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drakesfortune2009-11-02 08:01 pm
weber_dubois22) wrote in drakesfortune2009-11-02 08:01 pm
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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Awarded by BAFTAS
Steven van Hemert: Gaming has traditionally struggled for acceptance in the mainstream media, but the medium has been gaining credibility of late. With the Baftas now awarding statuettes for Game of the Year, it would appear as if gaming is finally coming into its own. And top of critics' list to walk away with the next glittering Goty statuette is the second instalment of Naughty Dog's acclaimed Uncharted series.
It's fitting that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves should be tipped for mainstream awards from associations more concerned with film and television. Uncharted 2 is without doubt the most cinematic video game ever produced. In fact, the opening stages play more like an interactive film than a traditional video game, a gentle, if nerve-racking introduction to Uncharted's unique game-play and absorbing storytelling.
The game opens with Uncharted's reluctant hero, Nathan Drake, dangling precariously from a train suspended over the edge of an icy cliff. As Drake attempts to climb over the burning wreckage to safety, the camera pans to capture the action, providing 360-degree views of his predicament and cranking the adrenalin level to 11.
While Drake's situation is nothing new to the action-adventure genre, the cinematic approach and seamless high-action cut-scenes makes it one of the most harrowing opening scenes yet experienced on a console.
But it's not just the camera work that gives Among Thieves its filmic quality; the game is also written and acted much like a film. Traditionally, games follow a reasonably linear trajectory, starting at the beginning and ending wherever the player gets bored or gives up in favour of the multi-player mode.
But Among Thieves starts somewhere in the middle, and with genuinely witty dialogue and a compelling storyline that features believable and likeable characters, the game will have players riveted right up until the end credits.
That is not to say that Uncharted 2 is more like a film than a game though; the game is still big on action, with excellent gun battles, intense stealth kill sections, high action traversing sequences and puzzle sections that will require some grey matter to solve.
The cover system has been upgraded from the original and now plays as well as any dedicated cover-based shooter, while the hand-to-hand combat is still trademark Uncharted with brutal kills and take-downs.
Like the game's filmic influences - Indiana Jones and Lara Croft - the action in Uncharted 2 takes place in exotic locations around the planet, as Drake and his motley crew of thieves track Marco Polo's lost treasure from Turkey to Borneo and Tibet and beyond.
In the jungle, the game comes to vivid life with some of the most spectacular graphics produced on a console, with trees swaying softly in the breeze and birds of paradise flitting between branches. Overall, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a massively impressive release, and looks set to raise the bar once again for game developers.
VERDICT
9.5/10
THE GOOD
Superbly detailed environments with lush graphics, fluid cover-based gunplay with multiple options for dispatching opponents, dynamic and intelligent platforming sequences with cinematic treatment, and the best writing yet experienced in a video game with some truly funny dialogue.
THE BAD
Not much to add here, except that the cinematic camera angles can make navigating the environment tricky at times.
THE DAMAGE
R650 (PS3 exclusive).
SOURCE
It's fitting that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves should be tipped for mainstream awards from associations more concerned with film and television. Uncharted 2 is without doubt the most cinematic video game ever produced. In fact, the opening stages play more like an interactive film than a traditional video game, a gentle, if nerve-racking introduction to Uncharted's unique game-play and absorbing storytelling.
The game opens with Uncharted's reluctant hero, Nathan Drake, dangling precariously from a train suspended over the edge of an icy cliff. As Drake attempts to climb over the burning wreckage to safety, the camera pans to capture the action, providing 360-degree views of his predicament and cranking the adrenalin level to 11.
While Drake's situation is nothing new to the action-adventure genre, the cinematic approach and seamless high-action cut-scenes makes it one of the most harrowing opening scenes yet experienced on a console.
But it's not just the camera work that gives Among Thieves its filmic quality; the game is also written and acted much like a film. Traditionally, games follow a reasonably linear trajectory, starting at the beginning and ending wherever the player gets bored or gives up in favour of the multi-player mode.
But Among Thieves starts somewhere in the middle, and with genuinely witty dialogue and a compelling storyline that features believable and likeable characters, the game will have players riveted right up until the end credits.
That is not to say that Uncharted 2 is more like a film than a game though; the game is still big on action, with excellent gun battles, intense stealth kill sections, high action traversing sequences and puzzle sections that will require some grey matter to solve.
The cover system has been upgraded from the original and now plays as well as any dedicated cover-based shooter, while the hand-to-hand combat is still trademark Uncharted with brutal kills and take-downs.
Like the game's filmic influences - Indiana Jones and Lara Croft - the action in Uncharted 2 takes place in exotic locations around the planet, as Drake and his motley crew of thieves track Marco Polo's lost treasure from Turkey to Borneo and Tibet and beyond.
In the jungle, the game comes to vivid life with some of the most spectacular graphics produced on a console, with trees swaying softly in the breeze and birds of paradise flitting between branches. Overall, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a massively impressive release, and looks set to raise the bar once again for game developers.
VERDICT
9.5/10
THE GOOD
Superbly detailed environments with lush graphics, fluid cover-based gunplay with multiple options for dispatching opponents, dynamic and intelligent platforming sequences with cinematic treatment, and the best writing yet experienced in a video game with some truly funny dialogue.
THE BAD
Not much to add here, except that the cinematic camera angles can make navigating the environment tricky at times.
THE DAMAGE
R650 (PS3 exclusive).
SOURCE