The Player: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

In “The Player,” you’re going to sit through me talking about the video games I’m playing at the moment. Awesome, right? I’ll give you some observations, complaints, compliments, snack suggestions and so forth.

At the moment, I’m playing giant PS3 exclusive Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. According to the game’s statistics, I’m 4+ hours into the game (or 33%, again, according to the game) and I think I can officially say it’s really, really good.

I really enjoyed Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, so I’m not surprised that I’m digging this one – but I am surprised at how much Naughty Dog have stepped up their game.

I thought the first game – like some other early PS3 games – was treated harshly. Stuff like Drake’s... and the also chronically underrated Heavenly Sword got okay reviews, like high sevens, early eights, but never got the crazy accolades that your Gears of Wars and Halos got. I’m not sure how much better those games could realistically have been, though. In my humble opinion, they were pretty amazing. I may talk about my deep love for Heavenly Sword some other day, but as for Drake’s Fortune, you got an incredibly conceived, exciting, well-executed adventure game with great voice acting and top drawer dialogue. More importantly, there was a really solid foundation for a franchise there. Like Indiana Jones or Lara Croft or James Bond, you wanted to see Nathan Drake in other adventures and learn everything you could about him and the world he lived in.

For those who didn’t see that before, there’s going to be no mistaking it with Uncharted 2. Among Thieves is highly polished, incredibly exciting, and its focus on integrating cinematic flourishes with gameplay is unparalleled and brings gaming to a new level. And then you have the storytelling, characters and voice acting, which are unrivaled. There’s an audacity to the game that can’t help but make you laugh with the kind of joy you probably last had when watching a great action or adventure film.

And that’s the point, I would assume. Naughty Dog have taken the best of action-adventure movies and made you the star of one. That’s a pretty sweet deal, no?
Check out a trailer