Hello and welcome to the Aperture Science Enrichment Center

[Loot]

Again.

[Valigarmander]

Portal 2 Will Have Co-Op Multiplayer, Full-Price

Even though Valve's intention to make a Portal sequel has been known for some time, it was still exciting to see Portal 2 officially revealed earlier this week...even if the reveal came with almost no details to speak of. Thankfully, some of those details are already being filled in, as Game Informer reports the game will have a cooperative multiplayer mode, and GameStop's product listing shows it'll be a full-priced release.

The co-op mode will evidently be its own stand-alone campaign separate from the single-player mode, featuring two new characters who have to work together to find the answer to each puzzle. No other details on the mode were given, though. Meanwhile GameStop has the game priced at $60 for the Xbox 360 and $50 for the PC, suggesting it'll be a fuller experience than the original Portal, which was initially released as just a part of The Orange Box.

The fact that Valve will release Portal 2 as a standalone, full-priced retail game is particularly interesting. Many believe part of Portal's success came from it being a small part of the larger Orange Box compilation, leading many to not have very large expectations of it going in -- and then being blown away by what the game actually offered. Now with a full-priced sequel, it'll be fascinating to see how Valve will meet what are surely far higher expectations.

I never played the original.

[Luigiman7]

^ I feel sorry for you.

[Ace Mercury]

I think Valve's done a great job with the ARG stuff they've been doing. They added the new achievement, which put radios in each level, and when the radios hit the fizzler, they play an SSTV sound file which encoded locations of dial-up BBSes, which broadcast ASCII art and stuff.

More info here:
There's just a bit more to Valve's recent Portal Update... | MetaFilter

The most recent patch also added a new ending for Portal. You can check it on YouTube.

[Valigarmander]

Even More Portal 2 Details Surface

Portal 2's existence was only just recently confirmed a few days ago, but details out of Game Informer's cover story continue to make their way online. Now the entire cover story itself has evidently been scanned, and VG247 pulled a few of the major details.

Portal 2 will, reportedly, take place hundreds of years after the first Portal (pictured), resulting in the Aperture Science labs looking like "a jungle." Despite this significant time shift, Portal 2 will still somehow once again star Chell, the first game's protagonist, as the playable character in the single-player game. GlaDOS returns as well, with the (Portal 1 spoiler warning) personality cores you seemingly destroyed at the end of the first game having taken over different areas of the lab.

Meanwhile, as previously revealed, the co-op campaign will be a stand-alone story...that apparently stars two bi-pedal robots. Gameplay-wise, physics will play a bigger role in the puzzles, with one example being using a portal to suck air from a vent in one area into another. There will also be "reflection cubes" that'll be used for laser-redirection puzzles. Game Informer's cover story also confirms that Portal 2 will indeed be a full-fledged game, with Valve comparatively calling Portal 1 a "test bed."

And while we also already knew Portal 2 is scheduled for release this fall for the Xbox 360 and PC, the story also says the game will be released on Mac.

[DJ Blue J]

I'm already excited. I love me some portal.

[Ace Mercury]

Also, I really want one of those Portal guns. Looking at a build log from a professional prop maker, it doesn't look that hard... =/

[Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds]

yesss

[Kargath]

[Loot]

They're saying this takes places hundreds of years after the first Portal... yet still has Chell and GLaDOS.

Also, it'll be a full fledged game. Apparently Valve is calling Portal a bit of a test, despite how many "Game of the Year"s it won.

(Also, uh, Half-Life universe? What?)

[Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds]

^ Black Mesa didn't tip you off?

[Booyakasha]

Hundreds of years after the first game, Chell and GlaDOS are both still...uh...continuing to not be dead yet. Or something.

[Loot]

Originally Posted by Saria Dragon of the Rain Wilds

^ Black Mesa didn't tip you off?

Jah, but isn't this supposed to coincide with Gordon Frohman Freeman's grand adventures?

[heh]

Originally Posted by Loot the Orphan Shover

Jah, but isn't this supposed to coincide with Gordon Frohman Freeman's grand adventures?

no, thats just millions of dumb nerds playing portal and ep2, seeing the Boralis ship and going "GORDON AND CHELL WILL TEAM UP TO DESTROY THE COMBINE WHILE GLADOS PLAYS A METAL VERSION OF STILL ALIVE IN THE BACKGROUND AND THEY LOOK AT EACH OTHER, SAY "THE CAKE IS A LIE" AND MAKE OUT".

i love me some portal but i hate every nerd who ever decided to give it the catchphrase treatment. i will kill them

[Loot]

Where have you been

It's ChellxWeightedCompanionCube 4evar

[Luigiman7]

WCCxGordon

wat

[Jere]

Is it only me that think that Valve should take their (not so) Lazy thumbs and bring out Half Life 2 episode 3 anytime soon?

[heh]

Originally Posted by Jere

Is it only me that think that Valve should take their (not so) Lazy thumbs and bring out Half Life 2 episode 3 anytime soon?

no, tons of people think its overdue and alot of people thought the ARG stuff leading up to the announcement of portal two was actually leading to ep 3 instead. (although considering the ARG started in portal this was pretty dumb)

[Ace Mercury]

A webcomic in one of my feeds echoes this sentiment:
Nerf NOW!! — Bastard

Also, I look forward to Alyx x Chell action. Well, if Chell tidies up her hair a bit.

[Valigarmander]

Gabe Newell: Portal 2 is "The Best Game We've Ever Done"

Following this year's Game Developers Choice Awards ceremony, we were able to grab Valve's Gabe Newell for a brief chat about Portal 2, wherein he mentioned that he thinks it is the best game Valve has ever created. Here's the transcript of our interview:

1UP: Was Portal 2 from the beginning always going to be a full price game?

Gabe Newell: "One of the nice things about The Orange Box was it allowed us to try out a couple of different things, and Portal really seemed to resonate. We got the signals that we wanted -- this is what people liked; this is what people didn't like. And to us, it was like, 'OK now we know how to take this big,' so that's what we're going to do with Portal 2."

1UP: Are you worried about people expecting it to be a smaller game, and now it's hard to overcome that?

GN: "Well, I think that in any game... fans are super passionate, right? When we shipped Left 4 Dead and then came out with Left 4 Dead 2 a year later, you know a lot of people were excited, and then there were the people who decided, 'Something must be wrong; Valve must be turning to the dark side.' So I think you always have that challenge on your new games, explaining 'Why is it worth their time? Why is it worth their money? Why is it worth their passion?' And that's a case you have to make with every release you do."

1UP: What's the big answer you give for Portal 2?

GN: "Oh Portal 2's great. It's the best game we've ever done."

1UP: And it's not even done yet.

GN: "It's pretty clear, just internally."

1UP: Can you tell me one piece of trivia about Portal 2? It could be about the development; it could be about somebody's dog on the team..."

GN: "Jonathan Coulton is awesome -- he's just brilliant; he's a joy to work with."

1UP: Is there another song?

GN: "He's brilliant." [Laughs.]