What could one possibly find offensive about the critically lauded Portal 2, an inventive, all ages-friendly game? Are those turrets too violent? Is the jazz too smooth? No, itâs the jokes about adoption that have one Portal fan (and one local news team) riled up.
So says a report today from Charlotte, North Carolinaâs CBS affiliate WBTV (which, by the way, may contain spoilers for Portal 2 players). Neal Stapel, adoptive father to Zoey, a Chinese orphan, says he was upset with the barbs slung by Portal 2âs antagonists, insults that belittle the playable Chell for her (alleged) adopted status. Morons and the overweight are also mocked by robots.
In Portal 2, Chellâs arch-nemeses tease her for her non-existent weight gain and her lack of birth parents, puerile, bullying taunts that offer color into their respective characters. But the jabs at her being adopted were too much for Stapel.
âIt literally pokes fun for not having parents,â he says, seeming to choke up in WBTVâs news broadcast. He played the PlayStation 3 version of Portal 2 with his kids, but stopped when the adoption jokes kicked in. âIt throws the ultimate question that that child is ever going to have for you⊠and it just throws it right in the living room.â
Yes, itâs got to be a bit awkward for adoptive parents if theyâre experiencing this in front of their non-biological kids, but Chellâs enemies are also trying to kill her, which Iâd find much more upsetting if I were her. But, hey, I wasnât adopted and canât personally relate to the conflicting emotions of such a situation.
Kotaku reached out to Valve to see if they had any comment on the matter, though they didnât before this story aired, reportedly.
