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UNCHARTED 4: A Thief's End
Developed by: Naughty Dog
Published by: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Platform: PS4
Rated: MA15+

BAJO
Nathan Drake has had a thrilling life to say the least but even he can't thwart death and chase relics forever. So, he's found a kind of quiet happiness at home with wife Elena - and a solid, completely above-board steady job.

HEX
Yeah, he doesn't miss the thrill of adventure at all. But despite being committed to his new life; when his long-lost brother Sam turns up out of the blue, things get complicated. Sam is in the kind of trouble only a hoard of legendary pirate treasure can fix. Yarr, it looks like adventure calls again!

BAJO
Scurvy yar skiddi yar yar! There's something particularly great about that 'one last job' isn't there? It's bittersweet for both Nathan and us, because as he reminisces on all the adventures he's had: we have been right there on that journey with him.

HEX
It's so emotional, isn't it. And you're right, each memory, we were there, we made it happen, we felt every loss and triumph. And Nolan North has done such a great job of bringing this character to life over the years, that I feel like I know Nate, he's a part of all of us.

BAJO
Well, with no time to waste you and your brother set off in search of a mythical Pirate Utopian City known as Libertalia.

HEX
Yes and in true Uncharted tradition, you'll follow an elaborate trail of clues and towers and tombs that sees you bouncing all over the globe. From Panama, to Italy, to Scotland and Madagascar.

BAJO
My eyes- they were melting out of my face, with that scenery.

HEX
It's ridiculous.

BAJO
I'm gonna say it: it's too beautiful.

HEX
It was distracting, all I wanted to do was slow pan and take screen shots and just drink in all the majesty of the landscapes I was presented with. The graphics in this game took my breath away so many times, that I think I actually stopped breathing at one point.

BAJO
So much detail. Everywhere. So much detail! And all the character animations are better than ever, and expertly captured with such subtlety and nuance.

HEX
Even the eyes, now! They look real!

BAJO
In particular the animation and the AI behavior is just magnificent. Nathan, is rarely alone in this game, he always has someone with him: and that means conversations and stories unravel through dialogue as you drive, chase, fight, climb and explore. In most video games, AI companions are annoying. In Uncharted, you love them.

HEX
Yeah, and they are never in your way. Plus I love how conversations will pause for bouts of action or enemy encounters and then just pick up where you left off. A lot of character interaction was developed really well in The Last of Us and I can see how much of that sophisticated interaction and movement has been transferred into this game.

BAJO
And this is the way Naughty Dog just nails the storytelling. The cut scenes are incredible, cinematic and often lengthy pieces of film that are a joy to watch - I always looked forward to them.

HEX
But so much of the story is told through the experiences and conversations that Nate shares with his companions as they travel together too.

BAJO
Yeah and all of that's so surreal and fluid. This time around it was kind of surreal as you take control of these actors and walking through this massive story.

HEX
And similar to The Last of Us - there are optional little moments you can trigger in the environment to further explore those moments of narrative too- and I just love that.

BAJO
So much of that dialogue is there to naturally guide you through this environment and help suggest where to go next. I think level design is the real hero of this game. So many visual cues like scratches on the wall, somehow they've made all your anchor points blend in- even more than the last game. I love how you are always moving past the point of no return, just driving you forward mentally and physically.

HEX
Absolutely. I love the way that the game is crafted in a way that makes it almost feel open world with multiple paths to take, and yet you always seem to find your way to where you need to end up. Even in fast-paced sequences of high-action!

BAJO
And if you're ever unsure of where to go next or how to approach a puzzle, the characters will tell you with casual suggestions to one another.

HEX
That's another benefit of having an AI companion, Nate doesn't have to always be thinking out loud to himself. You even solve some puzzles together, which is wonderful. But as well as working on a practical level also helps solidify the character's bond- particularly between Sam and Nate. There are so many moments where they work together save one another from the clutches of death.

