These campaigns, after all, constitute the quintessential Portal experience, containing nearly all of the narrative details of the series (other than some details in the co-op chambers and external comics). But the comparison I am setting out to make is between the campaigns of the two games (I will also be leaving out the challenge mode of the original Portal). Due to the stellar co-op and test chamber creation features of Portal 2 (as well as the additional length of Portal 2‘s campaign), I have spent longer playing the sequel by a substantial margin. Meanwhile, in terms of gameplay, Portal 2‘s single-player campaign opted for easier puzzles overflowing with a large number of lightly utilized new mechanics.įor the purposes of this article, I am restricting my comparison to the single-player campaigns of Portal and Portal 2. In terms of its narrative, Portal 2 opted for a lighter tone, with a heavy emphasis on blatant comedy which marred the established atmosphere of Portal and the established character of GLaDOS. In fact, I would go so far as to say that the original Portal is such a cohesive and nearly flawless gaming experience that it should be remembered alongside such other towering encapsulations of solid game design and execution as Shadow of the Colossus, the original Half-Life, and (with an asterisk for its incomplete sections) the first entry of the Dark Souls trilogy.īut my praise for Portal 2, while still extensive and enthusiastic, is simply nowhere near as unmitigated or unending as my praise for Portal. I think it’s fairly trivial to say that Portal is a significant and influential franchise, and that both titles in the series are excellent experiences well worth the time of any player.

Portal 2 bounce gel