Portal 2 at Gameplanet NZ

Designed For Danger adds eight levels to Portal 2

Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:44:00 +1300

Portal 2 has received a fan-made campaign expansion that adds eight levels – a couple of hour’s play time – to the beloved puzzler.

Created by Patrick Murphy, Designed for Danger follows Chell during an early part of Portal 2, before “the actions of a rogue force will set you on a new path through Aperture Laboratories”.

Campaign expansions are nothing new to Murphy, who has previously worked as lead developer on Half-Life 2: Episode 2 mods Precursor and The Door.

Portal 2 level editor now allows co-op creations

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 11:26:00 +1200

A free update to Portal 2’s Perpetual Testing Initiative has given players the ability to create co-op test chambers for Valve’s popular puzzle-platformer.

Prior to the update, only single-player levels—which now number more than 170,000—could be created.

The update also introduces a "Quick Play" feature, which allows players to rapidly access the top-rated maps in various categories.

Valve opens Teach With Portals, an educational gaming destination

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 12:02:00 +1200

Valve has unveiled a new game-based initiative it hopes will make learning more interesting.

According to its new website, the developer has collaborated with educators to develop game-related teaching tools that revolve around science, technology, engineering, and math education.

The result is Teach With Portals, a package that provides education institutions with a free copy of the company’s acclaimed Portal 2 game, along with editing tools and lesson plans revolving around concepts within the game itself.

Vote for your Game of the Year 2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:07:00 +1300

ENTRIES HAVE CLOSED

Many great games were released in 2011 - but we want you to decide which was the greatest of them all.

The game that gets the most votes from New Zealand's gaming community will be named Gameplanet Players' Choice Game of the Year 2011.

Plus, place a vote and you'll go in the draw to WIN a Year's Supply of Games – that's one game of your choice each month throughout 2012!

Portal 2 DLC dated

Mon, 03 Oct 2011 11:27:00 +1300

The first Portal 2 downloadable content pack will be released on the 5th of October for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

Called Peer Review, the DLC features a new co-op test track wherein Aperture robots P-Body and Atlas set out to defy GLaDOS.

Additionally, there’s a new singleplayer and cooperative challenge mode, and online leaderboards have been implemented.

Free Portal 2 DLC outlined

Mon, 02 May 2011 09:49:00 +1200

Valve has announced that its newly-released puzzler Portal 2 will receive free downloadable content in the months ahead.

Called DLC #1, the pack will include new test chambers, leaderboards, a challenge mode for both singleplayer and multiplayer, “and more.”

The DLC will be free on all platforms.

Portal 2 review

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:22:00 +1200

As with seemingly every semi-popular title these days, Portal 2 has received both high praise and a surprising amount of eHate. Various gaming forums were ablaze last week with complaints.

Many were dubious about the early launch tactics. Players were encouraged to play games in a Valve game pack dubbed the 'potato sack' to work towards an earlier release for Portal 2. Bizarrely, it didn't seem to occur to Valve that if you let people online play the game too early, everyone will buy it online, and the physical stores miss out. Inevitably then, after a few weeks of effort and some financial expenditure by eager fans, the game released what was effectively only a few hours early.

Added to this were early complaints about the game's length. A single player campaign that can be rushed through in about six hours was poor value for money to some. Some even finished the game the same day they purchased it.

Metacritic users and reviewers disagree over Portal 2

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 09:25:00 +1200

Critics and users of Metacritic are strongly divided over Valve’s Portal 2. While the game currently enjoys an average critical rating of 95/100, users currently rate the PC version of the game 6.2 out of 10.

PC users are sore over four points: the game’s length, the supposition that it is a console port, day-one downloadable content and Valve’s “potato sack” marketing strategy.

Many users claim the game can be completed in four hours. The PC version of the game asks players, “Please don't turn off your console” as it saves. Portal 2 includes an online store that is charging for cosmetic upgrades to character models in the game’s co-op mode. Valve also ran a “potato sack” marketing campaign. Players who purchased a bundle of indie games helped to unlock Portal 2 before its official release date. Users have labelled this a cash-grab, claiming that if the game was ready, it should have been released.

Portal 2 - "Boots" trailer

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 10:42:00 +1200

The last installment of the 'investment opportunity' video series. Portal 2 will see players introduced to a host of puzzles, devious new test chambers in never-before-seen areas of Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion from the original Portal.