Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

I didn't buy the original Uncharted until it's price was down to a bargain price of £10, even then I wasn't sure about buying it, but then it received a patch for trophies - so I went ahead and bought it. I enjoyed it somewhat, a lot more than other adventure games and enough to make me buy the sequel at its full £40 price tag.

===~~~ Story ~~~ ===

The story picks up 2 years after the original; with Jake (voiced by ...
...the computer AI and in Uncharted 2 it is good, without being anything special. At first it's quite forgiving on you. For example when you're trying to sneak up on someone for a stealth takedown, if the guard is looking at you, he'll turn away so that you can take him down from behind. This doesn't happen as much as you progress through the game, but you're still not spotted if you go towards someone from the side.

The enemy AI don't ... more

I didn't buy the original Uncharted until it's price was down to a bargain price of £10, even then I wasn't sure about buying it, but then it received a patch for trophies - so I went ahead and bought it. I enjoyed it somewhat, a lot more than other adventure games and enough to make me buy the sequel at its full £40 price tag.

~~~ Story ~~~

The story picks up 2 years after the original; with Jake (voiced by Nolan North) trying to discover what happened to the ships, which Marco Polo lost while sailing back from his voyage to China in 1292. Following various maps and clues you must find out what happened to the ships and their possession and solve some other mysteries along the way as well.

Right from the beginning it's very clear that they are trying to make this as much a movie experience as it is a gaming experience. You start off midway through the story, before going back and putting everything together to see how you got to your current situation.

So, after waking up on a train carriage hanging over the edge of a cliff, you have to navigate your way back to the safety of flat ground. This involves some climbing and a few short cut-scenes are thrown in to add to the excitement.

These cut-scenes are present throughout the game, with some being a lot longer than others. The long ones can be skipped via the start menu, but I chose to watch all of them, seeing as the story is this games biggest selling point. The clips don't drag on and are generally enjoyable to watch, with a few attempts at humour, though I can't laugh at jokes made by a game, they are better than attempts by others. All the scenes are shot with a cinematic feel to them and all help to progress the story nicely and helping you to learn more about the characters involved.

The only problem I had with the cut-scenes and the actual game playing mixing so much, was I sometimes didn't know what I was actually trying to achieve. Was I trying to save someone or get something? At times I didn't know.

As far playing through the story, it's a lot like the original Uncharted. A lot of climbing is involved and some good puzzles are included as well. Some parts can become frustrating when you can't find where you're trying to climb to, but you are eventually given a hint if you're stuck for too long.

There are still plenty of bad guys to fight off in whichever way you want. I preferred to try and be stealthy when I ad the chance, but sometimes this isn't an option and you just have to start throwing punches and shooting.

Overall playing through the story was enjoyable, combining a good story with plenty of twists, some puzzles to be solved and of course fighting of the bad guys, made this one of the best story campaigns I've played. I chose to go through my first play through on 'Hard' which is the most difficult you can choose at the beginning ('Crushing' is unlocked once you complete 'Hard') and I found it relatively easy, mainly down to the forgiving checkpoints. It took me 12 hours (without collecting any treasures), which is a decent length and only the final "Boss" was difficult (no checkpoints).

~~~ Gameplay ~~~

The exact same as the original. Getting to where you want to go and doing what you want to do is easy for the most part, but there are sometimes a few opportunities for frustration. This for me was when I was trying to hide behind something and instead Jake would roll or drop down somewhere, but this was a rare occasion.

For me the main part of the game play id the computer AI and in Uncharted 2 it is good, without being anything special. At first it's quite forgiving on you. For example when you're trying to sneak up on someone for a stealth takedown, if the guard is looking at you, he'll turn away so that you can take him down from behind. This doesn't happen as much as you progress through the game, but you're still not spotted if you go towards someone from the side.

The enemy AI don't just turn a blind eye to everything though and allow you to stay in the same spot forever, they will come and find you if you stay crouched behind an object for too long.

The other part of the computer AI and one of the biggest flaws for the game is the person helping you. They often get in the way of where you're trying to go and I got killed on a few occasions, because I was blocked from diving behind a wall. Also, I got slightly separated from my helper at one point and when I found him he was just running in a little circle.

