Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves marks the return of the game’s treasure hunting protagonist Nathan Drake, and builds on the success of the Naughty Dog’s visually stunning original platforming action adventure title. In addition to stellar single player action, the sequel also offers up a fairly deep multiplayer component.
The story takes place roughly one year after the first game and revolves around the pursuit of several of Marco Polo’s lost treasure ships. Cinematics are entertaining but not utilized so much that they become overwhelming. And when you do encounter them, they are pretty straight forward and easy to follow.
In terms of aesthetics, Uncharted 2 packs plenty of detail in everything from the game’s character designs to the various colorful surroundings. You can expect to explore war torn cities, ancient tombs, snow covered mountains, and jungle base camps along with many other well thought out platforming environments. The lighting is easily one of the best you’ll see in a game any time soon, and you’ll immediately realize this the moment you enter your first underground ancient structure.
When it comes to in-game arsenal, the weapon selection is not very deep, but offers enough variation through situational items such as rocket launchers and Gatling guns to keep things interesting as you move along through the story.
There’s plenty of opportunities to blow shit up in Uncharted 2, but the game is much more about linear level progression, climbing, and puzzle solving aspects that keep your on your toes. More than one occasion in the game will force you to use your head (and trusty journal) to solve interactive environment puzzles in order to proceed. You can stealth kill much like you would in Metal Gear if you like, but unlike Metal Gear, Uncharted 2 is much more forgiving when it comes to gunning your enemies down Rambo style. This flexibility helps to keep things fresh and make the linear level progression less repetitive.
While the AI of your supporting cast and enemies is far from horrible, it isn’t perfect either. The AI movement over terrain and interaction with various elements that provide cover is often flawless, but I’d be lying to say that my side kick didn’t take several grenades to the face at times without moving. Enemy spawns and level progression can be a bit quirky at times. For example, you can blast your way through several waves of attackers thinking that you cleared out a specific zone, only to walk forward a few yards and trigger new enemy spawns.
Another minor complaint I have about Uncharted 2 is the same I had about the original — I’m talking about the limitations set on what your character can and can not do. Again, this is minor, but I wish the game allowed you to crouch without being behind low cover. In addition, it would be nice to be able to lay flat on the ground at times as well. The cover system is a bit testy at times and can have you adhering to the wrong surface if you don’t hit an object just right. As I said though, these complaints are minor and do not take away from the enjoyability aspect of the game.
If multiplayer is your thing, Uncharted 2 has you covered there as well. The online component features cooperative play and several versus gameplay modes such as deathmatch, capture the treasure (similar to capture the flag), elimination, and more. You’ll advance in rank and unlock various perks much like the popular Modern Warfare franchise.
Uncharted 2 is quite simply one of the best action adventure games on the market. It’s an empowering combination of witty humor, excellent character dialogue, and an immersive plot. The game’s protagonist, Nathan Drake, mixes the muscle and brashness of Die Hard’s John McClane with the historical smarts of an Indiana Jones. The supporting cast plays their part perfectly creating just enough believable tension when needed. In short, I’d have no problem recommending Uncharted 2 to any video game loving action adventure fan.
