A sequel done right. Among Thieves improves upon the original in almost every department. The set pieces are far grander with this globetrotting adventure taking you to a variety of beautiful locations. This variety is matched, for the most part, by more diverse gameplay with some truly breathtaking set pieces matched by quieter moments unravelling puzzles and exploring the world around you allowing you take a breath. The incredible opening ensures you are invested from the start, wondering how Drake ended up in such dire straits. Though the villains are quite generic, the storytelling and voice acting are phenomenal. Its truly a cinematic experience of epic proportions which is well worth your time.

(This review was originally written for my Retrorendum blog, so it is a bit dated in some areas but the review still stands true)

Uncharted 2 is the sequel I never thought I needed. I had heard great things about it, it being one of the top rated games of all time, but I was still content with the story and characters of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. When I got the Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End PS4 bundle for christmas from my dad, I decided to buy the other sequels so I could work through the story until I could play the fourth installment. After blasting through the game over President’s Day weekend, I can successfully say that it has become one of my new favorite games and really excites me for what is coming in the next games.

Title: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Available On: Playstation 3, Playstation 4
Reviewed On: Playstation 3
Info: Naughty Dog, 2009
WARNING: MINOR SPOILERS FOR UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES

Story: Uncharted once again follows the marvelous misadventures of Nathan Drake, cocky-badass-treasure hunting-history nerd. Uncharted 2 follows his journey to continue Marco Polo’s quest to find the Cintimani Stone and the mythical city of Shambhala. The game begins with Drake waking up bleeding profusely from his chest whilst in a train car dangling off the side of a mountain in the Himalayas. It then cuts to a flash back that is the first half of the game, and Drake is now on a beach with his friend Harry Flynn and ex-lover Chloe Frazer, planning a museum heist to steal a lamp found by Marco Polo. After completing the heist, Drake is then betrayed by Flynn and sent to prison in Turkey. After 3 months, Drake is let out by Chloe and his old adventuring pal Victor “Goddamn” Sullivan. It then is revealed that Flynn is working for a Soviet Warlord Zoran Lazarevic, whose goal is to find the city of Shambhala and claim it for his own. Nathan and Sully go to Lazarevic’s camp in Borneo, with Chloe acting as a mole on the inside for them. There they find a phurba dagger, which becomes intrinsic to the plot later on. With the dagger is a note saying that the dagger is the key to Shambhala through a temple in Nepal. The epic journey through the mountains of Tibet and a wartorn city in Nepal begins, and you feel the true scope of this incredible story as Nathan Drake travels across the world. The game also greatly improves on characters over the original, as Flynn and Lazarevic are both 10 times more memorable antagonists than Mr. British-rich-power hungry-guy from the first one. (That isn’t to say that Lazarevic isn’t a stereotypical bad guy as well, but at least he’s more involved in the story.)

Visuals/ Music: Uncharted 2 is one of the best looking games, environmentally speaking, available on the PS3 or Xbox360. Every single part of the mountains, snow, villages, jungles, temples, and rubble is beautifully rendered in painstaking detail which lends an even greater sense of adventure to the whole game. You can spot rust marks on metal signs, cracks in every brick, and textured grit on the walls of the buildings. The water physics are great as well, and give an air of realism to the puddles and lakes you wouldn’t expect to notice so much. The biggest complaint with the game’s graphics are the character models, which at times really stick out of the world because they’re so much less detailed. When comparing the original Uncharted 2 on PS3 to the remastered 1080p 60FPS version on PS4, you can notice the difference in the character models quite a bit, and the eyes of the characters are weirdly the best thing that was improved. (Am I the only one freaked out by Chloe’s eyes and how shiny they are?) The music is the largest letdown of the game but still manages to be good, which says something about the overall quality of the game. The music isn’t necessarily bad, it just isn’t memorable at all. You get the classic horn-filled Uncharted theme when you boot up the game, but after that you become so engrossed in the puzzles and action the game provides, that the music just becomes background noise. Some of the more noticeable moments in the game come when there isn’t music at all, when you’re high in a mountain or sneaking around an enemy camp with only the ambiance of the wind and crunching of dirt to guide you.