BAJO
Sam is played by Troy Baker, who also played Booker in Bioshock Infinite, and Joel in the Last of Us- and is one of the few mocap and voice actors out there with the chops to rival Nolan North. Troy did such a good job and it was incredible and believable seeing them together as brothers!

HEX
I think it was very impressive, the way they introduced essentially an entirely new character in this final game and yet had us feeling immediately emotionally invested in the relationship between him and Nate. And that's achieved through good writing, fantastic performances, and also by having us play through those memories of the brothers as children.

BAJO
Yeah it's so much more important to let us play through those memories and have that experience ourselves, rather than just watching a cut scene. Because really, having a 'long lost brother' is a pretty convenient story device and yet they handled it expertly.

HEX
But it's not just about Nate and Sam's relationship, it's also about the relationship between Nate and Elena.

BAJO
I love Elena and Emily Rose gives such an incredibly real and subtle performance in this.

HEX
Well this is a lifestyle they both made a decision to leave behind them so this trip tests their relationship- their marriage! I mean you could cut the tension with a knife.

BAJO
Naughty Dog has definitely made a conscious and deliberate shift towards more storytelling with this Uncharted- it is a big shift, but I think it's balanced well. There's plenty of action, of course, it wouldn't be Uncharted without it. There's wild weather and gunfights and explosions galore. But I didn't feel like there were any of those long, drawn out cover sections that would often feel a bit repetitive in previous games.

HEX
I agree, they've been much more creative not only in the way they've designed the gunfights themselves, but in the way they break them up unto shorter bursts of enemy engagement.

BAJO
We also saw with the remastered Uncharted Collection that they'd adjusted the difficulty settings and that's carried over here. There's now an 'explorer mode' if you just want to enjoy the story- with another four settings that increase from there. And there's also a pretty hefty aim assist.

HEX
Oh it's great to have aim assist, although I did think it made it a little too easy to have it on.

BAJO
I'm glad it's there, but once I turned it off, I had a lot more fun. It removed most of the challenge for me.

HEX
Really, what I want is something that will guide me into the general ball park of the target- but this like, snaps you to the nearest enemy so you can't miss. A bit of middle ground would be ideal.

BAJO
Yeah like the way GTA5 or The Division do it, you've got that room to manoeuvre for headshots. But overall the shooting is heaps better now, mostly because standard goons don't soak up an entire clip before they fall over! It took 4 games to get it right Hex but they finally got it!

HEX
Yeah. But the point to make here is that they have given you so many options to customise the difficulty that you can play this and have a good time with as much or as little challenge as you like. Which is amazing.

BAJO
I enjoyed the emphasis on stealth in this game, too. Marking targets works well and you can even get through some areas without engaging the enemy at all . I really enjoyed all this stealth, especially when you can use a grenade to distract everyone and make a quick getaway. It's great that you have all those stealth options, because Drake has always been painted as this roguish hero, but then it's kind of just glossed over that he murders hundreds upon hundreds of goons.

HEX
Yeah, goons are people too! There were definite echoes of Assassin's Creed in the way you hide in long grass and took enemies down on the sly and you're always encouraged to try the stealth route first.

BAJO
But it's never forced on you.

HEX
No. It's more about at least giving Nathan the intention of trying to reduce bad-guy casualties.

BAJO
He does snap a lot of necks though. It's always a tricky thing in action games for developers to try and balance that. I think they could have done a better job of setting up these goons as being particularly evil- but you just kind have to let it go.

HEX
Another thing we should mention - is just how much fun it is to make your way through these changing environments. You're dropped into some of the most awe-inspiring parts of the world and then given the ultimate gamer-gift of a grapple to swing from and it honestly just feels like Christmas.

BAJO
Nathan must be the strongest man in the world, because he spends about 80% of his time in this game hanging from rocks. But that's great because as a mechanic it's just so much fun.

HEX
I agree and there is just the right amount of puzzle, timing and agility worked into those climbing sections to make them challenging but never frustrating or repetitive.

