Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

If you want a game that's a combination of the best of Gears of war, Call of Duty, Halo 3 and Tomb Raider you have come to the right place.

Uncharted 2 is easily the best game I have played this year and the real reason to buy a PlayStation 3. I never played the first Uncharted but it got some pretty solid reviews and still to this day is one of the best looking games on the market.

I'm not really going to go over the story because I don't want to spoil anything but all the different characters you meet is what makes the story engaging. The voice acting is great and the writing is top notch and it makes the characters and story something very memorable.

Now you really cant talk about Uncharted 2 without talking about its graphics, I am not really the type of person that cares about graphics but the detail in everything is incredible. Lots of stuff react in real time as well, when a person rolls on snow there cloths get a little bit of snow and if they do it again they get more of it on. Naughty dog really went the extra mile with the presentation and it everything from the voice acting to the music and stunning graphics make this a game that you would probably want to play threw even if the game play was mediocre.

The gameplay in Uncharted 2 though is not mediocre however, in fact if you want to make a 3 person shooter then this is the way it should be done. Some people will say that the cover system is a copy of gears of war but there is more to this game then just hiding behind cover. You can do standard stuff like rolls and jumping buy you can also climb up almost anything that isn't flat. The stealth in the game is very good as well, while it doesn't show it off very well in the second level, the stealth is fun and rewarding and if you screw up you can just shoot your way out. The shooting is fun as well thanks to tightly tuned weapons and a nice variety of weapons. You got everything from pistols, assault rifles, Sub machine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, RPGs and grenade launchers. You can also use hand to hand combat which is also a lot of fun and a nice way to take down enemy's when your in a tight spot. While you cant drive vehicles (at least to my knowledge) there are some really fun and a intense chase sequences, these moments can really start to remind you of some million dollar blockbuster movies, these sequences do require some trial and error but they are very enjoyable for the most part. You will also have to do some puzzles in the game and while they are not very hard, most of them have a big scale to them and they are pretty satisfying to beat.
Now the big change for Uncharted 2 is that unlike its predecessor it includes online Multi-player. If you played the beta that was released earlier this year it will seem very similar but that's not a bad thing at all. The weapons are well balanced, I haven't run into a laggy game yet , the maps are very well designed, you can do all the climbing and stealth stuff like you can in the single player and there is tones of stuff to unlock such as call of duty perk like add ons and player skins. The game also has Co-Op , you can go through missions that are similar to the ones you find in the single player and there is also a Horde like mode called Co-Op Arena. These Co-Op modes are challenging and very fun to pull of especially if you got friends online. Lastly the game has a theater and machinima mode, you can watch all the games you have played and save them to your hard drive like you can in Halo 3 and there is a mode specificity for machinima makers.

Uncharted 2 really does have everything, an excellent single player that is exciting and memorable, a tone amount of multi-player and co-op modes and a theater mode that makes this a great game for machinima. Uncharted 2 among thieves is one of the best games of all time and definitely one of the best if not thee best game of 2009. Unless your one of those people that never wants to play an action game in your life, this is the game you have to own this holiday season.

9.4/10