Valve Details Portal 2 Co-Op Mode and Aperture Science

Valve writers Erik Wolpaw and Chet Faliszek have talked about the cooperative mode in Portal 2 and how its location, the Aperture Science laboratories, allows people to experience a very different setting than in other games.

Valve is getting ready to debut Portal 2 later this month, so the company is showcasing a few more details about its upcoming first-person puzzle title.

Speaking with Funambulism, the chief writers of Portal 2, Wolpaw and Faliszek have revealed that the co-op mode actually starts at the end of the single-player mode, but that players can skip over the campaign and play with a buddy if they really want that.

"We can say that the co-op story happens after the singleplayer story. Having said that, you don't need to necessarily need to play them in that order. You know that Aperture science isn't going to get blown off the face of the earth by the end of Portal 2."

Speaking about the location of Portal 2, the laboratories of Aperture Science, which carries over, albeit in a modified way, from the first game, the writers said that it would offer a lot of unique possibilities for the players, who could see how the facility decayed over time and the main character of the series, Chell, was all that was left.

"One of the characters in Portal 2 is Aperture Science itself. There is a lot you’re going to learn about Aperture Science, you’ll see a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, that’s just a hint of what you’ll be exposed to; the idea of a science company that’s gone mad with science, where they put that first in front of everything else."

While the first game showcased Chell in the pristine laboratories of Aperture Science, the second game takes place after their destruction, showcasing the ravaged remains, which now need to be explored by the female protagonist.

Portal 2 is set to finally appear on April 19, in North America, and April 22, in Europe, for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms.