Uncharted 2

I started thinking about all the videogame blogs that I like and realized most all of them focus on one theme per post. None of this rambling, distracted stuff that I tend to do since I don't post often enough. So this one is focused on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

I had heard several people say it was really good. And it didn't disappoint. The train level alone is worth the price of admission. Games have done train levels before, for sure. Run along the top, go from car to car, pretty standard stuff. But the way that your aim was distorted when going around curves and the incredible locations the train goes by make this one something brand new. I happened to listen to this podcast right before I got to the level. Manveer had some very glowing things to say about the level and how it will make future train levels hard for designers. The bar has been raised.

The single player story is the star here, and it's done extremely well. The characters actually seem human and the dialogue is entertaining. I felt like I really got to know Drake and the two ladies he spends most of the time with. When I thought I would have to choose between one of them to save towards the end, I would have had a really tough choice to make. Of course, there's some very cliché stuff in here. I really should have kept track of how many times one character was hanging off a cliff with one hand as another struggled to pull them up. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It's right there on the cover.

I haven't played the first one yet. Does it blatantly plagiarize from Tomb Raider as much as this one? There's lots of ledge crawling and environmental puzzles to say the least. One level in particular took it too far. I pulled way too many switches, jumped across way too many gaps, and started up way too much ancient machinery just to open some silly temple. Speaking of that, big on the list of inspirations to the developers had to be the Indiana Jones movies.

I played a few rounds online. Just the co-op missions since I figured I'd just get killed immediately doing anything else. But they were well done and it seemed like the online stuff would extend the life of the game a bit beyond the single player campaign. So overall, it's a heck of a ride. If you have a PS3, this should be near the top of your list.