I just finished single-player yesterday, and loved it. I was especially impressed that they managed to make GlaDOS a [mostly] sympathetic character, and I thought the new mechanics worked great - they add depth without contriving complexity.
I thought they should have made a better reason for the character to go through the 'historic' vaults. It was there for GlaDOS' character development, and to give the gel puzzles a fresh setting, but I just kept wondering what Chell was doing there, you know? Just seemed one conversation short of cohesive, in terms of story. But the gameplay was there, so I won't complain.
Overall, game of the fucking year. Can't wait to try co-op. (And I hate online gaming, so that's saying something.)
Also, I disagree about the historic Aperture test chambers. The Aperture company has been around since the 50's, as established in other extended media(the very original Portal 1 ARG where you had to log in to find out the cake was a lie), and getting lost very deep in the cracks of the Aperture facility to find experiments from looong ago wasn't too far fetched for me.
This is a minor nitpick into what was otherwise a stellar game. What bothered me though was that the Borealis' dry dock was found in the 70's portion of the testing facility. I just wish they would've had it in the last facility so at least it meshed with the Borealis we saw in Half Life 2 Ep 2 which had the modern Aperture Science logo on it, not to mention the blueprints Judith Mossman found with GLaDOS all over it. It kind of bothers me that Half Life is the game that put Valve on the map and now they're ignoring it like some red headed stepchild. If GLaDOS in Portal is Caroline, then who's the basis for GLaDOS on board the Borealis?
Huh. You're right - that does suggest that it was built twice, doesn't it? (Damn my thriving social life and loving family for robbing me of my 'obsessed fandom' time. ;)
Although, it's possible that the dry dock was built in the 70s, but the ship wasn't actually built until the GlaDOS years. Right?
Either one of two things, they're going to retcon the Borealis as being part of the experiments done in the 70's, or that parts of the older facility were still in use before deadly neurotoxin was flooded into the facility killing everyone except Ratman.
Yeah, there are some sloppy fits with the material in EP2, but nothing that really breaks the continuity for me.
Geek point: Is the modern Aperture logo on the *ship*, or on a cargo container hanging off the side of it? (Haven't played EP2 in a while, so I'm going from pics online.) If Mossman just happened to get 'GlaDOS' copy' of the blueprints, but it was built in the 70s, there's no problem.
What I've noticed though, is that the ship itself looks old, so it's entirely possible they were loading it with modern equipment(Another GLaDOS AI with another personality core, etc), even if the ship is from the 70's.
I thought they should have made a better reason for the character to go through the 'historic' vaults. It was there for GlaDOS' character development, and to give the gel puzzles a fresh setting, but I just kept wondering what Chell was doing there, you know? Just seemed one conversation short of cohesive, in terms of story. But the gameplay was there, so I won't complain.
Overall, game of the fucking year. Can't wait to try co-op. (And I hate online gaming, so that's saying something.)
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This is a minor nitpick into what was otherwise a stellar game. What bothered me though was that the Borealis' dry dock was found in the 70's portion of the testing facility. I just wish they would've had it in the last facility so at least it meshed with the Borealis we saw in Half Life 2 Ep 2 which had the modern Aperture Science logo on it, not to mention the blueprints Judith Mossman found with GLaDOS all over it. It kind of bothers me that Half Life is the game that put Valve on the map and now they're ignoring it like some red headed stepchild. If GLaDOS in Portal is Caroline, then who's the basis for GLaDOS on board the Borealis?
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Although, it's possible that the dry dock was built in the 70s, but the ship wasn't actually built until the GlaDOS years. Right?
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Geek point: Is the modern Aperture logo on the *ship*, or on a cargo container hanging off the side of it? (Haven't played EP2 in a while, so I'm going from pics online.) If Mossman just happened to get 'GlaDOS' copy' of the blueprints, but it was built in the 70s, there's no problem.
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http://half-life.wikia.com/wiki/Borealis
What I've noticed though, is that the ship itself looks old, so it's entirely possible they were loading it with modern equipment(Another GLaDOS AI with another personality core, etc), even if the ship is from the 70's.
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