Uncharted
2: Among Thieves Review
Whenever
I hear the phrase “cinematic” when used to refer to a game, the
first thing I think of is cutscene riddled shit that covers the
screen and makes me want to kill every member of the fucking
development team for being so fucking stupid and pretentious.
Here's
looking at you, kid...
And
then there are games like Uncharted, which feature the similarly
mentioned “cinematic” malarkey but have just enough gameplay to
were it's tolerable but ultimately ends up dragging down the rest of
the experience.
The
game stars Nathan Drake, wise-cracking, Hollywood hero number 396,000
who goes with plucky sidekick to find...you know-what, just go and
watch any one of the first three Indiana Jones movies. If you're
already familiar with them, that pretty much sums up the entirety of
the plot of Uncharted. It's your basic adventure movie plot featuring
all of the standard character types. If it sounds like I'm being
unenthusiastic, it's because none of the characters have anything
major that separates them from stuff we've already seen before. Are
they entertaining to watch and well-performed? Most definitely. The
problem these leads to, however, is that it results in them coming
across as incredibly forgettable.
Seriously,
this is more interesting at times
Mind
you, probably the most interesting character was the villain,
Lazarevic, whose every scene is pure gold for how he eats up the
scenery with his mere presence.
“I
AM SURROUNDED BY TRAITORS AND FOOLS!!”
Gameplay
on the other hand fares much better. The gunplay is your standard
cover-based shooting mechanics, running behind walls, and then
popping enemies when they reappear. It's functional overall, though
it can get especially tiresome after awhile. The real star of the
show, however, is the presence of the platforming sections. These
sections can involve anything from jumping from truck to truck while
under enemy fire, to escaping from the burning wreckage of a train.
All-in-all, as much as I may find the gunplay to be tedious and
uninteresting, the set pieces easily dominated the game in terms of
enjoyment.
Screenshots
don't do it justice.
The
game's pacing is also done incredibly well. Whereas many games within
this genre feel the need to hammer in set piece after set piece, this
game really isn't afraid to let you wind down after some of the more
action heavy scenes, whether it be in the form of a puzzle, a
platforming section in a calming environment, or petting a yak. It
all helps to make a fluid and fun experience.
Embrace
your inner yak.
Having
said that, there is still one major problem I have with this game and
that ties back directly into the story: a video game is not the same
thing as a movie. This is especially evident in the way that enemies
just seem to appear in every specific patterns and clusters in areas,
which would make sense if it were a movie, but here it feels a bit
out of place. Furthermore, the way the events go along is at a very
limited pace preventing proper characterization from ever occurring.
Finally, the game is just scared of you getting distracted. Several
times throughout my experience I felt like I was being railroaded
along, even when it came time to allow for more freedom such as in
the aforementioned puzzle sections. It got so bad to the point where
the game would literally tell me what to do if I was taking too
along. Near the end, I had one puzzle telling me to turn the
godforsaken bell right as I was in the middle of turning the fucking
thing because the game was afraid I had dozed off for more than five
seconds or because, I was using my goddamn brain!
What
Naughty Dog thinks of you
In
the end, the best description I can give is flawed, but enjoyable.
The game suffers from wanting to be a movie and a simplified
challenge, but at the end of the day, it's just fun. Definitely worth
picking up if you want something exciting play, though I can't
guarantee the story or characters themselves will be too memorable.
