Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Review from Matt - Monday, 26 October 2009 @ 1:15pm

When I bought my PS3 it was a bundle. Among the game options were Uncharted, a new IP I'd heard good things about, and Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction. With an 8 year old sharing the console at times I decided that Ratchet was a better buy for me at that time. I don't regret that decision. R&C:ToD is a damn good game, and I eagerly await its sequel. But I did undoubtedly miss out on one of the best exclusives the PS3 has had. I even played and very much enjoyed the demo. But I never got around to playing the full title.

But I decided not to let that stop me from reviewing the sequel. Continuity be damned.

First of all, the short version. Uncharted 2 is amazing. You've read other reviews undoubtedly, and they all read like Sony paid off the mortgages of the entire gaming press. Of course they didn't (to my knowledge) the game is just that good.

I don't want to add more ranting fanboy glee to the steadily growing pile, but my job is to review this game as detailed, fairly and objectively as I can. Also database administration.

Pretty rendering of ugly scenery = win

Uncharted 2 is a game that can be described as cinematic in a number of ways. In some ways as an interactive movie. In general that wouldn't be considered a positive. The notion of interactive movies is one tainted forever by early "multimedia" offerings that combined bad cutscenes with attrocious acting and shoddy gameplay. But that's not what I mean. Uncharted 2 is in many ways a passive experience. Some of the best moments come from scripted sequences and cutscenes that convey the stories and characters. Even the gameplay itself is rather linear, (sometimes literally) pushing the player down a set path dictated by the story. This isn't really a negative but instead a concession to what Uncharted 2 is actually trying to be. If you're going to have any sort of story you have to force players to follow it. The trick is more in how this is done. A lesser game like WET might just have a wall there. Uncharted 2 will leave it open, but as you get there an explosion knocks you to the ground, prompting a sarcastic remark from Drake, who shields himself from the flame. In both cases the same goal is achieved. In one it's an arbitrary limitation on the player, while in the other it's an opportunity to lead the player, inject humour, etc. Levels ARE linear, but it's surprising how little you mind as you hurtle through bombed out city streets under enemy fire.

Killing bad guys seems to be over-represented in the screenshots I found

Naughty Dog's latest effort is a third person action adventure title divided into four sections. Cutscenes, shooting, climbing and stealth. These four "gameplay" types are interwoven very well, and all are excellent. Transition from one to another is seamless, and you never feel like you don't have perfect control. Err... except in the cutscenes.

The shooting sections are done kind of Gears of War-ishly, including cover system and similar icons for picking up ammo, etc. If you've played a third person shooter that uses cover you'll know what to expect. I can't say it's the best TPS I've ever played, but it's good. The action is fun. Melee is handled particularly well. It's not the riflebutt thud of your Halos nor the gory instakill of Gears of War. Melee engages you in an exchange of punches. The square button flails away, but you often get grabbed, locked or otherwise hurt. Pressing triangle gets you out of this and pressing square quickly will do a heavy "finisher" on the miscreant. I say finisher in quotes because later enemies are pretty tough and this simple trading of blows isn't enough to finish them. In any case, these small melee interactions add nicely to the cinema vibe.

Climbing is as one would expect, a kind of Assassin's Creed type affair, much like the original Uncharted. Climbing, platforming, leaping. I find it strange to watch as people seem to forget how fragile and weak fingers are and just think you can fall down 100 metres and catch a bar and you'll be fine, or that you can grip a ledge while hurtling through the air past it. Still, I'll grudgingly suspend my disbelief and accept that this kind of thing is a staple of both game design and cinema. I did think the "leaping to a ledge through the air to nearly make it but be caught by your partner and pulled up" thing was overused. Animation occasionally goes a bit weird during movements, but not enough to really bother you.

If this was a Tomb Raider game these wolves would be dead by now.

The other area is Stealth. Stealth is a new area for the series, or really the genre. It works well. Drake will crouch around, and hide behind cover. If he gets behind enemies who aren't aware of him, he'll grab them for a silent takedown. If he's behind cover at the time he'll pull the enemy behind it. The animations for this are nicely done and never wear out their welcome. There are a few areas that start with an obvious emphasis on Stealth. I found that it was hard to keep it up and do a good job of stealth long term. Eventually someone sees you and the shooting starts, but in the meantime it's a way to take out some of the bad men, thinning out the herd a bit. If anything I felt there wasn't enough stealth, especially later in the game as it turns into a bit of a blast-fest. There are areas that seem like they'd be ideally suited to it, but heavy fire is your only practical option. I'd have enjoyed more sections where a combination of climbing and stealth kills are suitable.

