There hasn’t been a game I have ever waited for more than Uncharted 2, I loved the first game and it turned into one of very few titles that I actually bothered to play through multiple times due to the great story, excellent graphics and generally fun gameplay. Yes there were a few bad points to the game, but I loved it. With Uncharted 2: Among Thieves I have to say that Naughty Dog have once again excelled themselves.
Down on his luck, Drake is lured back into the treacherous world of thieves and mercenary treasure seekers he had sought to leave behind. When a mysterious artefact propels Drake on an expedition to fi nd the legendary Himalayan valley of Shambhala, he fi nds himself embroiled in a dangerous game of cat and mouse with a fugitive war criminal who is after more than just the fabled riches of the lost city
Uncharted 2 Among Thieves Exclusively on PlayStation3:
- A pulse-pounding third-person action adventure/shooter created by award-winning developer Naughty Dog.
- Story-driven adventure delivering a seamless, fast-paced, plot-driven action-adventure experience that makes the player feels like they’re the hero in a blockbuster movie. This is accomplished via:
- 1. High-quality cinematic presentation of scenes, characters and dialogue
- 2. Dramatic in-game events that make the player an active participant in the cinematic experience, rather than a passive viewer.
- 3. Grounding Drake in the world – with contextual movement, behaviour and animations.
- An expanded cast of characters who reflect different facets of Drake’s character, including Chloe Frazer, Drake’s current partner and new romantic interest.
- Varied and exotic locations – from lush, green swamps and dense urban environments, all the way to the ice and snow of the Himalayas.
- More player choice through open layout, and a combat system that enables the player to take an aggressive or stealthy approach to enemy encounters.
- Free-flowing ‘traversal gunplay’ adds a unique vertical element to familiar cover-based third-person shooting mechanics, allowing the player to engage in combat from any position in the environment – even while climbing and hanging.
- Introduction of new traversal and free-climbing mechanics allow Drake to navigate through the environments more fluidly and naturally.
- Gunplay and combat enhancements, including an expanded melee system, and a variety of enemy types with advanced AI routines.
- Uses Naughty Dog Engine 2.0 purpose-built for the PLAYSTATION 3; uses PS3’s technology to hit a turning point in technology innovation by recreating reality and capturing human emotion.
- Visual improvements in major game systems such as lighting, shadows, ambient occlusion, animation technology and physics, among many others.
The story is set a year or so after the first game, with Drake bumming around drinking, when a couple of his friends come over and inform him about some new artefact that they want to get hold of that is once more, worth a lot of money! The game begins with flashbacks that I won’t spoil the game by describing, but it all starts in what can only be described as the most exciting start in a game ever.
The first chapter of the game cleverly hides an excellent tutorial. Those who played the first game will know most of the moves, but the tutorial is so action packed that you wouldn’t realise it is leading you through it hand in hand. Uncharted 2 has a bit of everything, shooting, platforming, puzzles (albeit basic) and boy does it have a lot of action.
Uncharted 2 is one of those games that really gets your blood pumping, it can be the amazing set pieces, the fast paced action and sometimes even the story, but these is something about it that is an adrenaline rush when you play through it, at least right up until just after the half-way point. The game is helped thanks to a great bunch of characters, some from the first title, others are new. There is something wholly likeable about Drake, he is a hero, but one who isn’t perfect and makes mistakes, no more so than his jumping around in the game when things break, he slips and screams “Oh Crap” numerous times, a quip that makes you smile thanks to hearing it so often in the first game.
Drake does have a number of new moves though, he can now shoot while hanging off of things, something that not only works well, it comes into play at the perfect time during one moment of the game. Uncharted 2 also now has a stealth element to it, you can take out enemies from behind in various ways, but nothing is every as deep as you would get in a full blown stealth based title, but it fits in perfectly to the feel of the game.
The main addition to the original is the now obligatory multiplayer aspect and once again Naughty Dog haven’t just taped it on, they have made an excellent side dish. I’ve played numerous games online since I got the game and I’ve enjoyed every one. There is depth to the shooting side of multiplayer too with the chance of unlocking boosts via money that you earn while playing. You can use up to two boosts at a time and they can improve aim and such like. It all works well and is a lot of fun which is exactly what Uncharted is about.
The game will last you around 10 hours or so from start to finish, but once again for me it was one of those few games that I wanted to play through again straight after. There wasn’t one aspect of the game that was frustrating, even when I did die a number of times at one point in the game. As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of puzzles in the game, but it doesn’t take long for you to figure them out mostly due to them not actually being all that difficult.
You have probably heard about Uncharted 2’s graphics, but while I fully expected it to look good, I never expected to see what are easily the best graphics around today and for a console that has struggled to best the 360 graphically, it is fantastic credit to the developers at Naughty Dog for what they have pulled out of the Playstation 3. The first Uncharted game had moments where you just stood still for a time to take in the landscapes, well in Uncharted 2 everything is so much better, the textures, the shadowing, the animation and more. The facial animation on the characters is second to none, the expressions react to the scenes and dialogue perfectly. They also really add to the feeling that you are taking part in a movie.
Sound is spot on throughout, voice work is near perfect for every single character and there is so much dialogue in the game that this is great work from the team. Music is once again excellent although in some respects it can repeat a little bit at times.
Overall a fantastic game, one that will last me ages and I’m sure will make nearly all fans of the original very happy. I can say that this is easily the best game released so far this year and possibly even in the past few years. Not only is it a lot of fun, it is the best looking game i’ve ever seen. Naughty Dog have done it again, I could call it The Empire Strikes Back of video games, but I hope we don’t see the next one being a Return of the Jedi. You must own this.
Conclusion
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Superb Graphics, Excellent story, Great characters, superb gameplay, fun | Slow first loading |
| Verdict | Buy it! |
| Rating |
