Uncharted 2 does more than any game I've played in a long time, but what's surprising is how well executed each part is!
Well, enough with the story, lets talk about the gameplay, ya know, the good stuff! Not much has changed in terms controls. Pressing down the right analogue stick zooms in a little bit (or a lot, depending on the weapon), grenades are thrown with L2 (huge improvement) and, that's it for changes. However, what has changed is how you play. Remember some of those intense firefights in the first game where you'd stay behind cover and just keep shooting. Yeah, that's not going to work anymore. You're going to need to move, and move fast. You want to always be in cover, but not in the same cover for too long. Huh, interesting concept. The levels also are more versicle, so expect to climb all over the place mid firefight. One of the biggest game changers here is stealth. If you've read other reviews a lot of them complain about chapter 2 and how they couldn't do it right and kept failing. Guys, its not bad. I went through my first play through on hard and breezed right through this part. I understand if you have trouble but when you look down at all the guards, just think about the best route to take and don't leave yourself exposed. Easy. Now, stealth is an absolute blast to use. Later in the game I took out entire groups of enemies to avoid a fire fight and breezed right through the environments. I also found myself taking out as many as 8 enemies silently before being seen, then positioning myself strategically for the unavoidable battle. Stealth is great, and don't let anyone tell you its not. There are also one move take downs that, I guess could qualify as stealth. If you position yourself right between cover and an enemy you can quickly take them out without them firing a shot. This works great if your behind cover and a heavier enemy that take a full clip to go down tries to walk right up to you. Press square, watch a pretty sweet grab take down, and continue the fight. The guns also control nicely and each is fun to use. Melee has its own effectiveness and watching the smoothly animated combat is incredibly entertaining. Platforming is made more seamless this time around. You can grab individual ledges and make your way up a wall (Assassin's Creed) or jump from spot to spot like in Drake's Fortune or inFamous. Since platforming is melded into the shooting it feels less forced and more fun. 2 later chapters in the game change that formula and rely completely on platforming alone. These 2 chapters are the low parts of the game but god it was necessary. See Uncharted 2 has these moments. You know, those times where your all relaxed. Running on the roof of a building. You're guns put away, real relaxing. Then, a helicopter appears. You start hauling ass onto another roof and eventually through a hole into the building. The building begins to blow to pieces and mercenaries are everywhere. Then the building begins to fall and the helicopter is shooting and you're all oh crap oh crap. You know those moments? No!? You haven't played Uncharted. This game has these moments. A tank is chasing you through a Tibetan village, your getting attacked by a heavy with a chain-gun on a train as it zooms through the snowy mountains. Uncharted 2 has these set pieces that will blow you away and there are a few more than what I mentioned. Its intense, its insane, it has the funnest 5 minute segments that looked like they were ripped out of a Jason Bourne or James Bond movie. Jesus Christ they're awesome! So, after you experience one of these, its only natural to want some down time. Uncharted 2 will give you that. After 4 chapters of nearly dying every 5 seconds, you get 2 chapters of platforming. Amen to great pacing!!! The ONLY and I mean ONLY problem I have with the game play would be the occasional cover screw ups (for lack of better term). Every once in a while, you will take cover on the wrong side of an object. It may cause you to die. But, to be fair, how is the game supposed to know where you want to take cover? It does know about 99% of the time but, often it will be your fault, you will stick to the wrong piece of cover. Well, that's enough of the gameplay. Lets go on shall we...
Graphics, best on consoles, Animations, best I've ever seen. Come on guys, do you really want another guy to tell you it has amazing visuals? No **** it has amazing visuals. Lets just jump over what you already know. One of the things Uncharted 2 has added since the release of its predecessor is online multiplayer and, while its not the best multiplayer I've ever played, its certainly up there. Considering how great the single player is, this is a bonus. Uncharted 2 has both Co-op and Competitive modes. Co-op modes include objective based modes which have you moving through a level taking out everyone that stands in your way with 2 other friends. They are fun. Once, I ran to save a downed teammate only to see a tank begin driving towards both of us. I bent down to heal him as the tank go closer. Right as he revived The tank ran him over. I ran back barely escaping. It was epic and I bet it sounds cool, doesn't it? Well, your right, except there are only 3 maps. All 3 are great and will give you moments like these, but it gets old after you play each one. The 2 other modes, Gold-rush and Survival have an onslaught of enemies coming at you while you either try to capture a treasure or survive respectively (if you couldn't figure it out). These modes work on more maps and require you to work as a team. They're fun, but not amazing. Moving on to competitive, its addicting. Each map takes you off the plane most games have you play on and adds some versatility. Right now, there are 7 maps and 7 modes, all great, but the devs are promising some DLC in the near future. Most of the modes are great but 2, elimination and King of the Hill are poorly executed. Both become complete grenade fests where no one is having fun. These modes are usually pretty avoidable, but you may get stuck with them from time to time. Outside of those modes you'll probably have some fun. Occasionally you'll have those moments where you'll pull 3 guys off a ledge ass they all run by you or narrowly escape someone shooting at you and see them blow up with a grenade you tossed at the doorway. Great stuff. To close, the game is epic. There are 100 treasures to find and multiplayer to play (I takes months to reach the top level). I have earned my platinum trophy and become a name to be feared online and I'm still not finished with it. I play through certain chapters daily for the adrenaline and play online whenever I'm not playing that. The Single Player is the best you can find and the multiplayer is especially solid. The worst part is knowing Ratchet and Clank comes out on Tuesday and I need to go and play that! There is so much inside this game that it is worth every penny you'll pay for it. Best $60 I've ever spent. Uncharted 2 is the greatest game I have played since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A well deserved 10/10 for this masterpiece!