When some developers tell the gaming industry and gamers how great their upcoming title will be, a collective roll of the eyes tend to follow.

But then there are those select few that not only hold thier development cards close to the chest, but also repeatedly produce amazing games.

Gabe Newell and Valve definitely fall into the latter category. So it's exciting news to hear Gabe tell 1UP that Portal 2 will be an exceptional title.

"Oh Portal 2's great. It's the best game we've ever done," Newell told the online magazine after he had just recieved his Pioneer award at the 10th annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

The remarks preceed the highly anticipated interview in Game Informer, with some facts already making it on the web before the magazine hits the store shelves. According those rumors, hundreds of years have passed since the first title with the Aperture Science labs overgrown with vegetation. While the scenery may be slightly different, the players are not. Chell, the playable character from Portal's single-player game appears to match wits with the controlling computer character, GlaDOS.

Portal 2's co-op campaign will be a stand-alone story starring two bi-pedal robots.

In the upcoming title game physics will play a bigger role in the puzzles and a new cube makes an appearance, the 'reflection cube'will reportedly be used for laser-redirection puzzles.

In prior reports, we had speculated whether Johnathan Coulton would be allowed to follow up his internet sensation, 'Still alive' which played over the credits of the original Portal. When being interviewed, Newell was asked for any sneak peaks about Portal 2.

"Johnathan Coulton is awesome," Newell said.

When asked if there was another song in the works, Gabe replied with a wry smile, "he's brilliiant."

No word on whether they will bring in Johnathan Coulton to write a follow up to his internet sensation, 'Still alive', the song played over the ending titles of Portal.

With the games success, its no surprise to learn that Portal 2 will be a stand-alone title and priced accordingly.