honda civic: Portal 2

Tuesday, 26 April 2011

One of the most anticipated games for next year has left the limbo status that it has been stuck in since Valve and EA announced a delay from the original February release date to an indefinite time in the future.

portal-2-release

After a four-year wait (and a frustrating marketing stunt), Valve Software has finally release "Portal 2" for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Valve Software’s Portal 2, one of the most-anticipated games of 2011, is now available for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Eager fans can purchase the game in-store for all three platforms; PC and Mac gamers can also download the full game directly from Steam.

The online multiplayer of Portal 2 will feature cross platform play, and allow PS3 users to face off against Mac and PC gamers.

[[ UPDATE - Apparently, this was a mistranslation]], and also lets drop this little tidbit from Valve’s own Chet Faliszek

“We made a mistake back then and gave the Orange Box console versions to an external team. They did a good job, but didn’t quite achieve the same quality level that we have at Valve. Now everything happens in-house, we created a special console department just for that. So the move to the PlayStation 3 comes late – we’re sorry for that. As a small compensation we have PS3-exclusive cloud saving, a free code for PC and. Look at it as a compensation for Left 4 Dead.”

That statement above is packed with content:

Valve has a special in-house console development team
They admit to being late to the PS3 game
Save your game in the cloud on PS3 only
Get a free copy of Portal 2 for the PC while you’re at it (for free cross-platform play)

So, how do you like them apples? Valve, famously against PS3 development, finally comes around to what we’ve been saying all along: the PS3 is a fantastic piece of gaming hardware. Look forward to more coverage as it happens, right here on GrE.

This morning, Valve confirmed the release date for the very highly anticipated second Portal game.

Valve made a promise last e3 that the PS3 version of Portal 2 will be shipping with various steam enabled features, which’ll be a debut of Steam’s functioning on a next-gen console for the first time.

Today we get to know about what exactly those feature are going to be.

The PS3 version of Portal 2 will come with cross platform play (Mac/PC vs PS3) for multiplayer games, a persistent cloud-based storage of PS3 saved games and cross platform chat (Mac/PC and PS3).

Also, those who purchase Portal 2 for PS3 can unlock a Steamplay enabled copy of Portal 2 (PC & Mac) for free and all they need to do is link their PSN and Steam accounts.

Portal 2

Lovers of "Portal" will not be denied! Information culled from the April issue of Game Informer continues to sneak its way into our hearts and minds, and there's definitely some shocking bits of be discovered. If you're looking to play "Portal 2" without any prior knowledge (good luck!) you'll probably want to stop reading here.

For the rest of you, it seems that the events of "Portal 2" will take place hundreds of years after the first game. Basically Aperture Science has been abandoned and left to rot, with test chambers slowly being overtaken by the surrounding environment. It would explain the Game Informer cover, which shows off an outdoor, almost jungle-like world.

Despite the huge jump in time, the game will still star Chell, the heroine from the first game. When we last saw her, she was being blown to smithereens, laying lifeless outside of Aperture Science. And, thanks to a new ending, we heard her being dragged away by some sort of robot. Dragged to suspended animation, perhaps?

Meanwhile, the aforementioned co-op campaign will apparently have players controlling two robots (pictured in ASCII format) as they try to find humanity in their cold, metallic shells. Or something.

And speaking of robots, GlaDOS is back! Apparently the different parts of her psyche (you remember, the ones you tossed in the incinerator?) have taken over different parts of the facility. Familiar faces are always nice, even if they don't have faces.