Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Likewise, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog exclusively for PS3. It is released in October 2009 and it won the Game of the Year awards on IGN, Eurogamer, Game Informer, Joystiq, Kotaku, Giant Bomb, AIAS, X-Play, Game Developers Choice Awards, and the Spike Video Game Awards for the year 2009. Below is my quick review about the game.
Close combat
Just like the previous game, you are controlling Nathan Drake (Nate) throughout the whole game. You can jump, climb, swing ropes to ropes, scale narrow ledges, etc. You can carry up to 2 firearms, a pistol and a rifle, together with a limited supply of grenades. While you pick up a new weapon, you will automatically replace the existing weapon you are using. An additional feature of the game is that you are can attempt to use stealth to take out your enemies when you are undetected by your them. You can sneak up behind them to knock them out with 1 hit or by pulling the foe over a ledge from which you are hanging. If all the enemies of an specific area are killed stealthily then the reinforcement that would normally appear won't come. At certain points of the game, you are required to solve puzzles with the help of Drake's journal, which provides clues towards the puzzles' solutions.
This time, there are 101 hidden treasures in the game, There is also one secret hidden relic. Collecting these items, along with completing certain accomplishments, will enable you to unlock the extra content of the game, including the concept art, game movies, and game cheats, such as guns with infinite ammunition for your next playthroughs.
This time, there are 101 hidden treasures in the game, There is also one secret hidden relic. Collecting these items, along with completing certain accomplishments, will enable you to unlock the extra content of the game, including the concept art, game movies, and game cheats, such as guns with infinite ammunition for your next playthroughs.
Online playing
Uncharted 2 also features both competitive and co-operative multiplayer. the co-op multiplayer allows a maximum of three players to take the roles of Drake and two other "hero" companions and features missions involving gunfights, platforming, and teamwork-based objectives. Players can also assist their comrades if they become critically injured or if they are grabbed by an enemy.
The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction. Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Drake, Elena, Sully and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains. Players can select two Boost abilities which assist them in the matches. Plunder is similar to the traditional capture the flag game mode, and sees each team attempt to capture the treasure from a central point in the map and return it to their base; the player carrying the treasure is slowed down a great deal, and may also choose to hurl the treasure away at any point, in order to keep it out of reach of the enemy, or to pass it to a teammate. Elimination has two teams of five players against each other with the objective of killing everyone on the other team. In Elimination, the players do not respawn. The goal is to eliminate the other team three out of five times. Chain Reaction is a mode that is similar to Turf War. This has the player capturing posts, but the player must do them in a specific order – one team works out from their base needing to capture 1 through 5 while the other team starts out from their home and needs to snag 5 through 1. King of the Hill has players capturing a hill, spawned on the map to score points. They must stay in the hill to score points while the enemy team tries to do the same.
The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction. Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Drake, Elena, Sully and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains. Players can select two Boost abilities which assist them in the matches. Plunder is similar to the traditional capture the flag game mode, and sees each team attempt to capture the treasure from a central point in the map and return it to their base; the player carrying the treasure is slowed down a great deal, and may also choose to hurl the treasure away at any point, in order to keep it out of reach of the enemy, or to pass it to a teammate. Elimination has two teams of five players against each other with the objective of killing everyone on the other team. In Elimination, the players do not respawn. The goal is to eliminate the other team three out of five times. Chain Reaction is a mode that is similar to Turf War. This has the player capturing posts, but the player must do them in a specific order – one team works out from their base needing to capture 1 through 5 while the other team starts out from their home and needs to snag 5 through 1. King of the Hill has players capturing a hill, spawned on the map to score points. They must stay in the hill to score points while the enemy team tries to do the same.
Performing stealth attack
For starters it is worth noting that gun fights are much better here than they were in the first game. The cover system has been improved and is much more responsive now. It feels like Drake is able to take cover more easily and use more objects as cover than he could in the previous game. Melee combat also feels a little more worthwhile now which is fantastic considering how I felt it was perhaps the weakest part of the original game. That is not the case in Among Thieves as Nate is now able to sneak up on enemies and take them down using stealth kills. The whole “brutal combat” system from the first game has been removed as well, and now it merely takes a few well placed button presses to dispatch an enemy. I found that sneaking around and performing stealth takedowns was incredibly fun and, in a lot of situations, it was just as viable as charging in with your guns blazing. Of course sneaking around and picking enemies off one by one is a much slower process, but it also saves a lot of ammunition.
Firing, but remember to save your ammos!
Regarding ammo, it’s just as plentiful as it was in the first game. This is a great aspect of the game because, unlike in Drake’s Fortune, fire fights don’t exceedingly long. In the first game it was not uncommon to fully clear a room of bad guys only to have an even larger backup force enter the room. This could happen several times in one room and it made some fights take quite a while to get through. This never happens with Uncharted 2. Backup forces seldom arrive and, when they do, it actually makes a lot of sense unlike in the first game. No longer will droves of enemies rush into the room from the entrance you just used! Still, ammo may be depleted quickly late in the game due to a few game changing encounters that pop up later on. Without spoiling anything, the late game bad guys change your strategy up similarly to the surprise enemies in the first game, but the ones in this game are capable of dishing out far more punishment. Fortunately there is also a late game weapon that can take down the end game enemies pretty easily.
Puzzle
Like in the first game there are only a few major puzzles which all make use of Drake’s handy notebook that he carries. Without Drake’s notebook, the puzzles would pretty much be almost impossible for most gamers to solve. Fortunately the game will let you know when the notebook is required. I attempted a few puzzles without first looking at the notebook and let me tell you it was a big mistake! Use the notebook whenever the game suggests you do so. Not only will it prevent you from scratching your head for half an hour, but it will also make you feel so much like Indiana Jones that it’s unreal. One puzzle late in the game that involves opening a secret passage is perhaps the best example of this and anyone who has played Among Thieves should know which one I am talking about.
Uncharted 2 stunning graphics
So overall, how is this game? It’s simply amazing. The cinematic cutscenes are beyond anything I’d expect to find in a video game and the smooth gameplay keeps you moving all the time which allows the movie-like flow to maintain itself all throughout the game. The soundtrack is just phenomenal and the characters, from their relationships with one another to their superb voice actors, are the greatest in any video game I have ever played. This game is the absolute cream of the crop of video games. If you have not played Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (let alone Drake’s Fortune), then do so immediately. You will not regret it for even one second.