As a game, Uncharted 2 is a dramatic, superbly paced action adventure thrill ride with tight cover-based third-person shooting and periodic bits of basic puzzle solving and platforming. But honestly, not much has changed with the gameplay since the first game, and the few new additions (propane tank tossing, riot shield, hanging cover points, basic stealth implementation etc.) don’t really stand out as anything particularly significant.
The game also has a lot of little problems I think have been too easily forgiven in all the gushing reviews the game has been receiving. I’m not saying the game doesn’t deserve to be gushed over – hell, it’s probably my current pick for game of the year and I’m about to gush over it myself right now – but certain things really did bug me about it.
AI companions, for instance, frequently get in your way, jumping into and knocking you off of ladders, clogging up nearby cover points and so on – one time a companion stood under me while I was dropping from a wall hang and I wound up floating on top of him before a forced death made it seem as if I’d fallen off a cliff. The level designs – during moments of adventure and exploration, more specifically — are also way too linear and really require a determined suspension of belief to accept. Nate can scale walls and other obstacles with ease, but only walls and obstacles the developers have scripted out, and every step of the way a helpful box, grappling hook or whatever it may is always magically right there when it’s needed. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes at the absurdity of many of these scenarios – the developers even acknowledge such clichés and unbelievable coincidences via Nate’s many in-game quips, as if poking fun at such things somehow excuses them.
But while Naughty Dog failed to polish and flesh out these areas, they succeeded in producing what is easily the most cinematic gaming experience I’ve ever played – the first video game that I think can hold its own against any Hollywood blockbuster action flick.
Games that emphasize the cinematic experience above everything else typically come with a certain stigma attached to them. However, unlike many other games with “interactive movie” aspirations, Uncharted 2 makes you feel like you are watching a movie without actually making you feel like you are watching a movie, if you catch my drift.
I love the Metal Gear Solid series, but its lengthy cutscenes do put you into a cycle of “play, watch, play, watch, play, watch…” that can be monotonous and off-putting for many players. Other recent games like Heavenly Sword and even the first Uncharted had a similar feeling (though obviously not to the same extent). But Uncharted 2 avoids this pitfall by flawlessly integrating cinematic moments with every phase of the gameplay and weaving every scene together with pitch-perfect pacing and a form of rolling narrative (characters constantly talk back and forth as you are playing and it really drives the story forward in a subtle but meaningful way) that keeps the game flowing along with an incredible sense of immersion and continuity. Yes, cutscenes are used throughout the game to deliver key scenes, but they never drag on too long, and generally flow so seamlessly in and out of gameplay that you never lose the feeling of control over what’s happening on screen.
With Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog has also mastered the art of in-game cinematic moments. At the heart of every gun battle and every moment of exploration is an elaborate set piece that transforms ordinary gameplay sequences into signature moments that will stick in your mind forever like classic scenes from a favorite movie (or TV show). Numerous such scenes instantly flood into my mind, but one in particular really stands out. Fairly early on in the game, Nate must drag a wounded cameraman to safety in a harrowing escape sequence through the alleys of war torn Nepal. He has one arm lending support and one arm free to fire with as enemies swarm after you, all the while Chloe and Elena are providing cover fire and opening doorways to steer you out of harm’s way. For me it was a signature moment that will resonate in my gaming memory bank forever, and there are many more just like it throughout the game’s riveting 12-hour campaign.
It sure doesn’t hurt that the graphics, animations, cinematography, and character portrayals are the best in the business either. Every bit as much as David Hayter is Solid Snake, voice acting vet Nolan North is Nathan Drake – seriously, whenever I hear him in another game I immediately say to myself “hey, that’s Nathan Drake!” North owns his role as Nate and, through his performance in Uncharted 2, truly defines the character as perhaps the most iconic video game hero of this generation. The supporting cast is excellent too, with actors/actresses like Emily Rose, Claudia Black, Steve Valentine and Graham McTavish putting memorable voices to the lifelike, emotion-filled virtual faces of Elena, Chloe, Harry Flynn and Zoran Lazarevic, respectively.
Sony’s Uncharted 2 TV ad really is spot-on in identifying and promoting exactly what the game is. Friends and family who previously had little, if any, interest in video games will pass by you playing this, stop in awe and say “that looks just like a movie,” and sit down to watch you play. I consider that proof that Naughty Dog has finally shattered the barrier between video games and Hollywood with Uncharted 2, and that’s an accomplishment we should all recognize and applaud.
Oh yeah, and they created a great game too. Don’t forget about that either!
Matt Litten is a 27 year old from-the-womb gamer turned video game reviewer/blogger and current editor/owner/operator of VGBlogger.com.
In 2004, Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com, and after a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez Matt turned his attention to making VGBlogger one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Some of Matt's all-time favorite games include ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid, Legend of Zelda, and, well...too many others to list here.
