Portal 2

The original Portal game, released as part of Valve's The Orange Box, was a mind bending puzzle game filled with dark humor. Portal 2 is more of everything that made the first one great.

Presentation: 10
It's almost a foregone conclusion nowadays that anything on the PS3 is going to have fantastic visuals. Portal 2 is no exception. The in game graphics are great, and the few cut scenes in this title really do impress. It's no Square title, but it's darned nice nonetheless.
The sound is flawless. Every moment is perfectly scored, every line delivered spot on. The voice actors practically steal the show. Absolutely no complaints in the sound department.

Story: 10
It may be short, but but every moment is a treasure. Every line of dialog is a delight to hear, and you'll likely look forward to each tidbit even more than the gameplay. I won't spoil anything here. I'll only say that it is not an entirely self contained story and that you do need to have played Portal to get the full effect. Luckily Portal all kinds of awesome, so this is almost more of a bonus than anything.

Gameplay: 10
As in every other aspect, this game takes the classic Portal gameplay and builds on it creating an excellent experience. In addition to the tools to which the player would already be accustomed, this latest trip through Aperture Labs adds Ariel Faith Plates which launch you through the air, goo that can affect your movement speed, other goo which can be used to make surfaces and objects bounce, and yet more goo that can make surfaces portalable. With all these tools at your disposal you'll definitely have hours of fun.
The game doesn't really qualify for a full 10 in this area because the puzzles could have been harder. I may feel this way because for the first third or so keeps you limited to the Portal Gun with a few Ariel Faith Plates thrown in. It might also be that having played the first game repeatedly, I was already in the habit of "thinking with portals" as the game calls it. This may have made the game easier for me. Fortunately, the Cooperative Testing Initiative part of the game pushes it over the top and bumps it up to a perfect rating.
Playing though the increasingly challenging puzzles in this mode with a friend was a pure joy. I was used to thinking with two portals, but four...that upped the challenge. Two heads are better than one, as they say, and I was glad to have the assistance in this run. It still wasn't as brain melting as learning how portals worked in the first game, but it definitely was fun.

Characters: 10
From their perfect personalities, to their perfectly delivered dialog, each of the characters in this game is wonderful. There's even some character development along the way. Our silent protagonist, Chell, doesn't do a whole lot of this, but the other cast members more than make up for it.

Replay Value: Some.
As fun as these puzzles are, they only really have the one solution. Once you figure it out, there's not much more to do. You can go back though again and pick up missed trophies, or hunt for the myriad Easter eggs, as well as help others online through co-op mode, but that's about it.

Overall Score: 10 out of 10
I couldn't ask for a better game of its type than this. But I'm getting it anyway since Valve's not done with the title yet. A few planned DLCs are coming out, one of which is free.