Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

When Uncharted was first released back in 2007 it initially came under fire as a Tomb Raider clone. Critics said based on the trailers that it looked like Lara Croft had a sex change and that it would lack originality.

When the game was actually released however the critics were silenced and the title was critically acclaimed.

A sequel was inevitable and unsurprisingly was met with positivity once again, but why?

Uncharted can be compared to Tomb Raider, they are hugely similiar titles but in this guys opinion Uncharted has far better plots.

Uncharted 2 see's Nathan Drake and familiar faces travel the world in search of Marco Polo' lost fleet. Once again the game is enormous in size, wonderfully written, full of likeable characters, decent puzzles and a wealth of originality.

Ontop of this is flawless voice acting led by Nolan North and the husky goddess Claudia Black.

Uncharted 2 delivers as successfully as the first game and as a whole is near flawless. A fantastic addition to a franchise that is nothing short of phenomenal.

The Good:

Incredible score

Very good voice acting

Perfectly crafted level design

The Bad:

Couple of frustrating moments

Things I Learnt From This Game:

Claudia Black could tell me I have cancer in my butt and I'd still melt

This game is great to say the least and is a awesome modern day adaption of the infamous Indiana Jones film; for a game of course. Granted some call it a rip off of the Indy series, I call it picking up where Indy left off. Nolan North does a great job voicing the character Nathan Drake and his dialogue is superb; very realistic. I've read reports of a film adaption for the first game. Personally I'd love to see Nolan North play Nathan Drake in the movie. If the fans reviews of the Drake series are any consolation, the film will be a hit. I think a BIG part of the Drake Series success is highly in part do to the fact SCEA is the maker of the games. Sony Computer Entertaimnet America or SCEA, the creators of the Playstion 3 system essentially, know how to make PS3 games better than anyone pretty much. Why's that you ask? They know how to build a game to it's strengths. Working with what they know the system is capable of and making sure the layout of the buttons is easy to get used to. This is grade A gaming in my eyes. Action, Adventure, Great Story Line, and some humor mixed in to boot. This series is great and is only getting better.

I had to give this game a 10. I really enjoyed this game, even more than I enjoyed Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. The nice thing about the new game is that the graphics and cut-scenes are to die for. Also, there is an auto target option which eases your misery of targeting enemies. If you are a fan of adventure and thriller games, this is definitely the game for you. All new characters that will make the story even more interesting and also, the music used is amazing.

Uncharted has done it again, by far, the best PS3 game released in 2009. I am sure it will be very difficult to build a better game, that's why I gave this game a 10 as I cannot even find one negative thing about it.

Excellent job Naughty Dog, you did it again!

-Title: Uncharted 2. -Rating: 16/RP. -Director: Amy Henning.

A Summary:

Uncharted 2 is a perfect mix of action, puzzles, funny moments, and multiplayer, You play as Nathan Drake, Who is basically the personality and sense of humour of John mcClane (Die Hard), The Charm of Indiana Jones, The gun-slinging-ness of James Bond, and The Climbing talents of Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Faith (Mirror's Edge), Ezio Auditiore (Assasin's Creed 2), and Altiar (Assasin's Creed) rolled into one.

Characters:

This game has LOADS of characters, some old, some new, and all brilliant, the voice acting is spot on, and you will never find friendlies running into your line of fire.

Animation/Graphics:

An awesome frame rate, excellently smooth 720p graphics, and Bright colours, along with the same wet engine (your clothes get saturated when you decide to take a swim) and with a new snow engine,(you get coated in snow, then it melts, and then your wet)

Plus, all environments are colourful and interactive.

Handy things/fun gizmos:

There is a machinima mode that lets you create films with the characters (check out "Drakes Ps3" on YOUtube for a brilliant example)

There is Lip-syncing, meaning what you say moves the character's mouth.

26 story-mode levels, (26!!) and loads of maps online.

Many varied online modes, Eg: Plunder (C.T.F with a small, heavy golden statue)

There are also co-op modes, but, instead of playing the story mode, you play in segments.

There is a costume select in the online mode, from Jeff to Skeletons and everything in between!

There is even an Uncharted 2 Twitter account built INTO THE GAME that lets you post your progress through the game.

Critisisms: Very few, I found that online, many times you can be shooting at an enemy, yet they never seem to die, there is a martyrdom-esquire perk called Revenge, (I think thats what its called) The characters online, and in the single-player costume select, don't get wet. This happened to me once, I was demoted because I quit an online match early, going from rank 7, back to rank 1, thats quite a harsh punishment, for such a small accident.

Overall:

I loved this game, and I've gotten over some of the criticisms, and the game has a lot of replay value, so, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting ready for my 5th playthrough of Uncharted 2: AMONG Thieves, on crushing. I give Uncharted 2 a well-deserved 10/10

Critic: Mike

Pros:

• Great story and characters
• Simple but effective gameplay
• Great cinematic action set pieces
• A-grade voice acting and animation
• Excellent graphics
• Great level variety / also adding some level elevation also
• Companions are helpful
• Great puzzles

Cons:

• Bullet spongy enemies

Verdict: Near perfect adventure game that improves on the original in all ways possible. One of my favourite games of all time.

10/10