Gamer Blast

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review

Posted by Connor On March - 28 - 2010

Uncharted 2: One of the most linear, scripted, predetermined games I’ve ever played in my life. Oh, and one of the best.
Normally, these qualities hit below the belt, decreasing the overall fun factor of a game. The same cannot be said for Uncharted 2. This game takes linear gameplay, mixes in lots of scripted events that happen around you to make the world come to life, and, with all of this, tells a great story that is very gripping and has very well thought out characters. The whole time, you’re aware that you’re not in control… Your’e just along for the ride in a huge cinematic experience. But the ride is freaking fantastic.

I can’t say that it’s much of a rollercoaster, story-wise… There aren’t any HUGE twists, except for one in the beginning that caught me off-guard. That being said, it is still a great story, completely separate of the first game in the series.
Seeing as I had never played the first game, before jumping into this one, I asked my Twitter stream if I should read up on what happened prior to the adventure I was about to partake in.
The response was an overwhelming no, with positive overtones. While the stories don’t connect much on any level at all, there are some characters in this one that are also in the first that give familiarity to early-series adopters. All I was told was that there was a blonde love interest in the first game… That’s all that needs to be known going into this one, and it served me well.
The story in this incredibly hyped-up game is based on false history and out of this world skepticism and superstition… Again, normally a recipe for disaster in my book, but Naughty Dog pulls it off with shining brilliance that came as incredibly unexpected.

I can’t say I really thought much going into this game… I mean, it looked alright, but I didn’t think it would be that great of a game, and that maybe all the prestigious game of the year awards that it got in 2009 were somehow misfired, and that I wouldn’t enjoy it very much.
I can honestly say that I’ve never been more thrilled to be so wrong.

With some of the best third-person adventure gameplay I’ve ever experienced, stunning graphics, amazing voice-overs that lead to believable characters, a gripping story, and fitting music… Well, there’s not much NOT to like.

The story mode of the game took me a total of ten hours and eighteen minutes to complete… All in all, not a terribly long story… I was hooked to the TV every waking hour since I got the game in my disc drive, so it took me just two days to beat it. A bit disappointing, sure, but still an amazing ride while it lasted.
Oh, and it’s still lasting.. There are some awesome online multiplayer modes, like deathmatch and plunder (pretty much like capture the flag), among others, that add lots of time to this game’s load out. Not to mention the co-operative game types, including playing through levels together (not quite the same levels as in the story, and all made to better fit multiple human players), and “Co-op Arena,” which can be most accurately described as being similar to Horde mode in Gears of War 2, or Nazi Zombie mode in Call of Duty: World at War. This happens to be my favourite multiplayer mode, and teamwork is important.

There are also unlockables, but I won’t get too much into them… Basically, you earn money, through doing things such as collecting treasure, throughout singleplayer and multiplayer modes to purchase unlockable things that really add to the replay value of the game, even if they don’t affect gameplay much at all (like concept art, which is awesome to look at).

Let’s get into one area of this game that is amazing and that I haven’t much touched down on… The gameplay.
This game has you climbing walls, making impossibly long leaps, swinging on ropes suspended hundreds of feet in the air, and solving incredibly satisfying puzzles, all while killing armies upon armies of enemies.
The controls are easy to pick up, and you’ll feel like an absolute master by the end of the first level.
And while you may get frustrated at times, nothing is nearly impossible… Just look at things with a different angle or tactic. Maybe try going loud instead of stealthy, or hang back and snipe a bit instead of rushing in, guns blazing… Figure things like this out, and it will be satisfying.
Now, throughout the entire game, I was well aware that I wasn’t in control of anything… As I said earlier, it’s incredibly scripted and linear. But it’s so satisfying, seeing the story progress, and how seamlessly the game transitions from a cinematic sequence to gameplay (similar to Metal Gear Solid 4). At times in the game, it actually feels like you’re IN a cinematic sequence while you’re playing… Things are falling down around you in a scripted-yet-beautiful manner, the environment around you moves as you fall…
Let me share with you my absolute favourite part of this entire game. It’s in the very beginning, so I’m not spoiling much here.
You’re on a train. Bleeding pretty badly, unable to move as quickly as when you are in good health.
You make your way out of the train (not by choice — it’s hanging over a cliff, and you fall out the back of it), and end up having to clim up it.
You eventually make your way into a higher train car. You start running to the opening in the front, and everything is looking fine and dandy… Until it starts falling backward. The environment around you moves as your vision shifts skyward, and you’re running for dear life to the open door just a few meters ahead of you… Just as the train and cliff part ways, you find yourself in the air, hurdling toward the icy cold, yet incredibly comforting, embrace of the snow-covered precipice that was almost your demise.
At this point, I knew I was in for an amazingly wild ride. The game failed to prove me wrong.

Moving on.
You’ve got a handy dandy notebook / journal where you archive all sorts of information that comes in handy at various parts of the game (which definitely adds to the overall feeling of immersion), and is just really fun to flip through and see all the different pages.
I’ve found myself laughing out loud at some of Drake’s notes. The writers of this game really did an amazing job at making Drake, plus all the other characters, seem really… Well, real. With most of them, I was able to go “Oh, man, so-and-so is just like that person!” This definitely isn’t a game filled with cliches that lead to unbelievable situations and characters (within the realm of the plot).

And… Well, that’s about all I can really say about this game without going insane or spoiling anything.
Don’t let the hype fool you — this game is worth every penny you can spend on it, and more.

WRAP-UP
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The Good
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- Great story, completely detached from the first game.
- Eye-popping visuals. (I spent a good ten minutes looking at hair.)
- Amazing voice acting and music / sound effects
- Superb gameplay
- The most cinematic video game I’ve ever played
- Great online multiplayer (regular game types as well as co-op).
- High replay value

The Bad
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- Somewhat short single-player mode
- No local multiplayer

THE VERDICT – 10/10; One of the best games I’ve ever played.