It was no secret that I was excited beyond belief for Portal 2. As of the date of this posting I have finished the single player campaign. Unfortunately I haven't had any time to play the co-op so I'll only be commenting on what I thought of the "main story". Just a heads up, as usual this article will contain plenty of SPOILERS so I would recommend you turn tail if you haven't finished single player yet.
Short version: Portal 2 is exactly the game I thought it would be and I absolutely adored it. Long version...
The reason I loved this game so much was because it is hands down one of the best story telling experiences I've had in years. The team at Valve did a lot of homework and crafted a game that draws from equal parts Bioshock, Half Life, and...well, Portal. This is a game where "play, don't show" took center stage. The story unfolds in two acts more so than three (it seems to go prologue, act I, act II, epilogue). There is technically a third act, but it was a bit brief (not that's a bad thing).
The voice acting and dialogue is all top notch. This game had me laughing out loud almost entirely throughout. In addition to the hilarity of PA messages, they were also informative (toward the story and/or history). This rang especially true in the "old" Aperture labs. The way you hear Cave Johnson deteriorate was fantastic. This brings me to the other captivating part of Portal 2, the atmosphere.
Wow. The atmosphere in this game is great. It is constantly subtly changing as you progress which actually lends to the sense of progression and avoids tedium. I mean, think about it, you go from jungle over grown labs, to watching the facility put itself back together until it resembles Portal, then going through the old labs, then watching the facility fall apart. I'll give special mention here to the "old Aperture" labs. That portion blew me away, it was phenomenal. The trophy case that you can look in (if you choose) that divulges the origin of Aperture was a great touch. Of course, the reason I love this part so much probably has something to do with my mild obsession with abandoned things.
That's what I love about Portal 1 and 2, the story is gets deeper if you want it two. If you want, you can take time to stop and read signs or writing on the wall. It's the players choice. In my opinion the fact that this game had me wanting to learn everything I could speaks volumes about its story. One that Valve provided without resorting to codex' or lengthy journal entries. This was very much a visual, playable history.
So there you have it. Portal 2 is great, but you probably already knew that. Oh and there are some puzzles and stuff in the game too... those were fantastic as well.
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