Nathan Drake is back and this time better than before as he
embarks on another action packed daring adventure that will literally have you
driven onto the edge of your seat during every exhilarating hour. The story takes place a couple of years after
the events of the first game, and after Drake gets convinced to break into a
Turkish museum at night, by his cocky, witty and snobby friend Harry Flynn to
find a priceless artefact, but after Drake quickly realizes the truth of his
latest discovery he descends onto another quest that results in him going
around the globe to deny an evil warlord from gaining full possession of a
sacred object to deny him gaining god like powers. The plot is brilliant as it
keeps you fully engaged into the story, but at times the large amount of twists
are not so surprising as you can see them coming a mile away by the way the
story unfolds. The story is so interesting due the phenomenal voice acting done
by the cast that really bring the characters to life. Nathan Drake is obviously the main character
and is easily the most likeable character because of the way he is
portrayed. His motivations are pure and
clear but still runs through this action packed adventure with a roughish smile
with amazing charisma which is highly enjoyable as when every bad situation
occurs Drake acts in a realistic manner which is very uncommon in video games,
as in most video games the hero remains calm and seems to have everything under
control, whilst Drake panics, swears a lot because of the situation as well as
lets everything play out as he can’t control the situation he is in. This helps
make the game look amazingly cinematic and it also makes the main character
relatable to as in the end he acts as an average man who’s just doing
everything in his power to survive and save the world. Drake isn’t the only
enjoyable character, as all characters in this film are well developed, even
when it’s just normal game play as they all converse in discussion as well as
friendly throw insults at one another as well as joke around.
Almost every single character in this game with two or more
lines have an interesting reason for being involved in the game and for acting
the way they did. As all characters interact with one another in a realistic
and intriguing manner which makes the adventure seem like you watching a summer
blockbuster action movie. All characters reactions are not forced or
unnecessary, which is great as it makes you wonder if or when someone is going
to turn their back on you. Aside from
the main character Nathan Drake, there are two more characters that players of
Drakes previous adventure will fairly know of and remember. These two
characters are none other than Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan. Elena Fisher returns, maintaining her job
role as a journalist who just gets thrown into the adventure and life
threatening situation before she knows it.
Elena for the people who didn’t play the predecessor of Uncharted 2 is a
white attractive American, hardworking and loyal woman who if shot at, is not
afraid to return the gesture. Victor Sullivan also returns in this adventure,
but this time plays out a smaller role in this adventure. I thought that he was
highly under used as he is a character that many fans of the uncharted
franchise found enjoyable and was a fan of, but in this game blink and he’s
gone. Besides Harry Flynn there are a
large number of new characters thrown into the franchise. Chloe Frazer is one
of them, she is an extremely attractive Aussie woman, with a tomboy attitude.
Unlike Elena she is ruthless and isn’t afraid to take somebody’s life in order
to save hers. Having another female in
the game also helped make the story better as it added an extremely enjoyable
love triangle to the equation. Zoran Lazorovic is the leader of the organization
searching for the lost city of shambala, so he can find the tree of life which
will give him powers beyond even gods. Lazorovic has such a menacing look upon
his face as half his face is burnt and cut along with his menacing posture and
stature that will send a chill amongst the back of your spine and give you
Goosebumps. He also has no loyalty or
conscience as he won’t stop anything stand in the way of what he calls his
destiny.
The game play has hugely improved upon its predecessor, but
it still clearly isn’t perfect. The
controls will be familiar to players if you have played any third person
shooters in previous years without playing the first Uncharted, you aim with
the L1 button and shoot with the R1 button whilst holding it down. But unlike
most third person shooters, because of how realistic this game is Drake can’t
sustain much gun damage upon him, so you will have to constantly cover in
battles as covering plays a definitive role in keeping you alive. Cover and
shoot is used in all third person shooters, but in Uncharted 2 it is completely
different to other third person shooter games as it takes advantage of the
large space around you by offering you many objects to cover behind and make
all gun battles tense and exciting as if you don’t take out enemies quickly,
because of the smart AI they will quickly work together and attack you from all
angles. Unfortunately the controls are less than fully precise in cramped
corridor areas in the game, as it’s a struggle to smoothly slide from cover to
cover without mistakenly exposing yourself. It’s a very small issue that can
easily be overlooked as there are barely any tight areas in the game so it
doesn’t happen on a regular basis. But when battles do happen in a tight area,
they do take away the excitement as the battle is no longer tense and
unpredictable as the battles are far easier, as there is only one angle for
enemies to attack you from and they can’t also group together and act as a
team, so they only attack as individuals. This makes it less exciting as the
battle is unchallenging even on hardest difficulty, it doesn’t force you to
change your tactics and come up with a new strategy which makes it less tense.
The graphics are a major part in making this game as
successful as it is as the graphics are easily the best I’ve seen on any video
game. As you travel through damp rain
forests, travel through covered snow wastelands, into the ruins of a crumbling
city and to the large amount of areas Drake ventures to in his quest, you will
be treated to a huge amount of beautiful sights that will literally take your
breath away and make you feel as if your actually at that location. It is very
easy to get lost in the atmosphere making you swing the camera around with the
right analog stick to admire the sights whilst forgetting at the menacing man
shooting at you. The animation is outstanding in this game. Drake moves and
reacts realistically, whether he’s stumbling after a long jump, quickly
reaching behind his back to grab a weapon, or just looking tired after walking
up a long flight of stairs, the amount of detail is phenomenal. Particularly in
cut scenes where the characters interact with one another so well its
lifelike. In the locations there are also
little bits of attention to detail that make you lost in the world of Uncharted
2. When rushing through a rain forest you can see squirrels climbing up a tree,
and when you get wet Drakes shirt becomes tight on him and the colour dampens.
And even with all this detail, the game runs perfectly even through some of the
most tense gun fights, as there are only a few texture pop ins that you can
barely see.
In conclusion you enable Drake through a daring campaign
around the globe surviving onslaught wave of soldiers that are both tense and
give you an adrenaline rush with the excellent sound quality of non diagetic
and diagetic sounds. The diagetic sounds involve gun fire, explosives, car
sounds, actors voices which are all excellent as they make the world of
Uncharted 2 feel real. The non diagetic sounds is the multiple soundtracks in
the game which are so beautifully composed, and clearly represent the mood and
atmosphere of the game. The music also shows the genre of the game as its fast
and epic showing that its mainly genre, but the music can also be slow and feel
sympathetic showing their will also be emotional aspects as well as romantic
ones in the game as well.
