Portal 2 is due out in stores in about 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to it. I loved the first game. I bought the Orange Box for it, and didn't even bother finishing Half-Life 2 or even touched Team Fortress.
GladOS's voice and hilariously sadistic comments captivated me. The puzzles twisted my mind. The clever story that tells itself entirely through background details in the gameplay and environment rather than expository cutscenes or dialogue immersed me in the world. Johnathan Coulton's end credit song, Still Alive, is still one of the most requested song whenever I get together with friends to play Rock Band.
It was a triumph. I'm being so sincere right now.
But I can't help but wondering: Do I really want a sequel to Portal?
Do you?
I'm being serious here.
I'm sure the game will be good. Valve rarely (if ever) disappoints.
But Portal is one of those games that I kind of want to be a cult classic. A singular gameplay experience that I'll remember forever with fondness. Like Ico.
Think about Katamari Damacy, Kingdom Hearts, or Guitar Hero before all the sequels. They were unique, quirky games that captivated their entire audiences. They made you proud to own a PS2, so that you could play these singular marvels of game-making. But now, there's more Katamari and Guitar Hero games than I can count, and they are of mixed quality, and Kingdom Hearts's multitude of handheld sequels has turned it into an obfuscated mess of a franchise. They've tarnished the names of the series. Katamari and Kingdom Hearts are at least still respectable, but I'm ashamed to have Guitar Hero III in my collection.
So, while I firmly believe that Valve will deliver us a quality game that will captivate everyone who plays it, I can't help but fear that Portal just won't be the same anymore.
Am I alone?
Portal 2 will be teleporting into your PC, Mac, PS3, or Xbox360 April 19th.
For science.