Release: October 13th, 2009

console: PlayStation 3

eyefire Rating - 9.5 /10

NOTE: Spoiler Alert!  Don’t read if you haven’t played the game and wish to not know any of the elements of the story or plot!

Story-

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, picks up the story about 2 years after the events of the first installment.  Nathan Drake, the treasure hunting main character, is out trying to solve another mystery.  The game starts off in true mysterious fashion as you regain consciousness only to find yourself hanging from a train cart that is on the edge of a mountain cliff… and just moments away from plummeting to the ground.  With no idea as to what brought you to this dangerous predicament, you quickly realize the urgency of the situation and must climb and maneuver yourself to the top of the train and get off of it.  It’s an exciting way to start a game because it gives you no back story at all.  You just find yourself in this crazy situation.  After successfully getting off the doomed train you pass out.  Its then that a little flash back scene starts and gives you some background info as to what led up to the fateful event on the train.  The first flashback scene shows Drake at a bar somewhere on a tropical beach where he runs into an old friend named Flynn and a seemingly old flame from the past named Chloe.  Flynn gives you the run down on an ancient relic that he is trying to track down.  After a revelation of the relic involving a bigger mystery, Drake agrees to join Flynn and Chloe in tracking down the relic.  Apparently the ancient relic, an antique lamp that is being held at a Turkish museum, is key to the big mystery revolving around the merchant/trader Marco Polo’s final voyage home and clues to unlocking the mystery of the ancient city of Shambhala.  Throughout the game you run into past characters and face many challenges to include a betrayal from your friend.  Without getting into too much of the story and possible spoilers, I will just say that the games story is very compelling and your eventual bond with the characters is great.  The game designers did a brilliant job at character development in this installment.

Graphics-

Uncharted 2 is a PS3 exclusive.  The fact that it is on the PS3 should tell you enough about the graphics and what to expect.  To put it simply, the game is beautiful.  I would be hard pressed to say that I have seen a better looking game in terms of graphics.  The game takes full advantage of the PS3’s power and the end result is a game that is absolutely pleasing to look at it.  There is a vast variety of locations you find yourself playing through and each have there own distinct look.  Throughout the game you will encounter levels that are set in cold, snowy mountainous regions, lush, green jungles, a war torn city in Nepal.  Underground cities are reminiscent of Tomb Raider games and are extremely detailed down to the very plants and vegetation that is growing all about.  A particularly interesting and amazing looking part of the game is when you find yourself on a moving train.  You start in the back of the train and must maneuver your way through bad guys and obstacles to reach the first train cart.  If you are no in a hurry, stop and look around at the passing environment.  It is breathtaking to see the world move past you from the perspective of on a moving train.  The colors schemes and design remind me a lot of the old game Beyond Good and Evil.  Bright yellows, greens and reds are predominant throughout the game.  Each color is sharp, detailed and looks amazing.  I have never seen a game that looks this good.  To try and get a reference as to what I am talking about… think Metal Gear Solid 4, only 10 times better.  I was a bit skeptical at first, as I had many friends tell me how good this game looks.  Words can do no justice.  The only way to truly understand the beauty of this game is to play if yourself.

Soundtrack -

In game music and sound effects are up to standard.  There is a variety of music throughout the game play and cut scenes.  Not much to say in the arena of realism with breaks, crashes, explosions, fall, etc… In game weapons have a realistic sound for the most part and it seems as much effort was put forth in making sure the soundtrack and sound effects to the game were on par with the rest of the elements of the game.  Throughout the game you find yourself traversing around many exotic locations around the globe and the background music and ambience seemingly tie in perfect. 

Controls –

Controlling your main character and navigating is a breeze.  The PS3 controller becomes another extension of your hands and makes really good of button configurations.  One element that most gamers will find a bit frustrating is the cover system.  It’s a bit finicky and at times it’s hard to get Drake to cover properly, often ending up drawing unwanted attention from baddies which ensures a quick gunfight.  After a while I was able to maneuver mostly without any issues, but the cover system could benefit from a few tweaks.  That aside, everything else is fluid.  It’s almost easy to forgive that one technical flaw by the rest of the game play.  Your surroundings literally become a means to navigate and push forward.  I love the fact that there are so many cliff hanging types’ moments in the game where you have to edge around on ledges and jump from one area to the next.  Sometimes these maneuvers require engaging bad guys at the same time which make for an interesting challenge.  Some areas of the game can take a few minutes to actually figure out how to proceed as its not always clear what to do next, but thanks to an in game help system, you won’t be wandering around clueless for too long.  Overall the control system is very sharp and responsive.  Excluding the one issue with the cover system, handling is very tight. 

Final Impressions –

Whether a newcomer to the series or if this is the first you’ve played (like me), Uncharted 2 should be in every gamers collection.  Replay value is probably moderate to high/moderate.  There is an online portion of this game which I didn’t play so therefore I am not reviewing, however after reading other reviews online, the multiplayer aspect is very fulfilling. The single player campaign is definitely worth at least 2 or 3 runs.  Given the fact that after you beat it on the hardest default setting, a harder difficulty is unlocked, this should give gamers an extra opportunity to tackle this great game and offer an extreme challenge.