Portal 2

Yes I've mumped on about Portal 2 for god knows how long, well it's out now, I've played it and last night I finished it, well the single player mode anyway.

To be fair, it's as good as I expected, maybe better! The game is superbly paced throughout, the difficulty curve spot on, with only a few baffling moments, all of which can be worked through with a bit of thought. The voice acting cast features excellent performances from everyone with a decent cast of Stephen Merchant, J. K. Simmons, and Ellen McLain, who of course gives us a song at the end. Stephen Merchant in particular has an almost perfect script for his voice and personality, a source of constant hilarity. Simmons gives an excellent, borderline eerie performance as Cave Johnson though some of the most interesting levels of the game.

Some slight disappointments though, the single player campaign isn't the longest, still longer than the first game though obviously. I also I did find the final boss a bit easier than I'd expected, especially after the pain in the arse to beat GLaDOS was in the first game.

Plot wise, the story was varied and pretty good, I wont go into spoilers and the works or the 6 people who will read this may get upset with me, but needless to say, the mid game twist wasn't all that expected and I laughed a couple of times at the ending.  Especially one line in particular which thinking about it is pretty innocuous but just struck a chord with me.

And then the ending closes with... 'Want You Gone" by Jonathan Coulton. Following the tradition set by the first game JoCo writes the song and GLaDOS sings us out! This song, while not maybe quite as good as 'Still Alive' was still a funny and good tune. I will be getting myself a copy as soon as iTunes has one to sell me!! It's made me a little happier I'm off to see him in 6 weeks in Bristol, as long as he plays it that is.

Overall, the game is superb, so many strong aspects come together to form easily the best of the year so far. Please God make a Portal 3, I'll preorder it now if you want.... Please Valve?