BAJO
No, you're never really doing anything in this game for too long at a time, it's constantly changing so you stay 100% engaged. And how about those vehicle sections!

HEX
Churning through the mud and trying to get a 4WD up muddy slopes. It was such a marvelous change of pace. And even the wonderful detail of having to physically wrap a winch around a tree to hoist your car up a hill.

BAJO
There is also multiplayer but it wasn't live at the time of review, however Nichboy did check out the beta awhile back so you can go online there to see how it plays.

HEX
If you do just stick to the story though, Uncharted games are always meaty offerings- and this is no exception - so you'll be on this wild ride for quite a while.

BAJO
I always get this sense like it's about to start wrapping up, and then all of a sudden you're on a plane to some other part of the world!

HEX
Would you say around 15 hours?

BAJO
I think so. Definitely longer than the other games. I was always getting the sense of it about to wrap up then suddenly I'm off on a plane to some other part of the world.

HEX
I know! And yet I was also acutely aware of the fact that this was the last game in Drake's story so I didn't want it to end, so I was glad it gave me so much. That said, it was so exciting and I was so invested that once I started I couldn't stop and I ended up playing through until 5:30 in the morning. And it's been a long time since I've done that Bajo. It takes a special game.

BAJO
It is a special game. It's also a very very clever game- the polish- the level of polish is unprecedented. What I liked most about this game: I was pulled right into their world, I was right there with them on this epic adventure. I'm giving it 5 out 5 as well.

HEX
This delivers everything that anyone who's ever loved the Uncharted series could hope for. True fan service; and the ultimate respect to those who've been on this adventure from the very beginning. In many ways, Uncharted 4 embodies Sir Francis Drake's infamous motto 'Sic Parvis Magna' greatness from small beginnings. I'm giving it 5 out of 5 as well.

PS4
10 out of 10 Stars

Uncharted is an action-adventurethird-person shooterplatform video game franchise developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The series was first developed for the PlayStation 3 hardware, before others such as PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 4.

The series follows the adventures of treasure hunter and fortune seeker Nathan Drake as he sets off to uncover the truths behind numerous mythical treasures and lost cities, resulting in clashes with rival hunters and thieves. The series features several supporting characters, including Nate's mentor Victor Sullivan, love interest Elena Fisher, and former flame Chloe Frazer, who also serves as the main protagonist of a spin-off game.

The series was generally met with critical acclaim and numerous end-year awards, as well as honors for its technical achievements, storytelling and level design; Drake's Fortune was very well-received,^[1] with each of its numbered sequels receiving universal acclaim from critics.^[2] The series' spin-off titles Golden Abyss and The Lost Legacy were also positively received. The success of the franchise led to expanding into other forms of media such as novels, comics and an upcoming movie.

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

While minor changes occur throughout the games, gameplay often involves a combination of platforming, gunplay, elaborated set-pieces and puzzle-solving. Collectibles known as treasures are also featured in each game, while some games also feature other types of collectibles.

In each game of the mainline series, the player takes control of Nathan Drake. The Lost Legacy uses a different protagonist serving as the main playable character. Gameplay involves performing several platforming tasks that must be completed to progress through the storyline. Such tactics include jumping, swimming, grabbing, shooting, climbing structures, sneaking along ledges, and swinging from ropes. Actions such as driving and boat riding were added or developed further in later titles.

The Uncharted series is part of the action-adventure genre, however, an ideal amount of freedom is provided through the design of the maps. Elements of open world design are featured in later titles, as a way to encourage free-roaming to discover scattered treasure as part of side quests or utilizing stealth to avoid enemy detection. In A Thief's End, role-playing was enhanced to include optional conversations between characters. The series as a whole follows the structure of traditional action games, with players being navigated through third-person perspective and following a single line of chapter with linear gameplay.

Shooting is a central gameplay aspect in the series, as players must fight through several groups of enemies. The player is only limited to two weapons at a time, such as a hand gun and long gun (rifle or shotgun), plus a total of up to four grenades. However, each game features a wide variety of weapons. Such weapons can be obtained from defeated enemies or found scattered around the environment. If the player dies, whether it is from being gunned down, blown up, beaten, or taking a huge fall, they will respawn at the previous checkpoint.

