Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Preview

More Game Info (Print This Article)

Scheduled release date:

Fall 2009

Publisher:

SCEA

Developer:

Naughty Dog

Number Of Players:

1-10

Genre:

Action/Adventure

Release Date:

October 13, 2009

Screenshots

When we first caught a glimpse of Uncharted, it was through a series of leaked photos that showed off the game's insanely detailed environments. When Naughty Dog revealed our strapping character hanging off a tree mouths of gamers dropped everywhere, be it from awe or jealousy. There's no doubt that Uncharted was an impressive achievement considering how early into the PlayStation 3's life it was released. Granted, there were still some spots to be improved on...and that's exactly what Naughty Dog has done with the sequel.

Normally, it's the gameplay that I'll rant about first, but in this case, I have to make a special exception for just how amazing the visuals are of the sequel. What's even more impressive is that the product I saw was still in its pre-alpha stage, which means there's still a lot of work left to do. But technical jargon aside, what I immediately noticed about Uncharted 2 was that despite its early state, the framerate was exceptionally smooth. What I noticed next floored me the most, though, and that's just how absolutely stunning the textures are.

Where as the first game sported nice textures, this one seems to be leagues ahead of the original. And then there are the animations, which still have work left, but also look marvelous. When I walked away from the game I had no doubt in my mind that Uncharted 2 is without question the best looking title in development right now, and not just for the PlayStation 3, that includes the Xbox 360. People have been making many "Crysis" comparisons in the past with the original Uncharted, Gears of War 2, and Killzone 2, but none of them held a candle to Crytek's behemoth. And that's where Uncharted 2 comes in as the first console game that is truly worthy of the comparison. It's powerful stuff, folks.

The gameplay retained that of the original, so you still have that feeling that you're playing a mixture of Indiana Jones and Gears of War, which is awesome. But where Uncharted differs from Gears is in its hand-to-hand mechanics, as Naughty Dog gave Nate an assortment of abilities that allow him to engage in combat when he's weaponless, allowing to him to disarm, as well as take-down. This aspect of the game has been improved on, as Naughty Dog has implemented a deeper hand-to-hand system where timing and precision is more crucial to combat, otherwise you'll leave yourself vulnerable to a hit. You'll be able to perform counter attacks, as will the enemy when you've mistimed your button press, and perform a variety of different takedown animations - all of which are brutal and really cool.

Another big feat for the sequel is a feature that allows Nate to scale the environments in new ways. Now Nate can climb and scale walls with more freedom, allowing him more movement along the object he's scaling, in addition to retaining his previous assortment of abilities. The other notable new feature gives Nate the ability to lift and flip furniture over and use it as cover when you're being rained with bullets. You can't use the same object for an extensive period of time, so you'll likely need to move on to find new cover.

The enemy A.I. has been enhanced, and to offset those enhancements, they've also been balanced. For example, now your opponents can spot you from their peripheral vision. And unlike say, Metal Gear, if an enemy thinks he saw something, he'll run with that instinct and come looking for you, going as far as climbing walls or jumping from ledge to ledge. And if he doesn't find you, he'll remain extra alert.

In order to balance this heightened sense, Naughty Dog has listened to complaints fans of the original game made regarding the amount of bullets it took to kill an enemy. Where as Uncharted required as many as six bullets to take someone down, no matter the armor (or lack thereof) they were wearing, Uncharted 2 is much more realistic in that regard. Regular, unarmored enemies can be taken down in 1-3 shots, where as armored foes can require anywhere between 1-5, and so on. The amount of bullets you'll shell out (pun intended) will depend on the attire worn by the enemy.

One big question remains and Naughty Dog has yet to answer it: will there be co-op gameplay? Seeing as how the game now boasts two armed characters, Nate and Chloe, it'd make perfect sense that Uncharted 2 boast such an option. While Naughty Dog won't confirm it, there's a damn good chance it's coming and seeing as how Uncharted 2 boasts controls similar to Gears, this could be the first grand co-op action experience PlayStation 3 owners are given.

Look for Uncharted 2 to hit this Fall 09.

2/23/2009 Arnold Katayev

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More Previews Of This Game

Date	Game	Reviewer
06/16/09	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves	Ben Dutka
02/05/09	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves	Ben Dutka

Comments (66 posts)

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pavlovic
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 12:53:50 AM
Reply

Can't wait for this game... with U:DF I had o lot of fun.