I disagree on your point of AI companions. I never had any problems with them during the main story after going through it 3 times. And while a lot of the platforming was linear, I don’t find it as a flaw. There was one chapter in the game, Heart of Ice, where traversal would’ve been bi-linear, but I say that the level design was acceptable and not technologically flawed.
Absolutely agree. Mind you, there are other games that can fit this bill as well, but Uncharted 2 really does do it so much better than any game before it. It’s like they realized that set pieces are what make the experience and tried to cram as many as possible in there. You’re always doing something crazy and stupid and iconic.
My only problem is that they held steadfast with the assertion that it needed supernatural elements.
@warezIbanez
I guess it’s kind of the luck of the draw with the AI thing. As I said, I had many problems with AI jumping into me while I was climbing a ladder or something and knocking me off, or when switching cover I’d bump into them and be left out in the open to be killed. And then there was the specific glitch I mentioned, which was a freak thing. Guess I’ve just been unlucky. I’m glad they haven’t bothered you though!
As for the level designs, my only problem is with the exploration parts. The set pieces designed for the gun battles are spectacular with plenty of cover points and open areas to try different strategies. But when it’s time to move to the next area there’s always one blatantly marked path of climbable bricks and it just seems so contrived. With the rest of the game being so amazing I felt this area of the game was dumbed down to “adventure game design 101.”
@Thomas
Oh yeah, totally. Games like Heavenly Sword, MGS and the first Uncharted are great cinematic games and are definitely in the conversation for me. I just think Uncharted 2 is the first game to really perfect the melding of video game and movie.
Don’t much care for the supernatural stuff either, but I think it fit better here than in the original. At least it wasn’t a detraction like it was in the original. I thought the final moments of the first game were a bit of a drag compared to the rest of it, but I didn’t get that from U2 at any point.
I never had issues with the AI, so I have no complaints there.
I agree that the puzzles and exploration could have been harder and that ND hold your hand too much. But I think they do that to keep the movie illusion going. That magical feeling of playing a movie would be totally lost if the player was stuck on a puzzle for half an hour or they couldn’t find the way out of the jungle. So I believe ND had to make those parts easy in order to maintain the momentum and natural flow that is a big part of the ‘movie feeling’.
@Aitrus
Great point. I do agree that it helps maintain that “movie feeling.” And in general I do prefer games with more of a linear progression over more open-world style games. But I think ND could have done a much better job creating more organic pathways that aren’t so obvious and unbelievably coincidental. Don’t have any issue with the difficulty of the adventure stuff, just that it’s too guided and forced.
My issue with the puzzles was that often they just felt like they were breaking the pace a bit too much. The big puzzles in the game weren’t really adding much, just forcing you to look at Drake’s journal and match things up. They all seem like they should’ve somehow be streamlined so that they didn’t feel like they were the only places in the game you were stopping.
As for the “coincidental pathways,” I really didn’t have a problem with it. I don’t really get why people don’t like linear games anymore. It’s a very tightly focused experience. This is your pathway. They aren’t giving you like eight different ways to do it; just one awesome way. The only time I could see complaining about that is when they just haven’t made it 100% clear where that one pathway is.
@Thomas
It’s not just a matter of the linearity. As I said, I like linear games and much prefer them to more sandbox style games (except for RPGs where it’s better to have more choices). I too like that U2 is a tightly paced game and wouldn’t want to see it turned into some open-world experience. However, there is a way to make linear gameplay not feel so guided, and that’s where I think ND faltered a bit with some of the level design.
I’m specifically getting at situations like coming across a locked door only to see a perfectly carved out path of bricks on the wall for you to climb up to reach the other side. Or like when you come to a broken ladder and boost your partner up, then they find a box or something magically placed up on the ledge to kick down for you to climb up — ND even pokes fun at how contrived these moments are through Nate’s comments.
I’m not saying they ruin the game or anything, but in what is otherwise one of the most immersive games I’ve ever played they break my suspension of belief, that’s all.
The game was a really great buy all in all. The graphics were really great and the reason is that you could actually believe that it was a movie with a script yet you still have all control of what will happen in the game. And the platform was really linear but it went well with the aspect of the game so i really do not think that the platform being so linear is a flaw. I agree with you Thomas with the fact that the creators poking fun at events during the game is great and makes you chuckle. This makes the event no so cliche and wont bother you as much for being so simple. This can be fixed in the next game and people will not have so much of a problem with the game play. The whole issue with the game play is mostly because of the design of the levels in the game. Objects that can be climbed,grabbed, or thrown stand out way to much in the levels. Just be hiding them a bit more will increase the pleasure the fans of the game will have with the next uncharted game. But the fact that the cinematic moments in the game saved the entire game. The game did sell 537,000 copies for a reason, so the game is the best out in the market for October and will continue. Till the next uncharted game is released we all know this game is a classic and so will be the future copies of the game.