Portal 2's Heroine, Chell, Gets New Look

Portal 2 is set to sport quite a lot of new things as opposed to its predecessor, and among them will be a new look for its main heroine, Chell.

Portal 2 has been getting a lot of details recently, including what pre-orders goodies will be available, but Valve, the game's developer and publisher, has now revealed some more information about the main character, Chell, as well as the sketch you see attached to the article.

In the original Portal, we only saw a few brief glimpses of Chell, the test subject who players controlled throughout the title, but her appearance was pretty much void of any big characterization, emphasizing that she was just part of an experiment at the hands of the evil GLaDOS artificial intelligence.

Now, in Portal 2, Valve's design team has given her a new look, which adds a bit more personality to her character.

“Portal 2 takes place well after the events of the original game, but for Chell (and likewise the player) all that time has passed in an instant. She's also evolved from a lab rat under the facility's control to the sole cause of its destruction.

“Her familiar dehumanizing orange jumpsuit is still present, but she's tied the top around her waist and rolled up her sleeves to give her more freedom this time around. This also helps her stand out more as an individual, as opposed to a numbered, anonymous test subject,” Valve told Kotaku.

Still, don't expect Chell to talk or do anything that the player might not want, as she's still going to be a largely empty vessel that the gamer can define through his own actions.

Chell's new look and accessories will help emphasize that the world of Portal has been changed since the events of the first game.

“In the end, Chell still functions mainly as a representation of the player in the world. We want players to feel it's their own personal journey they're embarking on in Portal 2, instead of forcing them into the character of Chell and making them role-play that in some awkward way. That said, we wanted players familiar with Chell from Portal 1 to see evidence of a transformation when returning to the world of Portal 2.”

Portal 2 will show the crisp and white setting of the Aperture Laboratories be invaded by plant life, decayed by the wear and tear of the years that have passed and filled with new creatures, so Chell's change is just part of the overall picture.

Portal 2 will appear for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on April 18, in North America, and April 22 in Europe.