Uncharted 2: Among Thieves can be called nothing short of perfect.
The single player campaign is relatively short, albeit very rewarding, and is worth replaying over and over again, not only to gather all the treasures and collect all the trophies, but to simply experience the story again and again. Without giving anything too much away, the very first level grabs you and throws you to the edge of your seat, quite literally, and as you continue through the story, you'll find yourself falling in love with the characters and being genuinely worried about them during their trials and tribulations. Drake returns as the protagonist and what he brought in the first game, witty humor and uncanny physical prowess, is back with him only this time, it's bigger and better. The dialogue is funnier, the stunts are more intense, and his reactions are real enough to where they not only fail to detract from the game, they add to the game's value.
And after the single-player campaign is over, you can still return to collect treasures scattered all across the story, play through using different player skins (including a rather humorous character skin called "Donut Drake"), and buy weapons via the Pause Menu Store. However, in the interest of fairness, the Uncharted 2 will only allow you to change things around if you have beaten the story on the chosen difficulty setting at least once before. And if you find the game to be getting a bit too challenging at that level, you can always turn the difficulty down in the Pause Menu, at the cost of restarting at the last checkpoint, a fair price to pay for downgrading.
While you will see many familiar faces, there are new players in this game and each of them are unique and interesting. Chances are that while you play this game, you will be able to relate some of the characters to someone you know. This element of realism makes the game seem less like a game and more like a real life adventure. You feel as if you're Drake and you're travelling around the world with (and against) all these friends (and foes) to save the world. The characters all mesh together perfectly to create the perfect ambience for each unique location, with all the characters behaving appropriately to his or her personality.
Gameplay is similar to Drake's Fortune but with a few changes. Shooting is still the same, aiming is essentially the same, and the weapon pool is bigger than before, although you can still only carry 2 weapons at a time, which is understandable, as Drake is, again, a realistic person and not a one man army. However, there are times when Drake seems like a tank compared to all the other enemies in the game. He is able to absorb incredulous amounts of punishment compared to his enemies, who tend to die after a couple of well placed shots. But that's understandable. Allies in the game have the perfect AI, as they react in a way that is understandable to the current situation and don't have the be babied around or saved from near death at every turn. The same can be said for enemies, as they work with the same efficiency as a well trained army squadron would work. Enemies with a riot shield advance towards you with that nearly impenetrable protection while their fellow infantry men follow behind them, taking cover at the nearest boxes, occasionally alternating between blindfire (usually when they've been struck a few times) and cover fire (when they're still ready and rarin' to go). Tougher enemies, who are generally taller, carry heavy weapons (like shotguns and chain guns), and wear much more protective vests and armor charge at you like a rhino and take a bit more effort to take down. Of course, there's some satisfying fisticuffs in the game, but they are relatively easy to pull off and enemies generally falter to a few shots to the head, unless you're skilled enough to sneak up behind one and execute a deadly looking (and sounding) deathblow. Taking cover in the game can be done by simply pressing the circle button near a wall or box and while it's a little iffy in corners, chances are you won't be at enough corners in the game to make a difference. The weapons themselves are much more realistic (save for a few special ones available in the store upon a game completion) and do different amounts of damage to different enemies depending on which kind of gun you're using. A sniper rifle shot does much more damage than a shot with the .45 Defender handgun. Even handgun-to-handgun and rifle-to-rifle damage is different. It takes significantly fewer shots with the .44-Magnum-like revolver to take down an enemy than a shooting with a .92 mm handgun, which is appropriate since the revolver has a lot fewer rounds available than the .92 mm handgun. This trend continues through all the weapons and it provides you with an opportunity to playthough the way you want to: go for the sure do-or-die, one-shot kill or give yourself some breathing room at the expense of firepower. It's this exact kind of choice that makes the game so adaptable and fun.
After finishing the story, you still have multiplayer, which, in and of itself, could be a standalone game. The controls are still the same as the single player campaign, which is good because, well, why mess with a good thing? There are a number of different modes to select and each of them are generally similar to all the other online shooting games (like Call of Duty) but having that third person shootout with people online, as well as doing some crazy jumps as your favorite characters (since every character has some kind of Herculean 30" vertical leap), is always an enjoyable experience and a wonderfully delightful way to lose about 4 or 5 hours of your day.
Graphically, the game is superior to Drake's Fortune in every single way. Reactions are real (you will find no ragdoll physics here) and everything looks as if you could reach out and touch it. Trees cast leafy shadows on murky swamp waters that squelch and squidge your jeans, climbing structures are breakable and require high levels of attentiveness and quick thumb skills on the higher difficulty settings, and everything works the way it should, with no clipping issues at all between Drake and the objects and people of the world. The climbing sections themselves are rather tricky, being puzzles in and of themselves, but getting through them is rewarding. Some may say the climbing is linear but the climbability of objects is based on Drake's perception of the world itself. That being said, you will find yourself dying on a few jumps but nothing that detracts from the game as a whole.
The audio is incredible. The atmosphere is perfectly set by the game's music, with the tense moments feeling as if your life depended on it and the action sequences perfectly set to the rhythm of the music and every punch and kick was to the beat of the drums. Strikes sound real and painful, gunshots are varying between weapons, enemies sound like they're in genuine pain when they are shot, Drake provides the necessary snotty remark after being shot a couple of times to accompany his groans and growls, and the enemies' reactions to surprises are genuine enough to be real. There's not a single moment in the game when you will question why an enemy said what they said or why Drake was moaning and whining.
All in all, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves really sets itself apart from other games by being an all around game. Anyone who was wary of Drake's Fortune must immediately pick up Among Thieves, as minimal knowledge of the original is required to play the sequel, which is the superior of the two in every single aspect of gaming. Of course, it helps to play the original but Among Thieves does such a good job of storytelling that it's not required. In the end, Uncharted 2 sets the bar a lot higher not only for other PlayStation 3 games, but for all games in general. High production values, gorgeous visuals, wonderful audio, an original and immersive storyline and lovable (and loathable) characters are all present here in a game that can only be described as flawless.