Why Portal 2 is Valve’s Best Game
A puzzle game with a superb narrative
Portal 2 is my favorite video game of all time, and if you had to guess that out of my entire video game history, you most likely would have gotten it wrong. This is because it’s in a genre I barely play. I’m not ashamed to admit I have a taste for popular games. There isn’t any considerable amount of time I have put into games that aren’t massive hits, which don’t seem to be puzzle games. I admit this is anecdotal though. The only puzzle console game that has ever come onto my radar back then was Portal. As for why, well it was because of the company that developed it. After my bought my first Valve title, Left 4 Dead 2, I was hooked. I sunk many hours into that game. From then on, I was a Valve fan. I did play the original Portal prior to Left 4 Dead 2, but it didn’t speak to me the way that its sequel did, despite being of the same genre.
Before I get into what distinguished Portal 2 as a puzzle game in my eyes, I should first mention how its genre relates to that. In fact, as of 2020 I actually like puzzle games. Last year I went through all of The Room games in quick succession and loved every second of it, especially the third game.
I guess my tastes have changed since 2011. My fondness for Portal 2 almost entirely stems on what it did outside of its puzzle mechanics. Coming back to the original Portal, yes it was fun, but it wasn’t the game that Portal 2 ended up being. Here are some reasons why.
GLaDOS
When consuming a narrative, I base my experience on the conflict between protagonist and antagonist. Not only does the protagonist have to be enjoyable on a character and developmental level in order for their plight to be worthy of the player, but the antagonist has to keep up with them in the same way, almost like a mirror. In the end, the plight has to be a plight. Well, Portal 2 already starts out not pulling that off so well. The game employs the silent protagonist approach, leaving everything to the player to project their own feelings onto the character. We don’t have much insight into Chell. Thankfully, Valve made up for this by giving GLaDOS so much character that it satisfied me anyway.
The game quite ironically pulls a ‘have your cake and eat it too’ on us. As GLaDOS begins as the ever menacing antagonist, the plot places her right along side the silent Chell, and she goes through an entire character arc over the course of the game. We learn about GLaDOS as she used to be, and she herself does too, causing a change within the AI that eventually resolves the conflict by the end of the game. This kind of setup works wonders because it effectively gives the player the best of both worlds. As we play, we can put ourselves in the character, and feel like GLaDOS is really talking to us. At the same time, the writers have worked around that silent aspect to give a compelling narrative despite most games suffering from its use. GLaDOS becomes the deuteragonist, while Wheatly becomes the antagonist, but more on him later.
The relationship between Chell and GLaDOS evolves in an extremely believable way. Both of them have been bamboozled by Wheatley and have to work together to stop him from destroying the facility. After being cast down much further into the earth than they already were, GLaDOS is in a state of vulnerability, something she hasn’t been up until this point. The game makes sure you know this, by having various birds appear that spook the living hell out of Potato GLaDOS. I found her fall from towering villain to helpless damsel to be interesting. It is what gave GLaDOS the perspective to regain her Caroline persona.
The bird might have been a physical fear of being vulnerable, but Cave Johnson’s voice hit her emotionally. It was extremely endearing to see GLaDOS work out her identity over the course of the game. This combined with the experiences that she has with Chell, leads to GLaDOS releasing her. GLaDOS at one point might have schemed to betray Chell. Yet, GLaDOS admits that this time is different. By the end, when GLaDOS frees Chell from Aperture Science, it feels well-earned.
I should also mention that Ellen McClain did an amazing job as GLaDOS. Her ability to instill awe and fear is legendary, and her ability to make GLaDOS an endearing character while in the potato battery is incredible. Voice work is half the battle, and it certainly helped out.
Wheatley
Earlier I mentioned that a good antagonist has to keep up with the protagonist or the plight won’t be satisfactory. Wheatly, a character defined by having a low intelligence, wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Glados and Chell the entire rest of the game. This is why the second act is down below in the older parts of Aperture away from him, to save Wheatley for the third and final act. Many consider this narrative choice to be one of the game’s few flaws.
