Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
a game review
Tyler Manning
The story of Uncharted 2 picks up some time after Drakes Fortune with Nathan Drake sitting on a beach with his friend Flynn and former lover, Chloe. Flynn has a plan for himself and Drake to steal a useless artifact from a museum for a well paying client, a plan that sets in motion the events of the game. Drake is betrayed by Flynn after he tells Flynn how they can use the artifact to find Marco Polo's lost fleet. A spiral of a story filled with love, betrayal, sadness and death begins. Uncharted 2 truly does surpass its predecessor in terms of story.
All of the voice actors from the previous game reprise their respective roles, and the new characters are filled with personality. The creators have put a level of care and emotion into the story of Uncharted 2, from clever writing to amazing voice acting, which most games do not match. It is clever and charming in a way that always strikes the heart in the way intended by the creators. Thus giving Uncharted 2 a story that you cannot wait to finish, every little set piece and cut-scene is savored until the end.
Gameplay is where much the polish has gone into Uncharted 2. The first was a combination of shooting, puzzle solving and platforming. In that respect nothing has changed, but the level of polish has increased significantly. In the first Uncharted there were some issues with the platforming and weapon selection (or lack thereof). Uncharted 2 addresses these issues right off the bat by giving you an impressive arsenal to take down the numerous and varied foes throughout the game.
The platforming has been revamped to avoid clipping and complications during some of the massively impressive set pieces throughout the game. There are no real issues whatsoever with the gameplay of Uncharted 2. It does the same thing that Drakes Fortune did, except it takes it to perfection. All of the established gameplay mechanics in popular games is thrown into a melting pot action game that plays like your favorite summer blockbuster.
Multiplayer is something new to the Uncharted series. They really raise the value and replay-ability of the game this time around. In Co-Op mode, you and up to three other players can run through some of the game's various set pieces, killing enemies and platforming to the end without any of the story elements present to avoid continuity issues. It is a fun addition to the game, if not a fairly shallow one. The real multiplayer comes in the form of ten-player deathmatch and capture the flag games online and the other variants of them. These play out in a style that feels like Gears of War for PS3, but they are fun and bring the Uncharted charm over into the multiplayer.
Visually, I think it may be an understatement to say that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the best-looking game to date. The extremely impressive snow effects, Nate's character model and the scope and scale of Uncharted 2 are all testament to this. The opening sequence alone is enough to drop anyone's jaw to the floor. Coupled with the great voice acting and writing, the presentation is simply off the scale in this game. Uncharted 2 looks and sounds amazing end of story.
Among Thieves may not win any awards for innovation, but it is an impressive game overall. The replay-ability is there, so if you have a PS3, do yourself a favor and get Uncharted 2. It is easily a contender for game of the year and already has fans praying for another one.
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