Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review [PS3]



£38.99

If there’s one thing that games journos like to have a right old moan about it’s the quality of storytelling in games. “The plot’s weaker than OJ’s defence,” “the voice acting makes Hollyoaks look like Chekhov” or “there’s more characterisation in Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus” are the kinds of things we write with annoying regularity. But, bad jokes aside, we’ve got a point.   Game narratives, more often than not, are terrible.  They’re hokey, cliché-ridden “tributes” to movie conventions that seemed out of date ten years ago and serve only as a distraction to the real point of videogames, which is to blow stuff up (or to create an army of trainee sex offenders if you believe the Daily Star).

Of course, we’re not expecting Schindler’s List: The Video Game, but we want a story that draws us into the game world, a story that actually makes us care about the bouncing lump of pixels we’re guiding around the screen. While some games have taken steps forward in terms of storytelling, for every Brutal Legend there’ll be a Raven Squad and even the big budget AAA games are often found lacking. Come on, let’s admit it: Killzone 2 was ace but the story was shite, wasn’t it? Well, if indeed good things can happen in this world, then surely Uncharted 2 will change all of this. Because, without any doubt whatsoever, Naughty Dog’s latest is the prime example of how to tell a story in a video game.

Uncharted 2 follows essentially the same model as the first game. Nathan Drake once again finds himself at the centre of a treasure hunt, this time following in the steps of legendary 13th century explorer Marco Polo in an attempt to discover what happened to the fleet of ships which disappeared on his ill-fated voyage home from China.   The trail soon leads Drake into a tangled web of mythology as he and his companions – some familiar, some not -  search for the fabled Cintamani Stone and its home, the kingdom of Shambhala, hidden somewhere in Asia. Sure, it’s pretty standard territory for an adventure tale and, as mentioned, doesn’t exactly stray too far from the story of the last game but the way in which Naughty Dog has crafted the tale is highly impressive.

The game begins in the middle of the narrative with Drake in the unenviable position of clinging desperately to a de-railed train as it teeters dangerously on the edge of a cliff. Oh and he’s been gutshot. Following a brief intro section, the story shifts into flashbacks as we learn how Drake got himself into this fine old mess. Again. That’s about as much as we can say without veering into spoiler territory but I can’t emphasise enough just how entertaining it all is. Yes, it’s more than a bit silly but it’s testament to Naughty Dog’s narrative skill that I never felt the urge to skip a single second of the game’s 90 minutes of cutscenes.

This is largely due to the superb scripting and voice acting in Uncharted 2. Not only is the dialogue snappy and frequently funny, it’s delivered perfectly with none of the awkward pauses and strange emphases that so often define video game voice acting. And it’s all wrapped up in excellent cutscene direction and, as I’m sure you’ve already heard, frankly astonishing visuals.  Uncharted was, for me at least, one of the most visually appealing games in the PS3’s catalogue thanks to a vibrant colour palette and sharp textures. Now, I’m generally not one to coo over pretty visuals but I have to stress that Uncharted 2 is, to date, the best-looking game on the PS3.