Soyerz's Profile

I am sure that all of us have heard of the Uncharted series by now. If not then it is beyond me what you are doing on a gaming website because Uncharted is one of the greatest franchises Sony has ever had its mitts on. The original Uncharted game, Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was released in in 2007 was simply stunning with its heavily engaging gameplay, breathtaking environments and extremely well done dialogue. While playing the original back in 2008 I simply could not think of games getting any better than this.The day I picked up Uncharted 2 was the day I was happily proved wrong of my previous statement. The sequel to Uncharted: Drakes Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Theives, is one of the greatest games not only the the Playstation 3, but quite possibly one of the greatest games ever made.

The story in this game is quite cliche if you looked at it from a distance. A man is looking for a city that is presumably full of riches and travels through many exciting places while meeting many new characters and more specially woman. He kicks some bad guy butt and at the end of it all, has two beautiful woman to choose from. It does not sound terribly exciting, but thanks to Uncharted 2's extremely well done dialogue the story never grows tired. You are constantly killing bad guys, hanging off cliffs and having shoot-offs on the back of trucks. You may think that just like any other action game, you simply can't put an interesting story into this. But Naughty Dog nailed this and proved this to be wrong. The characters are interesting, never get dull and can be completely hilarious through out the whole game and you can never get sick of it. The writing here was clearly crafted carefully and made every single one of the characters interesting. You may even find yourself enjoying the bad guys at some point if you enjoy the dialogue that much. Old characters besides Nathan himself have also returned from the original. Sully will turn up at some point (I am avoiding spoilers) and Elena will be found in Kathmandu when Nathan and his new female partner, Chloe, stumble upon Elina and her camera assistant. It is great to see characters returning from the original that we all grew to love. Unfortunately for fans of Sully, he defiantly plays a much smaller part this time around. This probably wont be a problem to most as the characters you will encounter through out the game will be interesting enough to full the void where Sully was.

The visuals are the next part in this game that simply cannot be looked past. Whether you are climbing on the edge of a cliff while a tank is chasing you in the high mountains of Nepal or searching for clues in a dark tomb, the visuals simply cannot be looked past. The scenery is simply amazing and makes it totally worth it simply to stop for a couple of seconds from the intense action just to take in the lush scenery which Uncharted 2 simply nails. The original game looked great, but this time around the forests look A LOT more believable. While most of us will simply run past the small things like being able to see each leaf on the tree or each ripple in the water, it really does add to the experience as it makes the game simply flow a lot better. The character models are also very well done. The hair left on Drake's face, the gray hair on Sully's head and the seducing looks on Chloe's face just look stunning. Watching an in-game film is made so much more enjoyable when the visuals just go that extra bit further. It simply makes Uncharted 2's film sequences a joy to watch. While the novelty will obviously wear off after a while, you will continue to appreciate just how well crafted the characters and the environments they are standing in really are.

The last part of the game I will cover is obviously the largest joy that I find in this game. It is not too different from what the original offered in terms of features, but the core gameplay is simply just a lot more satisfying. You can come into this game and expect to be driving on the edge of cliffs, shooting super-human enemies and strolling in down-town Kathmandu in no time. The gameplay is just a lot more polished this time around and simply makes variety a key element to this title. The shooting sequences are still heavily common in Uncharted 2 but they still remain a lot of fun. Nothing new has really been added to make them any better, they just simply remain fun. There is also still the odd puzzle in the game that may get you stuck for a bit. But in saying that, it has nothing on the likes of games such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in terms of difficult puzzles. In saying that, this suites me as puzzle sequences just aren't required as a distraction in Uncharted 2, the gameplay is fun and challenging enough as it is. One new feature that was not exactly high in demand for the original but was still requested was the implementing of multiplayer. I have not played a lot of this but it is still quite fun. If you are pretty good at the single-player game then you will be with joy to know that your skills will easily transfer over to the multiplayer. The multiplayer also has modes such as capture the flag, team deatmatch and co-op missions. With Naughty dog continuing to support the multiplayer with double XP weekends and new map packs with trophies, I cannot see this community moving onto anything new anytime soon.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves no doubt deserves every single piece of hype and acclaim it has been receiving. It simply is one journey that no Playstation 3 or true gamer for that matter should miss out on. Everything in this game just fits perfectly and comes as no disappointment as it seems as if Naughty Dog listened and gave the fans what the wanted. With such a well polished and extraordinary game, I have no idea what Naughty Dog can do with the next Uncharted game to make it any better. It is just that good.