In the wake of Uncharted 3 i've been playing Uncharted 2 again after failing to finish it when it came out (due to the fact that it was terrible), and I have to say... I still hate it, that this game is so lauded is appaling. If it had bad graphics and Uncharted 1 was poorly reviewed this game would have had no where near the acclaim. The fact that there are apparently NO negative reviews in the whole world seems very odd to me, I know most people take whatever is thrust down their throats (just look at the music charts), but seriously this is just weird.
It is perhaps the most critically acclaimed game in a decade, but why? Seriously. I have tried to finish this game twice now and have had to stop both times because it is, in a word, dire. What exactly does it do well? Graphics? Yep, a decent score? Yep. But... absoloutley nothing else. The combat is a staggering slog, enemy after enemy after enemy, it feels almost never ending, were you still enjoying the combat come the end of the game? There was absoloutley no variation in enemy, games tend to gradually introduce new enemies to keep it fresh, Uncharted 2 doesn't do this, every enemy you kill is the same as the last one, perhaps one will be carrying a shield or the other a helmet but thats it. They didn't even put any boss fights in the game, I cannot see why, boss fights actually serve a purpose, they, ironically, give you a break from the games usual structure, something to focus your attention on, but Uncharted 2 seems to be one throbbing mass of gunfire and the odd puzzle (very odd, I mean about 2 in the whole game).
Before I move onto the woeful plot let me look at a few flawed gameplay mechanics:
- The hand to hand combat is highly frustrating, enemies can take a while to knock out meaning you WILL get shot from all sides because there are ALWAYS dozens of enemys around.
- The climbing sections are simply not fun, the bit in the snowy caves for instance takes an extremely long time where nothing really happens.
- Often Chloe or Elane will say in a hushed manner "better be quiet Nate, we don't want to attract unecessary attention", so you assume 'oh, I must be able to get through this area without being seen', it soon becomes obvious that either you can't so you just think 'forget it, I may a well plough them down'. Ultimatley the enemies are about as intimidating as a baby squirrel so you never need to not be seen, you KNOW that you can take out every enemy with ease.
Now onto the plot. Well i'll start by saying this, Uncharted 2 has one of the worst plots in any game I have ever played, it makes the Teletubbies sound like Dickens. Essentially Drake meets up with an old friend who, for reasons that are absoloutley without justification or reason, turns his back on Drake. Drake then decides to persue the treasure that his English friend was after, either for fame, fortune or revenge Drake sets out on an utterly unjustified massacre killing hundreds of "enemies" (that were presumably only doing their jobs as hired hands) whilst making jokes about punching holes in ticket trains as their brains splatter down the walls. Usually in games the protagonist is the good guy, the enemy the provocatuer, the contrary is true in Uncharted 2, Drake is the intruder, the murderer, the sociopath; and don't tell me this doesn't matter because empathy can be the difference between enjoyment and despair in games.
The games is chocked full of plot holes:
- Why didn't Lasaravic simply buy the seemingly "worthless" (to use Drakes owen description) vase from the museum if he is as rich as is hinted during the game.
- Why is Drake so reluctant to kill museum guards but so jovial about killing soldiers?
- Why, and this is one of the bigger plot holes, WHY on earth did Lasaravic kidnap the elderly guy? Answer me this? Elena says it is because "he had the knife"... well then take the knife... why kidnap the guy?
- How on earth did the Nazi's get as far as Drake without the key, presumably there is only one key and if they had it, it couldn't have been where Drake found it.
- Chloes justification for turning her back on Drake is flawed, he didn't what to leave a guy to die? How appaling of him...
- Would a helecopter really fire rockets at the train that it was on the same side as?
Okay okay, you might say plot doesn't matter but when a game is trying so hard to mimic the likes of Broken Sword and Indiana Jones it seems obscene that it should fail so dismally at what made those so engaging.
The plot is so SO slow, the only thing that has changed between reaching Shangri-La and the very start of the game is that Drake now has a justification to kill hundreds of men (because they are gunna get really powerful due to an ancient object (how origional...)), this is the only change! We still don't know if Chloe is trustworthy, Elana has had no input in the plot, Sullivan is still conspicuously absent!
Gameplay wise, plot wise, the game does everythng averagely. Why do people love this game so much?! WHY?! Am I the only person??
Oh and before you slap the "360 Fanboy" label on me I don't own a 360.
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