Polo! Nathan Drake returns in an all new adventure with treasure and Nazis. You won’t want to miss this!
Some of you may remember my review of the closed beta for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Well I’ve since acquired a copy of the full game and I’m hard pressed to find a reason to put it down. The story is engaging, the multiplayer is fun, and the characters are loveable. Of course, with every game there are little nuances that are either detrimental or overlookable. So let’s get right in and start with the story.
Flashbacks are a cheap trick that writers normally use in place of storytelling. However, Naughty Dog does not make the mistake of flashing back to the first game. All flashbacks in Uncharted 2 refer back to something in Uncharted 2. Thus, they were able to use the strategy of telling the first part of the game in flashbacks, which left the opening scene open to being over the top, which it was. Uncharted 2 starts big, but finishes simply. This is not to say it has a bad ending, it’s tough to end a video game these days, but this one does it right. The ending is funny and leaves a sequel opening, but doesn’t hint at one.
Dialogue throughout the game is well-timed and seamless. The characters really seem to react to one another during conversations, and each character has their little quirks that make them relatable. I found myself looking forward to hearing Drake’s little remarks about everything that was going on around him. That’s what really made Drake relatable. I felt like every time he made a comment with his dry wit he was saying exactly what I was thinking i.e. his reaction to helicopters and tanks.
Uncharted 2 really gets it right in single player; the environments for combat really keep you on your toes. You can go from slinking around for stealth kills to running across the top of a train while gunning down armored opponents in seconds. Story mode in Uncharted 2 is just one action packed scene after another. Its comparison to a movie by those commercials, which I’m sure you’ve seen, is not far off. However, like all shooters, the campaign cannot be defined as long (though 25 chapters and a boss battle might seem lengthy.) Granted, this will take you longer to beat than say, Modern Warfare 2, but don’t expect 30 hours from the single player, unless you’re bad at it of course.
From what I understand of the first game (I only played the first 5 minutes, judge me later) gameplay has gotten better. The game no longer emphasizes bonuses by making you use the same weapon for multiple kills. The stealth in this game is what gives you the bonuses, and it’s actually well implemented. Stealth seems to be making its way into a lot of games these days and not always in a good way. Climbing is of course a huge part of the game, but also a bit frustrating at times. I cannot count the amount of times that I jumped at a wall because it looked identical to another, climbable wall and just bounced right the hell off. So even though the climbing may seem to make it a freer environment, it is in fact very linear. You won’t be going anywhere that the game doesn’t want you to.
But that isn’t to say extra areas don’t exist. When hunting for treasures you are sometimes taken a good way off the beaten path (even if there is only ONE way off the beaten path, making this off-the-beaten-path destination a beaten path of itself. But don’t get me wrong. The game is gorgeous, and you’ll probably spend a lot of time panning the camera around just to view the scenery. I mean, I thought the environments were lush in the first game (again, from those 5 minutes of gameplay) but this game beats it outright. Difficulty wise, the game is little lacking. Crushing difficulty didn’t feel that much harder, I was just easier to kill (a LOT easier); though the final boss on crushing will have you raging for a long time before you finally kill him.
While the single player is great and you’ll enjoy it through and through, I really got this game for the multiplayer. When I played the beta, multiplayer was all that was available. I played until my eyes gave out on me. I enjoyed it so much, and the full version does not disappoint. Now sure, I wish there were more maps (8 maps for competitive, 3-5 for co-op) but Naughty Dog has already promised and delivered on DLC.
The game could use it too. As of right now there are about 6.5k people playing online. This is compared to the 14k or so when the game first came out. Now, why is this, you might ask, I shall tell you. The numbers started to drop right around the time Modern Warfare 2 came out. I’m sure every game’s fanbase took a hit when that monster of a title reached stores. Does this mean that all other titles are inferior? No, just that MW2 hype is high right now. So my hope is that when more DLC hits for Uncharted 2, it will breathe new life into the multiplayer scene.
So, barring the lack of players, what you’ll find online are, very basically, three modes: Competitive, Co-op Arena, and Co-op Objective. Each one has its own flavor to add to the experience, and each one has its strengths and weaknesses. Competitive is where you’ll find most players. And of course this makes sense, what with it being a shooter and all. What’s the point of a shooter if you can’t put a bullet in someone’s head and hear them call you a noob from the other side of the mic? But that’s not all there is to do.
Sometimes you just want to get together with a couple friends and run train on a bunch of computer controlled enemies. That’s when you check the lobby for some Co-op Arena. Gears of War fans might see some similarities between this and horde mode. Ten rounds of increasingly tough masses of enemies. Going from round 1 where you fight mostly pistol carrying sadsacks, to round 10 where your enemies have guns bigger than you. This mode seems to be the one that gives the most money, but it’s also the riskiest. If you don’t actually win, then all the cash you were fighting for gets cut to a fraction of what you would have obtained.
Co-op objective is so far the smallest multiplayer area. There are only three maps, and really only three difficulties (normal, hard, and crushing, don’t bother with easy). Here, like arena, 2-3 players are pitted against computer controlled enemies with only 3 attempts at victory. Fail all 3 times, and you won’t be seeing too much reward. The appeal here, of course being that you can take two of your friends and work through a level tactically. And tactics you will need. Trying to beat one of these levels on crushing without proper planning is suicide. So that’s what’s right with this game, what’s wrong?
Well to be honest, very little. You may find player health a little high for your tastes. Naughty Dog already had a test weekend where player health was dropped to 65%. Granted, grenades are still the only weapon that really matters in this game. I am still hopeful that the radius of the grenade explosion will be reduced. I swear I still take full damage even on the outskirts of the blast. Until then, make sure if you’re playing that you chuck one, it’s the only sure way to get a kill.
Or perhaps you’re frustrated with the lack of certain features (leaderboards, rematch so you don’t have to find another room full of players). Naughty Dog already added these, and is planning on adding more. Nearly every other week there is some news about an update that is going to enhance the online experience. At first, the players met option on the XMB wasn’t working, but with the latest update for Uncharted 2, it has finally been fixed. So all you players out there can rest assured that Naughty Dog watches out for their fans.
There’s a reason this game has so many perfect scores, and why it had so many GOTY awards. It is honestly the best thing to happen to the PS3 console in the year 2009. If you own a PS3 and not this game, you are indeed doing yourself a great disservice.
Written by: Bramimond
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