Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a PS3 exclusive released in October 2009. Uncharted 2 is the sequel to the very well received "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune"  Which is about the same antagonist under different circumstances. Uncharted 2 is an action-adventure platforming game played in a third-person view. The game was created by the company Naughty Dog who rose to fame with the first four makes of the Crash Bandicoot series, but have certainly not stopped developing as they have produced new games nearly every year since 2001.

This game largely resembles, and definitely competes with the likes of the Lara Croft: Tomb Raider series, the similarities are that they both use a form of "free running" or general climbing around, as well as the premise of the main antagonists both being treasure hunters.

The "Fun Factor" of this game is that it uses a very in-depth and compelling way of story telling. The main plot keeps you entertained as well as intregued as to what will happen next. It has a very cleverly written script and carful voice acting to keep the player immersed in this world which definitely keeps the player wanting more. Another good "Fun Factor" point is the variation of gameplay. When a game continues in the same style or path a player can get very bored if they are not truely dedicated to the game. This game tries to stray away from this by using a variation of each "mission" or "level" by changing between a mix of stealth, gun fights and puzzle solving. This is very important and is a point that many games miss out on, and can be a make or break for any kind of game especially a game that may not have as many fans as the Call of duty series which does not need to rely on story variation or story telling.

The gameplay on this game is very good in the fact that it is easy to pick up and just go into the game. The first level is slow and takes you through all of the controls ready for the main story missions. This is an effective technique used in most games today and will help more new players join in on the game. My only minor annoyance with the gameplay is that some of the animations seem very inaccurate and almost comical. In a game that has a good focus on its realism this is a bad trait to have. For example Takedowns seem very unrealistic, as a quick slap to the back of someone's head is enough to knock them unconscious for as long as you take to complete the mission, as well as animations for jumping ledges, as these are not smooth and seem to float towards the ledge if you aren't quite close enough.

Next, the sound during the game. It's title music is very good and keeps in tone with the general "feel" of the game. As for the audio within the game they are very accurate in timing with in game events and are realistic to the game itself. They also have a very quite but noticeable background music playing throughout gameplay which appear to change as you progress to different areas. I believe this is a nice touch as the music will keep in touch with the scenery of the area and is quite pleasant to listen to.

One of the major points to a story driven game is its graphics. Games that have very strong story lines need to have graphics that are rather very realistic, or just very in tone with the feel of the game. This game was released in 2009 and so i cannot compare it to games beyond that point of time, but for a game created back then this could still possibly be a contender against these more recent titles. The graphics presented in cutscenes are beautiful and really grip the player alongside the plotline. It shows superb realism which allows a player to be kept within the game, and not break thought from the game. Although the graphics are very good the animation behind them are still a little bit strange, as I have said before, with things such as the climbing animation.

The story is very compelling and in-depth, which drives this game to be known for how it is. When the game was released it was praised highly for a focus on its storyline. It uses a lot of cut scenes early on to explain the general plot for the game, which can be seen as either positive or negative depending on the user, but it does allow a very easy way to understand the game you are playing. It uses a strange system of time which flicks between two different points of drakes adventure, one point being the "big adventure" whilst the other shows more of a background to how he has ended up in this situation. This is a technique that has been used before and i think it goes well with how the game is presented.

The replayability of this game comes down mainly to its multiplayer. Whereas they have collectables within the games singleplayer, this is not nearly enough to convince many player to carry on with it when compared to a game with a strong multiplayer. The multiplayer consists of a basics team vs team game featuring characters from the story mode (Teams being heroes vs villains of the campaign). The player can choose from a playlist of gametypes feature Deathmatch, Plunder and Elimination. This games multiplayer is very basic but can do the job to support buying the game, which is the main point to it. This was definately not the focal point for the developers, but it can still compete with many titles. However, the gameplay of the multiplayer may be "enough" to satisfy but it does not do more to convince others that this game is better then other. With other titles such as Call Of Duty having their main focus point being their multiplayer unfortunately this game cannot hope to withold itself against it.

 

 

 

Overall i believe the focus of its story mode has served this game so well, as it keeps a user entertained and intregued as to how it will continue. The puzzle solving aspect of the game keeps you working to acheive those goals as well as keeping you interested in the game with its variation of differing levels. Unfortunately with bigger companies focusing on multiplayer the game appears to fall short at this stage. But overall the game is brilliant and well worth its many awards and commendations.

 

4/5

 

"Buy"