Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the best game that I have played on my PS3. I know that's likely to draw some flak, but I can't deny it. I simply have not had as much fun, or been so drawn in, playing a game in recent memory. The original Uncharted was a great game, and the sequel improves on it in just about every way.
The voice acting is really, really good. Nolan North does an incredible job, once again, as protagonist Nathan Drake. If you are, God forbid, unfamiliar with the Uncharted games, you might remember Mr. North as the voice of the Prince in the recent reboot of the Prince of Persia series. North infuses Drake with a sense of life I've not seen in a video game before. I'm pretty sure North could voice Bayonetta and I'd be alright with it. On top of North, we have Claudia Black, who does an excellent job with new character Chloe Frazer, a former (and possibly new again) love interest for Drake. And Victor "Sullie" Sullivan, voiced by Richard McGonagle, is my favorite returning character, although he's sadly missing for most of the game.
I have nothing against Emily Rose, the voice of Elena Fischer. She's a very pretty girl, and it certainly feels like she is throwing her heart and soul into this. Unfortunately for her, just like the first game, I just find Elena irritating. I recognize that she's integral to the story. I simply don't like Ms. Rose's voice for the character. It's like when you finally see that radio DJ you listen to on the way home from work, except backwards. Elena's voice and character model don't go together for me.
I'm playing my PS3 games on a fairly modest 32" HD screen. Even without the characters being nearly life sized, the graphics of U2:AT are superb. When I play something on the PS3, I expect it to be pretty. Theoretically it's the graphical powerhouse of the bunch. Well, this one blows pretty right out of the water. Trees look like trees, not graphical models of trees. Without ruining it for anyone, the very beginning of the game provides an opportunity to look down a snow covered ravine, and it looks amazing. There were a couple scenes that made me feel like an acrophobic standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon.
Nathan and friends look awesome as well. While they don't quite hit Uncanny Valley levels, they're some of the most realistic and human looking characters I've seen in a game. The animations are silky smooth, and characters move like real people. If they're injured, they'll favor their injured part. If you startle them, they react properly. Most short cutscenes are rendered with the game engine, and even the in-game engine has some pretty decent lip syncing. There are some I didn't even realize weren't prerenedered until my second run through the game wearing an alternate costume.
Nathan gets dirtier and bloodier as the game goes on. It doesn't happen in real time, but it still feels natural. The wet clothing is back from the first game and looks better than ever. Chloe even makes a wet t-shirt joke at one point that had me laughing harder than it should have. There are birds in the trees, although they exist on some other plane of reality, as your bullets cannot harm them.
The gunfights are pure fun. Just as hectic as those in the first game, they are polished to a high gloss. The controls are essentially the same as you're used to. The only major change is that you no longer need to equip grenades. You simply tap L2 to toss one quickly or hold it to aim. I hardly used grenades in the first game, while I was constantly running out this time around. I guess you could say it works.
Platforming is, as the shooting, very much like the first game, but improved. The improvement here comes in the form of wall climbing. No longer are you required to only jump from ledge to ledge. Instead, there are places where the ledges or bricks are close enough together to simply crawl along them with your hands. It controls a lot like the building scaling in Infamous, actually. As with the grenade improvement, it just works better.
The shooting and platforming blend together seamlessly. Just as you're hanging from a sign trying to open that door that your partner is stuck behind, ten guys with machine guns and grenade launchers show up and start in on you. You've got nowhere to hide except on the other side of the sign, poking your head over to shoot periodically. I used the blind fire option far more than I did in the first game, and it felt natural. I never felt forced into it, it just seemed like a good way to go.
Finally the writing. Uncharted 2 has a lot to live up to in this department. The story and conversation/banter of the first game are only improved upon for the sequel. Drake delivers one-liners in the middle of firefights and remarks on the posteriors of his female companions as he helps them to a high ledge. Don't worry ladies, they give it right back. There wasn't a single joke that fell flat for me. Even the old action movie standbys that snuck in were delivered in a sarcastic, knowing manner, almost as if to say, "Yeah, I said it. And now you're gonna laugh."
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of a few absolute must-haves in the PS3 library. I'd like to say that it's for the gameplay, or the graphics, or the writing, but I can't. It's the way all of those things come together to make a seamless experience that, as the commercials have been saying, feels a bit like your playing a movie. And it's a movie I plan to play again soon.
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