This is possibly where Uncharted 2 stands out. Not just these gameplay modes, but the seamless interaction between them. Stealth turns into combat more by mis-step than design, but stealth kills while climbing (especially hanging from ledges, etc) are rewarding, and combat while climbing is similarly enjoyable, firing your pistol at enemies while hanging on for dear life. Additionally the cutscenes flow elegantly into the gameplay, taking you from viewer to player with a smooth transition.

Why yes my tits DO look nice in this top. Thank you for saying!

The title feels like a movie in a lot of ways, and it's interesting to note what movies. If there's a movie that jumps to mind thematically it's things like Indiana Jones (obviously) and National Treasure. That latter is a strange film, as it's fun and enjoyable without being especially "good", and it's at about this level that Uncharted 2's cinema experience is pitched. It's a fun story. That's helped by good writing, which reminds me of nothing more than Firefly/Serenity. There's a Whedonity to the writing that's by no means a criticism. He's exceptionally good at light, witty dialogue between characters. And while we're taking the Whedon Train, anyone else think Nathan Fillion would be an ideal casting choice for Uncharted: The Movie?

This brought to my mind an important question, though. Is that a GOOD thing? I mean, National Treasure isn't that great a movie. Is that where gaming is aiming? Is it OK that one of the best written stories in the last few years comes just up to the standard of a pretty average movie? Should we not be expecting more, aiming for more?

After giving considerable consideration to this question I came to a conclusion. (Note: best sentence I've ever written.) The answer is no. Surprisingly. Ultimately a video game is not a movie. Different standards apply to the different media, and it's not just a matter of "lower standards" for one. It's not that one is dumbed down or expects less. It's that video games need to do a different job, be a different experience to movies. As a movie Uncharted 2 is pretty good. But it's as a game that it truly excels.

Warning: Promotional screenshot totally misrepresenting the gameplay experience

One thing that's interesting is that even when you take out its strongest points (writing and story) and go for the purest of gameplay experiences - multiplayer - you still end up with something outstanding. I'm not much of a multiplayer online fan. Lag shits me, and the PS3 doesn't have vast numbers of people at odd hours, so late night matchmaking services tend to put me with americans, which ruins the experience somewhat. I was actually in the multiplayer Beta for Uncharted 2 when it was still a closed beta, and that didn't put me at ease. I never successfully even got to play it.

I attempted multiplayer purely to cover it for review, and was surprised by what I found. Not only did it find and join matches almost immediately, but those matches were essentially lag-free. Most importantly, they were a lot of fun. Leaping, climbing, sneaking, cover, etc, all add together to provide a great game. Co-op multiplayer is surprisingly polished. Not only is it an enjoyable experience, but it's filled with the same well written cutscenes and dialogue that the single player has. I can't say I expected that. I pretty much thought it would be "kill all the bad guys, kgo".

Uncharted 2 is a huge game for Sony. Neither of the two big platforms has a lot of exclusives any more, and those that still are exclusive become the key to establishing a point of difference between the consoles that may translate to sales.

Interestingly, it's often the exclusive titles that cause the most fanboy arguments, with both sides promoting their own exclusives while trivializing the opposition. It's hard to understand why this is so. Does liking Halo have some effect that makes you unable to be interested in God of War III? Does Little Big Planet instill an allergy to Gears of War? Of course, it doesn't. People are just irrational and self-justifying about their arbitrary purchasing decisions. What makes Uncharted 2 so interesting is that it's so very very good that it will be hard for even the most adamant fanboy to dismiss.

If you hate Sony and all they stand for you'll never buy a PS3 anyway. But there are a lot of people who would be on the fence regarding purchasing either their first console for the current gen or a second console. Uncharted 2 is a great game and adds substantially to the foot attempting to kick people off the fence.

Tiny people on a very very big mountain

What that will do to Sony's fortunes in the current megasales period is hard to tell, but they are clearly putting some weight behind it. Just released is a new 250 gig bundle. EB, for example, have the 250g PS3 bundled with Uncharted 2 and Call of Duty 4 for $596. With the PS3 120 gig selling for $499 and Uncharted 2 at $110 this is a fantastic deal for anyone undecided about whether to take the plunge.

The pool of fantastic PS3 exclusives is starting to become a deep one, with titles like LBP, Resistance 2, Uncharted 1 & 2, Ratchet and Clank Future providing a counter to the perception that there's no good games, and the future also looks strong, given such titles as Heavy Rain, The Last Guardian and God of War III. Come on in, the water's fine.

Marco!

Pros

Awesome, cinematic, enjoyable. A showcase exclusive for your PS3. Online multiplayer is well worth looking at. One of the best games of the year.

Cons

Any game where you can climb on and jump on a wide range of stuff leaves the possibility of losing your path. Technically very linear. Combat in later levels gets unforgiving. Sometimes a pain picking up ammo when items are close together.