Home Forums Ganymede & Titan Forum Portal 2

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  • #9301
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    I’ve not finished this yet (and I’m not likely to any time soon since work is the only place I can play it) so it might be a bad idea to start a thread and risk being spoilered, but still:

    PORTAL 2 IS AMAZING.

    Discuss.

    #111911
    si
    Participant

    I can’t get that on the Atari 2600, can I?

    #111912
    Ridley
    Participant

    Waiting on the Xbox version.

    Saw a developer mention the game experience is roughly twice the length it took to complete the first.

    Is it? Cause that doesn’t seem all that long.

    #111913
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    That’s a very rough figure, but the original took 2-3 hours, and apparently Portal 2 is 6 to 8, with the vast majority of people completing in 8+ hours.

    Add to that the 4-6 hours in co-op, and that’s easily worth the money, especially when you start playing it and you see how detailed and rich the whole thing is. It’s certainly a damn sight longer than the vast majority of console shooters like Halo.

    #111914
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    And come on, it’s Portal. One of the most confusing physics engines ever devised. It’s genius!

    #111915
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    I can’t buy Portal 2 at the moment as it’s rather expensive. However, I am intrigued at having being able to link the PS3 purchase with the Steam purchase :)

    I would like to play Portal with a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard is what i’m saying…

    #111916
    Jo
    Participant

    Is there cake? I only care about cake.

    #111917
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    THERE IS NO CAKE
    THERE IS NO CAKE
    THERE IS NO CAKE
    THERE IS NO
    C
    A
    K
    E
    \

    #111918
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    Stupid comment system removing ‘unnecessary’ spaces…

    #111919
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    >I would like to play Portal with a controller rather than a mouse and keyboard is what i’m saying…

    I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS ATTITUDE.

    The Flatmate is the same. He can’t get his head around the idea of playing it with mouse and keyboard. “But the triggers on a 360 pad are perfectly designed for the two portals!” YEAH, SO ARE THE TWO MOUSE BUTTONS.

    First-person games should not be played with anything other than mouse and keyboard.

    (says the guy who’s going to play his flatmate’s 360 version of Portal 2 so he doesn’t have to buy it for the PC)

    #111920
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    I DO NOT UNDERSTAND THIS ATTITUDE.

    LOUD NOISES.

    It’s more of a comfort thing. I have no problem with using a keyboard and mouse, but I dont like the idea of being hunched over a desk when I COULD be sat back in the reclined or ‘relaxed’ position doing exactly the same thing…

    #111921
    si
    Participant

    I can’t really play computer games in case my brain explodes, or something. It seeps from my ears if I concentrate too hard for too long.

    #111922
    Ridley
    Participant

    YEAH, SO ARE THE TWO MOUSE BUTTONS.

    Guns have triggers, controllers have triggers.

    #111923
    Pete Part Three
    Participant

    Boys have a penis, girls have a vagina.

    [Does an excited jig]

    #111924
    Ridley
    Participant

    Don’t be blue, Peter.

    #111925
    Phil
    Participant

    The Wii remote is a fantastic design for first-person shooters.

    It’s just a shame the console doesn’t get any good ones.

    #111930
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    > Is there cake? I only care about cake.

    SPOILERS: I’m about 2/3 of the way through and no cake yet :(

    #111931
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    Also, the issue with controllers for me is less about the triggers. Using them over mouse buttons is irrelevant, the problem I have is an analogue stick is just not good enough for quick and accurate movement.

    I tried to play Portal 1 on the PS3 and it just made me feel stupid and hamstrung, not a feeling you want in a game that’s meant to make you feel clever and free.

    #111937
    Muzzy
    Participant

    I’m still not convinced it’s worth £30-£35. I know without doubt it’ll be a great game and I love the first one but I’m gonna be waiting for this to come down in price a bit before I get it. Think I’m just used to only paying top whack for games with a bit more longevity I suppose.

    #111938
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    That’s fair enough. I’d expect the price will drop on Steam in a couple of months, but that’s unlikely to happen soon for the store releases, especially since the price is already bumped up by Microsoft and Sony plus the fact you’re paying for a physical product.

    #111939
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    Also, I already want to start playing it from the beginning again, and I’ve not even finished it yet. Valve = replayability.

    #111941
    Ridley
    Participant

    Also, the issue with controllers for me is less about the triggers. Using them over mouse buttons is irrelevant, the problem I have is an analogue stick is just not good enough for quick and accurate movement.

