LEGO Dimensions – Portal 2 Level Pack Review

Portal was one of the more surprising franchise choices for LEGO Dimensions. Portal wasn’t a franchise that had any LEGO sets at the time, and in fact there was even a LEGO Cuusoo pitch for a Portal series of sets that was rejected. But it’s a franchise choice to be thankful for, as Portal brings some of the stand-out content in Dimensions, and this Level Pack is no different. Of the three launch-day Level Packs, it was by far the best, and it still holds its ground against the newer ones. The Portal 2 Level Pack manages to mash the LEGO format together with Portal‘s style and mechanics to make a cool hybrid level that does the source material justice.

The Portal 2 Level Pack reunites Chell and Wheatley, and pits them against GLaDOS the homicidal AI once again. All the dialogue was recorded just for the game, so you get a bunch of new interactions between the characters, with their original voice actors providing the voices. The script is full of the same style of humour as the Portal games, but being a third person game you’re able to see Chell’s reactions to Wheatley’s nonsense.

Puzzles have multiple elements that need to be dealt with

The level structure is similar to the story level, in that it takes you through a series Aperture test chambers (with some segments set outside of these chambers) but the locations themselves are different from those you encountered during the main story. The chambers in this level are more complex, and feel much more Portal-y due to the fact you’re equipped with items from the game. Chell comes with the game’s signature Portal Gun, allowing her to create portals on special surfaces. You can have two portals open at a time, one blue and one orange, which link to each other – jumping in one will send you out the other. You also get minibuilds of the Companion Cube and Turret, which are used extensively in puzzles. The Cube can weight down special switches, and when upgraded it is also able to deflect lasers. The Turret is a vehicle you can pilot which will automatically fire at special Turret Switches when unmanned, allowing you to continue on with bits of the puzzles located elsewhere. It can be upgraded to destroy Gold Bricks and Silver Bricks, and fly.

Where this level excels is in making the most of what comes in the box. Each puzzle combines the special abilities of each of the three toys in different ways. In one puzzle, you might need to just use portals to reach a high-up area. In another, you might need to use the portals to redirect an anti-gravity beam to another location that you need to each. Then in yet another puzzle you could have to hit switches that move a portal around the room, and drop items into the correct locations. The level also features another element that wasn’t present in the story mode – Gel. Portal 2 introduced gels that altered the environment that they were splattered on, and two varieties are present in the Level Pack. Blue gel can be used to bounce much higher than a normal jump would allow, while orange gel is super slippery and will give you a massive speed boost. The gels are just some of the elements used to add extra layers to puzzles beyond ‘Use this character’s skill here’.

Portals allow you to remotely make big messes

It’ll probably take you around an hour or so to complete the level if you stick to the main path and don’t spend much time hunting for collectibles. If you go for full completion of the level it’ll take you well over that, as there’s hidden puzzles and alternate test chambers to find and complete in exchange for collectibles. It’s just the right length, as it feels substantial enough without being padded, and the pacing of puzzles is nice as well. They gradually introduce new elements and build up to tougher puzzles, capping the level off with a boss fight at the end. The fight is rather simplistic, but it’s a nice callback to the games.

The Portal 2 Level Pack also has one of the most substantial offerings outside of its main level as well. A number of levels and Adventure Worlds have puzzles that make use of the toys you get in the pack in order to set up more Portal-style puzzles. So you could be roaming around Jurassic World, only to stumble upon a surprise Portal puzzle to solve. There’s a fair number of these hidden puzzles in the game, which are fun to solve.

And, of course, you get access to a new Adventure World as well. I was confused how this world would work before I played the game, because ‘open world’ and ‘Portal‘ didn’t mix in my head, but they’ve done a good job pulling it off. It’s basically a big hub set in a derelict Aperture facility which you can explore at your own pace. All around the facility there’s more testing chambers scattered about, which you can complete at your own pace. It’s basically a whole extra Portal level that can be tackled in whatever order you like. As a result it feels a bit less exciting than other Adventure Worlds, but if you’ve still got a hankering for Portal after completing the level then you’ll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. The NPCs from the Portal universe make an appearance in here too, providing commentary and humour. GLaDOS gets really snarky if you use a flying character in the world.

If you’re a Portal fan playing Dimensions then you can’t turn down this pack. It does a brilliant job of combining the two universes and offers a lot of enjoyable content. If you’re not a fan then it will do a good job of introducing you to Portal, with puzzles that aren’t as complex as what you’d find in the series, but play with some of the same concepts to deliver puzzles that are entertaining regardless. Chell and her equipment see a lot of use outside of what’s included in the pack, which makes it one of the more worthwhile expansions to buy.

This review was written based off a game or game content bought with the author’s own money. Review scores are designed to be directly compared with other expansions in the same series, not other series. We use the full 10 point scale 🙂