Portal 2's engines slow down

“I'll be honest — we're throwing science at the wall here to see what sticks. No idea what it'll do. Probably nothing. Best-case scenario, you might get some superpowers. Worst case, some tumours, which we'll cut out," someone announces over the PA at the beginning.

That delicious wit greets you immediately in Portal 2, the sequel to the little-bonus-game-turned-smash-hit originally bundled with 2007’s The Orange Box by developer Valve. And this sometimes subtle, often explosive wit echoes throughout this delightfully quirky though poorly presented game. While the humour, premise and non-violent focus is refreshing, that’s about where the positive impression ends.

If you didn't play the first Portal, the idea is simple yet inventive. Instead of blasting apart post-apocalyptic zombies, your gun allows you to open portals through the very walls of the game. The game is designed to test your three-dimensional problem solving skills. Objects, light bridges, lasers, even your own self, all need to be manipulated and redirected to allow you to escape each room. Many gamers, though, will choose the quicker escape of hitting the power button instead of enduring the pedantic presentation and gameplay.

The game’s initially impressive visuals quickly degrade into a subpar result. Textures and locations are nowhere near as crisp, defined or varied as they should be, often feeling like something pulled from the shelves of Duke Nukem. From room textures to spark effects to your own character, the visuals are ultimately disappointing. A mundane menu system combined with a barrage of doors, elevators and load screens — though with the relatively shoddy graphics, I can’t understand the need — all reveal a game that is not using the hardware nearly as well as it should.

The presentation does improve in the latter half, when lighting effects establish realism and mood and move the game's atmosphere beyond the polished testing room presentation of the first third of the game's 10 chapters. There are other subtle elements, like the look through cracked glass, that emerge as borderline impressive, but not enough to overcome the overall letdown in the graphics.

One could say the game shines in co-op but one would be wrong. At least with single player you have some semblance of a trying to escape from some facility for some reason. In co-op, you and a friend play as a pair of robots who must work together to escape each room. And that's it. Initially, there seems to be little point or purpose. It’s only once you complete the single-player campaign that the co-op tie-in is revealed.

There is one saving grace to the game: Wheatley, your robotic companion. Incredibly personal, lively and comical, this Russell Brand of robots is witty, sarcastic and the most human, redeeming aspect of the game.

"The hardest part of hacking," he bumbles in one of his many tirades, “is figuring out how to start. That's always tricky. Let's see what we have here. A computer. Well that's to be expected … there's a flat bit. Not sure what that is but if anyone asks me, 'Is there a flat bit?' I can now say, 'Yes, it's right there!”

His dry, off-the-cuff comments are by far the most entertainment you’ll find. The puzzling is good; your AI companion is great. After the unimpressive graphics and the devastating disappointment playing co-op, I needed some redeeming quality to Portal 2. The humour, combined with addictively intriguing puzzling, is it and will have you up way past your bedtime saying, "I just want to finish one more room."

Overall, Portal 2, as entertaining, inventive and refreshing as the gameplay is, should have been bundled with another, more robust Valve sequel, such as Left for Dead 3.

When he’s not teaching junior high school, St. Albert Catholic High School alumnus Derek Mitchell spends his free time connected to a video game console.