A Thief's End introduced the function of jeeps in a large, open-world environment, which is also carried over into The Lost Legacy. This gives players full freedom to drive wherever they please, but still, must explore certain areas to progress through the story.

Multiplayer was first introduced in Among Thieves. It features both competitive and cooperative gameplay. Co-op mode supports up to three players, taking the roles of Nate and two other companions. Also included are missions that involve the usual firefights and platforming, but also team-based objectives. If partners become critically injured, or are grabbed by an enemy, players can assist them.^[3] Competitive mode supports up to ten players that can compete against each other in two teams, both with five players. Six competitive modes are featured, including team-based objectives and single or team-based deathmatches. Survival mode was introduced in A Thief's End. It involves fighting several waves of swarming enemies and completing other tasks.

Multiplayer allows players to accumulate points and move up the rankings. This can be used to purchase additional skins for both heroes and villains.

Synopsis[edit | edit source]

Setting[edit | edit source]

The series is set in the real world, featuring realistic environments within real countries, such as Italy, France, Panama, and several more. Environments consist mostly of ancient, lush jungle environments, while other parts of each game take place in more urbanized settings. Most ancient environments are tied to specific historical characters, such as Francis Drake, Marco Polo, Henry Avery, and several more that the series cover.

The series begin in the year 2007, starting with Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, at which point fortune hunter Nathan Drake was currently separated from his wife Elena Fisher, yet they still take part together in adventures, along with Victor Sullivan, Nate's best friend and mentor.

Plot[edit | edit source]

The story begins with Nathan Drake off the coast of Panama, Elena Fisher and Victor Sullivan. After recovering the lost coffin of Sir Francis Drake, they found that Drake has discovered a big secret during his voyage, a treasure that turned out to be a cursed statue known as El Dorado. The statue was responsible for the death of Drake and his crew. As Nate and his companions trekked through a large hidden island that supposedly held the treasure, they were confronted by Gabriel Roman and Atoq Navarro, who were also after the treasure.

Releases[edit | edit source]

Games[edit | edit source]

Future[edit | edit source]

According to Neil Druckman, a different studio could make a fifth Uncharted game. If such a game is made, Naughty Dog will be involved in some capacity.^[4]

Other media[edit | edit source]

Motion Comics[edit | edit source]

Uncharted: Eye of Indra is a four-part motion comic prequel which sets up the events of Drake's Fortune. A few weeks before the first game, it follows Nathan Drake and Eddy Raja in Indonesia, as they attempt to steal an artifact called the Eye of Indra from a crime lord named Daniel Pinkerton.

A motion comic of the prologue to Drake's Fortune was created, using the same voice clips from the game.

Other games[edit | edit source]

Uncharted: Drake's Trail, released in 2009, was an internet game made available on the official European Uncharted website. As a private investigator in the hire of Elena Fisher, the object of the game was to find Nate by following his trail using various clues left behind by him. This game is no longer available.

There is also an Uncharted 2 minigame released on the official European site that is still currently active.

Uncharted Dual Pack is a 2011 compilation of the first two action-adventure games within the Uncharted franchise. It was released for the PlayStation 3 on September 6, 2011, to promote the release of the then-upcoming sequel Drake's Deception. It contains Drake's Fortune, a Game of the Year edition of Among Thieves, and Eye of Indra motion comics. It also includes a Super Voucher, which has DLC from Among Thieves, as well as an avatar and a dynamic theme from Drake's Deception.

Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection is a remastered compilation of the first three Uncharted games released on October 9, 2015, in North America for the PlayStation 4.

Novels[edit | edit source]

Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth is a novel written by Christopher Golden, and concerns Daedalus' Labyrinth, a maze used to hold the mythical Greek monster; the Minotaur. The book was released on October 4, 2011.

