Nathan Drake is rather forthcoming when he states that everything
he touches seems to turn sour … Ok, that’s not precisely how he phrases it, but
you get the drift.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a visceral romp that takes the formula from the
first highly successful game and pushes it to new heights – both figuratively
and literally. There are a lot of inside jokes and some really good chuckles
stemming from the dialogue and cut scenes. There are new characters and familiar
ones.
The story revolves around the adventures of Marco Polo and, specifically, his
return from China. When Polo left China, he had 14 ships with more than 600
passengers and crew. When he finally made his home port, only one ship remained
with 18 passengers. The initial idea that intrigues Drake and draws him into the
adventure is what happened to those other ships. But as is usually the case, it
evolves into something much bigger – the Cintamani Stone (purported to be a
fabled jewel that grants the owner great power … as in world-conquering power)
is one of the items in the equation, the other is the path that leads to
Shambhala. Of course, this swings Drake into full adventure mode, but one of the
elements here is not knowing exactly who to trust.
(There will be no spoilers here.)
Drake’s initial adversary is a war criminal who heads a private army and is on
the trail. Along the way he teams up with Chloe, who seems to have her own
agenda in all this and eventually he meets Elena, and there are nasty, voracious
monsters that seem to crawl out of legend and are very hard to kill.
Developer Naughty Dog has crafted a game that is somewhat linear, and has a fair
amount of repetition in terms of raging gun battles and puzzles, incorporating
the platform elements very well. It is simply a case of if you think there is an
easy path, but look around and find that there appears to be handholds in the
wall, then that is usually the way you will need to go. You kill the bad guys,
pick up weapons – all of which seem to range from nice guns to RPGs. And lest
you think some of those weapons are a bit extreme, wait until you go up against
a tank and you will definitely see the need.
The game starts out in Borneo and moves into the Himalayas. True, some of the
mechanics in the journey are similar, but the pacing seldom slows – something
that Drake often comments on.
From a
control standpoint, Uncharted 2 is nothing that is too difficult to learn. In
fact, the control scheme is rather straightforward in design. That alone helps
to put the focus on the game itself. The dialogue is often quite humorous, and
even pokes fun at itself. When Chloe and Elena are first introduced, Chloe says
she senses some history between Elena and Drake. Elena then introduces herself
as “last year’s model” – an obvious but entertaining reference to the first
Uncharted title.
The game also brings multiplayer into the mix, with some nice cooperative
sessions through game maps. There are also a bevy of achievements that can be
earned; you can gain achievements particular to each weapon, as well as score
for the type of attack, such as headshots.
For the most part, Uncharted 2 does not reinvent the action-adventure wheel, but
from a graphic standpoint, and from a pure fun stand, this game soars on the
PS3. This is a lot of fun.
When you play a game that stops non-gaming members in the family dead in their
tracks to watch and enjoy the way the game is playing out, that says a lot.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves did precisely that.
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Gameplay: 9.0
The controls are easy to learn and use, the game flows well, with some cut scene
interruptions. There are repetitious elements and the game does get to the point
where you are not surprised by the path you have to take to get from point A to
B.
Graphics: 9.0
The eyes on Chloe and Elena are a bit glassy
and not that good looking. But in spite of the problem with the eyes, there were
other issues that reduced the score in this department. The code received for
this review was for the PS3 debug or test unit. During one of the opening
missions, when Drake is attempting to break into a museum to steal a lamp, a
jump was missed and Drake ended up hanging over the railing. At the point one
could see the lack of environment geometry under the stone – that vast blue void
that falls away to nothing. Drake was trapped and eventually fell, into the void
and to his death. The camera gets stuck far too often, not affording a view
around to see what needs to be seen. The world is grand and wonderful, but the
code received had problems. Reviews are based on code in hand, and for that
reason, and these glitches, the graphics take a hit.
Sound: 9.3
The musical score and dialogue are terrific.
Difficulty: Medium/Hard
Concept: 9.2
A great story, coupled with multiplayer brings this game alive.
Multiplayer: 8.8
Fun, fast, furious are all keywords in how this plays out.
Overall: 9.0
The game has some repetition, but the look of the game is wonderful and the
action flows well, drawing players through the game. This is an enjoyable game
that keeps players on their toes, tantalizes with stunning vistas and some cool
animations and keeps the story flowing well.
