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Nathan Drake is back once again in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Drake is lured backed into the seedy underworld of mercenaries and treasure hunters by the allure of the lost fortune of Marco Polo and the secrets of Shangrai-La. Of course, nothing that good comes without a cost and Drake isn't the only one hunting this treasure.
Fortunately, he'll have a new sidekick and love interest in Chloe Frazer, although Chloe differs greatly from Elena from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, who also makes a few appearances in the new game. Chloe is more of a "me first" type of a gal and she'll display these traits over and over again as the game progresses and situations arise. At one point in the demo, Drake, Elena, Chloe and another member of their team were pinned down by members of the mercenary group also hunting Marco Polo's fortune. When the other team member gets shot, Elena and Nathan work to save him by carrying him around, while Chloe insists that he is practically dead already and that he needs to be left. As she fights, she'll protect herself first and then Nathan, so while she's an excellent combatant, she's going to be watching her own hide first and foremost.
As always, the environments looked fantastic. While we were travesing a broken down city, there were still touches of brilliant color everywhere, whether they be highting things we needed to pay attention to or just simply showing off what gorgeous surroundings Naughty Dog can create. At one point, we stood on a high point looking down across the expanse of the city and surrounding locales and it was simply breathtaking.
A new and especially exciting mechanic in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the fact that Nathan can now engage in "traversal gunplay," that is, the ability to hang from anywhere and shoot enemies. This is something we have been waiting for and the previous game, Uncharted, just begged for this ability. This way, you can duck for cover, jump to a ledge and continue to shoot while doing it. It makes for a much more free-flowing experience and never are you taken out of the moment. Drake and Chloe will also use just about anything they come to as cover, knocking over tables or whatever they come across to provide safety.
Naughty Dog has expanded the Uncharted world to now include multiplayer as well. You can engage in competitve or co-op multiplayer matches, including a heroes-versus-villians match of up to 10 players, Deathmatch with up to 5 vs. 5 players, and Plunder which is a teamwork-based effort to transport treasure. Players can expect the same quality in character animations and environments in multiplayer as they experience in single player, and gameplay and character mechanics will also remain the same across the board. So players very comfortable in the single player mode should feel equally as comfortable in the multiplayer games. In you purchase inFAMOUS, you'll get a pass to participate in the multiplayer beta now going on.
All in all, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is shaping up to be another stellar title for the PS3. This is definitely one to watch for hopefully this holiday season. |
