The PlayStation Network continues to be out of service and there was another breach at Sony Online Entertainment, so people playing games like DC Universe Online are not gonna be happy. Well the good news is that some PlayStation Network services will be up again some time this week. Here is a list of services coming back online according to GiantBomb:

• Restoration of online game-play across the PlayStation 3 and PSP systems (this includes titles requiring online verification and downloaded games)
• Access to Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity for PS3/PSP for existing subscribers
• Access to account management and password reset
• Access to download un-expired Movie Rentals on PS3, PSP and MediaGo
• PlayStation Home
• Friends List
• Chat Functionality

Here are new games/DLC we have played:

Portal 2

New Releases

• Virtua Tennis 4 (PS3 / X360 / WII)
• Thor: God of Thunder (PS3 / X360 / PC / WII / (3)DS)
• Saigo no Yakusoku no Monogatari (PSP)
• Nin² -Jump (XBLM) The game’s sales will be donated to Japanese Red Cross until 1 June.

Portal 2

Developer: Valve Corporation
Publisher: Valve Corporation
Genre: Science fiction, Puzzle-platform game
Release Date: 19 April 2011
Buy it now!

Guuzen: The cake jokes has come and gone, making way for Portal 2. I have not played the first Portal, though I understand that it was pretty short. The sequel however, is a full fledged game providing approximately 7 hours of gameplay for the singleplayer alone. There is a cooperative mode which has it’s own set of puzzles so you should be able to clock in more than 10 hours on this game.

The main gameplay is similar to it’s prequel: you look for white walls and then create portals on them to teleport between them. Now there are several new elements to play around with and I have to say, some of them are really tricky. Since I am new to the Portal franchise, I was afraid that the learning curve will be steep. Instead, I was greeted by a well-paced structure and found myself with sufficient puzzles to get used to each new gameplay element.

Portal 2 is running on the Source engine and it still looks really good. I found myself constantly stopping just to look around at the environment details and also how the robotic arms and stuff move around. Those destructive scenes are especially amazing, looking at the debris falling and walls crumbling. At the beginning you will be going through puzzles in enclosed rooms but later on, you will see just how big the environment can get giving you a good sense of scale of the whole facility. Oh yeah, Valve loves to do storytelling with the environment (e.g. Left 4 Dead) so keep an eye out while you’re solving puzzles after puzzles.

The voice acting in this game is very well done, giving the characters a lot of… Character. I especially loved Wheatley’s voice actor (Stephen Merchant) because he just sound so natural. Good voice acting helps a bunch in immersing the player into the game’s universe and Portal 2 does that so bloody well. Of course, its not just the voice acting that is good in this game but the writing as well. Despite the dire situation that the player is in, the dialogue kept me smiling throughout the game and left me wanting for more (though it couldn’t hurt to take GLaDOS’s sarcasm down a notch or two).

Portal 2 is really a great game and what’s more, the PS3 and PC versions are cross platform compatible so that’s pretty damn awesome.