expectations of the first and there are those that think it is better then the first. Generally I fall under the first category. Sequels, however good don't usually have the same effect that the first game/movie/etc has. That said, it's actually a little hard for me to decide which game is better between Portal and Portal 2. After playing the sequel I assumed that once the initial excitement of finding another excellent game wore off I'd be able to look at it more subjectively, but it just isn't happening.
The main reason, I think is because they are actually quite different from one another. Portal was a puzzle game. there was a story of sorts, but it was told mainly in things that the player inferred from GlaDos' dialogue and the scenery. There wasn't much exposition or history involved. You were being tested by a clearly malicious AI and judging by the emptiness of the facility and the occasional mad scribblings you were not the first. It's pretty straightforward and short and for all of that, it was about as perfect as a game can get.
Portal 2 is different, mainly because there's more to it. It's still a puzzle game but not in the same way. The first game really did, for the most part consist of doing one puzzle after another. each puzzle had a clear beginning and end and when you were finished you'd go on to another similiar room that offered a slightly more challenging puzzle. This was true of the entirety of the game with the exception of your escape at the end. If it hadn't been for the suprisingly hilarious dialogue and unique sense of dark humor it still would have been an excellent puzzle game but it wouldn't have stood out the way it did.
Portal 2 has the puzzle chambers, but it also has a lot of stuff in between which serve to drive exposition. There's a lot more back story and narrative. Also, the first game only had GlaDos' as a speaking character, excluding the gun turrets, and keeping in mind that it did seem to give personality to other non speaking objects. Portal 2 has added more speaking characters.
Now, when I first heard that the game was longer and focused more on the story, my first instinct was not to be pleased. I figured that since Portal was so perfect as it was, Portal 2 could only hurt that and my mind automatically went to bad experiences with other games that tried to add on to a story that seemed to be pretty self contained. But what Portal 2 does is different, it doesn't quite feel like the first game, but it doesn't seem inconsistent, it introduces a lot of new characters, but they seem to fit into the environment and are very well written and enjoyable and above all it's well done. The story and environments are well planned out and it maintains an excellent sense of humor throughout. I think there are some definite influences from Half Life 2, particularly in areas outside the test chambers as well.
The most important thing though, is that it's clear that Valve took what they knew was an extremely popular game, a cult phenomenon even and rather the making a sequel that just offered empty fanservice, put a lot of effort into another entirely different experience. You can tell that they wanted to make it its own game and thats important.
In the last month or so I've played Portal 2 three times. So far I've only played the single player campaign because the only person I know who plays first person shooters or even has an XBOX360 is in Hawaii and training non gamers in Portal is a major headache. I need more nerdy friends I guess. Anyways, I went through the game all the way through three times, finding new details each time, and then, to help me decide which game was better played through Portal a couple times too. And after all that I still don't know.
Portal is definitely more challenging. If I had a gripe about the sequel it's that, although not easy, it isn't as challenging as the first, but there are just a lot of details that I really enjoy in the second. The plot points are great and listening to all of the different AIs and pre recorded messages are fun, plus as I've mentioned before I enjoy a good story in a game. Some people complain about how long certain portions of the game get and I can sort of see that. There's a point, about halfway through the game where you fall down to the ground level of the facility sealed up years before. This section goes on a little long and I think has some of my least favorite puzzles in it, but if I could remove it I still don't think I would, because I think it still adds a lot to the game.
Also, something I caught the last time, that, for some reason didn't get across to me the first time I played was how this section sort of progressed. At the beginning of this chapter, for instance, all of the desks have typewriters and ancient phones and all of the tests are done with crude technology and as you go further and return to the upper levels things get progressively more modern. I was somewhat aware of this the first time, because of the photos of Cave Johnson, the founder of Aperture Science, but I didn't really notice all of the details until I played it again. Same goes with a lot of the achievements. I got a few of the hidden ones the first time, but still missed a lot, including the 'Final Transmission' in the last rat's nest and the 'No Hard Feelings' achievement for picking up the oracle turret, which are nice details. I also really enjoyed the 'Exile Vilify' Room, which I did happen upon the first time. I've had that song stuck in my head for weeks.
So taking everything into consideration, which is better? It's hard to say. I suppose, in taking both games for what they are, that the first would still be superior, but my Games list isn't about which game is best so much as which game I enjoyed more and got more out of and I have to say I think it's Portal 2. I love Portal, but I think I had more of an emotional response to the sequel. I was able to get more attached to the characters new and old and there were a lot of plot points and details that sucked me in. So, kudos Valve for doing the unthinkable.
Link to Portal Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TluRVBhmf8w
Link to Portal 2 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tax4e4hBBZc
And as I have done in the past, here's a link to a review of the game done by my favorite game reviewer: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/3153-Portal-2