The first Uncharted featured some incredible technology and borrowed a lot of ideas from other games. It was also released a little early, resulting in a short campaign and not many frills. Apparently, the squad at Naughty Dog has had plenty of time to cook up the sequel because it manages to trump its predecessor in just about every conceivable way.
If you're like everyone else and are tired of waiting for LucasArts to create a decent Indiana Jones game, consider the gap filled. Once again you take up the role of Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter with a penchant for ancient, priceless stones. When he gets a tip concerning Marco Polo's lost treasure, he sets off for yet another adventure with Chloe-a former flame and practicing plunderer. As you might guess, things don't go as planned, and a quest to discover Polo's lost fleet, turns into a race between Drake and a psychopath named Zoran Lazerevic to discover the lost city of Shambhala and take its greatest treasure. Eventually Elena, the reporter and love interest from the first game, gets thrown into the mix and a love triangle is tossed onto the pile of intrigue.
The story isn't incredibly original, but it's handled in such a clever way that it feels unique. Sure, there are gobs of expertly-acted and voiced cutscenes, but you really get into the story and characters through the droves of on-the-fly conversations. Drake and Chloe, in particular, banter back and forth so realistically that you eventually gain insight into their past dealings without ever being flat-out told. Drake is also exposed as someone with a conscious, and this underlying internal tension makes you look at every action he makes in a different light.
The campaign is designed exactly like that of the original. Split into 26 chapters with frequent checkpoints and the ability to save at any time, you have a lot of flexibility in how much time you spend with Uncharted 2. However, you don't have as much latitude in how you tackle the quest itself.
Among Thieves is built on a clearly defined path. There's no free roaming, and no choice in which missions you tackle when. Looking at the glass half full, there's also no backtracking or confusion on where to go. This clear objective allows the developer to really drive the experience and it shows in the pacing. There's very little downtime or lulls in the action, making it very difficult to stop playing.
One universal criticism of the first Uncharted was that it was over far too quickly. Part of that was a testament to the quality of the game, and the other part was that eight hours doesn't get it done when you're shelling out $60. The campaign clocks in at several hours longer in Among Thieves, and best of all, there's something to do after it's finished.
A lot of times with games like this the multiplayer component is tacked on, and after spending a few hours with it, you go right back to an old favorite. That's definitely not the case with Uncharted 2's multiplayer suite. You get five variants of deathmatch, a twist on capture the flag, two variants of territories, and king of the hill across seven different maps. All of these modes are bolstered by the ability to assign two perks to your character and a ranking system. Sure, they're cribbed directly from Call of Duty 4, but if there's one thing Naughty Dog has proven over the years, it's take the ideas of others and make them as good or better.
There's also an online cooperative mode for three players that lets you tackle brand new missions set in environments from the campaign. The final element is an interpretation of Gears of War's horde mode where you and your friends take on wave after wave of foes and use cash to purchase weapon upgrades.
We were absolutely stunned at how addictive and fleshed-out all the multiplayer elements are. You'll be playing it for a long time because there's nothing else like it on the PS3, and because it's just flat-out good. A longer quest is also appreciated, and now we can say that the amount of content is well worth the price of admission.
Just like the first game, Uncharted 2 is a mix of platforming, gunplay, and simple puzzles. The new model has an increased emphasis on stealth, but these are easily the low points of the game-thanks mostly to moronic enemy AI. You'll definitely be squeezing the trigger more than traversing gaps, and it's the right call. As exhilarating as the level navigation can be, it's just far too easy. Jumps almost feel automatic, and dying only occurs when you become impatient. When you do try to treat it like any other platformer the sluggish controls rear their head and teach you to do exactly what the game is asking you to. There's just no flexibility in the level design to allow you to freeform.
The gunplay is predominantly the same, though with some tweaks. You now have a reticule to blind fire over cover for better-placed shots, and tossing grenades will no longer tie your brain-and fingers-into knots. The destructible cover forces strategy in how you tackle each fray, and you won't find yourself hiding behind the same piece of stone for 20 minutes as enemies keep pouring in. You're encouraged to move forward and press the fight, and this is nowhere more evident than in an incredible train sequence that challenges you to place your shots as the cars bend around turns.
The puzzles are sprinkled into the game, but most of them are mere speed bumps between the dozens of set piece moments. If you do get stuck at any point, Among Thieves has a thoughtful hint system that rarely spills the beans entirely. If you do take a spill there's not much in the way of negative reinforcement.
Hand-to-hand fisticuffs weren't handled well in the first game, but it's much more functional and useful in Uncharted 2. You don't have much control over which moves you pull off, but there's a nice variety based on context sensitive factors and a simple counter system.
There's also a smattering of different gameplay elements to keep things interesting. You'll man turrets, jump to and from moving vehicles, run away from danger while blasting the enemy, and there's a treasure collecting element for those who like to explore.
The first Uncharted was a jack of all trades, but a master of few. Among Thieves plays almost identically, but Naughty Dog has improved just about every element of play to inch the series closer to the ideal. There's not really a lick of originality, but it apes the ideas of others so well that you'll hardly notice.
Drake's Fortune was the best-looking console game ever released until now. We could write 1000 words about the presentation in this game alone. It's that incredible. Once again the attention to detail is simply untouchable. Realistic water was the big hook in the first game, and in the sequel it's snow. Sometimes knee deep, the way it swishes around your legs and feet as you move looks like a magic trick. Stacks of objects tumble and fall realistically when Drake brushes against them, he will shield his face against every heat source in the game, and the list goes on and on. The camera programmer definitely deserves a gold star for his work on Among Thieves. You can adjust it however you want, but the game does a great job all on its own of showing you the right things at the right time. On a raw horsepower perspective, the amount of detail in each scene is simply on another level. You've been watching the game in action for several minutes now, and it kinds of makes the point all on its own. The voice acting, surround mix, and music are all at the top of the class. It's just one incredible assault on the senses.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the most polished games we've ever played. At every corner there's something new to marvel at. Whether it's the sharp writing, twisting story, frenetic pacing, or tight (albeit derivative) gameplay, this is one of those games that a lot of people will play in one sitting. Not because it's short, but because it's so good. It would have been nice to have at least something for the game to call its own, but it's basically a capsule of the last 10 years of game development buffed to a fine sheen. When you consider how great the multiplayer is, hyperbole is hard to avoid, but trust us when we tell you that if you own a PlayStation 3 you need to own this game.
. I am not after the medals myself (I don't knowif you get a specific one for completing the Gold Rush) but I need to complete to level 10!!!
CHeers msmalls74 and Saint. Tomorrow I am gonna go for the other level, although I don't really have a strategy for it, yet.
