The only good thing this game does is some of the tightest and most engaging shootouts I've seen in a long while. They feel incredibly well designed and smart for a cover shooter. But the downside is that even for me, who has a lot of shooting game experience, it felt really difficult. And that's on normal difficulty. I think it might be too difficult (unless easy is a lot easier) for people who aren't as experienced past a point.

I might remember wrongly, but the first game had far more puzzles and platforming. The balance is skewed towards shooting in this by a large margin. Which I don't really like.

The writing is awful as was the first game's, except this one is dumber. The banter between characters is still great, just like the first game. I wish it extended to general writing quality though.

Not much has changed since Uncharted 1, but the minor improvements can really be felt. Biggest of all is the addition of stealth kills into gameplay. You no longer have to go about each shooting gallery in the exact same way. Players get rewarded for a bit of patience and clever positioning, and the more stealth kills you carry out, the easier things are once the enemy does spot you. It's a welcome piece of variety and depth.
I did get annoyed, though, when I was in one section where I was trying to stealth my way to the exit, but I got instakilled whenever I tried to leave. It turned out that I had to kill every enemy in the area before I could actually leave. This came right after a climbing section that was a beat-for-beat repeat of the start of the game. It wasn't a particularly quick climbing section, either. Going through the motions and having the same things happen had me very bored.
Despite the annoyances, there's more of a variety of gameplay and the story is willing to do more too, so Uncharted 2 scores a 4.5/5. It's still not perfect, but it's getting there.

Bem melhor que o primeiro, Uncharted é uma franquia que gosto mas tenho varios problemas, eu adoro exploração e resolver coisas, e ainda pode escalar lugares e etc, mas em uncharted isso é 40% do game e 60% é combate e tiro, que funciona bem pior que jogos que sao propriamente de tiros, sempre achei que o sistema de cover nesses jogos fosse bem quebrado. Mas o jogo ainda é muito bom, tem diversas partes divertidas e a historia é ate mais interessante que o outro jogo. Pra Uncharted 1 eu daria 3 estrelas mas esse ganha 4.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves traz um enredo cheio de ação e momentos épicos que te fazem sentir como o herói que eles retratam Nathan Drake de ser. Mesmo que o jogo use de diversos artifícios para dar um falso senso de desespero para situações as quais não têm um perigo real enquanto em jogo, o jogo faz um ótimo trabalho de te imergir no mundo e na aventura do protagonista. Fiquei impressionado com a liberdade dada pelo jogo no quesito da exploração e do parkour, algo que não me recordo de ter nos jogos mais recentes da franquia. Mesmo assim, acho que ele sofre com problemas de level design que, principalmente para o fim do jogo, parece ser feito para dificultar o avanço do jogo, sem caminhos claros. Além disso, é um jogo com pouco valor de replay, já que, após experienciar os momentos de tenção do jogo pela primeira vez, a segunda não tem o mesmo peso e a gameplay de tiro e corpo-a-corpo não são o suficiente para te atrair de volta. Mesmo assim, achei um ótimo jogo e uma experiência melhor que qualquer outro jogo da franquia (com excessão da história).

This is the best mainline Uncharted game. This game right here. Not 4, this one. Among Thieves. One of the games that make me happy to own a PlayStation. It has its flaws, sure. There is a couple of points where the ludonarrative dissonance gets a bit wacky and a moment where Nate could've ended the story three chapters early but decided not to. But despite this, it's one of those games that stand the test of time. Not only is it a significant upgrade from the mediocre first game, but this one elevates the world, characters, and stakes in a way that feels like you're watching a summer blockbuster. I have never seen any game in 2009 do setpieces the way this game does it. Hell, even compared to some games today. This one feels like one of those games they just don't make anymore. The intro is one of my favorites in all of gaming. The pacing of this game is perfect. I wouldn't change a thing about it. The humor is also great, best in the series even. The writing is also good and although the story isn't going to win awards or anything, it gives off that old school adventure movie vibe with some great action to go along with it. This game is the one that put Nathan Drake on the map as one of the best video game characters of all time for me. This easily goes down in history as one of the greatest video game sequels and one of the best games ever made. If that doesn't convince you to give this one a shot, I don't know what will.

A great improvement from the first game in the franchise. While the first game was a great start, it did have its flaws and Among Thieves takes the sequel up a notch.

Firstly, the sheer feel of epicness that this game has compared to the previous game is awesome. Between the suspenseful cutscenes, the larger set-pieces many of the levels have, to the variety of locations there are make this game feel much bigger. From the opening cutscene that sets the stage and pace to the awesome train sequence, there are so many cool sections that keep the flow and entertainment going.

The combat feels a bit better than the prior game. The first game felt a bit clunky with the combat and shooting, this time it feels more fluid and less awkward. A couple new weapons are thrown into the mix, but for the most part it's mostly the same weapons from the fist game unfortunately.

With all the positives, the one negative I'd have for this entry would be the story. It's nothing to write home about, but it does seem to follow the familiar beats of an adventure/treasure hunt story. Given the intro to a new character, Chole, gives a nice dynamic with interactions between you and her as well as the rest of the cast.

This sequel was so much fun to play and has me looking forward to continuing the franchise. The first was a solid start, but this one just ups everything and is a high point of the franchise so far to me. Fantastic game that shows Naughty Dog was finding their footing with this franchise.

Day and night difference to the first one, one of the best video game sequels I know of (only other big contender is MGS2).

Obviously starting the game with dangling out of a train car on a cliff edge, will get you interested in what happened.
But directly after the museum heist grabs you. Everything plays smoother, it's more colourful, the music grounds you in the setting and the new stealth mechanics give you a reason to be creative with your movement in a level.

Then boom, Borneo, a little bit of a throwback, which makes you notice how much better the gunplay feels and that you have room to experiment with how you want to take on enemies (played on Hard).

Then crazy street and rooftop fights in Nepal.
Then climbing on beautiful Buddhist sculptures.
Then the incredible train level.
After we reach the point in the story where we began in medias res, I did lose engagement somewhat, although the convoy and parts of the monastery chapters did get me back in, I sort of got exhausted by the pacing of the game and the introduction of the supernatural dudes.

I do think that I wouldn't like this game as much, if they weren't riffing on Buddhist art and concepts, but even then, they should have gone further with it.
The phurba is supposed to help overcome spiritual challenges like delusion, desire and hate, and a lot of the "puzzles" seem to necessitate two people cooperating or are made of statues reaching their hands out to each other.
There is great thematic subtext here, that is left mostly untouched. Nathan doesn't save the day, because he became a better person through his travels or knows when to put his trust in others, but because he shoots guns the bestest and is basically a living monkey god, with his invincible hands and infinite stamina.
Nobody meaningfully grows or changes, the closest is probably Drake "believing" in the power of the Cintamani Stone because of Schäfer, but he saw with his own two eyes in the first game, that the seemingly supernatural exists, so even that feels undercut, and also just not that interesting for a character.

A must-play for action game fans