Portal 2

You can’t possibly be surprised, can you? Portal 2 is not only the sequel to our choice for the very best game of all time – all time! – it’s a sequel that irrefutably improves on that choice in every imaginable way. Some upgrades are obvious, like the longer campaign, the fancier gadgets and the addition of cooperative play. What back-of-the-box bullet points like those can’t tell you, of course, are that the longer campaign still feels as perfectly paced as the original, that the fancier gadgets work as effortlessly and ingeniously as the portal gun or that the co-op is somehow both totally separate from the main game and yet equally compelling and satisfying.

To describe the elements that truly make Portal 2 an unforgettable experience, however, would require spoilers that might ruin that experience. What do we risk saying about GLaDOS, other than that you will fear – but also pity and understand – the infamous villain more than ever by the end? Or about Wheatley, besides the fact that he is surely gaming’s greatest-voiced sidekick? Or about the haunting history of Aperture, the tie-ins with an epic Valve universe and the crazy clever Easter eggs? These are all the things that make Portal 2 so special, and also the things every player should discover on his or her own.

In other words, if you haven’t played Portal 2 yet, stop reading this and go do so immediately. We won’t stoke controversy by declaring it the new best game of all time or anything, but we feel pretty damn comfortable declaring it the best game of 2011 so far, and likely of 2011 period.