Uncharted 2: Among Thieves(Game of the year edition)
Platform: PS3
Year: 2010
Gender: Third Person Shooter, Action-Adventure, Platform
Developer: Naughty Dog
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment America
When I bought Uncharted 2, I knew that it was a good game. But I was completely wrong. Good is an offence for this game.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a 3rd person shooter action-adventure game with some stealth and platform elements which tells the story of Nathan Drake, a man who looks like Dr. Indiana Jones when he was younger but do impossible things like Ethan Hunt, who was spending his fortune (in Uncharted 1, he got a big fortune thanks to his ancestors) in beer, luxury and these kind of stuff, when Harry Flynn, an old friend dropped by. He presents Chloe Frazer, a smart and greedy woman that, sometimes, acts like a heroine. Chloe and Harry need his help in a job. They must get inside an Istanbul’s museum for stealing (acquiring, in Flynn's words) an old oil lamp. But what looks like a useless lamp, is the key for showing the location of Marco Polo's ships that crashed thanks to a tsunami. And they are loaded of gold. But, as Drake uncover secrets, get betrayed by Flynn and make "new old" friends, he discovers that it's not about gold; it's about finding Shangri-la and the Cintamani Stone, the "Buddhist Holy Grail".
I can't tell anything more about the story, because everything else will be spoilers. But the story is fantastic. In fact, it gives you a feeling of “I’ve seen this before”, but each detail makes difference here. You'll find Sully, Drake's best friend who likes to help him at any cost, and Elena Fisher, a journalist and Drake's love interest. I haven't played yet Uncharted 1 but, Jeff, the camera man, Harry Flynn, Tenzin and Lazarevic are the only new characters. Jeff’s appearance is forgettable so I'm not going to get in details. Also, there is Lazarevic, the real bad guy and final boss that wants the Cintamani Stone, Harry Flynn, an idiot who cheats, betrayals, and kills everybody for money, and Tenzin, a nice and kind man from Tibet. There will be other appearances but I’ll not spoil. These are the most important characters.
During the single-player campaign, you'll explore temples and monasteries, visit museums, cross jungles, climb cold mountains, and struggle in battlefields… The list of countries that you’ll visit is only is very limited (Turkey, Borneo and Tibet.), however the list of environments almost limitless.
Drake can walk, run (not much on purpose, I think), get cover, climb, roll, shoot, and blind shoot, throw a grenade, blind throw a grenade, fight, stealth kill someone, move silently, counter-hit someone, throw a propane tank, swing in a rope and much more. Every single command works well and Drake responds to them in a realistic way. When he’s running in the middle of a bullet storm, he runs faster than when he’s solving a puzzle and he moves slower while auto crouching when he’s getting close to someone for stealth kill. When he jumps from a higher place and you don’t roll, he trips. Everything but the last example happens in an automatic way. However, there’s a problem. The aim is slow as a turtle. But nothing that you can’t handle since Drake can resist lots of bullets.
The graphics, well… When I got a PS3, I knew that saw-tooth edges were common. But, in this game, unless you have a 48 inches TV and you play very close to it, you will not see a saw-tooth. The graphics, in general are stunning. Every single detail, every single effect… It is stunning. While walking on the snow, Drake lets a snow trail and snow accumulates in his clothes. Same happens with water. Other characters such as Chloe, Sully, and even enemies can interact with the environment.
The music is epic. This game always gives you the impression that you are watching a movie. The weapon sounds, explosions, breathes, everything is realistic. The voices match with the characters and the actors who made those voices are pretty good.
This game is always epic. The temples and puzzles are gigantic, the action is frenetic, and the dialogs are epic. Sometimes, you’ll need to destroy choppers alone, destroy an entire tower, jump from a train cargo to another, slide in a ruined temple rooftop, etc. I finished the game with 12 hours and 11 minutes. But you can finish it in 8 or 9.
