When something truly great comes along in the entertainment world, the thought of making a sequel to it has always made me cringe just a little. In games, in movies, in TV spinoffs... heck, even follow up albums in music. You always see the teams behind these secondary pieces of work try and recreate their success while still trying to rake in more cash than their first go-round. This often leads to unintentional disaster. Jurassic Park, Happy Days, Hootie and the Blowfish, and Turok are all examples of entertainment creations that had great success at first and suffered horrible followups.
Having said that... I'm going to take a look at a recent sequel in a franchise that I had never previously played. Uncharted 2: Among Theives.


You play the role of sarcastic adventurer Nathan Drake who, fresh off his escapades from the first Uncharted game, is approached by his buddy Flynn and Flynn's acquaintance, Chloe. They want you to steal a lamp from a museum for some crazy collector. Big deal. You go along with it and discover, among other things, that the contents of this lamp contains clues left by Marco Polo as to the whereabouts of the legendary Cintamani Stone and possibly the entrance to Shambala! Holy Shit! It's time for an adventure!

Story:
The story is absolutely superb. I was impressed with how well it was written and thought out. Many twists and turns, but nary a plot hole in sight. Every chapter of the story had its own point and the cutscenes between chapters keep you wondering what is going to happen next. I really can't shut up about how great the story is in this game. Believe me when I say that it is epic. There are 26 chapters, and it all felt like an Oscar winning motion picture. I would go on, but then I'd be heading for spoiler country, so I won't.


Graphics and Sound:

"you're so hot when you're angry"

The graphics and textures are rich with detail and the character models are flawless. So flawless that I wanna make out with Elena. Just kidding. Maybe. *ahem* Yeah, the pictures are pretty. Very very pretty. The snowy icy areas feel chilly just looking at it and the weather effects are spectacular. The jungle areas have faint bird noises and lush vegetation all around. It feels true to life. The sound effects throughout the game are spot on. I am reminded of a chapter in which you must work your way through and around a speeding train. Along the way you pass railroad crossing signals and hear the sound of them approaching and fading as they pass. It's a very small thing, but it's a small thing that makes it feel real because it's done right. The voice acting... I honestly don't have a bad thing to say about it. Even the little outbursts like "shave and a haircut!" sound so "right". The cinematic sequences are not unlike watching a full on Hollywood film. The TV commercial says so, and it doesn't lie. They hire real actors to voice the characters and record the character motions, so each and every scene was played out like a real movie. I know it is a ton of extra effort, but Naughty Dog did the right thing.


Gameplay:

The gameplay is very typical of third person adventure games. Run around, hide behind stuff, take out bad guys, and make your way to the end without dying. Very straightforward. The weapon aiming is accurate and while it's no CoD, it works well. In many places you can essentially 'adhere' to cover which is handy so that you do not accidentally go crazy and run into the open and subsequently die of lead poisoning, but it is also a pain in the ass. Characters stick to cover so well that getting out of it without making a scene can be a bit tricky. This wouldn't be a huge deal, but there are some areas where stealth is necessary and rolling around from cover to cover like some kind of possessed super hero just looks stupid and unsurprisingly attracts unwanted attention. Another gripe is with the climbing system. You can scale some walls and swing from ropes like Tarzan, but sometimes you make leaps of faith hoping that the little nubby thing you see is where you are supposed to be jumping to. Most of the time it is, but when it isn't it's very frustrating, and usually deadly. However, they make up for this by allowing you to stealth attack enemies. Sneak up behind a baddie, and you can snap his neck or crack his skull in one of several ways. Fun times.

Online:
Uncharted 2 introduces online play for the series. there are several different modes like death match or treasure hunter, where you run treasures from a neutral location to your end of the level. There is a 3-player co-op which I have to say is epic. The selection of levels and modes for co-op is a bit low, but the fun is limitless. The addition of online capability seems a bit weird, since the real focus of the game is on the single player campaign, but it is a welcome addition that was done well. It's not the greatest online experience ever, but it is certainly enjoyable.


Conclusion:
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a sequel, but it is a sequel that may very well be better than the first. Naughty Dog took something good and made it into an even more refined and flawless product. The graphics are some of the best yet on the PS3 and the voice acting and story telling are all award-worthy performances. The gameplay and online functions are pretty standard, but more than sufficient. Overall, it is a nearly flawless game. A must-buy for any action game fan, and a game that PS3 owners should be proud to have as an exclusive. If Uncharted 2 wins Game of the Year, I would not be shocked.

Final Score:

Story: 10
Graphics: 10
Sound: 10
Gameplay: 9
Replay Value: 8
TOTAL: 9.4

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Great game but it has some flaws...
Im very happy i rented this game instead of buying it, i passed the game in 3 days that i sat down and played so yes its a very quick and fairly easy (in normal) game.
Graphics are great and story pretty fun but replay value wasn't top high for me, i started to play a second round in higher difficulty and finding treasures and such but i got bored pretty quick of it.
Online gives it a little more hours to the game but after trying all game modes i liked the most was co-op witch brings me right back to the regular game but at least with a partner.
Overall in my opinion i would give it an 8.

Why can't they just show us Elena & Nate doing the nasty already? Oh well. I loved this game and I still do, great fun while it lasted. And nice review, I guess.

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Simply put this is the most amazing game I think I have ever played. We got it as one of our free games with out PS3 over christmas, and after finishing all our other games I thought ah lets throw it in and give it a go why not. 12 hours later I came off my first session of Uncharted 2. I had no ideas what I was letting myself in for, seriously impressed with the Engine and the way the game story unfolds. Level design was very well done I thought and the control were totally intuitive.

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