    I tried to play Portal 1 on the PS3 and it just made me feel stupid and hamstrung, not a feeling you want in a game that’s meant to make you feel clever and free.

    That’s my experience of PC gaming for most genres. Obviously point-n-clicks and strategy games are better with a mouse but FPSes take me out my element when my years have been spent avoiding the manual and trying out all the controller buttons at the start of a game (if they don’t tell you).

    Course that backfired with N64 GoldenEye when I couldn’t clear the dam for the first few days because B was reload as well as use switches… Got past the first doors by shooting at the guard in the opposite tower who opened them for me though. ;)

    Plus I cannae touch type in PC games.

    #111943
    Nick R
    Participant

    First-person games should not be played with anything other than mouse and keyboard.

    Strongly disagree with this. All the arguments about mice being more precise and practical for aiming are perfectly valid, and there are certain FPSs that I’d never dream of playing on consoles (the PS2 port of Deus Ex for example).

    However, I always find pads more fun to use, because to me some of the appeal of videogames is the sort of motions your hands go through. If you take the action of simultaneously strafing, aiming, and pulling off a headshot, I just find its motion on consoles (one thumb held in position + other thumb quickly flicking + index finger pulling trigger all the way) more satisfying than its PC gaming equivalent (holding down keys + twitching the whole wrist + index finger clicking mouse button a very slight distance).

    But only if the pad controls have been well-calibrated! Sometimes you get games where no matter how you mess with the analogue sensitivity, it still feels awkward on a pad – usually only in older, lazy PC-to-console ports, but it applies to certain console-exclusive games too.

    Shamus Young once pointed out a distinction between the two control schemes that I’ve never seen anyone else mention:

    Those old PC shooters were all about aiming. Being “good” at the game meant being able to snap your wrist and headshot a guy the moment he came into view. It meant circle-strafing: orbiting a foe while keeping their vulnerable bits in the center of the screen. Mice, being pointing devices, are really handy for this. There was never any reason to take cover in those games because hiding would just delay the inevitable. Gameplay was about diving head first into the sea of bullets and dogfighting your way out.

    But if you watch someone play a console shooter you’ll see the game is less about precision aiming and more about precision timing. Instead of trying to line someone up with the stick, a player will get close with the stick and then run sideways, pulling the trigger during that split-second when the enemy’s head passes through the reticule.

    The latter is the type of FPSing that appeals most to me. But then again I also find Hadoukens more fun to pull off on a decent D-pad than an arcade stick, so what do I know? :P

    Anyway, none of the above really applies to Portal 2 because firing a portal is appealing in a very different way from getting a headshot! And no matter how good the 360/PS3 ports Portal 2 might be, Valve games are among those that just instinctively seem more at home on the PC. Plus, Portal’s the sort of game that really benefits from fan made levels (even though most of the ones I tried on Portal 1 had nowhere near Valve’s wonderful level of difficulty-balancing – ever try Ren Test 2? A really impressive design, being based in a giant rotating room, but pure evil to solve!) About the only thing that the 360 version of Portal 2 has over the PC version is that I care more about Live Achievements than I do about Steam Achievements.

    So when I get Portal 2 it’ll be the PC version. Unfortunately that won’t be for a while yet because I’m poor and unemployed and years of buying games years after their release dates has impressed upon me certain habits about how much I’m prepared to pay for even the very best games. So the next Steam sale can’t come soon enough!

    #111944
    Ben Paddon
    Participant

    I snagged the PS3 version on the grounds that I could download the PC version for free. I tend to buy games I like for multiple systems anyway (I have half a dozen copies of Worms Armageddon, for example), and the SteamCloud just makes that process a lot simpler – I can switch between the two systems as I want, saving the game on one and continuing on another. Quite the perk considering my girlfriend and I are often squabbling over who’s playing what where.

    Of course, the PSN is down so I can’t ruddy link my ruddy Steam account to my ruddy PSN account yet, leaving me chained to the PS3 until Sony pull their finger out.

    I’ve only played the first hour or so of the game, but I’m loving it so far. I shan’t spoil it for anyone because Twitter is doing a pretty good job of what already (curse you, cultural hivemind!), but the story seems a little deeper this time, which I approve of. It’s also devilishly funny – possibly moreso than the first one.

    #111945
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    Steam Cloud doesn’t sync cross platform, does it?

    #111946
    Ben Paddon
    Participant

    It does for save games, or so I’m reliably told.

    #111947
    JEZZMUND
    Participant

    It Do.

