That's my first word to summarize how I feel about Uncharted 2. It's been a long time since I've really been excited about a game and enjoyed it so much I can't put it down. A number of games of late have just left me feeling "meh!". Call of Duty Modern Warefare 2 was disappointingly short and failed to give me that heart pounding, adrenaline rush that the Call of Duty series used to give me, the same could be said of a number of games lately, operation flashpoint:Dragon rising was good, but not amazing, the same for IL Sturmovick. Nothing really got me over excited. I hadn't realised how complacent I'd become. I had bought the original Uncharted when it first came out on PS3 and I loved it. The graphics were impressive, the game play was cracking and the story was good, it was a perfect mix of everything. So when I saw the videos for Uncharted 2 and heard the rave reviews, I was excited. Alas, I was too poor to afford to buy it. My wife treated me to the game a couple of weeks ago and I've been in love ever since. I just came off an all day gaming session on it and if my eyes weren't so tired, I'd probably still be going.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves isn't a sequel as such, more just another outing. There's nothing wrong with that.
I described the first game as Lara Croft Meets Indiana Jones. That's still a fair comparison here.
You play Nathan Drake, great, great, great ancestor of Sir Francis Drake. A fortune hunter and general crazy man. The game starts with Nathan waking up in what appears to be a battered train carriage. Ancient and warn. He's bleeding and injured, unsure of where he is. Suddenly the train starts to fall apart and we realise that it is hanging off the edge of a cliff, knocked out of his seat, Nathan is tossed out of the back of the train and we take over as he is left clinging onto a rail for dear life. You then take over and climb your way to the top, avoiding falling debris and clambering upwards in the familiar way you will be used to if you played the original game.
Once at the top, he collapses, exhausted. We are then treated to a cut scene, a flash back to the past.
The opening scenes set the theme for the game. Not just in the story line but in the amazing way it's presented. Dragging Nathan through the snow, you can see his footprints appear, his legs get covered in white powdery snow as he drags himself along. The effect is much like it was in the original game where when you fell in water Nathan got believable wet. The same works in the snow. As it falls and you roll around in it, his clothes get covered in a white frosting. His hair, eyebrows, everything slowly turns white. Do some rolly-pollies and you'll soon be covered in the cold white stuff. Its a nice effect. The way it kicks up as he walks is a nice touch as well.
The cut scene takes us back to somewhere hot and sunny. A tropical island. Nathan is approached by an Englishman (whose name escapes my mind) asking for his help. He needs to break into a museum to steal and artifact, which apparently will lead to "shambala" (aka the fabled shangrila) and the prize of the "chintamni stone". In the same way that in the last game we were following Sir Francis Drake and his crusade, this time we are following another historic figure - Marco Polo.
The story in this way, is thoroughly engrossing. It leads Nathan and his companions all over the world to Borneo, Turkey and other places that I can't name but look amazing. As you might expect there is plenty of exploration, treasure hunting, puzzle solving, gun fights and lots and lots of climbing, jumping and falling.
That was the theme of the last game and it is continued here. If you can't stand platform games, i'd say you might be best avoiding this game. However, having said that, this game isn't as frustrating as I might be making it sound. A lot of platform games that I remember playing in years gone by have been frustrating to the point of me putting them down to go off in search of a beer. As i tried over and over again to jump a ledge, or time a perfect jump to avoid being hit by a swinging hammer or some such, only to get knocked off. Uncharted 2 seems smarter and less annoying. As you walk along small ledges or tiny walk ways, Drake seems to have the balance of a ninja. I didn't try, but I can't imagine it would actually be easy to fall off the tiny bridges that you have to walk across. The same for jumping between ledges, its designed in such a way that most of the time, you cannot actually jump to somewhere you are not supposed to and he will instinctively lean and reach out for the direction that you are meant to jump, so that helps.
The puzzles are straight forward enough, not that they aren't fun, but they aren't annoying either and if you do get stuck, then waiting a while you will see a "Hint" option appear where you can press the up button on the directional pad to be shown where to go.
Uncharted is a third person shooting, adventure, jumping game. That's the best way to describe it quickly. Mostly, there's nothing new, but that doesn't mean it isn't amazing. You'll find it familiar if you've been playing other modern games. Grab cover and fire blind or take aim for a careful shot, pick up fallen enemies weaponry and run and gun. You can carry two guns and there are a nice variety of weapons throughout the game, pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, RPGs, machine guns and assault rifles, there's plenty to keep you interested if you like shooting stuff.
Blowing stuff up is there too. There are lots of gas canisters scattered throughout the game that a couple of shots will make explode. Better, you can pick them up, toss them in the air and fire a shot to make them go boom. Cleverly used, this can be a good way to take out groups of bad guys.
Just as in Uncharted:Drakes Fortune, you will find treasure scattered throughout the maps, hidden in the quirky little places that designers commonly hide things they don't want you to find too easily. Here, treasure means money, money means unlocks.
Money you gain in the single player and multiplayer can be used to buy upgrades and extras. Ill get to that (and the multiplayer in a moment).
The best thing about the game is the way it's designed, because of the way its made it actually feels like its been "shot" like a film. You will find things exploding, stuff falling towards you or bridges collapsing and more, all done in such a way to make you feel immersed in the game and drawn in. Zipping down a powerline and using it as a death slide, the camera moves into such a position that you get the best effect, fall to the ground and do a roll, it just feels real. The way Drake moves is smooth and graceful. The character animations are spot on. Rolling behind cover, climbing a wall, running and gunning, it all looks top notch.
Drakes hair blows in the wind, a ring hanging around his neck swings as he moves. If he gets wet by falling in a river or standing under a waterfall he actually looks wet and slowly dries off as time continues on. The same for snow. The effects are realistic and add to the magic.
Hand-to-hand fighting is simple and once again well designed. Hitting square brings in the punches, kicks and elbows. To avoid being hit by the enemy, you hit triangle, dodge their swing and hit them back. In some instances (where the enemy is wielding a more powerful gun) you are actually better off getting in close for a fist fight. Its so well crafted the fighting is rough and fast, much like the Bourne films. Yet it's easy and intuitive. There's no complex combination's to learn and it's not annoyingly repetitive.
I haven't completely finished the single player yet, but all I can say is Wow, wow, wow. Its truly impressive, immersive and fun. The best game i've played in a long time. I don't want to spoil the story, but expect some betrayal, twists and turns in the story and plenty of fun.
The Multiplayer.
The multiplayer is similar to the main game, except you're online and battling with real people (duuur!) I think the best way to describe it is to say its like Call of duty met Drakes Fortune. You are given a rank and as you complete objectives and get kills you progress in rank and gain unlocks. The better you do, the more money you get to spend on upgrades for you kits and perks in much the same way as the call of duty series. You are either "villains" or "good guys" and battle it out for victory.
It's still in third person (obviously) and running and gunning, using cover is the name of the game. There are several different game types. I haven't had time to play them all, but there's the usual mix, team death match, capture the flag and a treasure mode where each team has to get the treasure and take it back to their base.
Its nicely designed, just like the single player and I had plenty of fun. There are a lot of ranks by the looks of things, so a good sense of longevity.
In the single player and the multiplayer there are trophies and pins for completing certain objectives. Each give you money to use on upgrades or unlocks.
Im going to end it there, I've probably written too much already. Basically, i'd give this game, game of the year. Well done Naughty Dog.
it draws you in i think. Very well put together. Try the multiplayer? I still want to do co-op with someone...