Drake's Journal is a book that chronicles the making of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. It was by Nolan North, Nathan Drake's voice and mo-cap actor, and published on November 1, 2011.

Others[edit | edit source]

Uncharted 3: Race to the Ring is an reality TV/game show that aired on October 31, 2012 at 11:30pm on Spike TV.

Film[edit | edit source]

An Uncharted film version was announced by Sony. It is based on the original game, Drake's Fortune, and will serve as a prequel to the games. Ruben Fleischer is producing the picture, from a script by Joe Carnahan and Rafe Judkins with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg starring. It was produced by Columbia Pictures, PlayStation Productions, Naughty Dog, and Sony Pictures Releasing. It was originally released theatrically in the United States on March 5, however it was delayed to October 8, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

References[edit | edit source]

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Developer(s)	Naughty Dog
Publisher(s)	Sony Computer Entertainment
Director(s)
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)	Pål-Kristian Engstad Travis McIntosh Dan Liebgold
Artist(s)
Writer(s)
Composer(s)	Greg Edmonson
Series	Uncharted
Platform(s)
Release	PlayStation 3 NA: October 13, 2009 AU: October 15, 2009 EU: October 16, 2009 PlayStation 4 PAL: October 7, 2015 NA: October 9, 2015 UK: October 9, 2015
Genre(s)	Action-adventure, platformer, third-person shooter
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a 2009 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the second game in the Uncharted series, and was released in October 2009 for PlayStation 3. Set two years after the events of Drake's Fortune, the single-player story follows Nathan Drake, who partners with Chloe Frazer and Elena Fisher, as they search for the Cintamani Stone and city of Shambhala, whilst battling a mercenary group led by war criminal Zoran Lazarević.

Development for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves began immediately following the critical and commercial success of the first entry.^[1] The development team drew inspiration from explorer Marco Polo, and specifically, from his expeditions through archipelagos and eastern Asia. Naughty Dog also aimed to improve the game's proprietary engine, creating the game to run exclusively on the company's Naughty Engine 2.0 system. This allowed the developers to record extensive motion capture and more in-game cinematic sequences, as well as include an online multiplayer component; a first for the series.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves received universal acclaim from critics for its elaborate set pieces, character design, storytelling, graphics, technical innovation, and gameplay mechanics. It received Game of the Year accolades from numerous publications and award events, and is considered to be one of the greatest video games ever made, and among the most significant titles for the seventh console generation. It also enjoyed great commercial success, with over seven million copies sold worldwide. The game was followed by a sequel titled Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception in 2011, and was re-released on PlayStation 4 as part of Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.^[2]

Gameplay[edit]

Drake climbs a hotel in Nepal as he attempts to locate a temple.

Uncharted 2 is an action-adventureplatformvideo game played from a third-person view, with the player in control of Nathan Drake. Drake is physically adept and is able to jump, climb, and scale narrow ledges and wall-faces to get between points. Drake can be equipped with up to two firearms – one single-handed and one two-handed – and a limited supply of grenades. Drake can pick up weapons, automatically replacing the existing weapon he was using, and additional ammunition from slain enemies. The player can direct Drake to take cover behind corners or low walls using either aimed or blind-fire to kill his enemies. The player can also have Drake fire while moving. If Drake is undetected by his enemies, the player can attempt to use stealth to take them out, such as by sneaking up behind them to knock them out with one hit, or by pulling an unsuspecting foe over a ledge from which Drake is hanging.^[3] In most areas, if all of the foes patrolling are killed stealthily then other waves that would normally appear do not. Some areas of the game require the player to solve puzzles with the use of Drake's journal, which provides clues towards the puzzles' solutions. When enabled, a hint system provides gameplay clues, such as the direction of the next objective.

Throughout the game are 101 special treasures that may be hidden or in difficult-to-reach places that the player can collect. There is also one secret "hidden" relic exactly the same as the one in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Collecting these treasures, along with completing certain feats within the game, is tracked by the awarding of medals, which gives the player in-game money to use to unlock extra content on the disc, including concept art, game movies, and game cheats such as guns with infinite ammunition. A large portion of the in-game medals are used to award trophies.

