So why did I mention him? Well I kinda stole one of his ideas. Every now and again he makes a post called "What I learned from *insert game here*" - and I always find them a brilliant read and I want to give it a go myself. Started with a little gem I have been waiting a very long time for - Portal 2! So I would like to introduce you to my first article.
What I Learned From Portal 2
Oh GLaDOS - It's so good to see you once again, we missed you!
So, since the game was revealed to be in production last year, I couldn't wait for this game, and sadly, I fell down in the wait. I promised myself not to look at spoilers, or trailers, but I couldnt help myself. I was caught up in the portal 2 frenzy. I re-played Portal 1, I even played the advanced maps, without cheating and I felt like my IQ rose by 60 points when I finished each one.
You see Portal has a special place in my heart. When I found out about the game. My love for video games was near dying. I felt that every game was to similar to each other, One FPS felt like every other FPS out there. Same for RPG's - Later I found out I wasn't looking hard enough. But Portal helped me realise that, but showing me video games can be differnt. Here was a game that did something that I had never seen before and I was in love from the moment I saw the trailer. The game didn't dissopoint, and yeah, the game is short but when I first played it. It took me a few hours to actually finish the game. In short. This game rekindled my love for video gaming and helped me realise that games can be diverse. Something which the guys at Extra Credits also preach about.
So now that Portal 2 is released and I have finished it. - Here is what I have learned from Portal 2. Also, if you havent finished the game. DO NOT PROCEED - This will have spoilers. So if you have finished - good, read on and not be spoiled.
Video Games Can Have a Brilliant and Caring Community Behind Them
When Portal 2 was revealed, we were introduced to a character who I instantly fell in love with. His name was Wheatley. He was british, he wouldnt shut up, he was exited and he was all over a lovable character. I was working at the time he was revealed to the public, and as a joke, my work mate said "someone should make a facebook or a twitter account for wheatley and see how many people we get following him" - So I did just that. I made a twitter account. Within the space of a year, the account had gained 400+ followers and man has it been amazing, The community the account has spawned has made me laugh, and given me a load of friends, and some true moments of heart warming when people actually told me they care not only for the characters profile, but the person behind it, me. It has also spawned a podcast and fans. I never anticipated such a huge following from what started out as a joke. - to anyone who follows wheatley on twitter. Thank you so much for making that account one of the best things I have done online. You truely make me feel proud of the achievments spawned from that.
Story Makes All The Differnce.
So while portal 1 had a very loose story, it still worked, the story, which was given such a dark sense of humour made that game for me, despite being so very loose. But Portal 2 changed all that, we actually have a full blown story, complete with more in depth characters - It came in the form of Cave Johnson, a man so crazy only he could come up with the science aperture gave us. GLaDOS - An isane AI who becomes a much better character in this game and Wheatley who went on to become one of the most memorable bad guys for me. - and the game is so much better thanks to the story. This story had moments of sheer shock, anger and happiness, something I havent experienced since playing Metal Gear Solid 3 so many years ago. So yes, story is something truely makes all the differnce, a great story, a lovable game.
ARG's Are Horrible!
It's not all praise. I learned that I have come to dislike Alternate Reality Games with great bitterness. Valve had all the signs of a great ARG. GLaDOS was infecting other games, hell, she was leaving clues left right and centre, and people who tried to figured out the clues went missing and came back wrong. I loved it. Then a countdown happened, and I was so dumb enough to fall for it. People thought Portal 2 was being released early and we were sort of right. The countdown ended. It turned out that you had to play the games that GLaDOS infected in order to release Portal 2 early. Only they did it in such an annoying way. The countdown moved slowly, and the game was released on midnight ON RELEASE DATE! They should have skipped the entire ARG entirely as they only used it as an excuse to make people play Indie Games - Which is great for supporting the indie community but using the hype around Portal 2 was in my opinion exploitative and downright disgusting.
In my closing comment, despite the ARG the game came out and was brilliant, it met all my expectations and has hands down become my favourite game of the year, if not all time. I truely love the team behind Portal 2 and I want to thank them for making the wait such a brilliant adventure. I really got something out of it.
