Portal 2 Beta Levels Found in the Switch Port

gamerant.com:

When Portal 2 was released back in 2011, some were curious to see whether it could top the unanimous praise that befell its much shorter predecessor. Fortunately, it was received as an incredible follow-up to the 2007 puzzle game, containing one of the most iconic monologues in gaming. Sadly, a third installment was never made, but the recent Switch port being announced will bring the sequel back into the limelight, and it looks as though some people have managed to unearth well hidden content.

As spotted by Games Radar, YouTuber Ossy Flawol has demonstrated that Portal 2 actually had some beta maps that have remained a secret until now. Thanks to a community of Portal researchers, these levels show some earlier concepts, some of which are not far off from what would come to pass in the final release. There were also a number of test maps, such as one that featured the material emancipation grill and a number of cubes in a small room. It seems as though this level was used to test out the effects of the grill on the different cube-like items.

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The video goes on to explain that Valve has been very good at keeping beta content out of the hands of the general public. Evidently, since the launch of Portal: Companion Collection on Nintendo Switch, these maps have now come to light, and show some interesting behind-the-scenes of certain aspects of the game during its development cycle. One intriguing change seems to involve the wake-up chamber, where the player first encounters GlaDOS. It seems as though, in the beta version at least, the player was encouraged to jump into the incinerator. This was obviously changed for the retail release, in which GlaDOS picks Chell up and drops her in.

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