    And P2 is OMFUG amazing,
    Just wait ’til you see the ending mateys,
    It’s sexier than being angelina jolie’s bike saddle…
    Also,

    The Moon!

    (will come clear later)

    I quite like what valve have done with Portal 2 though – in regard to, buy the PS3 version – and get the Mac and PC versions unlocked on yer steam account..
    Sensible corporate entity!

    #111966
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    JEZZ!

    #112014
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    Fucking hell, it’s wonderful, isn’t it?

    #112016
    Ridley
    Participant

    Played through the co-op with a pal on Saturday.

    I thought it would have been ATLAS making the entrance portals and P-body making the exits but it’s more an exercise in having arguments about who is doing what. In my experience. ;)

    #112074
    JEZZMUND
    Participant

    Or, if you’re an achievement hunter like me,
    It’s more an exercise in swearing profusely at people when they don’t understand your carefully explained walkthrough of the area..
    I’ve yet to ever be in a co-op when I’m not ATLAS though – anyone know how to change characters?
    Also – You G&T’ers on steam, feel free to add me…

    #112086
    Ben Paddon
    Participant

    I caved and bought the PC version. I’m on Steam – Squirminator2k. Add me if you haven’t already.

    #112082
    Danny Stephenson
    Keymaster

    A friend bought Portal 2 while we were out, so we had a bash at the Co-op play, it’s wonderful, and mind-fuckingly complicated, just the way I like it.

    I watched him play a section of the single play as well.

    Seriously though, is there a game that has as good an environment and character development? GLaDOS turned from creepy AI to PSYCHOTIC crazy bitch. And the Turrets creep me out BIG TIME.

    #112090
    Dessie
    Participant

    Loving this game. I really don’t want it to end, I spent about ten minutes just watching the turrets being tested as the dialogue was brilliant.

    #112094
    JEZZMUND
    Participant

    Seriously though, is there a game that has as good an environment and character development?

    The entirety of the Half Life (2) series mate, which aperture labs and portal are part of the universe of.
    Possibly the best game(s) of the last decade…

    Dessie – did you can yourself in the turret template thingy?
    that was slightly amusing

    #112119
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    Free (and substantial sounding) DLC coming for all platforms in the summer. Valve = awesome:

    Portal 2 DLC #1 Is FreeFreeFree

    #112121
    Muzzy
    Participant

    Have to admit that free DLC news has put me in my place somewhat. And I’m very happy to be put there. Great value.

    #112122
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    I’d still argue that the game, on launch, is well worth the RRP. I know it’s trite but quality > quantity. Plus the fact that linear games suit being shorter.

    #112123
    Muzzy
    Participant

    I agree with you about quality being more important than quantity but as a student who doesn’t have much money to buy all that many games at the moment (I’m by no means saying you do – I have no idea!) if I’m going to pay full price for a game I want to be sure it’ll last me a while, as I won’t have the money to buy another for some time afterwards. By and large I’d certainly rather play a great game than a long but ‘just OK’ game though.

    #112126
    Jonathan Capps
    Keymaster

    No, that’s fair enough. Personal taste, and all that!

    But, yes, the DLC (and the fact it’s called #1) will nicely fix any longevity concerns. I’d probably expect the next ones to cost money, though. Valve have recently taken controversial (by typically endearing) steps towards making new money off TF2 after years of hugely substantial, free updates. Which is fair enough, obviously.

    #112132
    Dessie
    Participant

    Wow, just finished it and… Wow. Absolutely loved that and possibly one of the best endings I’ve seen. Now to go through it again with commentary and to get what I missed. Didn’t think to scan myself at the time, missing a lot of otherachievements too.

    I usually trade games in quickly but I’ll be holding onto this for the DLC. Valve really are awesome.

    #112143
    Seb Patrick
    Keymaster

    I will never understand how people are happy to pay £10 for a 2 hour DVD, but not £30 for a game that lasts more than three times as long as that.

    #112144

    I don’t get people who spend £10 on a DVD even without comparing it to the price of a game. 4 quid on Amazon.co.uk? Ysplz!

    #112180
    Muzzy
    Participant

    Yeah I generally wait a bit and spend £5 or £6 on a DVD unless it’s a new release that I’ve been really looking forward to e.g the Dwarf DVD’s, which always had quite a bit more than 2 hours of content anyway. Plus I personally am much more inclined to rewatch DVD’s on a regular basis. Even if I complete a game and really like it, I still probably won’t play it again for a few years.

    #113124
    Ridley
    Participant
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