# Portal 2: Now available for pre-loading. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 12, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154 "2011-04-12T22:27:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/81 "2011-04-24T02:22:33Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I’m sure the portal SDK is public… So, what gives? Portal is just about the best game for map makers. You can make very small or very large maps and simple or complex gauntlets. I suppose that’s just shooting for the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/82 "2011-04-24T06:14:47Z")
Is the end song by Jonathan Coultan? Is there someplace to hear it? ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/83 "2011-04-24T07:27:39Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > I suppose that’s just shooting for the moon. I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/84 "2011-04-24T07:29:53Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Is the end song by Jonathan Coultan? Is there someplace to hear it? > **[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DqFeTzCMFaH8&ved=0CCEQtwIwAg&usg=AFQjCNGKyDvyk6MlyUL2iz-Sa3BgNF6kPg)** > > Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube. ---
**Author:** ![yastobaal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/258eb7/32.png) [@yastobaal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yastobaal)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2011, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/85 "2011-04-24T07:34:36Z")
Yes and are you sure you want the spoilers contained within? Link: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kfpyl1rrgw) edit: Ninja’d ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/86 "2011-04-25T21:42:59Z")
Anyone else need a co-op partner? PM me or look me up on Steam, same username. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/87 "2011-04-25T21:46:50Z")
Is co-op doable without chatting to each other? Is there a text option (like in most PC mulitplayer shooting games) Talking to strangers makes me nervous and I’d rather not have to do it to get more life out of a computer game. I can live with ‘texting’ them. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/88 "2011-04-25T21:58:22Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Is co-op doable without chatting to each other? Is there a text option (like in most PC mulitplayer shooting games) I don’t know if there’s a text option, but communication is **vital**. Hell, I’ve been playing with my girlfriend on the same couch and it’s still sometimes difficult to convey exactly what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/89 "2011-04-25T22:02:25Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Is co-op doable without chatting to each other? Is there a text option (like in most PC mulitplayer shooting games) > > Talking to strangers makes me nervous and I’d rather not have to do it to get more life out of a computer game. I can live with ‘texting’ them. There’s a text option. I think it’s “T” on the keyboard. Or V. Or something. I used it. It’s there. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/90 "2011-04-26T03:12:27Z")
Let me honestly say the impression I get from the Portal 2 commercials: If Portal was Star Wars, then Portal 2 looks like The Phantom Menace. The robots are now too cute, too anthropomorphic, too vocal…the whole thing looks more like _Ratchet and Clank_ than the cryptic, sparse Portal that I remember. I probably won’t be getting it unless someone here can thoroughly convince me I’m wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/91 "2011-04-26T04:54:52Z")
The good news is, you never see the robots (I’m guessing that’s where you get the Ratchet and Clank from) in the single player. That said, Portal had 2 personalities - GlaDOS and Chell. There are a few more personalities in Portal 2, and it’s not as cryptic as Portal 1 was - you can never go back. That said, the sense of mystery is NOT lost. You still very much get “new” experiences, and the sensation of exploration. The new villian, IMO, isn’t as good as GlaDOS, but then you can only do crazy psychotic so many times. I would describe it as more… fratboy psychotic. GlaDOS messes with your mind, the new villian messes with you. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was in fact a deliberate design. Just look at the nature of their “surprises” - GlaDOS’s surprise is a complete psyche-out (HOLY CRAP that was evil. Evil evil evil. I shat myself metaphorically. Wheatley’s surprise, on the other hand, is kicking you out of a tractor beam totally unexpectedly and tossing you around with launchpads. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/92 "2011-04-26T05:10:49Z")
> [@Tabby\_Cat](#): > > The good news is, you never see the robots (I’m guessing that’s where you get the Ratchet and Clank from) in the single player. Actually, you do at the very end. But only for a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/93 "2011-04-26T10:25:47Z")
If I can ask for a bit of help: I’m stuck at the first part of 1982, with the single gushing tube of white gel. The walkthrough says to “Throw down two portals close to the tube to send the paint out of its pen and to the two large pillars on the left. Once either interior side of the pillars is covered with white paint, keep moving your portal up the pillars until pain covers every inch. Finally place on portal at the top of the right hand pillar to reach the top. Move over to the edge and place your orange portal on the tilted platform. Move to the other side of the pillar and place your blue platform directly below you. Jump down through the blue platform to be sped over to the catwalks where the exit to the next area awaits.” I can’t figure out how to get up to the top of the right-hand pillar so that I can fling using the tilted platform. I can’t find any videos that correspond to that description, just what looks like doing it the very hard way to get up there to begin with. ---
