so, is it any good?

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dogboy73

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I've not bought Portal 2 yet. A couple of reasons for this - twin boys that came along last November taking up most of spare time & a PC that locks-up everytime I try to play the only game I currently have installed, TF2 (dodgy gfx card I think). I notice the forums are full of the usual talk of completeing the game 5 minutes after it was released! Can I take this as meaning it's not the longest game (again) in the World or do people just have much, much more time on their hands than I do?! I'm looking to build a new PC at the end of the Summer so I doubt I'll get to play Portal 2 until then ...... by which time Valve will probably be almost giving it away! Will it be worth the wait for me?
 
It's about six hours long in SP, and 5-6 in co op. It's pretty good.

Not really worth $50 to me, but others on here will say otherwise. I'm sure they'll be selling it for a steal on Christmas.
 
I dunno where all this 'short game' is coming from, Portal was a short game, Portal 2 is just the right length. I'd recommend getting it ASAP.
 
JUL3 said:
I dunno where all this 'short game' is coming from, Portal was a short game...
Click to expand...

But Portal was bundled with two other games, its relative price was lower.
 
I agree on the fact that a puzzle game is a puzzle game, we can't expect it to be as long as New Vegas or Mass Effect or Dragon Age. My only problem is with the price. In my humble opinion, the game should be cheaper: somewhere between a small indie game and a big triple A production. 20 Euros on release date.
 
Paulaner said:
I agree on the fact that a puzzle game is a puzzle game, we can't expect it to be as long as New Vegas or Mass Effect or Dragon Age. My only problem is with the price. In my humble opinion, the game should be cheaper: somewhere between a small indie game and a big triple A production. 20 Euros on release date.
Click to expand...

Play it first. This is no mid price game.
 
Shakermaker said:
Play it first. This is no mid price game.
Click to expand...

This. Nearly every review I've seen has given it a 10/10, and those that haven't are at least a 9/10. You pay for what you get.
 
Paulaner said:
I agree on the fact that a puzzle game is a puzzle game, we can't expect it to be as long as New Vegas or Mass Effect or Dragon Age. My only problem is with the price. In my humble opinion, the game should be cheaper: somewhere between a small indie game and a big triple A production. 20 Euros on release date.
Click to expand...
Are those games, however, also filled to the brim with great writing and meticulously designed down to every room you visit?
 
It's good game but it is too short. I finished it in 7 hours and I most certainly didn't "play it wrong", I got stuck at puzzles quite often and played slowly. Comparisons in length to Portal 1 are absurd, it was a game included in a massive game pack not a stand alone £30 game. Saying that the writing and voice work (Merchant steals it TBH) are pretty good and for the most part the puzzles are the right side of medium difficulty. Co-op was okay from what I played but that was soured by playing with someone who already knew what to do and blazed through it expecting me to keep up on my first go, so playing with friends is probably the best way to go with the multi.
In short it is a good game, but there is not enough content for the asking price IMO until maybe the free DLC comes out.
 
This game is absolutely amazing to me. I don't know about you people, but I definitely got my money's worth; I've played through the single-player two-and-a-half times so far, plus the co-op. I say yes, buy it.
 
Do not listen to the naysayers.

Portal 2 is one of the highest quality gaming experiences I have ever played, the attention to quality and detail is phenomenal.

7 hours is not short. It is shorter than RPG's and shorter than some FPS's, but every moment in the game is a rich experience. Longer games tend to feel stretched... I'm thinking about the entire COD series, even HL2 had its grind moments. Portal 2 never felt like that. As you have other responsibilities the length means it won't take too much time and every moment will feel well spent. So its actually pretty perfect for the responsible and busy adult.

It is worth its price. People who say differently are spoiled, but if money is an issue there is nothing wrong with waiting for a sale. It reportedly very well optimized and runs well on aging machines (but if TF2 causes problems then Portal 2 probably will as well)
 
First time ive played it was about 5 a 6h, but when you play again and do achievements your taking alot longer over the game (map restarting and stuff)
 
I paid the equivalent of a hundred dollars for it, and i don't regret it one bit. It's an awesome game
 
Paulaner said:
Yes, I'm waiting for a sale. Full price is too much for such a short game. My wallet is praying me to resist.
Click to expand...
People seem to be saying between 5-7 hours. That sounds fine by me. That's more hours than I've got to play games these days anyway! But my strategy these days is to wait a year before buying any PC games or hardware. That way everything is so much cheaper. Games are practically given away & todays decent gfx cards are next years bargain basement cards. I'm a year behind everyone else but I've saved a fortune! These days everyone is falling over themselves to get the latest thing NOW! Sometimes it's best to take a step back & relax. There's more to life than playing games ;) (and buying the latest must have gadget from Apple etc...). I waited 6 years for HL2. Another year didn't hurt ;)

Saying all that playing Portal for the first time hit me in the same way that playing Half Life 1 for the first time did. I didn't get that from Half Life 2. Portal was easily my favourite game from the Orange box. I was blown away by Portal where HL2 left me feeling a little short changed after the anticipation built up from HL1 (and the lonnnnnngggggg time it took Valve to get the sequel out). As such I'm really stoked about Portal 2. I can't wait to play it but realistically this is not going to happen until October this year at the earliest :(
 
On the first run through I explored (what I thought was) every nook and cranny and it took me just over 7 hours. If you take your time and don't rush and absorb the game it is truly worth it.
 
