Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review

Platform-hopping with helicopter in tow.

One sequence (certainly not the most complex or protracted) saw Drake and co trading shots with irritable Rusky balaclavas in a hotel, fighting their way from floor to floor while an annoyingly persistent gunship tore out the foundations with missiles. After enduring this punishment for a few moments the entire building fell against a neighbouring one, toppling Drake, his friends, the goons and every loose object in the vicinity, including cover points sideways mid-battle. As an instance of cinematic and technical overload, it rivals even Killzone 2′s trademark aerial deployment intro.

For all that, Uncharted 2 is also a game which knows when to come off the boil. Immediately after the flashbacks reunite explosively with the frostbitten present tense, Drake is treated to a peaceful, purgative tour of an alpine village, a reprieve little spoiled by the well-founded suspicion that you’re being permitted to memorise a cover layout in advance. There are the expected gymnastic puzzles, old hat to players of Tomb Raider: Underworld or Prince of Persia but still a pleasant distraction, plus the option (and it’s rarely more than an option) to stealth it up where the levels are more open-ended.

One APC down. Time for a breather.

Climbing and platforming are now both accessories and alternatives to gunplay, as the game’s BAFTA-worthy train-ride sequence illustrates, but you’ll need to take the fight online to experience this mechanical integration at its best. While the team, objective-driven and cooperative multiplayer modes take no giant strides beyond those of Gears of War 2, Among Thieves is faster, smoother and a lot less “block-built” in nature.

The maps, which range from zero-visibility snowscapes through bombed-out plazas to crumbling monasteries, put considerable play on switching elevation: objectives like treasure chests or capture zones are sprinkled across the vertical axis, and for every chokepoint or tight spot there’s generally a scalable wall or precarious shortcut. Knowing when to expose yourself atop a temple roof, when to open fire while dangling from the lip of a wall, when to attempt that daredevil leap, is as fundamental to survival as mastering the close-quarters grenade toss or proper blindfire etiquette.