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After the success of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune in 2007, Naughty Dog is now set to unleash Uncharted 2: Among Thieves upon the gaming industry. I, like many others, were blown away by the original's excellent mix of platforming and third person shooting gameplay, as well as the immaculate voice acting that brought the summer blockbuster story to life. Many hailed it as their favourite PS3 game – a hard act to follow, even for a developer as well-respected and talented as Naughty Dog.
Yet it seems they are up to the challenge. The original was proclaimed to be the most graphically-impressive title released on consoles at the time, and now looks set to snatch that title once again. The footage released so far shows some incredible lighting and detailed character models, moving with some of the best, most fluid animation seen in a game. The story once again follows Nathan Drake, this time on the continent of Asia, seeking the remnants of the fleet of Marco Polo and the treasures they hold. However, upon learning more, he finds that Marco Polo was searching for the Cintamani Stone, a wish-fulfilling stone from Buddhist belief. Said to be worth a fortune, Nathan and company set out to find it, and conflict with a man named Zorin Lazarevic, a war criminal seeking the stone for his own desires.
The gameplay follows the foundation laid by the first, with third-person shooting combined and punctuated by platforming sections. Different assortments of weapons can be used, including pistols, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, grenade launchers and RPGs.
The greatest addition to Uncharted 2 has to be the multiplayer modes. During June, I had the opportunity to take part in the first Uncharted 2 beta test, and I found myself addicted. There are two major modes in multiplayer: co-op and competitive. In co-op, up to three players play through scripted levels against AI-powered enemies. These levels are separate from the single-player missions, designed with co-op in mind. Story will take a back seat here, but there will still be short cut-scenes dispersed within - particularly when a fierce enemy arrives! Along the way, the players will need to work together to overcome not only the enemy, but the environment as well. There will be buildings to climb and ledges to shimmy across, all with the assistance of two real people right behind you. There's a lot of potential here, and it'll be interesting to see what obstacles will await us in the full product.
Competitive multiplayer offers some treats as well. With ten-player matches, it will be a smaller, squad-based affair – a nice contrast with many other multiplayer releases on the PS3, that'll have anywhere from 16 to 256-player games. Yet Uncharted 2 promises to bring true 3D competitive gameplay to us, adding a level of verticality to the mix. Just like in the single-player and co-operative modes, the players can ascend all the structures in these maps, allowing new strategic options to the player. I can envision several such tactics becoming popular, such as climbing out of sight and flanking passing enemies, to hiding behind signposts and shooting over them. Also, Uncharted 2's version of Capture the Flag, called Plunder, makes full use of this facet as well. Capture points are sometimes on separate levels to the gold statue that the player must heft about, and must be thrown up to them. It's this new dimension to the gameplay that should make Uncharted 2's multiplayer memorable.
Yet even more features follow! Cinema mode records the last twenty games you've played, allowing you to play back and watch the entire game from different angles. You can watch your own progress, follow another player, or even have a freeflying camera, able to look around the entire battlefield. The player can also save screenshots or recordings of these games, and upload them to Naughty Dog's servers, where the player will be able to access them from outside the game. This plays into the Machinima mode, where players can create their own videos with complete control of their surroundings. The player can choose a character's animations, the environments, and even creating a green screen backdrop, to impose their own backgrounds.
Stay tuned for our full review of Uncharted 2, which releases on the 13th of October in North America and the 16th of October in Europe.
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