Currently, my play time sits at 21.5 hours. Breaking that down:

7 Hours for the first playthrough.
5 Hours for the co-op.
6 Hours for the commentary (bit sparse, but co-op commentary claws a little back).
3 Hours for miscellaneous achievement grabbing (they hid a lot of that stuff quite well)

?? Hours for remaining Co-op achievements
?? Hours for forthcoming DLC #1
?? Hours for forthcoming DLC implied by appended numeral.

There's plenty of game time in there if you're willing to look for it. It's a game that deserves to be played at least twice (and honestly, first time round some of the better bits simply washed over me). It's as worthy of a full retail price point as any other release, new or legacy.

If you 'don't usually buy games at full price' then it probably isn't worth it for you either. But then neither is moving out of your parents' basement, getting a job and cutting your hair.
 
Short answer: Yes it's good.
Long answer: First time SP took me about 12 hours, first time Coop took me about the same (not the best at puzzle games here)
 
Any game can be extending by achievement whoring, that's not something that should really be equated to game content.
 
Portal 2 will remain as my favorite game for several years to come.
 
Shakermaker said:
Portal 2 isn't a short game. People who say it only took them 5 or 6 hours are playing it wrong.
Click to expand...

^This.

It's longer than some people are reporting because Steams game time counter ****s up if you alt tab out apparently. I got a good 30 hours out of the game playing it through solo, playing it through co-op (brofist to Chris_D), playing it through with the commentary on as well as getting a bunch of SP & co-op achievements. 30 hours of high quality fun and some great talking points.

Paulaner said:
I agree on the fact that a puzzle game is a puzzle game, we can't expect it to be as long as New Vegas or Mass Effect or Dragon Age. My only problem is with the price. In my humble opinion, the game should be cheaper: somewhere between a small indie game and a big triple A production. 20 Euros on release date.
Click to expand...

You get out of a game as much as you are prepared to put in. Also this is a AAA title and the costs involved in terms of manpower were no doubt substantial, certainly more than enough to justify the fairly reasonable asking price. Also what the hell does game length have to do with things anyway? Shit it's not like you pay less at the cinema to see a 1.5 hour movie Vs a 3 hour one is it? The games as a 95 metric on metacritic: -

http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/portal-2/critic-reviews

If that doesn't say 'this is a game worth buying & playing now' I'm not sure what does.
 
stemot said:
Any game can be extending by achievement whoring, that's not something that should really be equated to game content.
Click to expand...
Except in this game, plenty of the achievements specifically drive you towards finding extra content in the form of hidden areas and lines of dialogue. The most time consuming (smash tv) is the most rewarding (it's basically 11 new puzzles). If the achievement wasn't there, you'd never know about it. And if the achievement wasn't there , anyone with an eye for quality would still be replaying the game anyway.
 
kupocake said:
Except in this game, plenty of the achievements specifically drive you towards finding extra content in the form of hidden areas and lines of dialogue. The most time consuming (smash tv) is the most rewarding (it's basically 11 new puzzles). If the achievement wasn't there, you'd never know about it. And if the achievement wasn't there , anyone with an eye for quality would still be replaying the game anyway.
Click to expand...

I agree. Yeah, get the pit boss achievement and then tell me that shouldn't count as content.
 
lol did any of you guys even read OP? He said he just had twins! Why the **** are we arguing about length in a game? He'll probably never get to put in 30 hours into a game again. Ever. Dogboy, in my opinion its the best sp valve game ever released and the mp has great potential that if they do the dlc right it could end up still being as relevant years from now as tf2 or cs is. Seriously buy your kids some diapers instead! Like you said it aint all about games, but maybe you should think about getting it for ps3 or 360, it might be more affordable than buying whole new sets of hardware for your comp.
 
kupocake said:
Except in this game, plenty of the achievements specifically drive you towards finding extra content in the form of hidden areas and lines of dialogue. The most time consuming (smash tv) is the most rewarding (it's basically 11 new puzzles). If the achievement wasn't there, you'd never know about it. And if the achievement wasn't there , anyone with an eye for quality would still be replaying the game anyway.
Click to expand...

I'm talking more about the achievements that require you to play huge sections again just to reach the unlock because of chapter selection points. For instance the
borealis
one or the "take Glados escape advice", your re-playing the same content again just to unlock the achievement thus it's artificially extending the game life. For those that have no interest in achievements it still leaves the same short game as before.

Oh yeah, I looked up the Pit Boss achievement. Kinda the same thing I'm talking about.
 
That's not 'achievement whoring', is it? It's a hint at an extra content for those who are interested in repeated play anyway; it's not like the player is even told where specifically they can obtain them.
 
I hear that Stephen Merchant completely steals the show and has some comical genius running throughout.

I havent got my hands on Portal 2 yet because I'm worried it's as short as Portal, which I rarely played through again once I'd finished it.
 
It is not as short as Portal, the single-player alone is about four times as long and there is also the co-operative mode which is several hours long. Of course the play-time is relative, so for me, taking time to look at environment detail, explore and listen to omissable dialogue, it took a little over nine hours.
 
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