Review - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)
Nathan Drake is back doing what he does best in Naughty Dog's sequel
Nov 2, 2009
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, was a huge hit for the PS3. The lush visuals, epic story and witty dialogue made it a sure fire winner with gamers everywhere. Nathan Drake himself provided an excellent hero; strong, uncompromising and unbelievably lucky. After all the success attributed to Drake's Fortune, how does the Among Thieves rate?
Shambhala, Borneo And Tibet:
Naughty Dog's attempt at a sequel looks great on first impressions. The graphics look even more amazing than the first game, providing the gamer with some truly stunning visuals and scenery. Most impressive are the forests in Borneo and the snowy Tibetan mountains. In all honesty, not enough can be said about how great this game looks.
The animations are fluid and full of realism, even down to the expressions on the faces of the cast. A shout out should go to Nolan North here, the man responsible for Drake's voice. He does an excellent job with the script and really brings Nathan to life.
Hanging Around Among Thieves:
Gameplay-wise, Uncharted 2 offers much of the same as the original. There is plenty of jumping, climbing and impossible leaping across well designed levels. The action packed gun fights against hordes of henchmen make a return as well.
A weakness in the gameplay is possibly that increased difficulty simply means an increase in henchmen to kill, perhaps a longer level, or an extra puzzle or two would have been a nice change every so often. Talking about puzzles, there are some very nice ones included in the game that aren't too difficult and should satisfy gamers of every level without frustrating people too much.
Bonuses, Unlockables And Multi-Player:
Finding treasures dotted around the levels and trying to gain trophies by completing certain events and reaching certain goals adds a bit more substance to the single player campaign. It allows for some interesting sidetracking every so often in what is a fairly linear action/adventure game. A multi-player function has also been added which is a very welcome addition.
With today's technology there really is no reason, an action game especially, that there shouldn't be a multi-player function. Still utilising the third person view, the multi-player is a lot of fun, with bonuses to unlock and buy, new skins to gain and levels to increase, but it wont ever reach the heights of Killzone 2, Call of Duty, or even Warhawk.
West = Good, East = Bad:
The storyline is a typical one, a little cliche even. Bad guy wants mysterious item that holds supernatural powers for world domination. He is even from eastern Europe to top it all off. It is up to Nathan to stop him, with a little help from some old, and new, friends along the way. There are perilous moments and some betrayal and counter betrayal thrown into the mix to keep the suspense up.
The Good:
- Fantastic graphics
- Fluid movements and animations
- Multi-player function
- Lots of bonuses and rewards
The Bad:
- Gameplay is just a little repetitive.
- Increase in difficulty = increase in enemies, a little lazy.
The Verdict: 8.5/10
Naughty Dog's anticipated and hyped up sequel does not fail to please. It looks and sounds great, it plays very well, with a few minor tweaks here and there that make it that little bit better than the first Uncharted. The repetitive nature of the gameplay is a little annoying, but it is overshadowed greatly by everything else that has been done so well. One could really be called out for nitpicking to find bad points. Drake is back, and better than ever.
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