PvP Fight

Portal 2 is a puzzle/adventure game which revolves around the concept of creating these gateways or "portals"  if you will that allow the player to enter one portal and exit out the other. Aside from the main story line, the game allows players to construct their own puzzles or "test chambers" which they can play and publish via the steam workshop which will allow other steam customers to play their level should they also own Portal 2.

Recently, I was able to play the level "gel training" by TinMan. The level opened up using the elevator which is very interesting in that I do not know how to do that. This feature adds to the level in that adds to the immersive feel to the level or at least makes you feel that the level is a part of the main game. Once you reach the actual level you are faced with two corridors, one with a laser grid at its end and the other with turrets lined up along it. You are also provided with a propulsion gel dispenser.I don't want to spoil too much of the level but in a nutshell you use the propulsion gel to get through the laser grid, which gives you access to a button which allows you to use the propulsion gel to get past the turrets and reach the exit.

The problem with the level was that it used the concept of "use A against B to get to C" in the exact same way. You can use this concept again but one MUST introduce new concepts or obstacles so that even though the player uses item A against obstacle B the get to C they are forced to use A in different ways that initially used because obstacle B requires a different approach. The level "gel training" did not do this. Now I know what you are going to say, "the laser grid and turrets are not the same thing" but they both use time. In the level the laser grid is timed so that when you push a button it remains off for a few seconds and the turrets do not fire are you for a few seconds when you appear in front of them. Hence, you approached both the turrets and the laser grid problems in the exact same way.

Another problem with the level was that it did not use its space effectively, it had a high ceiling but the player did not need much of it to reach the exit. This ties into the previous paragraph in that effective use of the level space can provide new methods of dealing with the same obstacle even though the player is using the same concept of item A against B to get to C.

Overall, the level was very simple and straight forward which can, in instances be fun, But that was not the case with "gel training", the level was so simple that I did feel satisfied when I completed it. It used the concept of use item A to get past obstacle B to reach point C which is perfectly fine when used as a building block to create more complex puzzles but when used by itself again and again in quick succession it becomes very old very fast and that is what happened in the case of "gel training". I believe that if TinMan takes these observeations into account his future levels will become much more interesting.


sources
http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2010/08/portal2logobkgrnd.jpg

http://cloud-2.steampowered.com/ugc/685967544745286080/E0F6AE492D09C2855ED1156377C882ECBD338DCD/637x358.resizedimage