Overall, though it works pretty well and doesn't come close to spoiling the game at all.

~~~ Graphics ~~~

One of the main things I had heard about the game before I bought it was how good it looked. At first I wasn't too impressed, with the appearance of the overall game looking identical to the original.

The characters don't look all that impressive, with Jake being the closest thing to resembling a real life person. The woman in the game look extremely unrealistic though, especially Jakes former girlfriend Chloe (voiced by Claudia Black). I think the men looked more realistic, because of their face stubble. The clothing also plays apart in making the characters looking less impressive. They seem to be more part of the person than actual clothing, basically there's very little movement.

The surrounding landscape and buildings were at first another let down for me. Everything seemed a bit cartoonish, but as the game went on it seemed to become more detailed and overall all more visually impressive. It never looked overly realistic though and got nowhere near the graphics of Modern Warfare 2, but the detail was there.

~~~ Sound ~~~

The sound in the game has to be a major plus point, simply because of the voice acting. It is all done to a very high standard, with Jake being particularly well done. The conversations between all the characters are very believable and make you think they are in the situation being presented on screen.

Other than the voice acting, the cut-scenes have some good sounds played through to increase intensity, but the sounds during the actual playing of the game aren't memorable. The guns don't sound particularly good and the explosions aren't really explosive.

~~~ Online ~~~

The biggest change this time round is the inclusion of and online mode. You have the option to either play normal multiplayer game modes like 'Team Deathmatch' and other team objective games. You can also play in Co-op mode, attempting to deliver treasure to certain spots (I think). I say I think because the only game of Co-op I managed to get into I didn't have a clue what was happening and instead opted to just shoot the computer.

I've tried multiple times to get into a game of Team Deathmatch, but after it takes a few minutes to find people to play with, they all leave before the game starts because it takes so long to set the game up.

Overall, they might as well not have included multiplayer. It doesn't work anywhere near properly and they even had the cheek to release a new multiplayer map - if only I could play it. The only plus side I could see was that you could record games which you were involved in, but you would have to get into a game first.

~~~ Controls ~~~

The controls are kept very simple, allowing you to get the hang of the game very quickly. It's also good, as if you stop playing the game for a while it would be easy to get back into it. Although as I mentioned before you can sometimes do something which you don't want to because of the same button carrying out various actions depending on your surroundings.

~~~ Trophies ~~~

I like to collect the trophies within the game, achieving the platinum being the overall goal. Uncharted 2 is very achievable. The trophies consist of completing the game on 'Crushing' difficulty, collecting all 101 treasures throughout the story and getting various amounts of kills with each weapon. It took me 12 hours first time round without collecting anything, so I would estimate about 15 hours to do it again on 'Crushing' while collecting treasures, so about a 30 hour platinum.

~~~ Overall ~~~

I would definitely recommend buying this game if you already have a PS3, but wouldn't say it's worth buying one simply for it. It is one of the best adventure games I've played, the best if you don't count Arkham Asylum. It combines a great story, with smooth gameplay and easy to use controls all into one fun to play game. It has good longevity with various play-thorughs, not going to get too boring. I'd say it is worth its £40 price tag.

+One of the best stories I've experienced within a game.
+ Nicely put together levels
+ Simple and smooth gameplay throughout the story mode.
+ Easy to master controls.
+ Detailed and colourful graphics
+ Great voice acting adding to the experience of the story
+ Fairly easy platinum

- Story can become slightly confusing at times
- Camera angles to create movie feel can be unhelpful
- Multiplayer basically doesn't really work.
- Some minor computer AI glitches.
- Female characters look unrealistic.

Story - 9.0
Gameplay - 9.0
Graphics - 8.5
Sound - 8.0
Controls - 9.5
Value / Longevity - 7.0
Overall - 9.0

In terms of Game of the Year I'd have it:

1. Modern Warfare 2
2. Arkham Asylum
3. Uncharted 2

The only other contender being Assasins Creed 2 which I've not played yet, but since I preferred the original AC to U1, it will probably knock Uncharted 2 down to 4th spot.

 

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