What makes Wheatly great is that Valve made his descent into villainy believable in three ways. The first being what I just mentioned. It’s my belief that Wheatley’s stupidity would have overstayed its welcome and so Valve decided to give us a break from it. While it does affect the pacing, it makes for a better overall experience because nothing becomes contrived as a result. Often times stupidity is used not as part of the narrative but as a cause of tension, which only takes the viewer out of the experience.
The second is the speculation on the central mainframe that controls Aperture and how it is believed to be corrupted. GLaDOS was able to regain her Caroline persona because she was detached from the main console. This means that the lovable Wheatley we see in the first act of the game would undergo the opposite effect, becoming a deranged version of himself. This isn’t confirmed by any in-game dialogue, but Wheatley does mention this:
I HAVE to test. All the time or get this…this ITCH. It must be hardwired into the system or something.
So, the inference that the mainframe screwed up Wheatley and also GLaDOS isn’t baseless.
The third is that he’s an AI designed to make bad decisions. We could see Wheatley’s lapses of judgement time to time before the swap, but they seemed like earnest mistakes. It wasn’t until the added corruption of the console, did his compunction for bad decisions cost Chell her freedom. It also raised the stakes significantly. Unchecked, Wheatley would destroy the entire facility. They needed to get to him as soon as possible. What I like most about being designed to be stupid is that it makes the most sense in a sci-fi like setting. Wheatley isn’t human, or even human based. I guess I’m just really tired of stupidity driven narratives being artificial and seeing it naturally done is extremely refreshing.
Just like Ellen, Stephen Merchant does stellar work as Wheatley, able to tow the fine line between endearing and annoying, while also being able to rub off a sense of stupidity. It really feels like Wheatley is a bomb that can go off at any moment.
The Humor
I’m just going to be as simple as I can on this one. This game is funny. Not only that but it’s really smart on the placement of its humor too. For comparison, something like the Marvel Cinematic Universe has not been able to do this right. Tense scenes are consistently undercut by jokes cracked by various characters. I find it even worse when the protagonists do it because we’re supposed to feel worried for them, and it takes me out of the movie when my emotions start conflicting. Yet, Portal 2 has the advantage of the silent protagonist. This is another benefit of the game’s clever writing. Funny villains are fine because it’s safe to assume that a deranged enemy would be able to find humor in the most inappropriate times.
Even the common enemies have a lot of humorous dialogue. The turret can make quick work of you if you’re in its line of sight, but by playing the game correctly, the turrets won’t be able to touch you. Standing near them as they’re harmless often comes with various lines of dialogue that gives off tons of personality. Much like with GLaDOS and her humor, the tension is not diminished by what the turrets say, as gameplay is what drives it instead.
It doesn’t end there. Valve released a number of trailers for the game featuring Cave Johnson. It was clever to use him for these commercials despite it not making sense within the game itself (the time difference between current Aperture and his death). It’s promotional material, so it’s okay right? Well, normally it would be a red flag, but the videos are just too good to pass up. I’m not really arguing anything for this last point. I just really like the commercials.
Conclusion
Portal 2 is a masterful display of narrative interwoven with comedy. Three of the four characters are filled to the brim with personality and quips that never seem to get old. Even though Chell is a silent protagonist, the game does a good job by compensating for that. GLaDOS makes for a good companion, and her character arc is fantastic. Portal 2 is my favorite game because it was made to fully take advantage of the video game narrative structure. It did so many things right.
Is it perfect? No. Act 2 is a little too detached from the main plot, and it’s easy to ask yourself why you’re going through test chambers that were made decades earlier, when the game could just send us back up to Wheatley. I think that once the player gets through it somewhat, and GLaDOS begins to discover Caroline, Act 2 becomes worth playing through. The player just has to get there first.
