Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Fortune seeker Nathan Drake, wakes up wounded in a bad situation. Later on he blacks out and remembers all of the events leading to his dilemma. His quest began when he decided to try and steal an artifact from a museum in Istanbul which lead to him later searching for the mythical city Shambhala. -summary

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a game I refused to pick up during its original release in 2009. I waited to grab this game for a much lower price for one reason. I did not want to fall victim to the over hype attack again, which was clearly the case when I played the first game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, in which some folks hailed it as a gaming masterpiece. I will admit that the game was indeed beautiful to look at with stellar voice acting, however, it had problems all in the game play. Uncharted 2 though, I mean wow, talk about an upgrade to a mediocre formula. This is a sequel done right as it improves on nearly all of the flaws of the original game. It has been a very long time since I been this impressed with a sequel; Naughty Dog got their shit together here.

Game Play:

Uncharted 2 is still a third person action/adventure game with an overhaul on both. The game also adds in some Metal Gear Solid type of stealth, as Nate can sneak up on enemies and take them out. In fact, there's one stage dedicated only to that, because it's an instant game over if you're discovered plus if you fail to keep the guards from their radio. The cool part about this though, is that this part of the game play only got one stage, therefore it doesn't take Uncharted out of its comfort zone. However, the sneak and kill formula can still be used through out the game, and I have to tell you, it does help in the ease of clearing certain areas, because once the enemy learns you're in the area they will tactically swarm you; which brings me to the combat.

The combat is fine tuned this time around despite some minor flaws still present. Nate can still equip only two weapons on the go along with hand grenades. Cover and accurate fire is still the meat of survival. Enemies go down a little easier this time around, and the ones who don't it's because of their armor, in which you need to hammer them with something heavy. The difficulty increases steadily in the game, and there is a slight difficulty spike the closer you make it towards the end, but it's not an issue here, because you have all the weapons and skill set to survive these encounters. Late in the game, a new threat arises that forces you to add in quick feet along with shooting which takes the focus off of covering in one or various places.

The combat is just outstanding this time around. There are various characters who accompany Nate on his journey, and they handle themselves in combat pretty well even helping you out. The thing that's even better, you don't have to sacrifice yourself helping them either, but along with their gunfire, you can take down bigger threats. The vehicle stage is handled much better and it's just too cool for words. I have to point out the variety in enemy threats, as Nate even takes on heavily armored vehicles that are overpowered in the right ways. These are actually some of the boss battles as well, that again, like the first game, doesn't exactly follow the traditional boss battle format; with the exceptions of the final fight and one mid-boss, you won't even know you're taking on a boss.

The plat forming portion really isn't all that difficult despite the many deaths players will suffer. The game doesn't hold your hand during these segments, and it forces you to search every possible detail as best as you can before you leap. There are areas that look safe to jump, unfortunately they lead to quick demises. There is quite a bit of trial and error in this game, but once you overcome the obstacle, you'll be kicking yourself because you're going to find it hard to believe you actually missed that.

The stage designs are incredible and I don't care how much the original Tomb Raider or Tomb Raider Legends influenced this. Nate will traverse across over-sized gears and snow-laden death traps. The gun fights will take him through war-filled towns, streets, on top of trains, and just so many other cool looking locations. I criticized the first game for everything looking more or less the same; no such thing here as everything feels fresh and the linear feel puts up a good front as if you're going places. The puzzles are about as weak as the first game. They can stall you for a little while, but the clues are there somewhere. This is something worth talking about. It feels as if Uncharted and God of War should switch around puzzle dilemmas; Kratos in God of War is all about action, he's not exactly a thinking man so the little puzzles in this game would benefit him, while Nate is a thinker despite coming off as the goofball type, he's very intelligent and the puzzles in GoW feel more up his alley.

The plat forming portion is great fun no doubt with collapsing bridges and all that stuff; despite my fun with it, the hazards became very predictable and even a little corny when approaching the end. At one point in the game Nate states, "I'm tired of this climbing shit". I felt the same way, but it's hard to knock the game for this. The only problems with the combat I still have is that not all of the head shots register, and I think Nate would have benefited from an instant 180 degree turn. While playing I noticed there were situations that needed it, but the final boss battle stands out in my mind where the lack of the turn haunted me. Most of it is running, and the enemy will be on your ass. These are still small gripes though in an otherwise brilliant game.

