In an interview with TGL Valve's Chet Faliszek made some fantastically positive remarks concerning Portal 2's single player experience.  Knowing Valve, they aren't prone to pontification and tend to shy away from any sort of dogmatization of their work, so if they are saying things like this we certainly should not believe that it is without merit.


"In terms of single-player experience, [Portal 2 is] absolutely the best" of Valve's games, said Faliszek. "In terms of co-op," he added, "I'm going to say it's a tie with the Left 4 Dead series. Left 4 Dead is near to my heart. The Single player is so dense in Portal 2. It's the best."


"We never could have guessed that it would have taken off the way it has. We didn't invent the game with this is mind, We just wanted to create a good game, with good environments and a cool world and go from there."


As for length, there seems to be a healthy dose of content in the upcoming release, "Portal is this weird thing. The campaign is as long as you want to make it. Some people plough through and barely blink. Some people take a really long time. The single player is about three times as long as Portal 1 and co-op is about twice as long but that’s only because with two people in the room, you’ll be a lot faster solving puzzles."


My question to Mr. Faliszek then is this. What if you don't like puzzle games? Personally, and I know this because I myself have never been very fond of puzzle games, Valve excels at double wrapping game mechanics in such a way that they appeal to a variety of gamers. Half-Life wasn't simply a shooter, the same way that Portal wasn't simply a puzzle game. Valve has the ability to wrap shooters within the story and living world of an RPG, and wrap Puzzle games in the tense and violent world of a shooter. It's the reason, I believe, Valve's games can be transcendental in a way that allows them to eclipse any attempt to codify them .


As the date looms nearer, I grow more and more excited for the multilayered experience I'm sure Portal 2 will be. And I won't even mind solving a few puzzles as well.


[Source: TLG]

Comments

  • Avatar
    Lioneguy
    13 years, 7 months ago

    I'm glad I'm getting this instead of Mortal Kombat 9 on Tuesday (had to make a choice, and Socom 4 wasn't even in that choice :( ).

  • Avatar
    Zladko
    13 years, 7 months ago

    I wonder if the "make it as long as you want" statement implies that the game game has lots of extras/collectibles to get, or if it is challenge related.

  • Avatar
    Skrams
    13 years, 7 months ago

    Previously months ago at Valve Marketing Department
    COOP ROBOTS, COOP, GUYS, COOP, WITH ROBOTS

    1-2 Weeks before release
    DOODS ARG, SINGLE PLAYER BEST THING EVER, HOW ABOUT DAT COMIC

  • Avatar
    SomethingSnappy
    13 years, 7 months ago

    I want this now not in a week

  • Avatar
    mydawghatesme
    13 years, 7 months ago

    Spam comments!?! Moving up in the world I see.

  • Avatar
    Sk3tch00d
    13 years, 7 months ago

    anybody got all the potato cheevos? with the portal hints?

  • Avatar
    s1yfox
    13 years, 7 months ago

    valve isn't the dev to question whether or not they worthy of their hype: Can't wait for this thing :D

  • Avatar
    GaiusBaltar
    13 years, 7 months ago

    This is without a doubt the most excited that Ive ever been for a video game in 20 years of video gaming. The first Portal was the most cleverly written script regardless of medium. Video game stories generally suck compared to movies. In fact I can name on one hand video games that made any intelligent effort towards story. This is going to be amazing.

  • Avatar
    soawesometosee
    13 years, 7 months ago

    skyrim, demons souls sequel and now this?!?

    this is great. seems alot of devs are jumping on the open world fantasy bandwagon. this is MORE WIN FOR ME and all those who like it!

    one things for sure, japanese developers ( generally speaking) are VERY meticulous when it comes to combat and animations.. something western devs generally suck at.

  • Avatar
    Aged Milk
    13 years, 7 months ago

    Well that's good to hear. Never really was interested in playing ANY Valve games multiplayer to be honest. Left 4 Dead was alright until they ruined it to "balance" multiplayer verses, sooooo yeah. :)

  • Avatar
    Gysomx
    13 years, 7 months ago

    Pretty cool how Portal 1 didn't had many sales but now it's getting more popular and #2 is coming out.

  • Avatar
    zzman305
    13 years, 7 months ago

    Hey! Great for you Valve! Maybe now you can start working on Episode 3?

    Please?

  • Avatar
    Comradebearjew
    13 years, 7 months ago

    I hope what they say is true, I can't wait to get my hands on Portal 2

  • Avatar
    One
    13 years, 7 months ago

    Who plays Valve games for the story? Valve sucks at telling stories in their games and they're always so cliche. I wouldn't be surprised if the robot you walk around with (think his name is Wheatley) becomes the final boss. Being all friendly throughout the whole game only to turn on you sounds like a Valve thing to do especially since every english accent almost always means it's a villain these days. If he does end up being the villain then Glados will probably try and help you get rid of him or something. This is why I don't understand why people want another Half-Life game considering the story sucks and the gameplay is outdated.