Thanks for the impressions

0 up, 0 down

englishgolfer
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:03:41 AM
Reply

drool.....

0 up, 0 down

YesterdysRising
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:14:25 AM
Reply

This will be game of the year, hands down. This game looks breathtaking. I had so much fun playing the first one and I still play it over sometimes. It is easily in my top 3 games of all time. It was just fun to play, plus, it was really good looking. Now, Naughty Dog has raised the bar higher than I ever thought possible in visuals alone. I can't wait to see what else they have done to make this even better than the first. I applaud Naughty Dog for everything that they do and I am eagerly awaiting this game. I have no doubt that they will deliver what will be game of the year :)

0 up, 0 down

kreate
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 5:59:11 AM

how many trophies did u get if u dont mind me asking?

i also wish naughty dog would remake crash team racing. such a fun multiplayer game. =(

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Random_Steve
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 6:22:59 AM

its on the store

0 up, 0 down

Naga
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:19:34 AM

CTR would be sweet online hell I wouldn't mind an Ratchet & Clank Racer

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Cpt_Geez
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:25:45 AM

U2 GOTY over GoW 3 which is scheduled to be released this year II dont think so.

Last edited by Cpt_Geez on 2/23/2009 10:26:14 AM

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Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:17:21 AM
Reply

Nice

0 up, 0 down

Random_Steve
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 6:23:57 AM

continuing our conversation from yesterday, if think the shakinator is quite good

0 up, 0 down

Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:05:03 AM

I explained the name in the last post .

0 up, 0 down

Random_Steve
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 12:16:18 PM

o rite, i couldnt remember what article that was

0 up, 0 down

Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 12:28:32 PM

Ben's once upon a time piece .

Last edited by Sir Shak on 2/23/2009 12:29:18 PM

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King James
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:28:19 AM
Reply

I love Naughty Dog's work. This game is bound to sell, especially after that PS3 Uncharted bundle that released. That is bound to spark repeat sales for this new installment.

The improved graphics are out-of-this-world!! I didn't think that such a dramatic improvement could be made on a new franchise in such a short time (considering that Uncharted is still considered one of the best looking game this gen). This game is gonna out-shine any game trying to compete.

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Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:00:06 AM
Reply

The game doesn't really need co-op.

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Scarecrow
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:05:53 AM

Doesn't need it but the option would be sick...

Being able to play with a friend, gf, or anyone else next to you is a must.

Remember SNES? All games(well a lot) were co-op or two players.

That was a great thing 'bout games back then, there was a lot of co-op madness. It's good, RE5 proves this too.

It's a great option imo, can't wait!

1 up, 0 down

Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:32:55 AM

That was true "optional" co-op. Back then, if you didn't have someone to play along with you, you wouldn't get stuck with a mandatory dumb AI character.

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mastiffchild
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 3:13:35 AM

You're deamn right. The co-op is what's killed Resi5 for me. I like to play RE/survival horror games truly alone. If the co-op had been limited to splitscreen and online I'd have said "fine" but as you HAVE to put up with that dim bird AND the extra inventory worries it just gets annoying in SP.
I pray that ND don't bow to fashion and ruin the truly awesome single player campaign that they managed last time around. Personally I don't see why it would've been so hard to just leave the npc out of the SP in RE5 and if the same happens in U2 then it'll be a great, great shame, imo.
Yes, co-op is great fun-but with real people and you shouldn't be forced into a babysitting sim of a sp because of a devs need to follow co-op fashions.

0 up, 1 down

Jamaican_Heat
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:23:49 AM
Reply

If this game gets Co-Op then there you RE5 complainers go you get you Run-N-Gun co-op action that you so deeply want. haha

0 up, 0 down

Random_Steve
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:45:12 AM
Reply

im jealous. i want to play it

0 up, 0 down

Ultimadream
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 3:17:18 AM
Reply

cool, i loved Uncharted 1, i'll definatly be picking this up.

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wano
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 4:45:24 AM

lol, ultima, your in a good mood today. that was the first positive comment ive seen you post for ages. ;- )

im with you though, the game sounds great

Last edited by wano on 2/23/2009 4:48:11 AM

1 up, 1 down

RISE_13
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 3:40:07 AM
Reply

aahhh i havent played it yet demo was nice i really want 2 get it

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www
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 4:23:25 AM
Reply

what's the release date?

