Play it NOW!: Uncharted 2 Among Thieves

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has arrived and Sony is sitting on a gold mine. It is my opinion that this game is the greatest cinematic experience I have ever had while playing a video game. It is not perfect, there are some moments where I was frustrated by the AI or spent far too much time looking for an elusive piece of treasure, but there is an overall cohesiveness between characters and their journey to Shambhala and it's hidden treasure, the Cintamani Stone.

• Character & Story: Really are the best part of this whole game. Drake is the same confident, sarcastic and frankly, lucky leading man from the first one. As much as he tries to "do the right thing", he will still manage to kill thousands of enemies in order to save the world. Chloe, the new girl is an excellent counter-part to Drake, having two sides to her personality and to some extent creating a love triangle between; Drake, her and Elena. That's right, Elena is also here, as well as Sully, reprising their previous roles and keeping the same campy chemistry they had in the first Uncharted. The pacing continues to gain steam as you move closer and closer to your destination. While, acts of betrayal and bravery keep you guessing what will happen next. The villains you hate, the heroes you love and when the story resolved, I couldn't wait to do it all again.

• Music & Sound: Fits the game extremely well. Sound effects are crisp, music builds upon the immersion into the various environments and the voice acting is on point. Nolan North may have been in numerous games since the first Uncharted, but whenever I here is voice, I hear Nathan Drake. Its good to see him reprise the role he seemed born for.

• Animation & Graphics: Drake is still rocking the "Half-Tuck", and it is top quality. Scenes take place in expansive vistas such as: Istanbul, Nepal and the Himalayas. Camera angles build the tension, using camera locations that seem more physically possible and make the parkour scenes look incredibly difficult. The character models not only retain their detail between cutscenes and gameplay, but there are times in the story, where the animations are completely different based on the circumstances Drake is in . Please take sometime while in the Village to interact with the people around you, it really is entertaining to see how much time Naughty Dog put into their animations, despite their uses being associated to only one or two chapters. Oh and really shiny eyeballs (you'll understand once you have played it).

• Gameplay & AI: The shooting mechanic is much improved. Guns feel very different from each other and each have their strengths and weaknesses. The M4 Carbine is of course the best, but I really enjoyed blind shots with the Pistole. There is nothing like watching a heavily armored opponent take two cartridges to the face. Also, the grenade mechanic is much improved over the first one. Previously, Naughty Dog required the use of the six-axis to manage the arc of your throws. Thankfully, this is no longer the case and it is controlled via the right analog. Stealth combat also plays a larger part. Not only does one of the first chapters require a substantial amount of this, but there are many areas littered across the game where stealth can help you keep the flow of enemies to a minimum. Also, many stealth kills will afford you bonus grenades or weapons, noted by a little ninja mask hovering over the object. Platforming is a little easier than the first one, as moving up buildings and across platforms seemed more intuitive, despite AI partners occasionally blocking your landing or inadvertently dropping you off a cliff. It is not often, but when it happens, you can't help but feel frustrated.

• Attention to Detail: I think this is what can take a game from good to great. Looking at everything in this game, you can tell that each aspect was carefully considered and detailed to the full extent. Character animation and design are not recycled. Each model feels unique and has a little bit of personality. This can even be seen in the AI behavior, as more heavily armored baddies are not afraid to rush you and some enemies are more grenade happy than others. Gameplay is very rewarding and participates in the hand holding, pat on the back style where you are rewarded constantly, whether its for 250th headshot or finding 10 more pieces of treasure. Twitter was an added functionality as well, and is an interesting experiment in Social Media. Reception has been less than stellar when someone is tweeting each chapter completed, but the summarizing of trophies or tweets about getting online for multiplayer turns twitter into a third party leader board to some extent.

• Multiplayer: Ah yes, the long debated, "is this going to suck?" aspect of Uncharted 2 has become one of the coolest parts. First off, this is a new attempt, the original Uncharted did not have multiplayer, hence some peoples apprehension. The options are robust featuring competitive multiplayer and co-op. The co-op is a three man affair running story driven scenarios or a Gears-esque Horde mode. Competitive Multiplayer has everything from traditional deathmatch to Plunder (CTF Mode, with a twist). Add the fact that each player has two slots offering boosters in battle, which can be purchased using money earned in any game mode, various character models you get from completely the single player and a leveling system to improve matchmaking, you get a complete multiplayer experience.

I loved my experiences in Uncharted 2 and am still playing in search of that Platinum Trophy. Naughty Dog has truly hit this sequel out of the park and this once niche IP has turned into Sony's next big franchise. So, if you like expansive vistas, character drive stories, explosive gun battles and treasure, you better go play it NOW!

**Note all pictures are courtesy of Google image search and Penny-Arcade.com