Valve say Portal 2 will be "much larger but not harder," Steam pre-orders now available

Portal 2 is now available to pre-order from Steam with 10% off the full price. The pre-purchase comes with a free copy of Portal that can be gifted to a friend if you already own it. Valve have also updated the product description to explain that while Portal 2 will be much larger, it won't be any harder than the original.

Many of us who watched the first few Portal 2 trailers experienced a combination of awe and horror. Awe at the dazzling scale of the new chambers, horror at the mind-breaking complexity and speed of the on-screen acrobatics needed to complete the puzzles. As part of our huge Portal 2 interview last year, we mentioned these worries to Valve developer Erik Wolpaw, he mentioned that Valve recorded the trailers with speed-runners to make the game look more spectacular.

"It's hard to get someone pumped up by someone slowly and deliberately solving a puzzle. There's a panic that sets in that we're going to have to show this in an auditorium full of people, and they're not going to want to watch somebody solve a puzzle," adding that "rest assured, absolutely, the number one goal is to have a gradual training arc, and also to ensure that things aren't too execution heavy. The person we had doing it was doing it in the flashiest way humanly possible."

We'll know for sure how hard Portal 2 is when it's released in April. The game's available to pre-order now on Steam . There's also a double pack available to pre-order for those who are planning to play co-op. Valve recently announced that the co-op mode for Portal 2 will be cross-platform compatible, so we'll be able to play with our PS3 and Mac buddies. For more on Portal 2, check out the official Portal 2 site .