When comparing The Cave vs Portal 2 Co-Op Campaign, the Slant community recommends Portal 2 Co-Op Campaign for most people. In the question“What are the best PC games to play with your partner?” Portal 2 Co-Op Campaign is ranked 1st while The Cave is ranked 15th. The most important reason people chose Portal 2 Co-Op Campaign is:
Co-op multiplayer offers a completely different set of puzzles from the single-player campaign, which keeps things fresh for those that finished the single player campaign. Almost all co-op puzzles require a high level of teamwork, creating a great sense of accomplishment for the players working together.
Specs
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Pros
Pro 3 player local co-op
The Cave supports up to 3 player local co-op play. Sadly there is no online co-op.
Pro Cheesy jokes of the best kind
The Cave has a good sense of humor within, something expected when considering the game was created by the same people as The Secret of Monkey Island.
Pro Characters based on 7 deadly sins
Each character represents one of the seven deadly sins making the game a bit of a moral tale.
Pro Creates a sense of accomplishment through a high level of teamwork
Co-op multiplayer offers a completely different set of puzzles from the single-player campaign, which keeps things fresh for those that finished the single player campaign. Almost all co-op puzzles require a high level of teamwork, creating a great sense of accomplishment for the players working together.
Pro Challenging puzzles that require creative thinking
The game challenges your brain to use portals, cubes and other mechanics in order to solve simple and complex puzzles in interesting ways. Trying to figure out the best placement of entrance and exit portals in order to gain access to (perceived) inaccessible places takes a lot of thought, especially in the later game.
Pro Allows for harmless trolling
While Portal 2 requires focus and logic, it does not punish players for causing a bit of mischief. The instant re-spawn system means trolling your friend will affect almost nothing in the game. Except maybe your friendship.
Pro Well implemented tools that improve teamwork
In a game that requires perfect timing and teamwork, Portal 2 features many tools to facilitate said teamwork. One of the most helpful tools is a 3-second countdown timer that players can use to coordinate their actions – e.g., to ensure that you launch a portal or jump at the perfect time. There is also a marker that you can place on certain objects for your teammate to see, as well as a setting that shows your partner's view superimposed on the corner of your screen.
Pro Huge selection of user-generated content that should appeal to any use-case
The game has more than 60,000 co-op puzzles created by users through the Steam Workshop and through mods. Because it is user-generated content, the quality and size of these puzzles vary widely, including everything from simple, one-off chambers to full-fledged expansions with high-quality stories, voice-overs, and new gameplay elements (for example, Mel). By having such a selection of content, there should be something that appeals to just about anything someone is looking for.
Pro Unique 2 player online co-op campaign
In Portal 2, co-op is a completely different set of puzzles than the single player campaign. Almost all puzzles require a high level of teamwork that will leave you feeling proud of what you have accomplished.
Pro Witty and funny character driven story
Four major characters drive the single player campaign, and they are amazing. Three of which have explosive personalities, bring humor, suspense, sadness, and empathy. The other being Chell, who doesn’t speak but her interactions with the rest of the cast make her all the more mysterious and interesting. Most of the time you don’t even see or directly interact with the characters, but that just shows how great they are.
Pro Challenging puzzles but not unfair
The puzzles are really fun and feel rewarding to complete. They don't punish the player too hard which makes it easy for new players to learn the mechanics with time.
Cons
Con Tedious level design
There is a lot of backtracking and lever pulling that gives a feeling of lazy level design to elongate the game.
Con Co-op may leave one or two players out on certain stages
Some stages do not offer gameplay for all co-op players. Although the co-op is drop in drop out, certain points of the game do not offer anything for the other players to do.
Con Main co-op campaign is short
The co-op campaign in Portal 2 is about 4 hours long for experienced players, meaning it could be beaten in a weekend. With almost zero replayability this makes the game feel incredibly short. Luckily, there's hundreds of hours of user-generated content available.
Con Steep learning curve
Although the single player campaign features a gradual learning curve, co-op gives no mercy. The puzzles start off hard and only get harder. It is very recommended that you play through single player first if your are not familiar with Portals mechanics.