Portal 2 officially announced

Portal 2 Game Informer coverstory
Portal 2 has been officially announced and is in development confirmed Valve.

Here is the official synopsis from GameStop before it was taken down:

“Coming this holiday. Portal 2 is the sequel to 2007’s Game of the Year and draws from the award-winning formula of innovative game play, story, and music that earned the original over 70 industry accolades. Features single and multiplayer co-op modes. The single-player portion of Portal 2 introduces a cast of dynamic new characters, a host of fresh puzzle elements, and a much larger set of devious test chambers. Players will explore never-before-seen areas of the Aperture Science Labs and be reunited with GLaDOS, the occasionally murderous computer companion who guided them through the original game. The game’s two-player cooperative mode features its own entirely separate campaign with a unique story, test chambers, and two new player characters. This new mode forces players to reconsider everything they thought they knew about portals. Success will require them to not just act cooperatively, but to think cooperatively.”

Already Game Informer has some official details on the game as well. They are listed below in bullet form for easy digesting.

* Portal 2 is set hundreds of years after the original game. This is why the Aperture centre looks like it may be set in the jungle.
* GlaDOS returns as the key villain, with the subject from the last game, Chell, coming back to be the protagonist.
* The cooperative campaign will be entirely separate from the main story in the game. In it you play as two bipedal robots that like to hold hands.
* The three personality cores thrown into the fire at the end of the last game have effected the environment by shutting off areas of the Aperture lab. Since they have personalities of their own, they have cornered off their own sections and changed them to suit their personalities.
* There will be a “painting” mechanic that allows players to use various liquid substances to interact with the world. The demo showed an orange liquid on the floor that causes Chell to be shot upwards. Thus you can combine these paints with portals for all kinds of crazy mad fun and even more devious puzzles.
* Physics will play an even bigger role in the sequel. One demo showed how a portal could be used to suck the air out of an air vent, from one area to another!
* Reflection Cubes will be added to the game for laser-based puzzles.
* Valve had no idea Portal 1 would be such a huge success.
* The original Portal was seen as a “test bed”. The sequel will be a fully fledged title.
* Splitscreen multiplayer modes will be available for the console (Xbox 360) version whereas Picture in Picture will also be available for those playing remote co-op on PC.

The game will be released on PC, Mac, and Xbox 360.

Via Game Informer, Evil Avatar