Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a video game that consists of 7 releases
Reviewed on Oct. 12, 2009
Nathan Drake's latest outing is one of the most exciting and memorable action games in years, and one you need to play for yourself.
Read Brad Shoemaker's full review
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Quick Look: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the sequel to Naughty Dog's 2007 critically-acclaimed title, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
Overview
Uncharted 2's Protagonist: Nathan Drake
On April 24th, 2009, a sticker was found on a Best Buy pre-order placeholder box for inFamous that would allow pre-order customers to get a demo for the game, but also a voucher for a multiplayer demo of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
Its original US released was October 13th 2009, however many of the top gaming sites where able to have copies ready to review as before as 2 weeks.
Story Overview
Chloe Frazer, a new love interest for Drake
Among Thieves' story takes place in much more varied enviroments than it's predecessor. Jungle habitat (this time in Borneo), well known from Drake's Fortune, returns, but beside it, Nathan visits Turkey, Nepal and Tibet.
The new main enemy of Drake is much more powerful and even more power-hungry than two antagonists from the previous installment of the series. Serbian war criminal, Zoran Lazarevic commands a private army, trained and equipped better than pirates and mercenaries from the first game.
Addition of the second female lead and former love interest of Drake - Chloe Frazer, adds tension to Nathan's relationship with Elena and provides drama and humorous love triangle in the story.
Uncharted 2, apart from having Elena and Sully in the cast, gives many nods to the first Uncharted during course of the game, in a form of Drake's journal entries, conversations with characters and hidden bonuses avaliable after completing the game once.
Characters
Returning Characters
New Characters
Gameplay
Uncharted 2 includes, apart from third-person shooter mechanics, both free-climbing sections and stealth gameplay. Other changes include improved combat, more "dynamic" fights, the removal of Sixaxis controls, and increased mobility when in cover and firing. Drake will have great transitional movements, making him feel more realistic in motion. The game features much smarter AI enemies, as well as an infusion of stealth gameplay that inspired the inclusion of two new types of AI behavior: “investigate,” and “hunt.” These features are made possible by the enemies' new "cone of peripheral vision". An enemy's reaction will differ depending on how close Drake is to the tip of the cone (the enemy's eyes). If Drake is very far away, the enemy will investigate, and depending on the actual distance, will either brush it off as their imagination, or go into full hunting mode. This can be used to Drake's advantage however. He may pop up and let enemies see him, lure them into a building, shoot an oil barrel and watch the building collapse over their heads.
Where am I?
The game features traversal gun play, which means that Drake is able to shoot no matter what he is doing or what animation he is in. For example, shooting is possible even while balancing on a log, swinging on a vine, climbing the side of a building, or dangling from a cliff. This also makes the player feel less vulnerable in certain situations like climbing a dilapidated building. Naughty Dog is taking full advantage of the Cell's SPUs, allowing them to produce better environmental effects and animations like speeding trains, exploding trucks, and having a building collapse while Drake is still inside it. There are also more transition animations included to give a greater sense of fluidity.
The game also features multiple difficulties from the get-go, notably a very easy mode for beginner players. This was implemented to offset complaints about the relative difficulty of Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, and make it more accessible to the more casual gaming crowd. The game will however still feature the harder modes seen in the first Uncharted.
The first Uncharted got a lot of praise for its water effects and this time Naughty Dog has put in the same effort in making the snow look realistic. When Drake's out in the snow, he accumulates a layer of snowflakes on his clothes and in his hair, which slowly thaws when he gets back inside under cover. Not only is there new effects for the snow, but similarly, there are new effects for the ice. Ice reflects light in a way that cleverly mimics the sub-surface scattering that goes on inside a chunk of frozen water, and gives it a look of incredible volume and density.
Multiplayer
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has competitive and co-op multiplayer modes, unlike the original game. The modes consist of Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch and modes called Plunder, Elimination and Chain Reaction. Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch will be the standard 5 versus 5 consisting of Heroes against Villains. In this mode the player is able to choose your character's skin (Hero or Villain) and also set up a custom weapon load out. Aside from the standard fair, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves also has its version of Capture the Flag called Plunder. The player spawns on an opposite side of the map and will have to make their way across to obtain their opponent's treasure. Once the treasure is obtained, the player must run back to his or her own base, but the treasure will drastically reduce the speed at which the character is running and also confine the player to only be able to use their sidearm. Aside from the slower speed, maps designed for Plunder include high vantage points that allow players to try and shoot and knock enemies off from better views.
Elimination mode is a variant of Deathmatch with to teams and one goal- eliminate all oponents. There's one catch- no respawn.
In Chain Reaction once again players are divided into two teams and have to capture the flags, but they must get them in a specific order to achieve victory.
The competitive play has ranks to achieve which are earned through cash, Uncharted 2's equivalent to EXP, that cash is also available to be spent on bonus' to give the player an edge on how he/she wants to play, from faster reloading for your weapons to an extra grenade to be added.
Taunts and unlockable skins are also available for purchase.
