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The original Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune remains one of my favorite games of all time on the PS3. The story was highly entertaining, the graphics were stunning, and the controls precise. Needless to say I, along with many other gamers out there,  had pretty high expectations for Uncharted 2, especially after seeing the breathtaking demos at E3 this year. Finally after months of waiting Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is out. I can happily tell you it exceeds all expectations, easily making it one of the best games out so far this year.

The Story

The story takes place a couple years after the original Uncharted. Nathan Drake is on a mission once again. An old friend has tracked him down to help find a treasure sought out by a client. Of course nothing goes as planned and before you know it Drake finds himself on an adventure which eclipses Drake’s Fortune, as he hunts down the mythical kingdom of Shangri-La and the Cintamani Stone.

The story itself is standalone. Playing through the first game is not a pre-requisite, but if you have played it, it will add to your enjoyment of this title. I don’t want to give away anything and spoil the game so that’s all I’ll say about that. One thing I will say is the game doesn’t follow a linear storyline. You jump back and forth between past and present. A nice twist.

The Gameplay

Uncharted 2 plays just like the first game in the series. While the focus is on action (running and gunning), quite a few puzzles are thrown in for good measure. The game is well balanced. The puzzles are quite creative and clever and never take away from the fighting and exploring.

Like any good action movie, Uncharted 2 starts off with a bang. You are immediately immersed in action finding yourself hanging from a rail car that’s dangling over the edge of a cliff. What were you doing on that train? All will be explained as you play through the game.

Drake climbs his way up the side of a train. The dramatic first level!

I love the creativity that went into the level design. Almost no two levels play the same. Some will have you hopping from vehicle to vehicle in the middle of a gunfight, while dramatic chase scenes have you running straight at the camera a la Crash Bandicoot. This game will keep your adrenaline pumping. It simply never gets old. Action games don’t get much better than this.

The Controls

The controls are nearly flawless in Uncharted 2. They are precise and responsive and most importantly they work. This is especially important when you consider how much running, jumping and climbing you will be doing.  Even when you’re scaling up the side of a cliff, the movements are natural and fluid. It feels like you are in a movie.

While the game is focused on action, quick time events do pop up from time to time. It’s nice to see it’s not over used. Some games like Resident Evil 5 seemed to depend on Quick Time Events to keep the action going. That’s not needed in this game. It’s used sparingly and effectively.

The Graphics

One word. Breathtaking. The attention to detail is obvious from the pock marks on Nathan Drake’s face, to the beautiful environments. There were moments in the game where I would actually stop and look for vantage points to admire the photo realistic environments. This is a first as I’ve never done this in a video game before, and that says something. Oh, and the music, just as beautiful.

The graphics in Uncharted 2 are absolutely stunning. Some of the best environments we've seen in a videogame.

The Downsides

While there are no glaring flaws in the game, I did stumble across a couple of issues. They are by no means big, but they are present. In fact some may accuse me of nit picking.

First off, why do many of the enemies look the same? There’s the “red headed bad guy”, the “brown haired bad guy”, and the “enemy clad in black”. You’ll see the same enemies over and over again throughout the game. I found this strange. So much attention to detail in this game yet the generic enemies seemed to be overlooked.

I also ran into some enemy AI issues. There were a couple of times where I would sneak up on an enemy, he would turn to look at me, yet not see me because I was crouching. If I sat there long enough he would eventually come after me. This literally only happened a couple of times, but it was noticeable and should be pointed out.

The Bottom Line

I love this game. I really truly love this game. It’s entertaining through and through. The graphics are unbelievable, the action intense, and on top of it all off it has a great story. There are also plenty of laugh out loud moments and great voice acting. What else could one want? Keep in mind that’s just the single player mode. There’s multiplayer as well which is just as solid.

The Story Mode is so good it's easy to forget about multiplayer. Don't! Mutliplayer is solid as well.

It’s clear this will become a system seller for Sony. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves achieves near perfection in every way. My biggest complaint is that it eventually comes to an end, making me long for yet another sequel.

The Good

Outstanding graphics and music
Stellar story
Solid controls

The Bad

Why do many of the enemies look the same?
Sporadic enemy AI issues

Score: 9.5/10