Multiplayer[edit]

Uncharted features both competitive and co-operative multiplayer. The co-op multiplayer allows a maximum of three players to take the roles of Nathan and two other "hero" companions and features missions involving gunfights, platforming, and teamwork-based objectives.^[4] Players can also assist their comrades if they become critically injured or if they are grabbed by an enemy.^[4]

The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction.^[5] Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Nathan, Elena, Sully and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains.^[5] Players can select two Boost abilities which assist them in the matches.^[5] Plunder is similar to the traditional capture the flag game mode, and sees each team attempt to capture the treasure from a central point in the map and return it to their base; the player carrying the treasure is slowed down a great deal, and may also choose to hurl the treasure away at any point, in order to keep it out of reach of the enemy, or to pass it to a teammate.^[5] Elimination has two teams of five players against each other with the objective of killing everyone on the other team. In Elimination, the players do not respawn. The goal is to eliminate the other team three out of five times.

Chain Reaction is a mode that is similar to Turf War. This has the player capturing posts, but the player must do them in a specific order – one team works out from their base needing to capture 1 through 5 while the other team starts out from their home and needs to snag 5 through 1. King of the Hill has players capturing a hill, spawned on the map to score points. They must stay in the hill to score points while the enemy team tries to do the same.

Gold Rush is a cooperative mode of play where 2–3 players must team up to obtain a treasure, which is randomly spawned on the map, and take it back to their base, much like Plunder. However, AI enemies try to stop the players from returning the treasure. If a player goes down and is not revived before the timer goes out, they will not come back until the next round. In each consecutive round the enemies become tougher to defeat. Survival is the second cooperative mode of play, where 2–3 players must work together to defeat a total of ten waves of enemies, each wave becoming more and more difficult. A new co-op game mode, titled "Siege", was also added, in which 2–3 players must team up to secure a zone while holding off waves of enemies.

On June 5, 2019 the developer Naughty Dog announced that the multiplayer servers of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves would be terminated on September 3.^[6]

Plot[edit]

Two years after the events of the first game, treasure hunter Nathan Drake (Nolan North) is approached by former associate Harry Flynn (Steve Valentine) and Flynn's girlfriend Chloe Frazer (Claudia Black) to help steal a Mongolianoil lamp connected to Marco Polo's doomed 1292 voyage from China. The group plans to cheat Flynn's client and take Polo's treasure for themselves. However, unbeknownst to Flynn, Chloe and Nate have work together in the past and Chloe plans on blackmailing Flynn and escaping with Nate and whatever treasure they find.

Nate and Flynn break into a museum in Istanbul and find the lamp, which contains a map and flammable resin that reveals Polo's fleet was shipwrecked in Borneo and that it was carrying the Cintamani Stone from the fabled city of Shambhala. Flynn double-crosses Nate, leaving him to be arrested.

Three months later, Chloe helps free Nate with his longtime friend Victor Sullivan (Richard McGonagle). She reveals that Flynn is working for Zoran Lazarević (Graham McTavish), a Serbian war criminal seeking the stone. In Borneo, Nate and Sully infiltrate Lazarević's camp, with Chloe as a mole. Nate discovers that the stone never left Shambhala, and locates a temple containing the bodies of Polo's crew, as well as a phurba and map detailing that its carrier will gain passage to Shambhala through a temple in Nepal. Nate and Sully escape after being cornered by Flynn and his men.

Sully backs out, so Nate and Chloe continue to Nepal, which has been ravaged by Lazarević's mercenaries. They encounter Nate's ex-girlfriend journalist Elena Fisher (Emily Rose) and cameraman Jeff (Gregory Myhre), tracking Lazarević. At the temple, Nate and Chloe use the phurba to uncover Shambhala's location in the Himalayas. After Jeff is shot in an ambush, Chloe insists on abandoning him; Nate and Elena help him but are caught by Lazarević. Chloe switches sides to maintain her cover while Lazarević kills Jeff and obtains the Shambhala location from Nate, who escapes with Elena.

