UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES REVIEW Posted by nutcrackr on Oct 24, 2009 21:21 (313 days ago) |
Uncharted 2 features the return of Nathan Drake, the adaptable hero who has all the characteristics of a young Indiana Jones. It tells the story of the race to find the Cintamani Stone, between Nate and the war criminal Zoran Lazarević, using the secrets of Marco Polo’s lost fleet. The game will take you through Nepal and Borneo with old allies Elena and Sullivan returning. There are a few story twists right up until the end with some great cut scenes that really flesh out the characters. The combat is smooth, open and challenging with a nice amount of optional stealth thrown in. The AI for friend and foe has been well implemented and doesn’t interrupt the action or seem out of place. The platforming is relatively free flowing and natural without being difficult. There are not many frustrating sections due to a more frequent checkpoint save system bringing you right back to the action. The game provides complementary visual and audio treats that do look and sound a bit better than the original although not leaps above. This presentation extends to the complex and very impressive set pieces helping lift the action to higher levels. The multiplayer is also a successful component with some great co-op action comprising of some single player levels extracted and refined and some standard multiplayer modes. Indeed Uncharted 2 has all the features to make it fantastic follow up effort from Naughty Dog. The satisfaction begins with some great combat and stealth execution.
 Impressive vistas and solid combat is just the beginning. Warning: Minor Spoilers below.
The combat in Uncharted 2 is a well refined version of the original game with some excellent simplistic stealth implementation. Weapons seem far better balanced, especially pistols, and you will be changing weapons quite often as the ammo counts run low. Significantly the combat sequences introduce enough variety so it doesn’t get predictable or stale even with long play sessions. One sequence featured Nate holding onto a signpost and moving from one side to another as he took out mercenaries in the buildings above using a pistol. Another featured a much more open snow covered hillside amidst an intensifying blizzard; in this sequence stealth became a great way to quickly reduce the numbers of enemies but you could also use sniper rifles from a distance. Stealth isn’t a forced condition however, Nate takes up a crunched over position when in stealth mode and can instantly kill normal enemies from behind with a melee attack. It’s not just about moving between small patrols but also about hiding below ledges or behind obstacles. In these positions Nate can grab the mercenary in one foul swoop and kill them without alerting guards nearby. Grabbing an enemy from below hanging on a ledge and pulling him over proves very satisfying. The first time you encounter stealth is a heist mission and this is the only time where being spotted results in an alarm and checkpoint reset purely as a tutorial. Apart from this most of the time you don’t even have to use stealth, you can just start firing away if you enjoy weapon combat that much.
There are obvious advantages to using stealth to take out a few enemies quickly but it’s not a requirement. Mercenaries do remember where they last saw you, so moving behind obstacles unseen to flank them as they move towards your last known position becomes very valuable. Enemies will also flank you during combat; this is evident very early on during a battle in the jungle. In an open shack you are defenceless should the mercenaries get up close enough, they will circle you and cause heavy damage to your health. It’s important to make sure none of these guys are moving in a position to get a clear shot at you from the side or behind. Up close you are free to use the fist combat, simplified from the first, a simple attack button will start Nate punching away. If the mercenary has low enough health it will be over quickly, otherwise they will counter your punches and you are given a brief time to block their counters and finish them off. You can change grenade throw power with tilt but it's off by default, this was possibly done to shift focus back towards melee and weapon combat. This great action is well broken up with some interesting puzzles and platforming sections to serve to rest the player.
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