With Naughty Dog opting for a more realistic style title with Uncharted, they managed to create a very enjoyable game with a good mix of Tomb Raider style exploration, Gears of War reminiscent gunfights, great characters and plenty of unlockables. After enjoying the first, I was eager to get my hands on the sequel, with Nathan Drake embarking on a brand new adventure in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
The demo began with a dramatic scene of Nathan clinging for his life on a derailed train that hung over a snowy chasm. In order to survive, I had to work my way around the carriage from the outside, hanging from pipes and other protrusions and slowly climbing up using whatever path I could find. As I climbed, I found parts of the train collapsing and breaking, often opening up the way forward. I then found myself going inside of the carriage, climbing up the inside of the vertical carriage to work my way further up. I then managed to reach the top carriage which hung on the edge of the cliff, and as I felt it begin to slide off I made a dash for it and leapt from the carriage in a spectacular exit.
Wounded, it turns out that this is something of a future event as Nathan’s mind takes us back to the start of this adventure, no doubt to eventually tell us how he got into such a position. Approached by Harry Flynn and the beautiful Chloe Frazer, he is told of the theft of a Mongolian oil lamp from a museum in Istanbul. Once told that the lamp may hold the key to why Marco Polo’s fleet disappeared in 1292, Nathan’s curiosity gets the better of him and he agrees to go on the quest.
Well, wouldn't you?
This leads us to the second part of the demo, which involves a more action-orientated area, in which I had to fend off multiple enemies through the game’s combat, mixed in with a few more platforming elements. The game plays pretty much exactly the same as the first, with Drake able to carry two firearms and grenades, with the ability to duck and blind-fire from cover, as well as perform the usual unarmed skills such as the stealth kill and hand-to-hand combat.
If you’ve played the first game, Uncharted 2 feels like it takes the original format and simply gives us a new story. This is a good thing in many ways, seeing as the first game was very good – but if you’re expecting any new tricks it seems to be very much more of the same. The game looks very impressive, the graphics detailed and the characters animated superbly, yet some of the platforming elements felt a little linear since there often only seemed one path to take, even if there looked as though other alternatives would be possible – such as leaping from a foothold in the wall to a ledge, rather than going from one foothold to another to drop down from above it.
The game promises to keep all of the features from before – such as unlockables linked to points gained by getting trophies, and also includes a new multiplayer mode, which I wasn’t able to try at Eurogamer.
All in all, if you enjoyed Drake’s Fortune you’ll more than likely enjoy this title. With good characters and detailed environments, the game simply provides a continuation to Drake’s adventures in an all-new story. The game does look impressive, with some exciting scenes, it just feels a little linear, and I wouldn’t expect anything vastly different from the first – which could be a blessing or a curse. Either way, I’m sure it’s a decent game worth playing.
Uncharted 2 is in stores already, so you don’t need to wait for this one.
-Leon
