Portal 2 plot spoiled by casting ad

By Robert Purchese Published 10 June, 2008

Voiceover recording to begin next month.

One of the key characters in what is presumably Portal 2 has been revealed in an advert for voice over actors.

Members of subscriber-only site Breakdown Express tipped Kotaku off about the vacancy, which is for "a new game in the Portal series from Valve Software". The game is said to feature "dark comedy", and recording will begin "tentatively end of July, 2008".

If you're worried about spoilers, stop reading now.

Cave Johnson, "eccentric dead billionaire", is the character in question. He is the boss of a successful "applied science" company (Aperture Science) who is used to getting what he wants, using his high-energy salesman-like personality to win people over.

But, alas, he "starts to lose his grip on humanity" as the story unfolds, and turns from "sidekick to principle antagonist" as he "isolates himself from the people around him".

Johnson was already sleeping in the ground in the original Portal game, suggesting that the sequel may be a trip back in time. Being your "sidekick" may also mean you are rather more than a lab rat this time around.

Valve has been contacted for comment, and has previously been quite clear about there not being another Portal game planned for this year.

Spokesperson Doug Lombardi has also promised that when a sequel does arrive, it will be "equally as revolutionary" as the first.

Portal was our favourite game in the whole of 2007, using its subtle charm to beat away competition from the likes of Super Mario Galaxy and BioShock.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 4 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Rodney #1 4 years ago


    Not sure if such an effort needs to be taken to explain the game universe, I think the concept is strong enough. If it retains the same humour then Im sure it will be very enjoyable

    I'd be happy with just an expansion with some clever level design.

  • DutchDemons #2 4 years ago

    Still Alive!

  • InsoFox #3 4 years ago

    They did warn before saying. Geeze.

    Anyway, without giving anything away, it looks like they are going for a different approach to the same gameplay mechanic this time around, which is a good thing. I doubt that they will create anything as perfectly formed as Portal (not because lightning never strikes twice, but because Portal must have been the result of some cosmic alignment, somehow ending up to be exactly the right game at exactly the right time), but hopefully by not retreading old ground they can at least do it justice and hopefully create something great in its own right.

  • Lamb #4 4 years ago

    What was so great about Portal that made it better than Super Mario Galaxy, I mean really c'mon I played both and Galaxy had more depth to it.

  • ccfb #5 4 years ago

    Ha, spoiling videogame "stories" is never as bad as all that.

  • monkie_king #6 4 years ago

    Snake dies?!??!

  • KillallHippies #7 4 years ago

    Sidekick to the antagonist surely means that he is the main badguys sidekick not your sidekick.
    If he was yours surely it would be protagonist sidekick.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #8 4 years ago

    Snake dies?!??!

    Yeah, but so does Harry Potter :)

    Edit: bloody spoiler tags have square brackets - grr.
    Edited by 1 at 10/06/08 @ 10:19

  • InsoFox #9 4 years ago

    Lamb - you're being 'funny' right? I'm gonna say you are. But just in case you're not...

    What's so great about ham that makes it better than melons? I mean, really, I've eaten both, and melons are much juicier.

  • Lamb #10 4 years ago

    No I'm not being funny I was just reflecting on the Game of the Year moniker and honestly so much more work was put into making Galaxy fun that its like a bank robbery for Postal to get G.O.Y. just because it has two or three lines of dark comedy.

    Its setting a lower standard not to be totally objective when making such a selection. In any case its not really bothering me I thought I'll just be a bit abrasive on Eurogamer to get them to buck up a bit!

  • SilasMalkav #11 4 years ago

    Lamb - Super Mario Galaxy was the one billionth game in a series, and consisted of doing exactly the same thing that was in all the other Mario games. Sure it was well made, but it's still old and tired.

    On the other hand, Portal was amazing and innovative, a definate breath of fresh air.

  • monkie_king #12 4 years ago

    I think they were both strong contenders for GOTY, but Portal took it on novelty/innovation. Mario turned the platform game inside-out, but Portal was a first-person-black-comedy which also had a brand new game mechanic*. It was startlingly different to anything we'd seen before. Mario obviously wins in the gameplay stakes though.

    * Apart from Narbacular Drop and Prey.
    Edited by 1 at 10/06/08 @ 14:11

  • Landmaster #13 4 years ago

    I'm playing through Portal now - It's amazing but that woman's robtic voice is terribly annoying.

  • blanka #14 4 years ago

    Im not too bothered about the plot been spilled tbh, the first game was fantastic so gimme gimme.

    my omly question was who in here believes it could've been a fluke.

  • Lamb #15 4 years ago

    Back to the Galaxy vs Portal debate. I was wowed more by Galaxy's level design and challenge of play where it was too exciting to put the wiimote and nunchucks down while Portal played a bit like Prey.

    @ Silas Sure there is lots of Mario games but its because they are entertaining and what if it was Silas Malkav Brothers instead would you still think its old and tired?







  • MrDurandPierre #16 4 years ago

    Rats! I thought by spoiler it meant a very mild one, like the premise of the sequel, rather than the ending. I only skimmed it, but still saw too much. Ah well. I'm sure I'll be pulled in by the presentation regardless.

  • L42yB #17 4 years ago

    Portal = The Best = Opinion
    Portal = Innovative and Original = Fact

    Personally, while I definitely spent more time playing Galaxy, I still think Portal deserved it GOTY spot... it just had something that no other games had... hard to put my finger on it tho... it's the combination of everything I guess :)

  • kangarootoo #18 4 years ago

    @Lamb

    "Its setting a lower standard not to be totally objective when making such a selection."

    It is impossible to be totally objective when reviewing games, because "fun" is not a scientific unit of measurement. This is why nutters frequently and pointlessly argue about game scores. Its not about setting a lower standard, its about reflecting personal and subjective opinion.

  • Bitkari #19 4 years ago

    Portal was the most innovative game of last year, doesn't make it the best though does it fools?

    It was better than Halo sodding 3.