Review: Uncharted 2 (PS3)

Posted on 19. Nov, 2009 by Mark Cullinane in Featured, PS3, Reviews

You know a game is doing something right when you find yourself spontaneously creating new save game files for the sole purpose of replaying memorable scenes. I did that a lot in Resident Evil 4. In the 2005 GameCube game, a heart-pounding, well-choreographed  set-piece was just around the next corner.

By the time I conquered Uncharted 2, I found I had a grand total of sixteen save points- for precisely the same reason. It turned out that I needn’t have bothered, because developers Naughty Dog were way ahead of me: I later discovered that the game lets you replay chapters as you complete them.

But I digress. What I really wanted to open this review with is by saying that I have a confession to make. Despite being one of the PlayStation 3’s most acclaimed titles, I never took the opportunity to sample Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. I don’t generally make a habit of skipping the first part in a story before experiencing the second- and I fully expected Among Thieves, Drake’s second adventure, to be all but incomprehensible to a series newbie.

It was with some surprise, then, that from the stunning opening cliffhanger (literally) to the dazzling finale, Uncharted 2 grabbed my attention and held it in a way that few games have ever done.

Much has been made of Uncharted 2’s visual prowess- and it is the game’s sheer beauty that allows it to sink its hooks into you within moments of booting up the Blu-Ray. Even the most cursory of glances at Naughty Dog’s sequel demonstrates the utter mastery that the developer has over the PlayStation 3 architecture. Where so many developers have struggled to get the console’s tricksy SPUs to work in tandem in a way that outclasses the Xbox 360, Naughty Dog have clearly cracked the code, creating a game engine as silky smooth as it is visually stunning- lush, detailed environments, beautifully animated character models, and a uniformly cinematic feel to the experience makes this one of the very best looking- if not the best- videogame I’ve ever played. But there’s so much more to Uncharted 2’s technical wizardry than pretty vistas to gawp it.

The way that cut-scenes naturally morph into real-time play; the naturalism and the versatility of the animation-Drake’s ability to traverse just about any climbable surface is mightily impressive- and the consistent, rock-solid framerate all demonstrate the solidity of Naughty Dog’s engine.

Uncharted 2’s visual bar-raising is aptly illustrated by a level which takes place atop a speeding train. The beautiful Tibetan countryside whizzes by-  villages, lakes, rivers, bridges, gorges, jungle. And it continues to go by- with no apparent duplication of environment or looping of the same assets. Surely, Naughty Dog didn’t go to the effort of designing countless miles of non-interactive environments- random generation and other clever techniques are presumably being used- but the illusion of a living, breathing world is quite a sight to behold.

The storyline itself is nothing original- a concoction of Indiana Jones, James Bond, Lara Croft, with lashings of Dan Brown-esque intrigue- is one of unsolved historical mysteries, ancient relics, and cheesy one-liners.

It is the likeability of the characters that raises Uncharted light years ahead of most other titles in storytelling terms. Drake and partner Chloe may initially appear to be occupy well-worn roles- they are, respectively, the fearless, wise-cracking, ruggedly handsome alpha male, and the sassy, girl-power-infused renegade. And whilst neither protagonist possesses an abundance of depth, you’ll be enjoying their camaraderie too much to care: their pithy, naturalistic and often genuinely funny conversations are utterly devoid of the sort of stilted, poorly-acted dialogue that plagues many otherwise impressive titles- and another example of the way in which every single aspect of this game has been polished until it positively shines.

Indeed, Finding a chink in the armoury of Uncharted 2 proves to be a pleasingly difficult task.  The vast majority of videogames, even the very best ones, have rough edges. Among Thieves’ edges are nearly impossible to see, so coherent and so well joined-up is the whole experience.

Uncharted’s achievements are legion. Its visuals are stellar; its sound suitably epic; its controls satisfying; its storyline engaging; its scope ambitious; and its production values astonishing.

Yet, for a game that at least appears to be a jack of all trades, at its core, Uncharted 2’s gameplay isn’t particularly varied- it’s a completely linear third-person shooter- with the sole objective in most areas being to clear the room of enemies. Although the game often gives the appearance of freedom, there’s only ever one way forwards. Not that linearity is bad- some of my best friends are entirely linear. But it does demonstrate that in form, if not in function,Uncharted 2 isn’t a mindblowing advancement in gaming.

But if Uncharted 2 is little more, in raw gameplay terms, than a straightforward third-person shooter, the quality of the experience- in terms of pacing, controls and balance- is so pitch-perfect that you won’t even notice that you’re essentially doing much the same thing again and again. Uncharted 2’s excellence, then, lies not in its promise of revolutionary gameplay, but in its utter perfection of what has gone before.

The nature of videogames criticism means that the process of playing a game for review can often be a tiresome one. It frequently involves speeding through multiple titles in just a few days; often resulting in a mechanical experience that sucks much of the fun out of the act of playing games. The tardiness of this review can be attributed to the fact that this game was played at my leisure- and at a pace that meant I could savour the experience. That’s how videogames should be played; and it’s how they should be reviewed, too.

In the final analysis, Uncharted 2 must be seen as an unqualified success. It is at once a shining example of what the PlayStation 3 is capable of, of the enduring relevance of the single-player game, and of the stellar talent within Naughty Dog, who must surely now be inducted into the very top tier of videogame developers in the world.

Sony provided a copy of Uncharted 2 for review.