I recently played through Uncharted 2: Among thieves developed by Naughty Dog. The game is simply stunning, in my mind worth the purchase of a PS3 in order to experience.
While derivative of many other titles such as Gears of War, Tomb Raider, Metal Gear Solid, everything in the game is done as well or better than its been done before. There is such variety in game play & location, the icy area shown above is but a short chapter. Though the game pushes you along I often found myself stopping to marvel at the accomplishments of the art team. Each location is densely filled with foliage, or debris and detail. Its the first game I’ve seen where a blend between different material types is seamless in places, plaster through to broken bricks for example.
Special attention has been given to load times, after an initial pause you never again see a loading screen for the duration of play. Even upon death you are back in the action within seconds. This helps to sustain a roller coaster ride that just keeps going. There’s never a dull moment that feels like an opportunity to put down the controller. It reminds me of Half Life 2 which I was also compelled to play through till early in the morning.
The characters are absolutely the best i’ve ever seen. From their subtle expressions, to their realistic attire and proportions. In particular the caricature movie villain, who’s scarred head is a work of art. It actually looks like there is real time sub-surface scattering in effect!
Because the game is so great the odd little thing here and there sticks out all the more. Amazingly some cut scenes, while rendered from the game engine, look slightly worse than the rest of the game, due to compression artifacts. There’s a little more gun play than i’d prefer, and the characters jumps seem a little superhuman & sometimes wonky in the otherwise super realistic setting. The odd moment i had to play over and over. These are small complaints though, I can’t recommend the game highly enough, Its astonishing to me it was created in only 2 years.
