Understanding Games in Culture - Task 3
From a gameplay perspective, Portal 2 is one of the most phenomenal games I experienced. The action, the story all the way to the mechanics felt so comfortably overwhelming which kept me wanting for more. The gameplay design is structured, making sure everything goes as planned to keep the story moving. The objects/puzzle elements such as cubes & the gels work well.
But, a game isn't without it's flaws; on a rare occasion there's a glitch in the game where if you crouch when you're in a Excursion Funnel you can carefully exit out & float around the map. However that exploit can be carried out in rare chances, it doesn't happen every time you practice it. Another downside with the game is that the test chambers consists of more deep pits filled with acid or deep bottomless pits than in the first game, I can imagine it can make some gamers feel a bit dizzy & make their hands tremble like it did with me when I first played the game. Another downslide with the game is that the more you move further along with the game, the bigger the test chambers are, which can make a beginner feel a little lost when in the process of solving a test chamber, making it a bit difficult for them. Another downslide is that the comedy in the game felt like it was limited to a certain audience. When I first played the game, it took me a good couple years to understand the comedy & jokes in the game. It was when I started watching American sitcoms, the comedy hit me & I understood it. In the Co-Op campaign, GLaDOS talks too much, it made me slightly frustrated hearing her drone on-and-on through her jokes & sarcastic punchlines. It was a bit much, in my opinion.
From an art perspective, Portal 2's art direction is very decent. From the beginning to the middle of the game, I appreciate the process where the test chambers get slightly more pristine & clean, after you destroy the facility in the first game, as you progress through the second game. It shows how GLaDOS can quickly clean up a huge science facility in a matter of hours. However, I feel that the rubble & broken debris can be a bit repetitive but it doesn't ruin the overall game experience, in my opinion.
On the plus side, I feel that the middle of the game, where Chell gets dumped into Old Aperture, is where the artwork really shines & stands out. There's old versions of the Aperture Science logo, which shows how old this science facility is, and how many years it ran. There's even some old adverts & warning stickers in the old office areas which emphasizes the nostalgia of that era.
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| 50s Aperture Science Logo |
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| 50s Aperture Science Warning Stickers |
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| Portrait of Cave Johnson, CEO of Aperture Science, in the 1950s |
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| 70s Aperture Science Logo |
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| Portrait of Cave Johnson, in the 1970s |
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| Cave Johnson, CEO with his assistant, Caroline |
Not only this is carried out in posters or in portraits but, it is also carried out in the designs of the test chambers of that section of the game. For example; the elevators have that old, tarnished look with a very old 50s elevator design;
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| New Elevator |
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| Old Elevator |
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| Old Test chamber |
In this image of the test chamber, you see how there's a lot of tarnished & old metal & ancient scaffolding. You can see Valve has done a really good job in matching the style of the 50s-70s era. It's also present in the Cubes, dispensers etc.,
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| Retro Cube |
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| New Cube |
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