Gameplay: The gameplay is the most incredible part of Uncharted 2, and is what (in my opinion) makes this game so incredible and memorable. Unlike Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune which had a handful of distinct gameplay sections, (shootout, vehicle, puzzle, platforming) Uncharted 2 blends the sections together seamlessly into the story to make the whole experience more meaningful. You can now shoot and perform takedowns while climbing, and the game focuses on making you feel as if you’re the underdog by constantly putting you in complex situations. The most memorable part of the game comes in the action gameplay sequences. If you’re getting shot at by a helicopter, fighting yetis in a cave or narrowly dodging explosions set off by an enormous tank in a Tibetian village, you certainly will remember it. Another thing Uncharted 2 beats its predecessor at is its puzzle solving. You now have free reign over the notebook Nate carries while in puzzle sections, and although its usage is scarce, you have to use your brain to figure out which pages you need to use to solve what is at hand. The final thing that makes this game better than the first is the combat you have to do throughout. You now have many more options to take out your enemies, including riot shields, handheld gatling guns and grenade launches. You can also throw propane tanks at the baddies and explode them, taking the idea of blowing up barrels to a whole new level. You are now no longer constricted to obvious fight areas while in combat, and foes can come at you at any time rather than just in a wide area with conveniently placed waist high boxes. (This is probably my favorite upgrade to the game) The difficulty also spikes about 2/3rds way through the game, as if the game is saying to you “you better know your stuff now punk, because it’s about to get real”. You start finding less ammo, the amount of enemies in an area just about doubles, and the platforming becomes a puzzle in itself, as you really need to start scoping out your environment before bounding off, lest you find a death pit or dead end.

Verdict: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a game you buy a console for. Seriously, it's that memorable. The game provides you with constant crazy action and deep character interaction, but remains upbeat through witty dialogue and incredible open environments to explore. If you’re a fan of action movies (especially Indiana Jones) or just cinematography in general, this is a game for you. The game ends up feeling like a true cinematic experience, and takes you into its action with pride. The occasional frame rate drop and odd graphic glitches might bother some people, but the overall experience is so incredible you’ll be willing to overlook the small issues it does have. This is one of the highest rated video games of all time, and rightfully so. If you own a PS3 or PS4, don’t hesitate to pick this up as it is only 10-15$ at GameStop. Uncharted 2 changed the action adventure game genre, and rightfully deserves an amazing 9/10.

(Reviewed on September 17, 2017)

I see why this game is so renowned. It really is an amazing sequel that's better than the first game in pretty much every way. Drake's Fortune had a lot of great ideas, but none of them felt like they achieved their fullest potential. Naughty Dog succeeded in Among Thieves. The set pieces in this are way more grand and beautiful, taking you to a diverse group of locations. I found myself saying “damn this looks amazing” often. The gameplay is more refined and the story/writing is better as well. It feels like a 6-7 hour over the top action movie.

I wanted to give this 5 stars but it is sadly bogged down by some annoyingly tedious parts that ruin the momentum of the action. Most of the platforming is fun, but it can sometimes feel like a chore, especially after a cheap death forcing you to redo long portions of it. The combat as well sometimes felt like it went on too long, and had some weird difficulty spikes. This game is supposed to feel like an over the top action movie, and when it does feel like that it’s badass. Too many times though I felt like the momentum was ruined and I was taken out of the illusion a bit. Honestly playing this game on easy difficulty would probably be better since never dying would make this a crazy on the rails experience that doesn’t let up. It’s still really great though and I’d definitely recommend playing it if you haven’t yet. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the series.

While a marked improvement over its predecessor, this installment still struggles to maintain consistent pacing and that keeps it come achieving greatness. The haphazard structure consists of extravagantly orchestrated set pieces strung together by awkward combat/shooting sections and dull platforming/puzzles. The game is at its best when these otherwise negative attributes are tied intrinsically into the fluidity of a constantly progressing sequence of increasing stakes and ensuing chaos (the Tibetan village siege and the Nepal city portion come to mind). This is where Naughty Dog's "blockbuster" illusion is most seamless. However, the inherent instability all leads to a final act that's disappointing and only highlights the issues listed above. For every downright electrifying moment, punctuated by the game's terrific dialogue and charm of its protagonists (plot itself is nonsense but whatever), is yet another shootout and then another after that and then some yellow bricks to climb and some colors to match to some tile. It's a formula that's steadily easier to predict and subsequently stales even if it might "work" on surface level terms. I sound much more negative on this than I really feel but this gets enough praise as it is.

Side Note: I wish Chloe was better utilized as a side character but I adore her dynamic with Elena so I'll take it.