The bloke from the first game (oh, what's his name?) returns with more quasi-historical hokum to adventure through, and as much as it pains me to say, it's bloody good quasi-historical hokum.
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
Developer: Naughty Dog
Released: 16th Oct 2009
Platform: PS3
I'll be honest. I really wanted to dislike this game. Nathan Drake's previous outing was solid enough, but only because it blatantly raided the tombs (see what I did there?) of other franchises and added nothing.
To enjoy even more Uncharted meant a validation to a once respected developers' decision to essentially repackage Lara Croft and Indiana Jones and claim a brave new IP.
My dislike of Uncharted 2 was further sharpened because I'd consulted on the original title, and my protestations about the main character being formulaic and, well... dull, fell on deaf ears. And here he was again, mocking me with his success, his perfectly-gelled Chandler hair, his 'somewhere-in-America' accent and his indestructible, super-thermal t-shirt and jeans combo. A photo-fit hero. Photo-git hero more like.
Forgive, and most likely forget
But as molten as my ire may be, I simply cannot remain mad at Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It pours water on my fury at every turn with its jaw-dropping vistas, its gob-smacking set-pieces, its challenging puzzles, gripping fire fights, its sweeping orchestral score, and its chirpy script and strong voice acting.
But as thoroughly doused as I am, there still a small patch of steamy smugness because Nathan Drake remains the most 'vanilla' of leading men, and the weakest thing in what is otherwise a grade-A package.
Like so many b-list action movies over the years (Sahara and National Treasure spring to mind); the treasure-hunting, globe-trotting plot is fun, the action sequences are pulse-quickening and the technical achievements in the form of sfx and stunt-work are laudable, but the star is as forgettable as a... as a... a... whatdyamacallit... you know, the one with the thingummybob.
This is not to rubbish Uncharted 2's voice acting or the script (which combined deliver narrative, emotion and comedy brilliantly), it's just that Drake is, at his very core, about as interesting as his UniQlo clothing would suggest.
Nepal tassles
But Nathan Wossiname is saved by his co-star. No, not the sultry chick with the cyborg-eyes, and no, not the blonde from the first game (also with bionic peepers); the limelight is hogged unashamedly by the locations.
Naughty Dog has excelled in delivering a series of settings that can only be described as awesome. And not a Californian 'awesome', a real, English Dictionary 'awesome' -
awesome adj 1 causing awe; dreaded. 2 colloq completely and utterly wonderful.
Making even the widest of widescreen tellies work its hardest to shovel the beautiful and epic landscapes down your optic nerves, you'll be treated to a sheaf of beautiful postcards from foreign lands that would make Alan Whicker feel poorly travelled.
But the horizon filling wonders aren't just back-projection, you'll be journeying into them and ND's art team have delivered a tour-de-force in 'detail'. They make every pixel sing, and in HD, boy do they belt out a tune. When you're running full tilt firing blindly over your shoulder at a pursuing tank/building/yak, you can't help but feel a twinge of guilt that you're not stopping to look at the staggeringly intricate moss growing into the cracks of some tongue-waggling idol.
The beauty does occasionally interfere with the action, offering you (for example) a dazzling array of window sills, but only one of which offers a handhold. The others are but beautiful temptresses luring you to a crumpled and ultimately unfair doom. But this is a minor price to pay for beauty, and you soon get used to spotting 'Siren Sills' before they become a problem.
Croft original
As to the gameplay itself, it's still a mash-up of Tomb Raider spelunking and Gears of War gun porn. But this stolen recipe has been tweaked by Naughty Dog since Drake's first outing, and the shooting and climbing now blend together effortlessly into a tasty dish called 'just Drake doing stuff'.
I'm yet to try the multiplayer modes, which I am informed are equally good (I'll update this review once I've sampled). But on single player content alone this is a worthy addition to anyone's gaming hoard.
Putting aside my unshakeable disdain for Drake and the rest of the forgettable cast (Sulley and your Nepalese guide being notable exceptions); there are only two minor criticisms I can level at Uncharted 2 with any confidence. Firstly, the melee combat is clumsy and best avoided at all times, secondly the few occurrences of the dreaded Quick Time Event* jar heavily against what is ultimately a masterpiece in adventure gaming.
* Unfamiliar with the QTE? If so, you're probably on the wrong website, but I'll humour you because you're here now and you brought crisps. The QTE is the appearance of an unexpected "press X now to avoid instant death" command. Nine times out of ten, this involves you failing to avoid said instant death because you were sitting back to enjoy the cut scene.
So you sigh forlornly as you character falls to their doom, reload your last save and impatiently plough back through what was - first time around - a pulse-quickening and enthralling cut-scene only to cynically press X when you know it's coming and reach the bit of the action you would have reached the first time had you been the talented psychic the game developers assumed you were.