0 up, 0 down

Akuma07
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 4:34:24 AM
Reply

"And unlike say, Metal Gear, if an enemy thinks he saw something, he'll run with that instinct and come looking for you, going as far as climbing walls or jumping from ledge to ledge. And if he doesn't find you, he'll remain extra alert."

im sorry... what?
lol

MG did this aswell, except for the jumping and climbing part of course.

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wano
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 4:52:32 AM

i think what he means is that the enemy went completely back to normal in mgs after a certain anount of time. ..thats just part of how mgs is though, you need the option of sneaking past people in that game, where in this one im guessing if you get spotted you may need to blast your way out with people hunting you down ...which is cool aslo ;-)

Last edited by wano on 2/23/2009 4:53:48 AM

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ArnoldK PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:48:32 AM

Precisely, wano.

0 up, 0 down

Archos
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 5:16:16 AM
Reply

Don't really care about co-op, will buy the game anyway. The game is going to post better graphics than KZ2 is enough to convince me to buy the game.

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Aftab
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 6:16:29 AM
Reply

Don't know what's higher on my list for this year: Uncharted 2 or GOW3.

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Mujy786
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 6:25:12 AM
Reply

this will be one i have to pick up on first day :D

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Robochic
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 8:05:28 AM
Reply

The only complaint i had with the first one was the aiming i found it sloppy, i hope they have fixed that as well. At least this time it won't take forever to kill someone :)

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Driven2Decay
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 8:29:49 AM

That was my complaint too, the aiming wasn't intuitive at all. I'm sure that's something they've addressed in the new one if they've made all of these other changes.

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www
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:19:26 AM

No the aiming is one of the best out there.Not many games allow you to switch shoulder views from left to right.

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Daedusian
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 12:47:09 PM

Yeah I absolutely loved the aiming in Uncharted. To me, it's what set the game apart from others. I'm hoping nothing changes in regards to aiming, but that's me.

Only thing I really care about in the sequal is for it to be good. They can keep everything the same for all I care, good story, awesome gameplay, and I'll be as happy as ever all over again!

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King James
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 @ 4:39:44 PM

the aiming was "on-point" - pun intended.

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Orvisman
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 9:20:06 AM
Reply

Definite must buy for me!

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JiggleBeetz
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 9:34:35 AM
Reply

this sounds great i missed out on the first one but i think I'll just have to pick it up to get ready for the sequel

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Cpt_Geez
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:23:44 AM
Reply

Imma get U2 too II just hope they don't release this and GoW 3 in the same month.

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Dridion
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:24:57 AM
Reply

Arnold, when you say best looking title in production do you mean in general or for shooters/action adventure games. I know everyone is entitled to their own opinion but is still believe GoW3 is EPIC IMO. nuff said, don't you think?

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:56:18 AM

Pretty sure he means in general, but I think he's only including currently released games in that assessment.

GoWIII looks amazing, but it ain't out yet. :)

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ArnoldK PSXE [Administrator]
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:50:13 AM

In general. Uncharted 2 looks better than GOWIII from what I've seen, to be honest. Nothing against GOWIII, but Uncharted 2 simply looks more advanced.

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Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 12:32:18 PM

Was this the event where they also showed Infamous ?

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Dridion
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:49:19 PM

Thanks Arnold and Ben/Ben and Arnold, either or, for replying. Most admins don't give a flying f@@k! But um...Ben, when you said games released were only included, I think that would mean that Uncharted 2 shouldn't be in that category as well being that it's still in production and it's a ways off but oh well. I think Arnold clarified that, in his opinion, the game looks good, which in all honesty, it really does. I think I discriminate when it come to GoW, in general, being that I'm a sucker for the franchise. Always have been since the first GoW trailer. But yea the lighting, textures and character models do indeed look stunning as well as the sense of distance highlighted by blurs used in the game. Whatever, in the end, they're all PS3 exclusives. A big f@@ki%g hurrah to that. PS3 exclusives FTW!!! I think that's one thing we can all finally agree on.

