Uncharted 2: Among Theives

Around a month back, I celebrated the return to my blog with a review of the Playstation 3 launch exclusive, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Shortly after completing that game, I got my hands on a copy of its sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. With the experience of Drake’s Fortune still in my head, I was expecting another enjoyable experience.

At the end though, I could only feel that Among Thieves was not as well done as the first game. While there have been some improvements, they were not where it really mattered. In fact some elements of the game (as I will detail as this review progresses) were worse than Drake’s Fortune.

Overview

It has been two years since the events of Drake’s Fortune, and once again Nathan “Nate” Drake, descendant of Sir Francis Drake and all round treasure hunter is up to his neck in trouble. This time, he is on the trail of 13th century explorer, Marco Polo.

According to the history books (which Nate has a habit of contradicting) Marco Polo set sail from the empire of Kublai Khan, he set out with 14 ships and only arrived in Persia 18 months later with 13 of the ships lost. As the game progresses, Nate finds out that Marco Polo found Shambhala and in it, a powerful secret that no villain could possibly ignore. As well as being accompanied by two familiar faces (Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan) Nate is also accompanied by a new side kick, Chloe Fraser: an almost polar opposite to Elena.

Game Play

Gameplay wise, if you have played Drake’s Fortune, then technically you have played Among Thieves. The games play almost the same way. The player is constantly going from one gun fight to another, solving puzzles and doing a small sample of platforming between the said gunfights.

While I try to review games as their own, even if they are sequels, this new game has too many traits from its predecessor. One comment I made was that adversaries in gunfights were constantly ‘streamed’ and at times seemed like there was no end to them. That same problem is still present in Among Thieves but thankfully there is a way of stopping it. Before the start of a fight, it is now possible for the player to stealthily takeout the first wave of adversaries. If successful, all are take care of and the player does not have to endure the endless waves.

The platforming element is still very much the same as Drake’s Fortune. Nate still has all his same moves thus allowing him to run, vault and climb up ledges. One element that is missing now is the use of vines/robes. Personally, this is a welcome change as I found Nate’s swinging abilities below par in the previous game.

Finally, there is the puzzle solving. While attempts have been made to make them more elaborate, the improvements are only visual. The puzzles themselves are larger in scale, require the use colour matching, but overall they are no more challenging than those in Drake’s Fortune. Furthermore, Nate also carries a journal which is populated as the game progresses. While the contents of the journal are meant to be hints, the go too far and (frankly) give the outright solution to the puzzles.

Overall, the game play of Among Thieves is almost identical to Drake’s Fortune. On one had, this is wise as there are only slight changes in the control scheme between the games. However, it cannot be overlooked that the rest of the game is almost a wash-rince-and-repeat of the first game.

Story

When I reviewed Drake’s Fortune, I made the comment that the story of the game while minimal was complete. We had Nate and we saw his development as the game progresses. Despite him being a treasure hunter, one could clearly see his priorities were elsewhere: especially when Elena was concerned.

The story in Among Thieves was anything but complete. The best I can describe the story in this game was everyone was ‘just there’. The development that made the story in Drake’s Fortune complete was not there.

The most obvious problem with the story is the main antagonist, Zoran Lazarevic, was just there as not single element of his past was given. Even when the game is finished, why he did what he did is never explained.

In fact, it is not just the antagonist. This problem is apparent to Elena and Chole. So far, it is only implied that Nate had a falling out with Elena and (before her) Chloe, but the details are not there. Like the antagonist, they are also ‘just there’.

Overall, the story of Among Thieves is of the same grade as I saw with Mirror’s Edge and Avatar: The Game. It is mostly a string of events that self justify themselves and lack detail and much needed background.

Graphics and Sound

In Drake’s Fortune, I gave a lot of praise to the game for its visuals. Among the many points I made, I made the comment that the environments were believable and had a sense they could actually breathe. I also made the comment that the ruins and how I got the feeling that they could have actually existed and people once inhabited them.

Graphics wise, Among Thieves is yet another leap forward from Drake’s Fortune. While the environments are mostly ruined cities and ancient temples, they had both a sense of realism and the sheer size of the temples is breath taking.

For example, there is a stage of the game where Nate is going though the city of Paolo. The area is designed to be placed in the middle of a civil war and I believe it. Everything the air to the rubble on the ground is surprisingly realistic. This realism is further helped by subtle additions such as the overhead flags that flap realistically.

But where the improvements to the graphics really stands out is in the interactive cut scenes. For example, there are moments where Nate is being chased by a helicopter. At one point, Nate is in a hotel building and the player has to try and get out as the building collapses. As well as avoiding adversaries, Nate also has to avoid every other object in from tables to chairs as contact with them could result in failure. Overall, the graphics of Among Thieves is enough to give the people at CryTek a few ideas.

However, with high detailed graphics comes the need for equality in sound. This is also another area that Among Thieves improves upon. Basically, each location has its own tone of sound scheme and even one or two unique theme songs. I do not often say this, but the soundtrack alone is enough to warrant giving this game a try.

Overall

It is hard to give a clear judgement of Among Thieves. I will be frank, while there are some improvements, there are still weaknesses and the game takes too many elements from its predecessor. As a whole, if you have played Drake's Fortune, then technically you have played Among Thieves.

The game is to be praised for really pushing the limits of the Playstation 3 in both graphics and sound and for giving the player monumental action sequences. But it cannot be ignored that too little attention has been given to the puzzles, the platforming and the story itself is too minimalistic to be considered stand alone. Never the less, this game is still worth adding to one’s collection.