The long-overdue Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review
November 5, 2009 by
Filed under Featured, Playstation, Review
Let’s face it; we knew Uncharted 2 was going to happen. The moment we started Naughty Dog’s 2007 hit, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, and given their track record of creating trilogies, it was obvious that a sequel would eventually turn up. And believe us when we say, it did so in a big way!
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune was in many ways a big victory for early adopters of the PS3. In the skillful hands of Naughty Dog they really showed us what the PS3 was capable of in terms of graphics but also successfully recreated the feeling of a summer blockbuster, becoming almost the game equivalent of an Indiana Jones film. In fact, Uncharted bears more than just a passing resemblance to the aforementioned (not to mention the protagonist’s adventure seeking, always-getting-into-trouble personality which could easily find its home there). The game wowed many with its beautifully recreated jungle locations and kept gamers entertained with well scripted sequences and top class voice acting delivered by Nolan North, Emily Rose and Richard McGonagle. It was a short game, but an excellent experience from start to end and became one of the best reasons to own a PS3.
In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves the cast is back to yet again bring you the exploits of our favorite fortune hunter Nathan Drake. This time he’s on the search for the lost treasure of Marco Polo after its doomed voyage from China. Teaming up with two new, but just as eager (and devious, as you will find out) comrades Harry Flynn and Chloe Frazer, they set of to Istanbul to steal an oil lamp that might point them in the direction of Polo’s lost fleet. Their hunt sends them to Borneo and many other exotic locations, encountering his old friend Victor Sullivan (McGonagle) and ex love-interest, Elena Fisher (Rose) along the way. The plot follows Nate’s journey of adventure, deceit, love and almost supernatural dangers in his quest to uncover the mysteries surrounding Marco Polo’s journey and the fabled Chinamani stone.
Players who’ve played the previous game should be familiar with the gameplay of Uncharted 2. Most of the controls have stayed unchanged, save for a few tweaks and improvements. For one, the Sixaxis grenade control from the first game has been turned off by default in favor of an analogue stick aiming. The gunplay mechanics have been tightened up quite a bit, obviously with the newly added multiplayer mode in mind. Most noticeably are the
melee and stealth combat additions. When engaged in close combat, the enemy can now grab Nate, prompting a button press to dodge and counter attack. Nate also has a few new moves up his sleeve, especially with the wealth of new stealth take-downs he can execute. Also, the cover system has been improved, making it easier to get from one point of cover to the next, and also moving around corners while sticking to a wall. It works well in both the singleplayer and multiplayer, and becomes a vital part of surviving, especially when playing the game on Hard and Crushing difficulty levels as well as playing against skilled players. Overall, the controls feel tight and responsive and the context sensitive button presses (helping an ally climb up a ladder, or holding open a stone gate) has been kept simple yet effective.
However, let’s get to the good part: the graphics. As I’ve said before, the original Uncharted set a high bar in terms of what third person games should look like. In our Uncharted 2 beta impressions, I’ve mentioned that the game still looks excellent but it wasn’t until I started playing the singleplayer campaign that I really got to see what Naughty Dog has cooked up. And by golly, the game looks gorgeous!
They’ve really upped the ante with Among Thieves in every way. Everything from the facial animations, to the beautifully realized locations feels real and looks astounding at all times. The combination of Havok driven physics and prescripted events bring the flow of the game’s visuals to life. As soon as a big event ends (imagine shooting your way through a collapsing building) you wish you could go back and see it again just to appreciate how incredible everything looked.
The first game was obviously an excellent platform to start from. It’s clear that every minute of the development time was used to create as much detail in every part of the game to reach an almost creepy level of realism. Each corner of each level is unique and it hardly ever feels like any texture or polygon was reused. At times I had to force myself to stop just and look around at the absolute beauty that served as the setting for this game.
The game totals in at around 10 – 12 hours of playtime and in this time you’ll hardly ever stand still. The pacing is superb, driven either by wonderfully acted and voiced cut scenes, action packed gunfights or tense stealth sections. The only parts that might be considered “filler” are the treasure hunts. The relics and items are sometimes in clear sight and shouldn’t be a problem to find for the careful observer, but a few are quite well hidden, forcing you to look in the most obscure locations. Luckily the treasure hunting is hardly an essential part of the experience but does serve as a good incentive to explore and appreciate your surroundings.
Elena Fisher, last year’s model.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has captured the spirit of adventure from movies such as Indiana Jones or Pirates of the Caribbean. It’s about the best example of a game trying to do this and it passes with flying colors. Thanks to the excellent writing and wonderfully delivered voice acting you become emotionally invested in each of the characters. If fact it wouldn’t surprise me if a few tears have been shed during one or two of the cut scenes in the later stages of the game. Though, the game’s script has a rather lighthearted tone and some scenes are downright hysterical.
In the end, as the credits roll I felt a feeling I seldom do when completing a book, movie or game: an utter sense of satisfaction and content and it was almost sad to realize that it had to come to an end. There is nothing I’d add or take away from Uncharted 2 yet the game isn’t entirely perfect. One could nitpick that you are sometimes respawned in an unfamiliar place or that Chloe’s eyes are way too shiny but honestly, these rarely remove you from the excellent experience that is Uncharted 2.
This is GOTY material right here. Even without the multiplayer component (which stayed mostly unchanged since the beta), Uncharted 2 has ensured that the series has been cemented into the action-adventure genre and made its mark in game history. For fans of the genre or not, this is a game not to be missed.
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