**Author:** ![Tabby\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/94 "2011-04-26T10:30:37Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > If I can ask for a bit of help: > > I’m stuck at the first part of 1982, with the single gushing tube of white gel. The walkthrough says to “Throw down two portals close to the tube to send the paint out of its pen and to the two large pillars on the left. Once either interior side of the pillars is covered with white paint, keep moving your portal up the pillars until pain covers every inch. Finally place on portal at the top of the right hand pillar to reach the top. Move over to the edge and place your orange portal on the tilted platform. Move to the other side of the pillar and place your blue platform directly below you. Jump down through the blue platform to be sped over to the catwalks where the exit to the next area awaits.” I can’t figure out how to get up to the top of the right-hand pillar so that I can fling using the tilted platform. I can’t find any videos that correspond to that description, just what looks like doing it the very hard way to get up there to begin with. [spoiler]Huh. I never did get to the top, I just placed an orange portal on the tilted panel, placed a blue portal high up on the pillar, went into the orange portal, come out of the blue portal and fall, while falling, place a blue portal on the floor, and away you go! Which part are you having problems with? 1. getting paint on the twin pillars 2. getting high enough to fling [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/95 "2011-04-27T00:42:16Z")
Would you believe I was doing it the hardest way possible and once I figured out which part to start with, had it done in less than two minutes? And why doesn’t PotatoGLaDOS get destroyed in the emancipation grid? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/96 "2011-04-27T02:14:06Z")
Finished it! Loved every minute of it! Took me 9 hours. Tried Co-op with my wife. Boy is she terrible with a controller. But we had fun with the first few puzzles. Sucks that you can’t choose your bot though. Also, the puzzles did indeed get more challenging and involved about half way through. I thought I was going to be disappointed in that department, but I wasn’t. Anyone else get scared when, at the end, you’re going up the elvator and it stops in front of 5 turrets? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/97 "2011-04-27T04:42:49Z")
I too want to try the co-op mode (I’m Zembo on Steam, in the SDMB group). I’ve been working through the commentary, but it’s annoying in that you can’t save it during that, so if you have to leave partway through a section, that’s it. And did anyone else get a little motion-sick during the big jumps? ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/98 "2011-04-27T13:40:20Z")
Finished last night. Great, great game. I spent the entire time wondering why Wheatley’s voice made me think of Ricky Gervais, when it so obviously wasn’t, only to find out it was Stephen Merchant. And Cave was just brilliant - “I’m going to get the engineers to make combustible lemons that’ll burn your house down!” I tried some multiplayer with my daughters, but while they can beat my ass at any Wii game, they can’t quite master the FPS control scheme yet. Anyone out there doing multiplayer on the 360? > [@Jragon](#): > > I was hoping that we might get some information on the Borealis, I suspect the briefly mentioned, almost throwaway scene about time paradoxes in Old Aperture may have the answer, but I’ve always been a proponent of the Borealis’ secret being time travel so I’m a bit biased. **Jragon** , they do expand on the Half-Live 2 tie in: There’s an obscured door in the last office area in Chapter 6. Go through there, and use the speakers next to each sealed door. One of them talks about a teleportation experiment. In the room next door, there’s a giant open area that a ship would fit in nicely, and a life preserver with the name “Borealis”. If you search youtube for “portal secret borealis” you’ll find walkthroughs. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/99 "2011-04-27T15:33:13Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Finished last night. Great, great game. I spent the entire time wondering why Wheatley’s voice made me think of Ricky Gervais, when it so obviously wasn’t, only to find out it was Stephen Merchant. > > And Cave was just brilliant - “I’m going to get the engineers to make combustible lemons that’ll burn your house down!” > > I tried some multiplayer with my daughters, but while they can beat my ass at any Wii game, they can’t quite master the FPS control scheme yet. Anyone out there doing multiplayer on the 360? > > **Jragon** , they do expand on the Half-Live 2 tie in: There’s an obscured door in the last office area in Chapter 6. Go through there, and use the speakers next to each sealed door. One of them talks about a teleportation experiment. In the room next door, there’s a giant open area that a ship would fit in nicely, and a life preserver with the name “Borealis”. If you search youtube for “portal secret borealis” you’ll find walkthroughs. I’m aware of that, but a dry dock does not compelling information make. It’s more of an Easter Egg than anything. ---
**Author:** ![Hamlet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hamlet/32/2818_2.png) [@Hamlet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamlet)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154/100 "2011-04-27T16:04:49Z")
Love the game. Except the final battle with Wheatley. I can tell that the boss wants to shoot bombs at me, but I never see any bombs, and none of them actually hit the pipe I need them to to get the white gel, even though I’m hiding right behind it. I’m on the PS3, if that matters. Am I the only one? Am I doing something wrong? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/portal-2-now-available-for-pre-loading/578154.md?page=6)