Beauty breeds criticism.
Visually the game is stunning and though there are visual glitches--most noticeably texture popping--it has great vision and feels, as it should. A breathtaking 'action movie' sort of feel that carries throughout the game quite efficiently. The animation is certainly the strongpoint of the visuals and here Naughty Dog does not disappoint. The characters and the environment move about rather gracefully. There are only very minor instances of wonky animation.
Game play is somewhat an amalgam of other tried and true models. The platforming feels like a tuned Prince of Persia (cliff grabs and rope swings included) and the gunplay feels like a slowed down Gears of War (cover is plentiful and necessary). It may feel derivative, but it feels right for this game though in the third quarter of the game much of the tried and true is thrown out the window in an unfortunate twist. A bit of stealth play would have been nice as well since sometimes the enemies are a bit too perceptive...
The sound is almost completely perfect including properly timed fade ins and outs during combat and cut scenes, but it had a few glitches where action would be followed by an out-of-sync sound effect. Seldom did this occur, but when you're close to nirvana it doesn't take much to take a tumble.
The story for the most part is standard action flick sort of fare, but the key difference is the characters. Uncharted simply has a great core of characters to work with. Drake plays out for the most part perfectly as he seems to grow a bit into his role although mood swings between nervous and courageous do happen…it would have been nice to have a bit more reluctance so the guy could ease into the action her mold. Elena plays the surprising female love-interest role spot on. She's quirky and likable, but with a mysterious spot that sadly never really plays itself out. Sully is the most standard and possibly the most amusing member of the heroes. Once you hear him, you'll know about what to expect. On the other side of the alignment wheel, most of the key enemies are standard bad guy save for Raja, whom actually appeared to have history, but this path too has gone unused. The plot itself moves along at a reasonable clip and the separation into chapters gives the player a sense of accomplishment as well as foreboding with some well-chosen titles.
Visuals: 9 (beautiful, but with some unfortunate shortcomings/glitches)
Sound: 9.5 (perfectly realized musical score and usage, minor hitches)
Gameplay: 8.5 (fun, though not particularly inventive)
Story: 9 (perfect action-adventure script, pacing and characters, some unexplored territory)
Overall: 9 (the best PS3 game to date)
Naughty Dog has created yet another great franchise and if their press is accurate, this sequel shall not disappoint.