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tanner1
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:41:22 AM
Reply

Loving it, and please no screen tearing in this 1, i want utter perfection & i know Naughty Dog WILL deliver

1 up, 0 down

erislocker
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 10:52:32 AM
Reply

did you find out / hear anything about multiplayer?
i was dying for online play on the last one...
i'm hoping there will be online.
Arnold or Ben,
let us know if you hear something, please!
thanks

Last edited by erislocker on 2/23/2009 10:54:00 AM

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mikeyp323
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:00:58 AM

I wonder how they would/will implement multiplayer, I think it would be sick if it was Drake with an assault rifle against 15 guys with handguns on a large map or something (slightly similar to Metal Gear Online tbh)

what does everyone else think?

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Sir Shak
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:14:12 AM

I will take a longer and grander campaign over multiplayer anyday .

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mikeyp323
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:26:08 AM

Yeah I guess, games with epic and interesting stories are pretty hard to beat imo. Multiplayer would be a bonus though so I hope the game has it :)

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kevinater321
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 @ 8:58:07 PM

If the Multiplayer is done well like Call Of Duty's was then it will totally be worth it but is it really possible to do a multi like COD? ALthough call of duty is getting kind of dull latley i need something new that i can love again (hopefully this will suceed) And i know ND will Deliver.

ALso this game looks intense :P

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Randomhero1
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 11:50:17 AM
Reply

I cant wait for Uncharted 2, Uncharted was Awesome!

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bxshotboi
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:10:34 PM
Reply

of course this game is gonna be awesome hands down cuz the first 1 was great and plot had a nice little twist so imagine this 1

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HANZ64
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:24:09 PM
Reply

So are the graphics even better than Killzone2?

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bigrailer19
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:37:55 PM
Reply

this game seems to be bringing everything! Uncharted brought alot to the table and too see Naughty Dog step it up is a tribute to there hard work to make phenomenal games on the PS3. im glad we have devs. like them on our side, who bring us games like Uncharted, and KZ2, and GOW3 to name a few!

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Bill_Clinton_
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 1:59:16 PM
Reply

i haven't played the first game yet i'm waiting for the second game to release
to buy the first game.. but it sounds good from what im reading in this article..

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Reccaman18
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 3:55:18 PM

Dude, go ahead and get it. It should be pretty cheap at game stop by now. You wont be disappointed. :)

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WorldEndsWithMe
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:09:36 PM
Reply

The Dog of Naughtiness is really taking a leadership role with Uncharted.

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ps92117
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:16:49 PM

They are the big brother in the sony party, even SOE ask them for advice.Though technically Studio Liverpool are the eldest in the party.

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kevinater321
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 @ 9:00:40 PM

But for me Insomniac takes the lead. Hands Down

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Zorigo
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 2:58:57 PM
Reply

i can't be bothered to read this, and you know y. because i'm getting the game no matter what. it is just an epic series.

1 up, 0 down

Reccaman18
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 3:54:04 PM
Reply

Loved the first one, so Im gonna love this one by the looks of it!

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tlpn99
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 4:04:00 PM
Reply

Will deffo be buying this one, cant wait. :)

1 up, 0 down

smileys_007
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 4:13:02 PM
Reply

Uncharted 2 is awesome! But I still believe that God of War 3 is the BEST exclusive game the ps3 has. i've nothing against uncharted 2, but GOW3 is just that EPIC!!!

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robinhood2010
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 5:23:10 PM
Reply

Please bring co-op option! That would be sooo awesome.

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somethingrandom
Monday, February 23, 2009 @ 9:22:26 PM
Reply

I didn't get the first one because it's third person. Also, when I actually did go to purchase it, the Wal-Mart employee informed me that I was not old enough. They're just jack a$$es because anyone can legally buy any game.

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Qubex
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 @ 3:43:06 AM
Reply

I never played the Unchartered I, but I am seriously considering Uncharted II.

To be honest, it seems it was best to wait and buy the PS3 this year... it seems this was the year to get into next generation gaming as developers begin to unleash the power of the PS3.

Q!

"i am home"

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Aftab
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 @ 5:12:17 PM

That's true, but last year wasn't half bad, either.

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SubjectiveTruth
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 @ 8:09:01 PM
Reply

I think the shooting mechanics should be improved. 1-5 shots is way too many. 1-2 bullets in the chest is plenty. It'd be cool in the enemies were responsive to wounds like in RE4..Or 5. The first game really pissed me off when I would get a head shot and the guy wouldn't die. Or he'd put his arm or hand in front of his face and it would block the bullets. Fix this and the games perfect.

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