Review: Uncharted 2, Among Thieves

Game: Uncharted 2, Among Thieves
Format: PS3
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: SCEE

I think it’s fair to say that Uncharted 2, Among Thieves is one of the most hyped games to hit the Playstation 3. In the build up to release, even the most newbish among us would have been hard pressed not to have seen some kind of marketing – be it billboard posters, TV ads or magazines – it’s everywhere. The question remains “does it live up to the hype?”

The game is from the 3rd person (camera over the shoulder) action-adventure genre and the basic game-play recipe boils down to climbing, jumping and swinging through various terrains. Throw into the mix a very substantial measure of gun-play and melee combat and top it off with a dash of problem solving. The end result is a tasty morsel that should appeal to most pallets.

First and foremost it’s important to set the scene as the cinematic feel of the game is one of the areas in which this game excels. You play Nathan Drake, a treasure hunter who, although decent enough at heart, tends to mix in dubious circles and isn’t afraid to bend the occasional law. The story starts by sending you in search of Marco Polo’s lost fleet of ships because the fleet reportedly carried a massive treasure trove. However the plot is diverted and soon turns into a quest to find the fabled Shangri-la. It’s hard to cover the story in any real detail without spoiling it, and given that said story is one of the strongest aspects of the game, I really don’t want to do that. Don’t get me wrong, this is no Schindler’s List, but compared to a lot of other video games, its story is Oscar worthy.

For me, one of the most appealing elements of the game is that Nathan Drake is a flawed character. He’s not the perfect super-hero type that you never really connect with. The game manages to humanize him through story telling, superb voice acting and great in-game character animation. The developers have managed to convince you that every leap, grab and fall is only just executed safely. Nathan’s arms and legs will flail as he flies through the air, his hands frantically grasping for a hold, you hear the fear in his voice whenever he makes a perilous leap. All these factors seem to take his character down a peg or two and make him a little bit more relatable in spite of his near unrivalled talents.

The control scheme is very easy to get to grips with and the melee combat system has been greatly improved since the first game in the series; Uncharted, Drake’s Fortune. You tap out punches and kicks with the square button, which will occasionally be blocked. If you are not careful, the enemy can grab hold of Nate and deliver a brutal blow. When this sort of event triggers, the game slows down ever-so-slightly to give you an opportunity to hit the Triangle button, which is your counter-attack button. When successfully executed, this looks fantastically well choreographed and is very satisfying. You are also able to execute various stealth attacks which will despatch enemies silently. The gun play is an improvement on the first game and you get a decent array of weapon types as you progress through the levels. One big issue raised by many players of the first game was that many of the enemies were “bullet sponges” – i.e. they would take a ridiculous number of shots to fell. This has definitely been improved for the sequel. There are a handful of puzzles to solve within the game that aren’t particularly difficult and in fact seem to have been put in purely to give your PS3 a bit of a breather, as Naughty Dog have produced a game that really pushes the Playstation very hard.

The Circle button gives you access to the cover system, which is essential if you play on the harder difficulty levels. Hit the Circle and you will quickly duck behind the nearest object, sometimes tipping over a desk for better cover. Once in this mode you can move around either crouched or standing tall depending on the height of your cover. Holding the circle and direction stick will allow Nate to move carefully to the next piece of the environment you can hide behind. When in cover, you “blind fire” and raise your gun above your head shooting from safety. You sacrifice accuracy but you’re much more protected from return fire.

Using X, you can jump around to your hearts content. If there is a useable hand hold within reach, Nate will grab on. From there you use the direction stick to climb or move laterally. You can also leap from hand hold to hand hold using X, a great technique for traversing some of the climbing areas quickly.

The graphics are, in my mind, the greatest I have seen in any console game. Some of the vistas are absolutely spectacular and I have often found myself stopping just to take a look around and really appreciate the graphical beauty. For me this is best represented in the various “snow” levels. You spend plenty of time in the mountains of Nepal and the environmental effects left me breathless. It’s almost as if they have taken the time to animate each individual snow flake; making them all reactive to the environment. This comes in particularly useful when you are trying to take out multiple enemies silently without alerting the other goons. If you take some time to make careful observations, you can see tracks in the snow and use them to work out the mercenaries patrol patterns. Then it’s just a case of making your way to a quiet point on their patrol route and waiting for them to make their rounds before you pull them over a cliff face.

