Uncharted 2: Among Thieves finds Nathan Drake bushwhacking his way out of the jungles and into the city. Or at least that’s the gist I got from the preview I saw, which was a strictly hands-off affair featuring some producer playtime. Most of the talking points centered around Nathan Drake’s motivations and the study of building degradation. Thankfully watching the producer play through fifteen minutes of the game was a bit more informative.
The original Uncharted was a game that by all rights should’ve been a classic, but instead often felt like an overly calculated combination of too many familiar elements. The platforming was directly out of Prince of Persia, the story an Indiana Jones’ classic and the gun play a post-Gears exercise in utilizing cover.
Uncharted 2, in the small bit that I saw, looks to carry on with this effective if not exactly fresh formula. I should note that, like the original game, Uncharted 2‘s visuals are impressive, and the level we saw was a magnificent rendering of a war torn Asian city. Also no surprise was seeing Nathan Drake animating as smoothly as ever. The platforming and gun play seemed intact from the first game as well. The producer did mention that the game’s environments would see more varied locales with particular emphasis being placed on ice and snow, given that at least some of the game takes place in Nepal. Unfortunately there wasn’t any water around for me to see if the shirt physics were going to hold up in the sequel. The preview ended with the introduction of an attractive and rugged female sidekick, who is not Elena Fisher from the first game.
It’s too early to make any definitive pronouncements, but at this point Uncharted 2 seems to be following in the footsteps of its very competent predecessor.
