Well, after about ten hours of intense gameplay, I have completed Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. So what did I think of it? Don't worry, I haven't felt long winded in a while, and have really been downright lazy (I have 5 ideas for blogs I want to write, but I honestly can't muster any gusto to sit down and do it), so this won't be too long.

Simply put, Uncharted 2 is amazing. Does it stand up to the hype it has recieved? Absolutely. Why? The campaign is fast paced, and even though some parts areobviously scripted, you always feel as if you are inches from death, and that it was because of your own actions that you managed to survive. Thestory? Awesome. Although it gets a little far-fetchednear the end, it doesn't feel out of place. Much like an Indian Jones movie, even when Drake makes a jump no human could make or guns down a group of guys withnothing more than apistolyou won't question it, only smile and ask for more. Speaking of shooting, I want to touch on the controls. Whats a good word? Awesome. Thecover system is nearly flawless, and works perfectly in nearly every situation.Over the shoulder aiming is easy and fun, and the assortment of weapons is sizable and diverse. Whether you a blowing away guys with aPistol sized shotgun, or snipingpeople with a Dragunov, you will want to replay levels just tosmite people with all the different kinds of guns (I know I did).Meleeing is alot of fun as well, with fist-fightsusing simple, yet fun, context based button pushes to dispatchopponents.And stealth kills never ( and I mean never) fail to please.

So, what makes this game different fromany other third person action/adventure? The sheer diversity of what you do means that the action is never (and I mean never) old. One level you are in a gun-fight with impossible odds, and next your running from a truck, filling the grill with bullets from an AK-47, next your jumping from one car to anotherin an insane car chase the defys all reason. Not enough? Fine, how about stealth killing tons of guards in a museum without being caught? Or fighting aYehti (yah, not kidding) as it literally beats the crap out of you?Or one of my favorites:advancing up a train, attmepting to get to the front while contending with soldiers on the inside of the cars, dodging obstacles while on top of the car, and fighting a helicopter on the exposed parts.

And even beyobnd all that, there is the way the story is told. Exceptional cutscenes make you think your watching a movie, with the absolute best dialogue and voice acting I have ever seenin a video game. Period. Honestly, the voice acting and dialogue are so superb, its hard to imagine this isn't a game addaption of a movie. Even during gameplay, the dialogue is spectacular, going from downright funny to situationaly perfect. What I mean by the last part is this: You jump and grab onto a ledge, and it starts to crumbleunder your grasp, you start to scream, "Oh, crap!!!", but Drake beats you to it. At least three times I have found myself saying the same thing as Drake, atnearly the same moment. What does that mean? One of two things: ALOT of thought went into this dialogue, or me and Drake are kindred spirits. ConsideringthatNathan Drake climbed a train that was hanging off a cliff right after getting shot, Ima go with the former.

So, whatscore did I give the game? An 8.5/10.*Gasp* "But whyVXL, I thought you loved it?!?" Yah, I did, just one problem: too short. No game under 20 hours long will get anything above a 9/10 fromme. Uncharted2 was awesome, and isa game anyone with a PS3 absolutely must own, but nontheless, it should have been much longer. Ten hours is unnaceptable, even with the little extras at the end. What extras? After beating the game, you can use the money you earned from finding various treasures hidden throughout the levels to buy tweaks, such as zero gravity, unlimited ammo, one-hit kills, black and white, sepia tone, and other such tom-foolery. They are alot of fun, and I have been replaying alot of levels with one hit kills, unlimited ammo, andzero gravity. Its rowdy fun, but doesn't make up for the short campaign.

Speaking of fun, I should mention the online. The online is awesome, and the cover system makes it over completely intact. Thats really the focus here, flushing people out of cover to finish them off, using cover effectively, and killing enemies before they are aware of you. Its fun and well supported, with plentyof imaginitive and beautiful maps, tons of game modes (death match, capture the flag, objective, objective co-op, and a horde like mode that is super awesome), a neat perk system, tons of stuff to buy with in-game cash likedifferent skins, and a very very cool replay mode where you can re-watch and save replays from your previous matches. You canfollow any person in the match,even enemies, do arial views of the battlefield,watch it in slow motion, and even takescreenshots that you can use as your background on the PS3.

So yah, thats what I think of Uncharted 2.

Oh yah, the graphics are great too, but who cares? I don't.