Upon completion of Portal 2, it will be interesting to see how the people, the machines and the events that transpired in Portal 2 video game impact the Portal 3 and the world of Half-Life in general.  Although both Portals did not have a deeper plot, like its brethren Half-Life, both games do exist in the same world, according to the commentary made by Cave Johnson, the late CEO of Aperture Laboratories, during the exploration in Portal 2.  Please note that there will be spoilers ahead for those who have not yet completed the game.

Portal 3

• With Chell gone, it will be interesting how involved the new test subject and the robots, Atlas and P-Body will take part.  Will they become participants instead of off-the-grid in Portal 3?
• Will Wheatley make his return from the moon in Portal 3?  It is possible that he might crash as part of space debris and find himself back inside Aperture Laboratories.
• Given the destruction by Wheatley intentional and unintentional of both the old and the new laboratories of Aperture Laboratories, it will be interesting to see how GLaDos rebuilds it.  Since she assisted Chell in destruction of her own body, she now knows her own structural weaknesses.
• With the deletion of Caroline core personality, GLaDos in Portal 3 will be inordinately vicious.  Given this case, Portal 3 puzzles might become more difficult perhaps than in Portal 2.
• Will Chell meet the supposed Ratman in Portal 3?  Out of necessity perhaps, she might make a return to assist the new test subject or for that matter, the slew of test subjects discovered while playing co-op, in their escape from the facility.  Will Ratman join her as well?
• The legacies of Cave Johnson and Caroline might make their way into Portal 3.  More gels? Maybe the development of a gel-portal gun?  Not entirely out of reach.

Half-Life

As interesting as how Portal 2 is affected by the events that transpired, it will be more interesting to see how it will impact the world of Half-Life.

• Maybe Wheatley will return to assist the Combine or the good Gordon Freeman.  That would be interesting twist.
• Maybe Gordon Freeman and Chell will meet whereby Freeman might learn the design of the portal gun and possibly construct one himself.  With both the gravity gun and portal gun, who needs guns?  At least Gordon Freeman might encounter the friendly Companion Cube of Chell’s.
• Maybe Gordon Freeman will learn the location of Aperture Laboratories and somehow the Combine will get involved as well.  GLaDos will have to learn to fight to defend her laboratories.
• Maybe Wheatley will become the Monitor for Black Mesa, like GLaDos is for Aperture Laboratories.  That would be an interesting spin on things in both Half-Life and Portal worlds.

Closing Thoughts

These are just some interesting what-ifs to throw around.  I wouldn’t put any cake…I mean, stake in it.  Given how Valve slowly develops games, it will be a long while until we see another Portal, Half-Life or for that matter, the multiplayer video game Team Fortress 2.  In both worlds, Wheatley remains a potential wildcard in his involvement, and it will be interesting how involved he might be in future installments of both series. In any case, whether these propositions and predictions come true or not, at least, it gives us video game and Portal fans some food for thought in the meantime.