One of Sony’s major hits this year is undoubtedly going to be Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I sat down with a Producer from Naughty Dog today while he showed me some of the single player greatness that is Uncharted 2. I actually have not played the game multiplayer yet, although I will be doing that tomorrow. I was able to get a 10 pack of online vouchers for the beta however, of which I am giving away five of 🙂 … if you would like one, send me a PM.
So Uncharted 2 takes place some time after the events of Uncharted, and contains of course the protagonist Nathan Drake. Sully, the old fellow from the original game that a lot of people liked as a great supporting NPC, is back as well (you can briefly see him in a trailer). The major point about the single player campaign in UC2 is fleshing out Nathan Drake as a character — the developers really want to explain his past more and get players to connect with Nathan even more than they may already do. I actually thought hearing this directly from a Producer was surprising because while I wouldn’t say Nathan’s personal story was fleshed out in the first Uncharted, he was a very likeable character from the start. Another major point to mention about the campaign is that is it going to be much longer than the first game, which was one of the exceedingly few nit-pickey negatives mentioned by some about the first game.
For the most part, the gameplay in UC2 is very similiar to that in UC, but you know the old saying — if it’s not broke, don’t fix it, but that doesn’t mean Naughty Dog isn’t innovating and creating an even more narrative driven experience. Of course, there is also the co-op multiplayer for UC2 that is objective based, with missions tending to last around twenty-minutes each.
Speaking of multiplayer, the beta went live last night. Once I get settled back home from E3, I plan on joining that beta and will be happy to answer any questions I can from you fellow gamers. In closing, I think Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has every chance this winter to become 2009’s game of the year — it’s got the looks, the story, the characters, the gameplay — and I’m confident that it’s going to be every bit as good as the first.