With Elena's help, Nate catches up to Lazarević's train. He fights through it to find Chloe, but she refuses to leave with him after he compromised their mission to help Jeff and Elena. Flynn arrives and shoots Nate. Cornered, Nate causes an explosion that derails the train over a cliff. He escapes the hanging train car, recovers the phurba, and falls unconscious. A TibetanSherpa, Tenzin (Pema Dhondup), brings Nate to his village.

Nate reunites with Elena and is introduced to German explorer, Karl Schäfer (René Auberjonois). Schäfer sends him and Tenzin after the remains of Schäfer's failed expedition for the stone decades ago. Nate and Tenzin travel through ice caves and fight off strange monsters. They discover that Schäfer was working for the NaziAhnenerbe and killed his men to protect the world from the Cintamani Stone. They return to fight off an attack on the village by Lazarević's men, but Schäfer is kidnapped, and the phurba stolen. Elena and Nate follow Lazarević's convoy to a monastery, where the mortally-wounded Schäfer warns Nate to destroy the stone before Lazarević can obtain its power.

After reacquiring the phurba from Chloe, Nate and Elena unlock the secret passage to Shambhala underneath the monastery, but Lazarević corners them. With Chloe's cover blown, Lazarević forces Nate to open the pathway to Shambala. The monsters attack but are killed by Lazarević, who reveals them as Shambala's disguised human guardians. After the gate is opened, Shambala's true guardians attack, allowing Nate, Elena, and Chloe to escape.

After making their way through the city, the group discovers that the Cintamani Stone is a giant amber derived, along with the flammable resin, from the sap of an ancient tree of life in the center of the city. The sap gives the drinker inhuman powers, explaining the guardians and Polo's doomed crew. Flynn, left for dead by Lazarević, ambushes them in a suicide attack, seriously wounding Elena. Nate leaves her in Chloe's care and confronts Lazarević at the base of the tree. Lazarević drinks the tree sap, becoming nearly invincible. By shooting explosive pockets of resin near Lazarević, Nate defeats him and leaves him to be killed by the guardians. As the city crumbles under the collapse of the tree and the exploding resin, Nate and Chloe carry Elena to safety.

In the village, Chloe counsels Nate to tell Elena that he loves her, before bidding him farewell. Sully leaves a recovering Elena to Nate. The couple pays their respects at a memorial for Schäfer and kiss.

Development[edit]

First revealed by Game Informer in December 2008, the first teaser trailer shows a weary, wounded Nathan Drake marching through a snowstorm to reach a phurba half-buried in the snow. Lead character artist Richard Diamant remarked that the trailer was rendered in real-time, using the game's engine.^[7] A second teaser trailer was released soon after, showing a badly wounded Drake stuck in the remains of a wrecked train hanging precariously over a cliff. The story begins in medias reswith this opening. The narrative opens with a quote attributed to Marco Polo, "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed."

The game had three main writers: head writer Amy Hennig, Neil Druckmann and Josh Scherr.^[8]

Uncharted 2 features an online multiplayer component; Naughty Dog hired a dedicated multiplayer designer in August 2008 to work on this aspect of the game.^[9] The beta phase of the multiplayer was playable by those who bought early copies of the game inFamous.^[10] The beta was also accessible by annual subscribers of the PlayStation Network service, Qore, on June 3, to those who had subscribed to Qore by May 15.^[11] The beta codes from Qore began to be sent out on May 8, 2009. Beta codes from inFamous shipped inside the game's packaging, on May 26, 2009. On September 15, 2009, another beta was released and an open beta was released to the EU and US on September 29, 2009, via the PSN store. Both expired on October 12, 2009.^[12] In the first year since the game's launch, more than 125 million matches and 10,500 man-years had been played online.^[13]

