Uncharted 2 Review (Single Player Only) - rudyjuly2's Blog

rudyjuly2's Blog

Uncharted 2 Review (Single Player Only)

Posted on October 29, 2009 at 09:37 AM.

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After two years since the release of Uncharted, Uncharted 2 comes out with a much bigger marketing campaign and great sales numbers but is it worthy of the hype?

The original Uncharted was a sleeper hit that eventually sold well over two million games. It was a third person shooter that featured a good shoot and cover system and solid gameplay. But what really sold people on the game was the story and character development throughout. This game felt like you were playing a movie rather than a video game. The musical score was fantastic and the graphics were solid. Throw in some platforming, treasure hunting and a little puzzle solving and you had one of my favourite games of all time. You were Indiana Jones without being Indiana Jones and who doesn�t love Indy? Or should I say who doesn�t love Nathan Drake?

How Does the Sequel Compare?

Uncharted 2 has many similarities to the original game. We still have the same cover and shoot system that worked well in the original. There are still many different guns you encounter over the campaign to keep things interesting as well as provide strategy options. The game forces you to choose between short range, long range and clip capacity and you can only hold two guns at once (a hand gun and a large gun). Thankfully the game removed the six-axis controls for grenades making them easier to use.

There are a few improvements to the game from the first one. First, the graphics and locations look great. You can be fighting in the jungle, a burning city or find yourself in the middle of a snow storm. Each environment feels unique, looks great and often has different objectives. The original Uncharted seemed to bog down a little near the halfway point due to excessive fighting in the jungle. The sequel does a better job of mixing up the locations and it keeps the game feeling fresh throughout rather than repetitive.

Second, stealth is now a true option and occasionally a necessary one in gameplay. You can sneak up on a bad guy and take him down without causing a scene. This certainly helps level the playing field when facing numerous enemies. You can still choose to shoot first and ask questions later but it�s a subtle improvement to the game. I personally like throwing a guy off a ledge without using my gun.

Third, the hand to hand combat got a bit of an upgrade. While still using only a single attack button (square), you do have a counter move button (triangle) that can make hand to hand combat more fun. While the game still centers on gun play, hand to hand combat is used a little more than the original which rarely required it.

Game of the Year?

So with all these improvements, is Uncharted 2 better than the original? As with all sequels, they face a challenge when trying to out perform an original that was loved by many. I loved the original and there are a few things with this game that held me back from stating that it was better than the first.

Too Linear

Parts of this game were simply too restrictive for my tastes, particularly the first half which I found slightly disappointing. The original Uncharted was linear but not to this extent in my opinion. The Uncharted series is not a sandbox environment but this game featured so many cut scenes and animations that it sometimes felt scripted. In the opening sequence alone, climbing the train was full of animations of the train falling apart. You have to wait for an event to play out before regaining control of Drake. Is this great story telling or an example of the lack of control over your character and outcome? Another example of this is a fight that the game requires you to use hand-to-hand combat. Never mind that I�ve pumped a few rounds in a guy that has no armour � this has zero effect. I have to wait for him to charge me and then engage in hand to hand combat. Often these cut scenes and animations are great but the scripted feeling did bother me at times.

While I praised the new locations as being more varied and less repetitive, they are also smaller and more restrictive in design for the first half of the game. Exploration seems to be an afterthought. There is always a burning bus or a closed gate preventing you from checking other areas out. The original game also restricted access but you could usually backtrack to where you came from after a gun fight to fully explore for treasures. The sequel pushes you forward constantly. Often times a leap from a building results in the platform falling down preventing you from jumping back. Many times a door gets closed, the floor caves in or the previous path seems to get cut off somehow. Keep it moving is what the game is screaming at me! You have to get to the next cut scene to advance the story! The first game certainly had elements of this but not to this degree. There is a more frantic pace in this game than the original. Some may like that while others may not.

Furthermore, the smaller environments of the first half lead to more cramped fighting areas. We get a bunch of quick gun battles in tiny spaces that don�t require a lot of strategy simply because you can�t move anywhere. The second half of the game was much better for my gaming habits. The environments were bigger, we got some epic gun battles over large areas and the pacing seemed to be a little less hectic. I just wish they would have spread these areas out over the entire game a little better.

Treasure Hunting

Treasure hunting is frustrating in this game. Normally I am not much of a trophy or treasure hunting nerd. But I found myself searching like crazy for them in the original. I would spend all kinds of time looking for them and got 38 out of 60 in the original (41 the second time). It was fun. The sequel made it frustrating as they were too hard to find. I felt like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football. Uncharted 2 has 100 treasures but I was only able to find 34 on my initial play through. And that was mainly due to a few chapters leaving out some easy treasures to pad the stats.

Overall Thoughts

Uncharted 2 is a very good game that every PS3 owner should experience. It�s similar to the first one and the story and development of the characters is second to none. If you loved the first game you will probably love the second game. The graphics are outstanding and the varied locations add to the overall enjoyment. However, the first half of the game was just too linear and scripted for my tastes to consider one of the greatest PS3 games ever made. The original Uncharted still has a special place in my heart as my favourite PS3 game of all time.
86/100

Comments

# 1 Steve_OS @ Oct 29

I loved em' both, about the same

Now I'm just figuring out if I should bother getting the BR God of War/2. I beat em' both, but it does look great.

# 2 R9NALD9 @ Oct 30

hey steve_os, I'm definitaley getting the BR God of War bundle! It's my favourite game series, and have finished GOW 1/2 both twice. Can't wait to experience them on 720p.

# 3 Felkmaster @ Oct 30

How many hours did it take you to beat the game?

# 4 rudyjuly2 @ Oct 30

I'm a slow gamer. It took me just over 16 hours on Normal to beat the game. But it also took me a little over 15 hours to beat the original on Normal as well. So both games are very similar in length.

# 5 adayinthelife @ Oct 30

I liked the first one but wasn't that blown away. This one however I'm loving. It's linear, it's repetitive, both things I don't like in games but I don't mind at all in this one because it's just so fun to play.

It's not a long game however, I've clocked 6 hours and I'm on chapter 24 of 26 so I can't see it lasting much longer unfortunately. The multiplayer is decent though if that's your thing.

# 6 superstarshad @ Oct 31

I loved the game! I never played the original, but was open to the sequel. Its one of those games that saddens you upon completion