Aside from competitive multiplayer, the game also features three player co-op with three different levels to choose from. The co-op mode in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is separate from the single player mode but does feature a loose story detailing the reasons for the objectives amidst the co-op levels.. It consists of a maximum of 3 players and features many elements within the single player experience that will be incorporated into the co-op mode. Players need to work together to complete their objectives and try to keep one another alive.
Through cash earned by completing the coop levels or the competitive multiplayer ranked matches, players may then upgrade their weapons for better accuracy, faster reloading and other miscellaneous. The coop objective mode also features three initial difficulties to choose from with an unlockable ''Crushing'' difficulty after completing the levels ''hard'' difficulty setting.
The other cooperative mode is the Gold Rush mode. Again allowing upto three players with multiple levels to choose from, this mode has the player survive against a limitless barrage of enemies. The players objective is to survive while also carrying the golden idol from one place to another through 10 rounds. Each round has the location and destination of the idol randomly selected.
Each round will raise the numbers of the enemies and feature much more dangerous ones at that such as the Choker soldiers.
References
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969 - film)
In the cutscene immediately following Chapter 4 and preceding Chapter 5 ("Trouble in Nepal"), Nate and Sully are forced to jumped off a very high cliff into the water below in order to escape from their pursuers. When Nate tells Sully they have to jump, Sully says, "Hold on there, Sundance - you gotta be outta your mind." This is a direct reference to a very similar scene in the film where the younger Sundance Kid tells the older Butch Cassidy they have to jump off a sheer cliff into a river below in order to escape law enforcement officers who are chasing them. Install Data
Uncharted 2 does not have any install. Christophe Balestra was quoted simply saying: "Uncharted 2 does not require any install." Although the box does seem to indicate that the game requires at least 1000 MB of hard drive space. The multiplayer portion of the game does require, as of October 17th, 2009, around 450MB of space to access.
Other Known Information
- The original Uncharted used only 30% of the PlayStation 3's SPU power; this time Naughty Dog claim they are maxing it out. There are much quicker and smoother animations and more facial joints for realistic facial expressions. There are also many more enemies on screen and an incredible amount of detail in the environments. Details like fur and cloth are also improved. In short, the new Naughty Dog Engine 2.0 allows for an incredible cinematic experience.
- A "Twitter Events" feature allowed the game to tweet updates about what is happening in the game. One option that players initially had was to post every time a chapter was completed, but was removed when people with review copies of the game complained about the high frequency that the game was tweeting on their Twitter pages.
- The developer's aim was to make the player feel like he or she is in a summer blockbuster movie. And their job was executed perfectly.
- Players have the opportunity to use stealth tactics but will not be obliged to do so.
- Drake is able to make his own cover by, for example, flipping over a table or taking off a car door.
- Enemies have much more advanced A.I and will be able to make their own cover, so if you don't get to the car door first, they will. They will basically be able to do whatever Drake is able to do.
- Enemies have peripheral vision and will "investigate" if they see something suspicious.
- Enemies will "hunt" Drake if they lose sight of him for more than a few seconds. Enemies also have the ability to climb up, jump over, jump down, jump across chasms, etc, making them much more advanced and mobile opponents than they were in the previous title.
- Players are able to shoot while running, walking, behind cover, and climbing, making gameplay very flexible.
- Buildings can collapse while Drake is still inside them.
- Drake's animations reflect moving platforms such as running trains.
Downloadable Content
On the 26th of September, through the PlayStation news site PlaystationLifestyle.net DLC was announced to already be in production. There were no specifics regarding what the DLC would feature however.Collector's Editions
The Fortune Hunter Edition for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves havs another case with an art book, download codes for new gun skins, XMB Theme and various bonuses, and a replica of the artifact featured in game. It wasn't available for purchase, but instead was given away through competitions held on the PlayStation blog, PlayStation Home, and the game's multiplayer beta. It is only available to North America.Europe gets a Limited Edition Collector's Box that is for sale. It's in a metal case with different box art and contains the same download PS Store code as the American version.
Soundtrack
The soundtrack for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released on October 13th, 2009 amd was composed by Greg Edmonson.
- Nate's Theme 2.0
- The City's Secret
- Bustin' Chops
- Reunion
- Breaking and Entering
- Desperate Times
- Helicopter and Tank
- Marco Polo
- The Monastery
- Refuge
- Warzone
- Train Wrecked
- Cat and Mouse
- Cornered
- The Gates of Shambhala
- Broken Paradise
- Brutal Combo Mambo
- Among Thieves
- A Rock and a Hard Place
- The Road to Shambhala
| Game Name | Uncharted 2: Among Thieves |
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| Original US Release |
Oct. 13, 2009
need a fuzzy date? |
| Original US Release |
October
2009 know the real date? |
| Aliases | |
| OFLC |
OFLC: MA15+
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| BBFC |
BBFC: 15
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| ESRB |
ESRB: T
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| CERO |
CERO: C
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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Treasure Guide
A complete guide to all 101 treasure you'll come across while playing Uncharted 2.
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Trophy List & Guide
ist of trophies to get and how to get some of them
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