When comparing Portal 2 vs Just Cause 3, the Slant community recommends Portal 2 for most people. In the question“What are the best action games on Steam?” Portal 2 is ranked 1st while Just Cause 3 is ranked 50th. 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 A really fun way of getting around
To explore have a wide selection of vehicles available to you, including bikes, sports cars, tanks, helicopters, and airplanes. However, all of the vehicles combined are nowhere near as fun as the combination of your grapple gun, wingsuit, and parachute. This combination gives you one of the most fun open-world traversal methods to date. You use the wingsuit for gliding, the parachute for gaining height and accurate steering while the grappling hook helps you latch onto various vehicles such as helicopters. It takes a while to get used to, but once you do, you'll probably not look back at regular vehicles.
Pro Entertaining over-the-top action
Just Cause 3 is all about going crazy in its open world environment. To help with this, your character has a wide variety of weapons, including assault rifles, rocket launchers, and even a limitless supply of C4 explosives.
You can stand on top of a plane as it flies over an enemy base and rain down fire and death down on it with your RPG. Or you can attach a C4 charge to everything you see, and watch the world's most colorful fireworks simulator. You even have a grapple gun that allows you to perform various hilarious shenanigans. This includes connecting two helicopters with a rope, causing them to spin out and tangle into a massive explosion.
Whatever you decide to do, it's guaranteed to be over-the-top action goodness.
Pro Massive open world
The total area of JC3 is 400 square miles (1,000 km2), which makes its world one of the largest in gaming. You can explore rural settlements, military bases, grassy plains, dense forests, damp subterranean caverns, and even snowy mountains. There's so much to explore it almost never feels like there's an end to it.
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 Poorly optimized
Sometimes you might get sudden fps drops, even when there's practically nothing happening on screen. It can make playing the game very difficult, which is especially annoying during very intense moments.
Con Story missions feel tedious
Just Cause 3 severely lacks story mission variety, having mostly tower defense and escort missions that start getting really repetitive after a while. As a result, you might find yourself hoping a story mission ends sooner, so you can get back to the free-roam and destroy-at- your-own-leisure aspect.