The single-player campaign was not enormously long-more on that later-but as short as it was, they still re-used and recycled jokes. And his tireless, relentlessly stupid schtick. Of course he wasn't just going to let us out. Did anybody not see him becoming power-crazed and trying to take over when we plugged him in to GLaDOS? Really? We'd barely even started the game, of course that wasn't going to be the end of it. Then Portal 2 came along, and with it, Wheatley.
This was a key part of my enjoyment of the game. It meant it wasn't all hopeless, that I might not be all alone, that I could have something to live for. Beating the game, and reaching the surface, was a huge moment. Portal made me feel so very alone, so very fearful, and so very sad.