When comparing Portal 2 vs Mass Effect Andromeda, the Slant community recommends Portal 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best sci-fi PC games?” Portal 2 is ranked 1st while Mass Effect Andromeda is ranked 35th. The most important reason people chose Portal 2 is:
While Portal 2 requires focus and logic, it does not punish players for causing a bit of mischief. The instant respawn system means trolling your friend will affect almost nothing in the game, as there are no in-game setbacks when you die. Being able to stop at any point in the game to just goof around is great for releasing some steam, even when it is at the expense of your co-op partner.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Co-op does not punish when you want to goof off with or troll the other player
While Portal 2 requires focus and logic, it does not punish players for causing a bit of mischief. The instant respawn system means trolling your friend will affect almost nothing in the game, as there are no in-game setbacks when you die. Being able to stop at any point in the game to just goof around is great for releasing some steam, even when it is at the expense of your co-op partner.
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 Entertaining and well delivered voice acting
Voice acting for Wheatley the AI robot is done by Stephen Merchant (Extras, The Office UK, Life's Too Short) in humorous fashion. His delivery is well executed on all dialogue. On top of this specific experience, the rest of the voice acting of every other character in the game is performed just as well, in part due to the fact that the dialogue was written in a funny smart and entertaining cool fashion. This makes for a top quality listening experience that shows a lot of care was taken with the acting of the game.
Pro Creates a sense of accomplishment through a high level of teamwork
Game is shit
Pro Challenging puzzles that require creative thinking
Pro Witty and funny character driven story
Four major characters drive the single player poop 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 and cool they are.
Pro Cross-platform co-op
As long as both players have a Steam account, the co-op is able to be played even if one user is playing on the PS3 while the other is on a PC.
Pro Well implemented tools that improve teamwork
Pro So large in scope that it takes multiple playthroughs to see everything
Portal 2 is larger in every way when compared to the first title, from the longer and more detailed story to the larger levels and new game mechanics. This makes for a title that will last 8-9 hours minimum, with many elements that are worth revisiting, not to mention the co-op section of the game, which is separate from the single player story.
Pro Versatile selection of co-op multiplayer
It’s possible to play a multiplayer game for free online using the Steam servers, as well as locally on your machine using split-screen (the second player must use a gamepad controller if playing locally). This keeps the multiplayer options versatile to any players needs.
Pro Combat is very fast paced
The combat in previous entries of Mass Effect has been based on getting behind cover and having good aim. That aspect still exists in Andromeda, but thanks to the new jump jet, things are much faster and much more fun. The jump jet allows you to vault over obstacles or make quick dashes while running, which lets you flank, charge, and generally just outmaneuver enemies in many more interesting ways.
Pro Exploration is quite fun
Nearly every planet in Andromeda is unique from the others. There's different terrain and environments to check out, new hazards to watch out for, and a plethora of missions to complete on every planet.
Pro You can change the way your character works on the fly
In Mass Effect Andromeda, the class system is incredibly open, and classes can be swapped at any time, even in the middle of combat. Essentially, you can go from being a battle-hardened front line soldier to a crafty engineer, or even to an infiltrator that's capable of invisibility. This will also swap out your abilities, which makes sure you're always prepared for the next challenge you have to face.
Pro Good Story
Pro Fun multiplayer
Mass Effect Andromeda's fast-paced combat from single-player works well with the team-based multiplayer matches, where up to four players cooperate to complete hacking or target objectives while fighting back against waves of enemies. Maps are densely packed with obstacles and winding rooms to take cover in or to take the enemy by surprise. Aggressive foes actively push back forward into player territory even on lower difficulties, keeping matches fun and intense.
Cons
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 just a couple days. With almost zero replayability, this makes the game feel incredibly short. Luckily, hundreds of hours of user-generated content is available.
Con It's already on every coop list since 2011
Con Steep co-op learning curve
Although the single-player campaign features a gradual learning curve, co-op offers no mercy. The puzzles start off hard and only get harder. It’s highly recommended that you play through single-player first if you are not familiar with Portal's mechanics.
Con Sense of accomplishment is often onesided
Con Frequent motion sickness trigger
Con Late game single player can be quite difficult
While the single player learning curve is quite gradual, late game the puzzles can become quite difficult, sometimes leading to the player being stuck for long stretches of time. While not impossible to solve, some creative thinking will need to be done in order to finish.
Con No single-player DLC
There will not be any single-player downloadable content for Mass Effect: Andromeda. This is especially disappointing because, by the end of the game, the writers clearly intended to give more context through DLC about certain galactic races who were absent from the original story. With the news that the publisher, Electronic Arts, has put the Mass Effect franchise "on ice," the series' future looks bleak.
Con Sub-par storytelling
MEA's writing is very inconsistent throughout the game. Sometimes the dialogue is really poor, having lines like "my face is tired". Other times characters forget important information such as the length of their trip to the Andromeda Galaxy, showing surprise at things that should be obvious to them. Even though there are few great moments with moral grey areas, most of the story feels rushed, incomplete, or done by completely different teams with different visions for the game. The end result is a story that lacks immersion and isn't very memorable.
Con Poor face textures and animations
Widely mocked and ridiculed near Andromeda's release, the facial animations, eye movement and tracking, and general skin textures are still sub-par, even after patches meant to fix these issues. Characters look unnatural and downright ugly at times, with the female Ryder inspiring dozens of cringe-worthy compilations of her cinched facial expressions and comical duck-like running animations. Moving to the Frostbite engine no doubt hampered the team's efforts to create believable faces, but in a Mass Effect game, the faces especially should not have been as bad as they were.