The cover system works in a nice way; same with the reloading system that lets you cover, walk and kill while reloading. You can even roll for getting a cartridge and shoot right when you finish your roll. The transition between shooting and using melee attacks doesn’t exist: just press square button and Drake will start punching, kicking, and doing wrestling moves. And if someone defends your melee attack, press triangle, counter him and give him a final blow. Some enemies however counter every single attack, making impossible to kill them on purpose. The platform-puzzle sections are cool too. Found no major problems. Each move works in a realistic and perfect way. There are some sections where you must team up with the A.I. and they help you a lot. However, I think they shoot and shoot and shoot and they hurt the enemies but they don’t kill them. That’s weird.
You also have a nice arsenal from a non-lethal tranquilizer gun to RPG, gigantic machine guns that you can carry (impossible, but, whatever it’s a game), shotguns, golden desert eagles and so on.
For making the single-player bigger, Naught Dog hid some secrets called treasures. There are 101 treasures, counting with the secret one (TIP: It’s in the Urban Warfare chapter). Also, there are 2 more difficulty levels after Normal. But I said single-player. Yes, you read right, single-player. Uncharted 2 has a multiplayer. And people still play it.
Uncharted 2’s multiplayer features 6 competitive modes: Deathmatch(do I need to explain it?), Plunder( Capture the Flag, with a treasure instead of a flag), Elimination( Deathmatch with no respawns, team who wins 3 times wins the match), Turf War( Domination), King Of The Hill(Same Deathmatch shit) and Chain Reaction( Turf War but you must follow the number’s orders); and 4 Co-Op modes: Co-Op( 3 Co-Op maps which are based on game’s chapters), Gold Rush( get a treasure and come back to the base while being hunted by AI), Survival( survive 10 waves of enemies) and Siege( Hold an area against waves of AI).
In fact, I said that people still play this; however, all I could play was Deathmatch and Co-Op missions. In competitive modes, this game runs ok. It lets you choose 2 boosters (A.K.A COD Perks), 2 weapons and lots of skins, which you can buy via DLC or In-game currency, depending of the skin. Game runs nice, however, when someone gets a grenade launcher… It gets boring. You die,die,die and die. But this game shines at the Co-Op. This game features voice chat; you can do nice strategies with your friends. Also, the Co-Op system is simple and it works well. Sometimes you’ll act alone while your pals cover you, or act in group for moving something. Also, when someone gets heavily damaged, you can help them. It will give you lots of fun.
However, there’s a big problem. I don’t know if it’s my fault or not but this game has a BIG loading time. I mean, at the beginning and when you load the game, it can take 1 minute for loading. But after that loading, game runs perfect. I don’t know how can I install that game (sorry, I’m still a PS3 noob) but I think you can. And then, no loadings. Seriously. No loadings.
Well, if I recommend Uncharted 2? No matter how big is that loading time, this game deserves a place on your shelf. If you have a PS3 and you don’t have this game, you are a criminal. Not having this game when you have a PS3 is a crime.
Final Score
9,9/10
What were you expecting from a game with more than 200 Game of The Year Awards?
Last edited by torikill10; Apr 13, 2013 at 02:22 AM.
"N00b clap works too properly for being called a n00b move."
Nice review. Your grammar is still sloppy sometimes, and the structure and order of your sentences could be better, but I think it was enjoyable and your love of the game came right through. I enjoyed reading it, and I hope you'll keep practicing this way (by writing reviews) because this is going to improve your skill in English a great deal. So all in all, good job. =]
As for that 1-minute loading time thing, that's when the game caches stuff into your machine's RAM (assuming you are palying from a disc). Nothing to worry about.
As for that 1-minute loading time thing, that's when the game caches stuff into your machine's RAM (assuming you are palying from a disc). Nothing to worry about.
I hope you all enjoy the review without any big problems with my grammar. I'm improving it, I'm improving it...
Thanks ynvaser btw.
Thanks ynvaser btw.
"N00b clap works too properly for being called a n00b move."
I don't have this game. But I'll get it as soon as I get the GOW Omega Collection or GOW Sagas. After that, I'll buy it. I want to play Sly 4, but I want to play GOW too.
"N00b clap works too properly for being called a n00b move."
