two bit gamers

Portal 2 Co-op Review

For SCIENCE!

You can find my review of the single player mode of Portal 2 here.

Portal 2 co-op mode consists of two robotic characters, Atlas and P-Body (pictured above), as they are prodded, coerced, and shamed by GlaDOS, the test operator, to complete numerous challenges in the name of science.  Like the rest of the game GlaDOS’ sterile and deadpan delivery of farcical information,  insults, and musings offer quick laughs for the players in between levels, and the pacing is similar to single-player: each chapter or “course” in co-op adds another mechanic you must master in order to complete the puzzle at hand.  

There are a lot of little features which aid in the co-op experience.  There’s a countdown timer so you and your partner can simultaneously activate switches, which eliminates the “do we go on 1 or on ‘go’” discussion.  You can mark targets so your partner can see which section of wall you’re talking about.  You’ll also collect fun but useless little gestures such as hugging your partner, throwing down some kung-fu moves, or playing rock-paper-scissors.

Camy and I finished the Portal 2 Co-op last night, and I liked the game, but not as much as I had hoped.  Shit was great and a lot of fun to play, but I wanted more, and from what I saw in the single-player game, Valve had more to offer.  I don’t mean just more levels (although that would be nice).  I mean more challenges, more tricks, more timing and the like.

To be fair, there were a few really nice and challenging puzzles with some tricky timing, but on a whole I didn’t think the game used both players in as much a capacity as it could have.  The bulk of the chambers often broke down into the players taking on one of two roles: the runner or the portal pusher.  You are forced to switch these roles throughout the level in order to succeed: one sets up portals so the other can get to a vantage, then the other throws down portals so the one can catch up.

A few levels did live up to my expectations of having both players be simultaneously active–one providing ‘hard-light’ bridges for protection from turrets while the other directed the characters’ path along a tractor beam, or another level where both players had to launch themselves through portals at the same time in order to complete the level.  When we toppled chambers like these, Cameron’s and my eyes were wide open as we turned to face each other, jaws hanging slackly at our shirt collars, hands raising from sheer intuition that a high five would soon follow.  These were the types of levels I hoped to see in the later parts of the game, but they never really came.

I am a huge fan of the Portal series and maybe my expectations were a little too high, but I wanted levels where both players needed to be in mid-air, firing portals for their partners to  launch through to reach two separate platforms in order to simultaneously throw switches and unlock the next piece of the puzzle.  For almost all of the chambers, the hard part was figuring it out and the execution was relatively easy. For the early puzzles that certainly is the way it should be, but the later puzzles should have followed the single-player’s level difficulty progression a little more closely.  I also wanted to see levels where the characters started on opposite ends of the level, forced to help their partner without being able to see them, working instead on audio cues or hand signals to find the solution.

Also frustrating is the fact that two of the achievements are based on having multiple friends with copies of Portal 2, including one which requires you to beat the co-op game and then join a new game with someone who has never played before.  Bullshit.

I do not want to give the impression that I am not in love with this game, because I am.  I just felt that it ended too soon.  Not all of the game mechanics of the single player were introduced (I’m looking at you, white gel), and we never saw Wheatley!  Without spoiling the single-player experience, Atlas and P-Body were referenced by him.  I have a feeling that all of my complaints will be rendered obsolete when some DLC is dropped, but this should have been included in the retail game to give players the full experience of what Portal has to offer.

The game as a whole is incredible.  The physics based, mind-warping puzzles are certain to thrill the most jaded players.  The single-player is a gleefully tough challenge to take on, and the co-op is a nice augment to the game even though it feels incomplete.  I can’t recommend this game enough, and not just so I can increase the player population and nab those last two cheevos. If all you are really looking forward to is playing with a friend, however, you may want to wait and see if/when the inevitable DLC adds a few more courses for you to test yourself on.

April 27, 2011 - Posted by Keith | Reviews