Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Once again, you’ll be put in the shoes of the lovable, dashing wise-ass Nathan Drake. This time, instead of searching for El Dorado, Drake will be on Marco Polo’s trail, in search of the Cintamani Stone. Invariably, Drake isn’t the only one on the trail for the stone, but he’ll have some new and old characters to help him along the way (Sully and Elena old, Chloe new).

Perhaps the best part of the first Uncharted, and again with Uncharted 2, is the characters. They are all extremely well voiced (Drake’s character, in particular), displaying bitingly dry, sarcastic humor, which makes them both memorable and endearing. While the plotline is secondary to moving you forward in gameplay, the characters and the dialogue make the cut-scenes entertaining throughout.

If you played the first Uncharted, Uncharted 2 will feel instantly familiar. The control scheme is the same, weapons largely identical, but what is definitely different is the large number of tremendous, cinematic moments that, instead of being left to a cut-scene—you’ll actually get to play. Remember the trailer where Drake is hanging off the end of a train? You’ll have to climb up and out of that train to survive. These moments, along with many of the other traversal elements you’ll get to play in the game, feel natural and fluid. Paths that you mapped out in your head aren’t always going to be there, with pipes breaking, unexpected items coming and blocking your path, which make you re-think and re-assess your previous strategy. While the traversal elements are usually pretty solid, there are some slight pathing issues where you’re not quite sure where you need to go. For the most part, however, the hint system will point you in the right path if you’re too stuck.

 

In addition to the traversal elements, the other big part of Uncharted 2 is combat. The first Uncharted was a surprisingly hard game, even on normal—Uncharted 2 is definitely easier, but is still no walk in the park. Unfortunately, this can be attributed to a lack of cover in certain spots and a reliance on sending waves of foes your way. Long combat situations and tough enemies can make for some frustrating, swear-inducing moments, but aside from the moments of anger, the combat is extremely solid, particularly the melee combat. It’s extremely satisfying to run towards an enemy and kick him in the crotch, or get into a fist fight and throw a dude over your back or deliver a nice knockout haymaker. There’s also some very light stealth elements in Uncharted 2, where you can come up behind unsuspected enemies and snap their necks, choke them out, or otherwise incapacitate them in a quiet fashion.

When it comes to online, there are many modes for you to play, such as team deathmatch, plunder– Uncharted’s take on Capture the Flag – but most impressively for the multiplayer version, co-op multiplayer. Since Naughty Dog, the game’s publisher, didn’t want to include a split screen co-op, they included a co-op where you can join your friends online and all play certain levels from the game together, as a single team against the computer. The coolest part of it is that all the features from the single player are available, such as scaling walls to reach a specific room in a building. And while the environment is the same as in single player, the enemies are far more numerous and can come from anywhere and everywhere. Communication is a must here, so be prepared to talk when playing unless you want an early death. This also serves a real good warm-up for novices who aren’t quite ready to join deathmatches but want to later on.

Another cool game mode is Survival mode, taken from Gears of War’s horde mode. You and a couple of friends essentially have to fight wave after wave of bad guys, who get harder with each wave. Oh, and a little thing for all you Call of Duty fans out there, you can buy perks which give you special abilities like reloading faster. Overall, the multiplayer is so well done and polished it could have been sold by itself.

Year after year, it seems like there’s one game that pushes the graphics bar up that one extra notch. Uncharted 2 appears to be that game in 2009. There are some absolutely breathtaking vistas on display and great range—from tropical landscapes to snow-covered mountains, each of the areas are gorgeous. That’s not the only thing Uncharted 2 does well visually, as the animation work is fantastic. Transitions from cover to cover look great, but the simple act of running down steps is stunningly rendered.

Uncharted 2 is perhaps the best single-player experience 2009 will have to offer. It’s lengthy (around 10-12 hours), memorable, cinematic and simply gorgeous to look at. While some small navigation issues and some stiffer than needed difficulty are present, Uncharted 2 offers an innumerable amount of jaw-dropping moments that every fan of video games owes it to themselves to experience.

Marco Cecilio, NoobFeed