Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – We go hands-on with the beta

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was a game that set the standard for adventure games in so many ways when it was released on the PS3 and, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is also heading its way to Sony’s home console. We got our hands on the multiplayer beta and played around with what was available in this 1.3GB package.

The beta is split into two parts which is comprised of competitive modes and a co-op mode. The former is also divided into two parts, Deathmatch and Plunder. I had an itch for some frantic action and decided to hit the competitive modes first, chose the “Find match” and after a retry or two a game was created.

Deathmatch – The industry standard mode is quite a no-brainer: Two teams battle it out to see who can rack up the most kills in a set amount of time. Nothing out of the ordinary or what we haven’t seen in other games before.

Plunder – See this as Uncharted’s version of capture the flag: Again two teams of five players are pit against each other, finding the spawned treasure and brining it back to their base. Picking up a treasure impairs your movement somewhat making you an easy target for the other team. Luckily you can toss it to an awaiting teammate who can run the last stretch to score one for your team.

The levels of both the competitive modes are neat little maps with lots of things to climb up on, climb over, jump from and take cover behind. It keeps the action compacted and you’ll always be running from and dodging incoming enemy fire. Both modes, although not entirely original, work really well thanks to the level design.

Badges are also earned under certain conditions such as melee-killing two enemies in a row, retrieving treasure and getting x amount of headshots etc. At the end of the game these badges are converted into experience which levels-up your profile and will most probably earn you some multiplayer trophies in the final version. It’s a nice little addition for the competitive players out there but doesn’t really have any function other than showing up in your profile. No guns or modes are unlocked for reaching level x, or at least not in the beta.

The co-op mode puts you and two teammates in the shoes of some of the main characters and throws you in areas from the singleplayer campaign. In the short level included it starts off with a quick “The treasure is over there.” cutscene to get the ball rolling and soon after you’re faced with a wave of enemies coming from all directions. As in all co-op games, teamwork is of the essence and you’re required to have your teammates’ backs all the time, reviving them when necessary. Upon surviving the onslaught you’re presented with an objective, such as picking up a piece of furniture to create a ladder or blowing up a piece of wall to get through to the other side. As far as I’ve seen, these objectives are quite simple affairs requiring you to only be in the right place while holding the triangle button, very much like what was done with Resident Evil 5. Progressing further into the level you’ll face yet another wave of enemies and some tougher enemies are presented now and again to mix things up. It’s quite clear however, that narrative takes a back seat here. Still it does feel very close to what you can expect from the singleplayer campaign, albeit a slightly more action oriented version of it.

If you’re familiar with Uncharted you’ll have a good idea of how the game controls and plays pretty much as you’d expect it would. The gun-play mechanics have been tightened-up quite a bit which brings it up to competitive standards. Uncharted’s shooting always felt a bit loose so it’s definitely a welcome change. The cover system has also been tweaked allowing you to take cover behind more objects in the game and moving from cover to cover works very well indeed. Nathan’s agility is present no matter which character you’re playing as, making each player a fast and nimble opponent. All these components together is what makes the experience so unique.

Of course, being a beta there are a few noticeable bugs. The matchmaking system is a quite temperamental and can take between 10 seconds and 2 minutes to find a game, if it does at all. Also, a few graphical inconsistencies were noticed and the odd “grenade stuck in mid-air” did occur from time to time. Luckily, these are minor complaints of an otherwise impressive and lag-free beta and there’s no doubt in my mind that these issues will be fixed for the final version.

Oh yeah, did I mention the game is beautiful? The game is every bit as lush and alive as the original and every inch of the levels we’ve see are packed to the brim with detail. Naughty Dog has done an amazing job to create believable levels which you just want to get lost in and we can’t wait to see what else they’ll have in store for us!

Overall I can say I’m pleasantly surprised that a game so heavily reliant on story could also function well as a multiplayer shooter. It’s a heck of a lot of fun and a welcome addition to one of my favourite games on the system.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves hits North-America in November this year.

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