One of the more pleasant surprises of E3 2010 was the announcement of Portal 2. Being huge fans of the original game, we were thrilled to get a 15 minute demo of the game at Valve's booth. While the game missed out some of our prestigious awards for the show that doesn't mean you should be dissuaded from the hype. Portal 2 is looking amazing so far.

If you didn't see the altered ending to the first Portal you might be a bit confused to learn that you're still trapped inside the testing facility. Some time has passed and the once pristine appearance of the testing labs has been overrun with plant life and the affects of destroying GlaDOS are obvious.

The first thing that should be noted is that the amazing sense of humour and dialogue which made the first Portal so enjoyable is back. When you encounter GlaDOS again (surprise, she's not dead!) she starts talking and you think she's about to forgive you and move on, but instead she says, "We both did a lot of things... you'll regret." Suffice to say I was laughing quite a few times during the brief demonstration.

There even seems to be a new replacement for the companion cube. At one point you encounter an eyeball type robot that asks you to catch him because he thinks it's about time to leave, and in the time shown with him, he has some pretty comical dialogue.

Portal 2 introduces some new puzzle types to solve, including using a cube with panes of glass to redirect lasers so that they open inaccessible areas. There are also some gels that come into play to solve puzzles and get around obstacles. There is also a repulsion gel that allows you to jump higher and the propulsion gel that makes you run much faster. To attempt to explain how they come into play during the game would be difficult, but suffice to say you'll have a lot of funny progressing through this new game using these new tools to solve the puzzles.

Valve stated they didn't want to make Portal 2 a more difficult game that would require players to have great aim or fast reflexes. They just want you to be able think your way through and feel a sense of accomplishment when you complete your goal. Portal 2 also will allow you to play co-op with a friend and that should be a blast.

Portal will be coming out sometime in 2011 to the 360, PC, PS3 and Mac and looks to be as good if not better than the delightful original.