Fancy portaling with a friend? Here are the best co-op maps in Portal 2
Perhaps because it’s over-shadowed by the fantastic main storyline, the co-op option is a criminally underrated game mode in Portal 2. Where the single player narrative leaves you to figure out the puzzles in solitude (you might have Wheatley or GLaDOS with you but they aren’t exactly much help) in co-op, you get to work with a friend to figure out puzzles that typically have twice the amount of steps. Play as the loveable droids, P-body and Atlas as you test yourselves to pieces, literally. Think with not just your own portals, but your partner’s as well for these excellently put together maps. Here are some of the best Portal 2 co-op mode maps.
5 – Industrial Fan (Course 2, Test Chamber 08)
Work around a giant fan with your friend in this huge puzzle area
Check out the playthrough of 'Industrial fan' at 25:25 in this full co-op demonstration video
On this mid-stage puzzle, you and a friend will have to navigate your way through an industrial-sized Aperture fan. You, or your trusty portal pal will have to figure out a way to disable the fan for the other player to fling themselves through the now-safe passageway. The novelty of seeing some of the giant mechanics in the depths of Aperture facility is overwhelming and awe-inspiring, much like the humongous hatch doors that can be seen in the single player story. Visually, this map is gloomily beautiful. Seemingly set in a giant cave portion of the facility, you and your friend flying around this vast space is a total joy. Seamlessly go from the huge, damp chute that the fan sits in, to an abandoned Aperture office space for the last part of the chamber. It’s the thought that the Valve team puts into even a secondary section of the game that still enriches and expands on the world that they’re constantly building.
Why is this map so good?
- Work around a ginormous Aperture fan that will smash you to pieces unless your partner disables it.
- One of the first real challenges that’s posed to you and your partner in co-op mode.
- Being an earlier puzzle, this map is a good introduction into the way you will need to think in co-op mode.
4 – Double Bounce (Course 5, Test Chamber 02)
Bounce your way to the finish line in the 'Double Bounce' puzzle
The title ‘Double Bounce’ is certainly appropriate for this repulsion gel focussed puzzle. Make use of the tractor beam mechanic to transport blobs of gel where you need it for maximum bounce satisfaction. You and your partner also need to figure out a way around the emancipation grill obstacles that resets the portals that you’ve already placed. Something that Portal 2 players never get sick of is making your very own personal giant blue trampolines ( please tell me I’m not the only one that goes back for some extra bounces before moving on to the next level…) and this level has some of the highest gel jumps that you could hope for.
Why is this map so good?
- Features satisfyingly giant jumps with the help of the blue repulsion gel.
- Figure out how to work around the emancipation grill obstacles.
- Set out the path of gel that both you and your friend need to bounce to the exit.
3 – Turret Assassin (Course 3, Test Chamber 07)
Take down a series of turret with your puzzling partner in 'Turret Assassin'
Although it’s easy to fall in love with their dysfunctional counterparts, those trigger-happy turrets are a real pest. If you so much as poke your little robot head out in a turret’s view, it’ll open fire without a second thought. Well, as the name suggests, now is your chance to exact revenge on the pale, spherical things full of bullets. This chamber gives you plenty of creative opportunities to take down the small army of tripod robots however you see fit. Think fast with a protective light bridge shield, speed through a portal to tackle down a turret like you're protecting the president or fling trash at them through a portal, knocking them into deadly goo. The only issue with this test is that there aren't enough turrets to take out!
Why is this map so good?
- Take out Turrets in increasingly creative and satisfying ways.
- Protect your puzzling partner from the turrets with quick thinking.
- Deceptively simple, this chamber actually provides tricky problems to solve.
2 – Wall Repulsion (Course 5, Test Chamber 04)
Bounce between walls with your buddy in 'Wall Repulsion'
For the walkthrough to this one, check out this video at 1:07:33 in
Like ‘Double Bounce’, this entry also makes great use of the repulsion gel. Where you might be used to making one or two big gel jumps to get up to towering heights, in ‘Wall Repulsion’ you ‘pinball’ yourself between two gelled walls to get up to where you need to go. There’s something really funny about watching your friend get repeatedly slammed between two walls and slowly make their way up to the next sections of the chamber. This wall bouncing concept is taken to another step further when the puzzle requires you to place repulsion gel on a light bridge, combining two mechanics that have never met before in the base game. Not too difficult of a test, but certainly memorable.
Why is this map so good?
- Combines two previously un-mixed Portal 2 mechanics.
- So much fun bouncing between gelled walls.
- An interesting but funny incorporation of physics needs to be applied for the solutions to this multi-step puzzle.
1 – Funnel Maze (Course 4, Test Chamber 08)
Teamwork is absolutely essential for the impressively designed 'Funnel Maze'
Although its deceptively simple, check out 54:37 in the video for the walkthrough to 'Funnel Maze'
Similar to an earlier test, ‘Rat Maze’, this number one entry greatly expands on the maze premise. One robot tester must be the ‘rat’ that hops into a tractor beam, while the other must control where the beam is placed and what direction it goes in. The player that controls the tractor beam must do so with portals and by standing on the button that determines what direction the beam moves in. This is such a perfect co-op puzzle because the life of the ‘rat’ player is totally in the hands (and feet) of the other. ‘Mashy spike plates’ as Wheatley famously referred to them, act as deadly hazards in this huge maze. Time the tractor beam correctly or risk starting all over again with a newly manufactured buddy! The roles between the two players are well split in this puzzle, because although the ‘rat’ player is kind of left just dangling there while their partner dictates where they go, they still get the thrill of having the point of view of being levitated through a deadly and elaborate Aperture maze. ‘Funnel Maze’ is an excellent example of how essential teamwork is, and acts as the epitome of the fantastic and underrated co-op mode in Portal 2.
Why is this map so good?- Provides a real challenge with many steps to figure out between you and your partner.
- Makes a greater use of the tractor beams than the single player chambers do.
- A much more expanded upon idea from the ‘Rat Maze’ from earlier on in the game mode.
