PERSONALITY CORE
Portal 2’s voice talent is outstanding, and the excellent script gives the actors plenty of opportunity to play with their characters. Wheatley is an artificial intelligence encased in a shiny mechanical eye a little bigger than a basketball – and, voiced by Stephen Merchant, he’s the main source of comic relief. Alternately hapless and sinister, the mesmerising animations of his ‘eye light’ and a changing role throughout make him an unforgettable presence. GLaDOS, the returning Ellen McLain, is just as you remember her. The surprise star turn, however, is JK Simmons as Cave Johnson, the gruff and acid alpha male who set up Aperture, who performs with real brio and bite. To quote would be to ruin lines better heard in context. Suffice it to say, they’re perfectly pitched, and funny to the bone.