Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Hover mouse over screenshots for commentary.

This is the gameplay I saw back in 2009. It's still awesome.

November 2016

The year was 2009. I had recently purchased a PS3 after being disillusioned by my childhood video game company, Nintendo. The Wii was disappointing to me - it just didn't have many games. I was so excited for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The technology looked amazing! It was going to be like Jedi Academy, only way cooler! It sucked. It sucked bad. Especially on the Wii. I lost all trust in video game advertising. I was watching E3 (the big annual trade show where new games are announced) and thinking "I just don't think I can get excited by a trailer anymore. They're all just CGI anyway and don't even show real gameplay." And then at E3 they showed a few minutes of gameplay from Uncharted 2, played live on stage.

Wow. I'd never heard of Uncharted before and this gameplay was amazing. It started out with your character atop a tall building in a city at war. Drake ziplines down to another rooftop and a helicopter starts firing at him and his partner. They run and jump from building to building while the helicopter's gatling gun shreds apart the environment (that was technologically amazing at the time). The gun-play looked awesome and the graphics were amazing. At one point Drake goes into a building and is fighting through enemies while the helicopter is blowing holes in the walls and firing inside. The helicopter backs away and then starts shooting below you at the building. Drake says something like "What's he doing?" And then the whole building starts to fall forward! Not in a cutscene, but as part of the gameplay. Drake stumbles around but manages to jump out of a hole in the wall and into another building as the building he's in crashes into it. I'd never seen anything like that, and playing through that section is as awesome now as it was when I first saw it. There are many set pieces like this throughout the Uncharted games, but this one is probably my favorite since it did a lot to reignite my faith in video games.

Uncharted 2 is arguably one of the best games ever made. It's just so polished and engaging. It set the gold standard for many aspects of video games. The voice acting was miles ahead of anything else at the time. The banter between the characters actually made me laugh, which is a tall order for a video game. The graphics were great and are among the best on the PS3, even including games made years after it. The pacing of the game is just perfect - you'll have just the right amount of intense action before there is a more subdued section, and that last just the right amount of time as well.

There are more subtle aspects of the game design that have done a lot to move gaming forward. For example, rather than having a big arrow showing you where to go, the designers instead tried to guide you with visual clues - in general, if a pipe or something is bright colored then you can climb it. The doorway where you are supposed to go might have a light nearby that catches your eye. It's small but I think things like this make a big difference in terms of immersion, and it's nice that the game doesn't hold your hand while also providing hints so that you don't get stuck.

I could go on and on about this game, but suffice it to say that it's my favorite Uncharted game and I'd be genuinely surprised if you didn't like it. The game can speak for itself.

The game starts with Drake waking up on a train. A train that's vertical.		You've got to climb up this sucker.
		An easy enough jump. . .
	A brief flashback about how he got into his current predicament.	The guy on the left is Flynn, and the woman is Chloe. The three of them devise a treasure hunting plan and become partners.
	Drake's a bit of a dudebro but he's also very smart.
	"Gooooooo TEAM!"	Oh yeah, the cold train part.

?	The the train stuff actually happens about halfway through the game, and the first half is sort of a flashback. This part takes place just after Drake, Chloe, and Flynn agree to work together.


	This whole section is a stealth section, which a lot of people didn't like for some reason. Maybe it was too hard?


	Part 1	Part 2. If you wait you can see the guard start to swim in the ocean.

In this museum you find this blue resin, and when it's set on fire it gives of a light that reveals hidden writing on various artifacts.
Looks like Drake is . . . puts on shades Among Thieves.		The guards are after Drake.
Caught.	Drake graudally going insane in prison	By the way, that jail cell is nicer than most of the ones we have in the U.S. Seriously.


Dat treasure.		Uncharted 2 added a few more melee moves, like grabbing enemies from around the corner.
	What does frivolity mean?	Me and Drake are so alike.

This jungle was so amazing back then. It just felt organic and like a real jungle, not a bunch of polygons arranged like a jungle.
	The baddies are looking for something and you're trying to beat them to it.
		An underground cave with more of that blue resin.



Trouble in Nepal.
I didn't realize it at the time, but if you don't shoot the truck it will, in fact, kill you.	Those flags really stick out in my memory. For me they are iconic of Uncharted 2.
The detail is just great. This isn't some highlighted area, but the designers took the time to make a blown apart laundromat.



		Playing Marco Polo.

On a part of a roof no one would ever go on the designers put solar panels. The attention to detail never fails to impress.		From that segment I wrote about. It's also in the video.

The building starting to fall forwards.		You still have to deal with the helicopter.
		You stumble across Elena and her cameraman, Jeff.

		Hmm. How do I solve this puzzle? I should check my journal.
As you play Drake will make entries into his journal. You only see them if you bother to check. The journal also holds clues as to how to solve various puzzles.		Seems nice.

		Back in 2009, the fact that you could visually distinguish wood from metal was pretty impressive, graphically.

	Again, the attention to detail. In this mirror puzzle the light is slightly bigger than the mirror, and a sort of eclipse is left that Drake can step in front of.
		A giant dagger to compliment the regular size one in Drake's possession.
		Hanging from that mouth from earlier. This statue needs to brush more often.
	Jeff gets shot and you try to help him escape.
		The main baddy.


		Drake and Elena. It's just meant to be.

These guys suck.
		It's hard for me to discount GoldenEye 64, but Uncharted 2 probably has the best train level of any game ever.
You climb around on the outside and can hop inside the cars as well.
More attention to detail. This train is booking it but they still rendered a cabin on the land.	These things can smack you off. And the enemies . . .	Another chopper?!

		As the level(s) go on, the climate around the train changes from tropical to mountain/snowy.

You climb into a tank that is being transported and shoot down the helicopter, but there is a problem . . .		Ah yes, back where we started.
	You are rescued by a Tibetan man and taken to their peaceful village.	Tenzin, the man who rescued you, takes you to an Ice Temple for the next step of your journey.



You'll probably feel cold just playing through this section.	?!
		The ice temple mostly consists of climbing around and solving puzzles. A nice change of pace from the intense train section. It's maybe a touch too long, though.


	Stupid Nazis.

Kill it!	You know, it would have been easier to find this thing instead of going all the way through the ice temple . . .	The bad guy is attacking the village! Jerk store!

	A tank comes into the small village and causes immense damage.

	You hop from truck to truck trying to reach the front to rescue your friend.
		Boom!





	An awesome glitch that happened.
	Drake has some serious grip strength and dexterity.

Oh yeah, these boards are TOTALLY stable! Come across already!




Trying to solve a few last puzzles.


	Another puzzle.
		You finally make it to the secret city, full of treasure and the source of immortality. Supposedly . . .

		You try to fight off baddies while this platform slides down the city.
?!

Drake's turn with the mini-gun.
Quite the staircase.
		The Cintamani stone.


The bad guy drinks the special sap and gains a lot of strength, making for a tough boss fight.

	Sometimes you don't make the jump.

	We get married, obviously!
Playing with the skeleton skin.		I'm seeing double here! 4 Flynns!

	Genghis Khan.


	This part is so frickin' hard on the toughest difficulty.
		Drake really is a nice guy, though.
	It's nice of the snipers to always use laser sights.
Classic Drake pose.


		Obligatory platinum trophy screenshot.