Great game, plays like a charm, difficulty is perfect, and DEFINITELY worth the wait! Would justify a PS3 purchase!
Uncharted 2: Among thieves innovates in a lot of ways.
First, the story. Without spoiling anything, it is a great story, with some nice plot twists, and a love triangle to boot. From what I've played, it is told in flashbacks, and in the first couple of hours, some pretty intense things happen. Heck, in the tutorial, Nate nearly falls to his death!
Second, the graphics. Holy ****. The first Uncharted was beautiful, and the second game's water/snow effects, lighting, sheer attention to detail, animation, seamless transition from gameplay to cutscenes (there is no graphical difference between the two) and HOLY CRAP THAT'S NOT STAGED???? moments will blow you away. During a certain sequence on a train, the background is fully rendered in 3d, does not repeat, and carries on for about 15 min. Oh, and did I mention that the only time the game loads is when you start it up? I'm serious. Naughty Dog says they used only 90% of the PS3's power, but it feels like 1000%.
Now, to the gameplay. The first Uncharted used a snappy Gears Of War-like cover system, and Uncharted 2 takes the same route, but with a few tweaks. Grenades are no longer mapped to the Sixaxis, but now to one button that you can pinpoint while aiming. The addition of a run-and-gun reticule is a godsend as well, making it a viable option. And speaking of viable options, Drake has several other strategies for combat. 1.He can go in, guns blazing. There is a good variety of weapons, each with a satisfying bang behind it.
2. He could also find a sniper rifle. Sniping is satisfying, and can give several "BOOMHEADSHOTW00T!" moments.
3. Or he could stealthily take out as many enemies as possible before being seen. Drake is an expert at sneaking around, and can take out enemies in a variety of different ways.
However, when an enemy sees you getting close, you must resort to melee combat, which has been changed from the first game. One button is attack, and one button is counter. A variety of one-hit-kill melee attacks are there as well. When Drake really gets into the thick of it, however, the difficulty is decent. Hard mode is pretty hard, and Crushing mode is ridiculously difficult, resulting in two-shot-kills for Drake most of the time. You can always change the difficulty of the game at any time, though. When you beat the game, a variety of bonuses are unlocked/become unlockable such as one shot kills, skins, specific weapons, unlimited ammo, and super-slow-mo.
And now to the biggest new addition- the multiplayer. Whoa. It's everything you like about the combat of the single-player game, and translating it to multiplayer. Leaving out splitscreen was a shame, but the multiplayer itself is wonderful, with a large variety of maps and modes, perks like in Call of Duty, and an experience system. Some of my favorite moments came from "Deathmatch RPG's" and taking out multiple opponents with one shot. And we can't forget the co-op missions, can we? Up to 3 players can help each other through abridged sections of the main game in co-op mode. Helping a CPU up a ladder is one thing, but when somebody online does it, it feels awesome. Something also worth noting is the machinima mode, which allows you to record and edit previously played matches. This can be really fun when you get bored of the main game, and watching people (or you) being owned never gets old.
If the multiplayer was all that it contained, I would still buy this game.
In summary, anybody who likes shooters, a good story, and truly movie-worthy moments will find no fault in this game. In fact, I don't think anybody could.