In 1993 I played my first video game, Sonic 2 for the Sega Genesis. I loved that game... it was fast, fun, the music was great, and my Dad and I would spend hours playing the 2-player races. I always loved going back to that game, I still do. For 16 years, it held the title of my favorite game of all time. Then in 2007, Naughty Dog released Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I almost passed this game up, I'm not a huge fan of shooters, but then I saw a trailer for the game and I thought "This trailer feels like a movie trailer" and I was instantly intrigued. Also, seeing the Naughty Dog logo assured me that it would be a quality game.
I played the heck out of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, I mastered the Crushing difficulty, and played through the story at least 13 times. The story was great, the acting was top-notch, and the characters were amazingly well rounded. The graphics were great, and the sound design was completely satisfying. My only problem with the first game was a somewhat anti-climactic final boss. But the pros FAR outweighed the cons for me.
Needless to say I was beyond excited when the sequel, Among Thieves was announced. I anticipated this game's release for almost a year, reading every news story about it, looking at every screenshot, watching the epic-ly cinematic trailer over and over again, playing the multiplayer beta for months until, finally, on October 13th, I finally had the game in my hands. I started playing it at Noon, and couldn't stop playing until I beat it at 3:30 in the morning. The story is amazing. The graphics are stellar, the characters are just great, and the acting raised the bar. The next day I started my second play through.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves officially took the crown of my favorite game from Sonic 2. The first Uncharted came close, but Sonic stayed dear to my heart... but after beating the second game I couldn't deny that Sonic had finally been beaten.
The game feels like an action movie, one that you can control. The game is linear, which is usually a fault, but not in this case. The controls are tight, the aiming is better than the first, the animations are smoother and more complex. The music is grand in scale, and the sounds are more dynamic in range. The game is longer, and the story more engaging. The visuals are astounding, often compelling me to explore and look at every little detail. The cutscenes, they are amazing. It's hard to go back to other games and watch their cutscenes because they just aren't as well done as this game's.
Every character in this game is interesting. The main character Nathan Drake is, of course, amazing. And every man, a breath of fresh air from all the faceless space marines, piles of muscles, and macho men that usually star in action games. He feels pain, and he doesn't take things too seriously. He's a smart ass, without being annoying or unlikeable. He's relatable. The villain, Serbian war criminal Lazarevic is an awesome character. He's intimidating, and piercing, with a twinge of insanity just under the surface, threatening to escape. The women of the game are just as interesting, Elena, a returning character from the first game, is spunky and feisty. She's not some buxom blonde like you'd expect, and she's also not there simply to be the damsel in distress, she's a good foil for Drake, and it's easy to see how a relationship could blossom between the two. Chloe, a new Australian love interest for Drake, is a more promiscuous character, it's hard to tell who's side she's on most of the time, but she serves to add a well played level of tension to many scenes, she's just a great character. Of course there's also Sulley, Drake's father figure and returning character from the first game. He's the lovable, dirty old man, with a cigar in his mouth and debt collectors on his tail at all times. Each character keeps things interesting, and the cutscenes are acted out so well that the interactions between the characters are extremely believable. There are many more characters, but I won't go into depth on every one, as I would hope for everyone to experience this game for themselves. Anyway, the single player story of this game is extremely satisfying, and does not suffer from the problem I had with the last game of an anti-climactic final battle. This game has many moments of action, and high energy
gameplay. I felt my adrenaline pumping at many points, I've never had that with any other game before. I've already played through it almost 7 times. I would have been perfectly happy with the game if the single player experience was all it had to offer, but Naughty Dog really went the extra mile and added in multiplayer.
When I first heard this game was going to have multiplayer, I was skeptical. I felt it would be a tacked on addition, and that it would not hold my interest for more than a few weeks. But my concerns were quickly put to rest once I was able to play some. This is not a tacked on multiplayer addition. It is fun. It is deep. It is addicting.
Uncharted 2's multiplayer consists of the usual fare; deathmatch, elimination, king of the hill and the like. But the climbing mechanics and vertical platforming from the single player carry over into this system, giving it something unique. It adds a level of strategy and I really enjoy it. Unfortunately I'm not much of a competitive type... But that's not a problem here, because Uncharted 2 also has several 3 player co-operative modes, and I am loving them!
Co-operative mode is the mode I play the most online, it consists of objective story missions, survival arenas, and gold rush arenas (a sort of capture the flag game type). Survival is my favorite. It pits you and your team against 10 waves of AI, of increasing difficulty. It's hard when you don't communicate, but with a good team and a good strategy it's a piece of cake. I plan on writing several posts about my strategies for each respective map here in the next few weeks.
Also in the game, Naughty Dog has provided several tools for Machinima, which is an added bonus, giving you some minor editing options, the best of which is a green screen option. I plan to use those tools for upcoming posts as well.
Naughty Dog has not only implemented a ranking system, but also an incentive system. Using in game cash earned in multiplayer and single player, you can buy skins for death match, upgrades for co-op, taunts, etc. This is the most I've played any game online, I plan on reaching the top rank, and buying all these items. So far Naughty Dog has done a good job of supporting the game with additional content post release, and I really hope it continues.
There's so much more I'd like to say about this game, but this post is already running a little long, and I have several more on this topic planned, so I'll save some of it for then.
I'd also like to announce that I am planning on starting a weekly comic on the blog using screenshots from the game. The first of which will probably be in January. If they go well, I will turn them into a series, if that goes well, a machinima series.
Uncharted 2 is an amazing game, I have never enjoyed playing a game this much in my life. If you have a Playstation 3, it's a must have. And please join me online!
Coming up will be my post about The Simpsons, as well as the first in my series of co-op strategies, and possibly the first comic.
By the way, congratulations to Naughty Dog on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves winning not only best PS3 game, and best graphics, but taking home Game of the Year at Spike's 2009 Video Game Awards this evening!
