I think it says a lot that this is my first Platinum trophy game. I was close in the original Uncharted, but didn't feel like playing through it again. Uncharted 2, though, I didn't hesitate to restart on Crushing. I wouldn't say the game is perfect (there's stuff at the end, which I'll get to later, that brings it down), but it's up there with the best games. 
 
The story, obviously, is the big draw, and it doesn't disappoint. The mix of action, romance, comedy, and a bit of thriller genres is great. It's interesting to me that I liked the love triangle stuff way more than the Shambala stuff. If a developer can get that same mix of romance and comedy, I wouldn't mind a game revolving around it, it would actually be really interesting. After the first few hours with Chloe I kept thinking where Elena went, I shouldn't have doubted Naughty Dog. Her entrance into the story line wasn't the most creative, but it mad sense. She's a journalist, so she's covering the bad guy destroying stuff. Makes sense, and dovetails with Drake.  
 
I might take this back in the future, but Elena is probably the best female companion in video games. To go off on a tangent, I've never liked the way females are portrayed in games. I can count the number of real women featured in games on one hand. Hell, Jade, Faith and Samus are the only main characters that aren't sexualized to a degrading degree. I would love to see more, designed for and not pick a sex, female protagonists in games. It's the one thing holding the gaming industry back from breaking out of the "male in mother's basement" stereotype. I won't hold my breath, though, as I just don't think the industry is mature enough to handle that any time soon. 
 
Back on track, the adventure plot line is fun, but gets dumb at the end. It's the same problem I had with the original game, where supernatural business is thrown in for no discernible reason, and isn't fun in the slightest. The guardians of Shambala have no point. Where as the original made an attempt to explain why the creatures exist, Uncharted 2 doesn't. If anyone can tell me why they're there, I loved to hear it. It's pointless, and adds an unnecessary change in gameplay. It wouldn't be that hard to cut them out without effecting anything. That is not the mark of a good plot point. 
 
The gameplay is changed for the better from the first game. It feels more realistic when shooting dudes, they aren't all Terminators, but they throw in some bigger guys who can take more damage as a nice change up. I liked the Assassin's Creed type climbing, which I didn't notice in the first if it was there, and it cut some of my frustrations with the first's controls. That doesn't mean I didn't have stupid jumping errors, but when they happened it was usually my fault this time. 
 
One thing that bothered me is the game's unflinching need to complete every animation. It became especially irritating during the final boss fight. As grenades would blow up behind Drake, he would grab his chest as if the impact was hurting him. It looks great the first few times, but when you're running away from a huge guy with a shotgun and your character stops for 2 seconds to complete an animation while you're mashing on the roll button is not fun. 
 
I nitpick because I love. I love the look of the game, it does away with the dark tunnels of the first, and transports Drake to cities, villages, jungles, mountains, and even the beach for a quick cutscene. It's all beautiful and amazing to behold. I can't say enough about the story between the leads, it's the best I've ever seen out of a game, and one of a select few that I actually cared about the characters. Uncharted 2 isn't without its faults, but they don't drag it down.

I think it says a lot that this is my first Platinum trophy game. I was close in the original Uncharted, but didn't feel like playing through it again. Uncharted 2, though, I didn't hesitate to restart on Crushing. I wouldn't say the game is perfect (there's stuff at the end, which I'll get to later, that brings it down), but it's up there with the best games. 
 
The story, obviously, is the big draw, and it doesn't disappoint. The mix of action, romance, comedy, and a bit of thriller genres is great. It's interesting to me that I liked the love triangle stuff way more than the Shambala stuff. If a developer can get that same mix of romance and comedy, I wouldn't mind a game revolving around it, it would actually be really interesting. After the first few hours with Chloe I kept thinking where Elena went, I shouldn't have doubted Naughty Dog. Her entrance into the story line wasn't the most creative, but it mad sense. She's a journalist, so she's covering the bad guy destroying stuff. Makes sense, and dovetails with Drake.  
 
I might take this back in the future, but Elena is probably the best female companion in video games. To go off on a tangent, I've never liked the way females are portrayed in games. I can count the number of real women featured in games on one hand. Hell, Jade, Faith and Samus are the only main characters that aren't sexualized to a degrading degree. I would love to see more, designed for and not pick a sex, female protagonists in games. It's the one thing holding the gaming industry back from breaking out of the "male in mother's basement" stereotype. I won't hold my breath, though, as I just don't think the industry is mature enough to handle that any time soon. 
 
Back on track, the adventure plot line is fun, but gets dumb at the end. It's the same problem I had with the original game, where supernatural business is thrown in for no discernible reason, and isn't fun in the slightest. The guardians of Shambala have no point. Where as the original made an attempt to explain why the creatures exist, Uncharted 2 doesn't. If anyone can tell me why they're there, I loved to hear it. It's pointless, and adds an unnecessary change in gameplay. It wouldn't be that hard to cut them out without effecting anything. That is not the mark of a good plot point. 
 
The gameplay is changed for the better from the first game. It feels more realistic when shooting dudes, they aren't all Terminators, but they throw in some bigger guys who can take more damage as a nice change up. I liked the Assassin's Creed type climbing, which I didn't notice in the first if it was there, and it cut some of my frustrations with the first's controls. That doesn't mean I didn't have stupid jumping errors, but when they happened it was usually my fault this time. 
 
One thing that bothered me is the game's unflinching need to complete every animation. It became especially irritating during the final boss fight. As grenades would blow up behind Drake, he would grab his chest as if the impact was hurting him. It looks great the first few times, but when you're running away from a huge guy with a shotgun and your character stops for 2 seconds to complete an animation while you're mashing on the roll button is not fun. 
 
I nitpick because I love. I love the look of the game, it does away with the dark tunnels of the first, and transports Drake to cities, villages, jungles, mountains, and even the beach for a quick cutscene. It's all beautiful and amazing to behold. I can't say enough about the story between the leads, it's the best I've ever seen out of a game, and one of a select few that I actually cared about the characters. Uncharted 2 isn't without its faults, but they don't drag it down.

Pretty much. The game's been described as something that's better than the sum of it's part which I completely agree. Games nowadays are too quick to be dismissed into components X and Y.