The story and plot is a lot stronger this time since it actually does reference and use historical facts. Nate is racing against a former soviet officer turned warlord for the Cintamani Stone, in which the clues from Marco Polo's doomed voyage leads to it. In the beginning it's just a regular treasure hunt until Nate learns it's more than that. While some of the plot twist, initial story, and even character's actions are fairly predictable, the story is done well enough delivering some nice cut scenes and they're a nice break from the action and climbing.

Online Play:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves does have online multi-player and it's only flaw is that you're not going to find anyone playing it now. Thankfully, I did get this game at the right time when there were still people addicted to it. There's two styles of play being co-op and competitive which can go up to ten players broken in five groups. There are some fun modes here; the death match which can be fought with either pistols or rockets is great fun that reminded me of Goldeneye for the N64. King of the Hill has you and teammates capturing and holding down your base, Turf War is very similar yet more fun. The co-op also has like a mini campaign and a survival mode slaughtering enemies. For the most part there's really nothing to complain about here.

Glitches:

The small glitches during online play such as a little lag is nothing to complain about. However, the main campaign has at least two annoying ones. On one occasion, I was on the other side of a platform taking enemy fire from the front, an armored shotgun soldier creeped from behind, and was punching me through the wall where I suffered a completely point less death. The final glitch took place in chapter 25 Broken Paradise; after the combat was over, I ran around picking up ammo and the game froze completely. I was forced to reset, luckily it started me in the beginning of chapter 26 Tree of Life. If I had to go through all that hell to get there again I would've been pissed.

Graphics/Music/Sound:

Uncharted 2 is still among the best looking games for the PS3. Some claimed and still believe it's the greatest game they ever seen. I won't go that far though, but man, some of these locations are just outstanding. The snow laden setting stands out to me as the best looking place. You can see the snow sticking to Nate's pants legs in a life like manner. The heavy snowfall also adds to things along with the dark lighting effects that interferes a little with visibility in the combat. This is a stage that I didn't even want to leave. The town where a vicious gunfight takes place feels almost as if you're in there alongside Nate in this third world country where the houses appear to be handmade with brick, it's that atmospheric with gun fire all over the place and you have to trust your instincts on where to go. The houses, the village itself, is decimated with so much destruction everywhere. The war torn city is just as rich in detail with gun riddled signs. There are so many things to pick out with the visuals, I would have to think much harder for more details.

I didn't notice any slow down with the frame rate or jaggies at all. If there was one area I would have expected some type of blurriness it would have been the high speed truck chase. That segment is very quick moving with so much taking place and it ran smoothly. The animation has its own bit of smaller details that can go unnoticed, from the life like facial expressions, to the swaying of Nate's arms when he's being pushed by a strong current and he's trying to force himself against it. I like the details in shot reaction too. The enemies react a lot differently when shot by magnums or desert eagles at close range than pistols. The details between AK-47's and M4's aren't only present in appearance, but also in handling as the former doesn't feel as accurate as the latter.

The music does its job with either building tension, action, or even the bit of drama; for the most part outside of the opening and ending themes, the BGM is forgettable as not even a single track springs to mind. Sound effects are excellent with distinction between all firearms and explosions sound good. The voice acting is still awesome with Nolan North as Nate. I like him a bit better now with his easy-going personality. He some times just comes out of left field with something, which is best left unsaid for people to experience that for themselves. Emily Rose returns as Elena and I was glad to see and hear this character, but new character Chloe voiced by Claudia Black is by far the best. Her sexy accent blends very well with her saucy appearance and personality of the character. I normally like Graham McTavish, and I like him here as well. He does a good bad guy voice over for Soviet warlord Zoran Lazarevic, but he does ham it up.

Final Thoughts:

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is so much better than the original. It's longer than the first game by maybe 2-3 hours, the combat and plat-forming is more refined, and the characters are still cool. I don't use strategy guides for any game, so I can imagine how this game would have been spoiled for me had I resorted to using one. I advise people to skip a guide because there are some nice surprises here and they work better when you don't know exactly what's going to happen. Just when you think an act is over, it's probably not. Highly recommended to those looking for a great action game. Also, the storyline here is completely stand alone, there's no reason to play the first game other than for completion sake.

Rating: 9/10

Pros: Visuals, voice acting, action, plat forming segments

Cons: Very small details that hardly effects game play