Portal 2 Co-Op Detailed, Move and 3D Support Denied

After its surprise appearance at last week’s Sony Press Conference at E3 2010, some of us have been led to wonder whether Portal 2 will be incorporating 3D technology or the PlayStation Move into its setup. The simple answer? No, it won’t.

Speaking to CVG, a company representative for Valve told the website that;

“We have no plans for [3D or Move] in this game right now.”

Clearly, Valve are keeping the big guns for Half Life 3. In all seriousness, I’m a little disappointed there’s no Move support. Admittedly, it’s unlikely I would’ve opted to use the Move control scheme over the traditional thumbsticks, but the choice would’ve been nice. Some people may not be a fan of Motion Control, but I do find it satisfying to say: “I want a portal right… there” and point at the screen. It may not always be the most precise way of handling gameplay, but when it’s done right, it can be very satisfying indeed.

While we were given some fresh information regarding Portal 2‘s single player mode during our private play session last week, Valve was a little vague when it came to details about the Co-Op. Oh, what a difference a few days make, eh?

In the interviewCVG, Project Manager Erik Johnson explained a number of key features of Portal 2′s Co-Op mode, including a strong emphasis on split-screen play;

“If you press TAB [on PC] it will give you a split screen [on your monitor], so that you can see what your co-op friend is looking through. A huge amount of co-op experience is about talking: ‘Let’s try this and this and this’ and seeing if it works.

To be clear, there will be online and split-screen co-op, but I’m talking about a split-screen when I just want to see what you’re seeing.”

To me, that sounds pretty cool, especially considering it’s online split-screen play. Who said split-screen was dead?

As you may have been able to guess, each player will take control of a single-colored Portal gun traversing through a series of levels entirely separate to the main ‘Story’ missions;

“It’s a totally separate set of levels. Fictionally, it kind of fits inside of the single-player game but there are custom levels that tend to be pretty complicated.”

“But wait! Does that mean Chell will have a companion this time around?” I hear you ask. Not quite.

“You don’t play as Chell in co-op, you play as these two little robots because you’re going to get cut in half by lasers and crushed by crushers – and robots are a little more appropriate for that.”

In case any of you are beginning to worry about the change in gameplay dynamics in Portal 2′s Co-Op mode… Don’t! It seems that (as usual) Valve have it pretty much covered;

“There are four different colors – we’re actually testing right now to figure out the other two. Each player can go through each others’ portals in any way. Also, a player can shoot a portal onto their friend’s portal and take it over – which kind of comes into play.

We’ve also added a way for you to mark up in context in the world, so if I’m playing with you and I want you to put a portal here [points ahead], I can choose it and then you’ll see, you know: ‘Hey, my buddy wants a portal here.’ “

All in all, Valve seem to have Portal 2‘s Co-Op mode pretty much covered and co-op play is always a big win for gamers. All you need is a clever buddy, and you can attempt to wrap your mind around the game’s puzzles together — What more could you want? My brain is beginning to hurt just thinking of the possibilities — I fear what may happen when those possibilities turn into realities!

What do you think of the latest Portal 2 Co-Op details? Are you disappointed it won’t include Move or 3D support? Let us know in the comments below.

Source: CVG

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