And sometimes, it's just a prolonged joke about an AI that really, really likes space. Everything has a purpose, whether it's a setup for a later joke, foreshadowing, or just more insight into GLaDOS' personality. It does not attempt to channel Avengers-level dialogue, where everything must be a quip and no one can ever display true emotions nor does it look at the success of Portal's writing and go, "ah! We should have MORE writing." I mean, yes, technically, it has more writing, but it's not bloated. It is sheer character development, with puzzles. Potato.īut best of all, Portal 2 never tries to be anything but what it is. Absurdity makes a great canvas for comedy, because it holds up a funhouse mirror to the real world - it is a warped reflection of fundamental truths, a way to highlight the insanity of the things we take for granted, like death, work, mortality, and the pursuit of knowledge. Once you've set up an absurd premise, along with a deranged villain or two, everything is free game. And it's absurd that the cage exists in the first place, all because of an increasingly-unhinged man with too much money and not enough foresight (although we all know those exist in spades). It's absurd that you're locked in a cage of never-ending experiments, because science. There are ever-mounting stakes - it used to be about wanting cake, then about escaping from a decaying factory, then destroying your former nemesis who didn't actually die, and finally, about stopping a facility from exploding by defeating a mad-with-power idiot savant AI with the help of your former nemesis. Subscribe to Nintendo Life on YouTubeīut Portal 2's humour isn't just built on insults. And then laughing at you for being stupid. It relies on you being a trusting participant - one who knows how puzzles and video games work - in order to torture you by pulling away the rug. Its jokes rely on you having played the first one, and having set up the animosity between you and the homicidal AI that is now naught but a spud upon a spike. It reduces its brilliant villain to a literal vegetable, puts a moron in charge of the whole thing, and reveals the hitherto unseen human side to the "science" - the man who started it all, his experiment-loving assistant, and the waves of test subjects that came before you. Standing on the shoulders of the giant that came before it, Portal 2 takes everything you thought you knew about Aperture Science, sets it on fire, and dances upon the ashes while calling you fat. There are still cubes, and turrets, and rooms full of puzzles, although I wasn't 100% sure about the existence of cake this time (fool me once, and all that). There's still a portal gun, but also some new mechanics, maybe involving various types of goo. There's still an evil robot lady, but now there's also a spherical Stephen Merchant. Thanks, memes.īefore I played Portal 2, I felt like I knew some of the plot from cultural osmosis, and some of it from extrapolating from the first game. I played Portal, and I was right about all the things. I knew the writing was sharp and witty, and I knew there was a song at the end. There's an evil robot lady, there's a gun that shoots holes, there's a cube that you love, and there's cake, until there isn't. We're finally catching up with Portal 2.īefore I played Portal, I felt like I knew most of the plot just from cultural osmosis. This article is part of our new experimental series, Backlog Club, where we (Nintendo Life!) pick a game that's likely to be on our list of "games we should get around to playing", and then we (NL + you!) spend the next month playing that game. Rule number two of Backlog Club: Don't talk about Backlog Club. And yes, if you knock it over, it'll vibrate and be sad about its lot in life.Rule number one of Backlog Club: Work through your pile of unplayed video games one at a time, and discuss them with other people. When it detects movement, the wings open and it will announce the acquisition of a target, which is enough to send anyone running away from your desk at top speed. Strike fear into the hearts of your enemies (or coworkers) with your very own Turret Desk Defender, powered by USB. That's why we have Plush Turrets, Flashlight Turrets, Inflatable Turrets, and now, the Sentry Turret Desk Defender! They're just so cute with their little voices and their red eyes. ![]() even though they riddled us with holes on many an occasion.
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