Let me start by saying I really really liked Uncharted 2 and it is easily in my top 10 games of 2009. I am just debating its place as the "OMG Best game of the yearz and all timez" by nearly every reviewer out there.
 
The presentation in the game was basically second to none, from a technical and artistic standpoint. The cutscenes were beautiful realized and perfectly animated. The voice work was charming and irresistible (mostly in thanks to a brilliant Nolan North). The story itself wasn't incredible, but it perfectly captured the action adventure film vibe that Naughty Dog was going for. The set pieces presented in the game were second to none: a dangling train, a collapsing building, hopping from truck to truck.
 
While I loved seeing all of this in the game, the problem was that viewing it was way more fun than actually doing it. While jumping around a moving train is cool, but how cool was it when Drake just wouldn't hop off the edge at the right time? Same goes for multiple platforming sections in the game. While Assassins Creed II has nearly mastered the free running traversal gameplay, Uncharted doesn't quite nail the platforming aspect, as I found myself dying after falling off heights I easily survived in previous sections and don't even get me started on that one section where you have to navigate through all the bars in a limited amount of time (I honestly got more upset at this than that section at the end of the first God of War). The controls just don't flow the way they should.
 
Gunning down enemies is fun, but how much fun is it when the gunplay is so second rate? Why does the enemy toss the grenade perfectly next to me every time? The enemies themselves are so bland and (besides their incredible tossing ability) dumb that its really not that satisfying when you take them out. It is somewhat improved from the first game, but why does shooting a guy in the chest ten times merely cause them to limp oddly towards me? Some of these sections are dreadfully overlong and the cover based shooting has been done much better in other games. Its strange that a game that may be have some of the most visceral moments in gaming history also has such bland gunplay. The gunfights can be great fun when mixed with the platforming aspect or with the setpieces, but by themselves they seem to be there to just artificially lengthen the game until the next great spectacle. And don't get me started about those blue guys. I don't think anybody had fun with that.  
 
Not to say the game isn't enjoyable at all, actually, its definitely of the most purely entertaining games of the last year. I would go as far to say the gameplay is good, just not great, and it simply does not measure up to the presentation. It just seems that the unrivaled visuals  cause nearly everyone who plays it to be instantly jaded. Its staggering - look at any review for the game and you will find ten paragraphs about its presentation and one that actually discusses the gameplay.  While Uncharted 2 excites me for the future of presentation in gaming in the next generation of consoles, gameplay-wise it feels a little rough around the edges, familiar to what I wish was left behind in the last generation. Its better than the sum of its parts, but the gameplay is not innovative or groundbreaking in any regard - its a basic linear action game, which you would not expect from a game that has gained a ridiculous and frankly unearned amount of praise.