The game has five difficulty levels – Very Easy, Easy, Normal, Hard and Crushing, with the latter only unlocked if you first complete the game on Hard. Beating the game on any difficulty unlocks the benefits for beating the game on all the lesser difficulty levels, so you don’t have to go through each setting to get all the in-game medals. These medals are awarded for various in-game achievements, with some unlocking official trophies. In fact, you can get all the trophies for this game and still have a load of in-game medals to unlock. There’s a definite reward for trying to be a completionist and getting all the medals, as each one comes with a financial benefit. Each medal grants you an amount of in-game currency, which you can use to purchase perks for the single player or the multiplayer aspects of the game.

The multiplayer was something that took me completely by surprise because I honestly wasn’t expecting much from it. I thought it would be haphazardly tacked on as a sort of obligatory nod toward the growing trend of online gaming. However I was very pleasantly surprised. The multiplayer comes with various modes that can be found in a lot of online shooters. There are two teams: Heroes and Villains, who compete in matches of five vs five. The game types include:

• Plunder (retrieve treasure and return it to a safe spot before the enemy)
• Deathmatch (kill all on the opposing team)
• Elimination (like Deathmatch expect killed players do not re-spawn)
• King of the Hill (hold an area on the map for as long as possible)
• Chain Reaction (take areas in sequence)
• Turf War (hold as many areas as possible for as long as possible)

There is also a Co-Operative mode available online. Teams of three players, made up of you and two others, compete against the computer AI in either Survival mode; where you have to make it through wave upon wave of increasingly tough enemies or Gold Rush; essentially the Plunder mode, but the enemy AI is trying to kill you while you retrieve the treasure. There is more than enough content here for any online enthusiast. Just like in the single player game, you can earn in-game currency to purchase boosters to use in the multiplayer games (things like extra ammo and accuracy) or enhancements to weapons you use in the Co-Op game. You can even purchase different character skins to use online if you’re a little bored with the standard array of characters. The more you play and the more you earn, the more you level up and unlock benefits for your online character. This should provide enough legs for the multiplayer fans to run on for some time to come.

The game mechanics from the single player game transfer seamlessly into the multiplayer game, so you’ll find yourself climbing up buildings and leaping across chasms looking for a safe spot to snipe from. The level of map design for multiplayer is so good that there are no spots where you can camp safely. Each area has multiple entry and exits options, so you can be sat, taking out a couple of guys whilst someone sneaks up behind you and snaps your neck. The multiplayer has the same polish as the single player game and looks just as good, if not better than anything on the console, including Killzone 2.

The game doesn’t do anything spectacularly original, but what Uncharted does, it does spectacularly well.

REVIEW ROUND-UP

Graphics: 5/5 The best graphics I have seen on any game. It’s hard to believe that they could improve on Drake’s Fortune but they have.

Sound: 5/5 Another, best in show award here for the voice acting. The environmental sounds are exceptional as well.

Gameplay: 4/5 Not perfect, but improved on the original. There are still some times where you can get a little frustrated with the cover system. Also the puzzles seem incredibly simple and drawn out.

Longevity: 5/5 Fantastic. The single player has a huge reward system for in-game achievements that goes further than just trophies. You can unlock perks, character skins and weapons to replay the game with. The addition of a hugely enjoyable multiplayer game means this will keep people busy for a long time yet.

Overall: 5/5 Quite possibly the best game on the system. Something that I think every PS3 owner should at least play, if not own.

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Review: Uncharted 2, Among Thieves, 4.5 out of 5 based on 6 ratings

Related posts:

1. Review: Uncharted, Drake’s Fortune
2. Review: Killzone 2
3. Review: Battle Tanks
4. DLC Review: Killzone 2 Flash and Thunder
5. Review: Fifa 10

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Tags: Among Theives, co-op, Drake's Fortune, multiplayer, Nathan Drake, Naught Dog, Playstation, PS3, Review, scee, Sony, Uncharted, Uncharted 2

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