Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

This review is for the single-player of Uncharted 2.

Ucharted 2: Among Thieves improves on many of the things players have come to love from the first game. The first thing players will notice when they start their journey is that not much has changed in terms of how the game controls which is not necessarily a bad thing since Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune had great platforming controls. Those who played the first game will feel right at home with the controls and the subtle detail of Nathan Drake’s motion while new players will easily warm up to it after the first few chapters.

Uncharted 2 is a direct sequel to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, continuing the adventures of Nathan Drake, only this time the plot sports more characters, locations and crazy twists. The game centres on the mystery surrounding the convoy of 13th century explorer Marco Polo which will send Nathan on a hunt over a large number of different locations across the globe. While on this journey, Nathan will interact with a wide variety of characters, some new and some familiar. The characters are played out very well and it is very easy to fall in love with them and see what perspectives they are coming from.

While the entire look of the game has not changed much, the detail of the world and character models have been amped up quite significantly and the introduction of motion blur and depth of field has resulted in the game having a much more realistic and grittier finish. Overall this game is just a treat to watch.

This time round combat unfolds much more fluidly with a variety of new weapons and reworked mechanics. Players now use only the square button for melee combos while the triangle button is used for parrying when the enemy tries to fights back. Though simpler, the changes to the melee mechanics gives melee combat a cleaner, more satisfying feel. Grenades no longer need to be equipped before use and the six-axis aiming is replaced with the use of the right-stick. The core gunplay mechanics remain the same as it was in the first game but now you can use the R3 button to zoom-in when aiming which allows for more precise shots. While all weapons have a standard zoomed-in aim, certain weapons have special ones such as the FAL red-dot sight. Players will also find ‘one-off use’ weapons, such as Gatling-guns and riot-shields, and non-mobile turrets which add yet another layer of variety to the combat which helps keep it fresh.

While all the weapons encountered in the game feel unique and have their own pros and cons, a common problem with stronger weapons is that they tend to have a significantly lower ammo cap than those on the weaker ones. This tends to favour the decision to stick with weapons that have a higher ammo cap which often results in the player finding him/herself in a gunfight equipped with weapons that are poorly suited for the situation which can be very taxing especially in the later parts of the game.

Players will experience a large variety of fast paced action-heavy sequences, from large scale gun fights to hopping from one moving truck to another. These sequences are a blast to watch and play through but there are times when it feels like the game controls are not suited for these sequences: like hanging on to a ledge when players meant to run off it without jumping which leaves them in a position open to enemy fire and potentially death. To make matters worse there are occasions where the game checkpoints feel too far back making you repeat a lot of the same sequences you really should not be doing. The game does offer a save feature but it is ultimately pointless and does not solve the checkpointing issues as the game automatically saves when you try to load an earlier save point while in-game.

Being a visually rich game, it is very easy to get lost in the world of Uncharted 2 in more than one way. While getting lost in the setting and characters is good, getting lost in what to do next is frustrating. The game does have a hint feature which basically tells you where to go next. While this works most of the time, players may sometimes find that the problem is not where the exit is but rather how to make their way towards it, in which case the hint system is rendered useless.

Fortunately, most of the flaws detailed above are only encountered 2-3 times through the entirety of the game making it very easy to have more of a good time playing the game rather than dwelling on its shortcomings.

Overall Uncharted 2: Among Thieves improves on everything you loved from its predecessor: satisfying combat, a beautifully rendered world, great lovable characters and of course a memorable adventure. Definitely check this out if you are a fan of action/adventure games.