On July 27, Naughty Dog Co-President Christophe Balestra revealed through a Twitter post that the game would not require installation to the PlayStation 3's hard drive.^[14]

The development period was 22 months, with six months of the total spent in pre-production.^[9]

One of the inspirations for the Tibetan village sequence was the 2008 video game The Graveyard by Tale of Tales.^[15]

Motion capture[edit]

In E3 2009 videos from Naughty Dog showed the voice actors of the characters performing the motion captures in some of the scenes.^[16] The actors act out the scene wearing specially designed motion capture suits. Their performance was used to provide both the motion capture and voice work. The actors would even rehearse together in a room and had discussions with the creative directors of the game before carrying out the performance to create the highly realistic and cinematic dialogue throughout the game.^[17]

Graphics and technology[edit]

Naughty Dog intended to maximize the utilization of the Cell's SPUs, as their estimates for utilization in the first Uncharted were only around 30%.^[18] As a result, the game has more realistic environments and animations. Uncharted 2 has 564 in-game cinematic animations in comparison to 80 in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.^[9]

Uncharted 2 uses Naughty Engine 2.0, a revamped and optimized version of the original engine that has allowed the game to have real-time moving environments, more realistic textures, and animations. The Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0 also works in harmony with Havok Physics.

On August 26, 2009, it was revealed that Uncharted 2 uses between 90 and 100% of the Cell's processor and uses all 25GB of a single Blu-ray Disc.^[19] However, Evan Wells later pointed out:

... now it's at least busy 100% of the time, but it's still not fully-optimized code. I mean, in order to get to that 100%, it was more about making sure the pipeline was filled, and we weren't running into one of the processors becoming idle because there wasn't a job ready for it.^[20]

In the interview, Christophe Balestra also pointed out how important it is to ship every system with a hard drive.

The fact that every PlayStation 3 has a hard drive is huge for us. It's the combination of Blu-ray and hard drive. You can play the entire game without loading. We don't require an install. We're doing all the post-processing effects on the Synergistic Processing Units.

Screen Space Ambient Occlusion for example, was done completely on the SPUs.^[19][21]

Post-release[edit]

Special editions[edit]

Naughty Dog's creative director Amy Hennig revealed a special Fortune Hunter edition of Uncharted 2 that is not obtainable in stores. The Fortune Hunter edition contains the game, a replica of the Phurba Dagger artifact and stand, a BradyGames strategy guide, an art book, the official soundtrack, and a collector's case autographed by Naughty Dog. It is also said to include various downloadable content.^[22] A collector's edition of Uncharted 2 was not announced for sale in the United States.

SCEA marketing manager Asad Qizilbash told readers of the PlayStation Blog that the limited edition giveaways will take place on that blog, PlayStation Home, the game's multiplayer demo, and a few other unnamed places. Qizilbash also mentioned that only residents in the US are eligible to win. Only 200 copies were released.^[22]

Exclusive to the PAL region, the Uncharted 2 special edition contains the game, gold versions of the Beretta and AK-47 weapons, two post cards, a PlayStation 3 theme, and multiplayer skins.^[23] The game comes packaged in a steel case by SteelBook. Never formally announced, the Special Edition was discovered on the game's official European launch site, with the only link for the special edition leading to one of Britain's major game retailers, Game.^[24]

A Game of the Year Edition was released October 12, 2010. Among other features, this edition includes all previously released downloadable content (with the exception of the Sidekicks Skin Pack),^[13] four motion comics, and Pinball Heroes: Uncharted for the PSP.^[25] Besides being available as an individual "Greatest Hits" title, Uncharted 2 and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune have been released together, as a "Greatest Hits DualPack", and an "Ultimate Combo Pack" which includes a metallic blue DualShock 3 controller.^[26][27]

Downloadable content[edit]

The first pack of downloadable content (DLC) was released on November 27, 2009 and featured a new multiplayer map, "The Fort", from The Fortress chapter in Drake's Fortune for free.^[28] On December 11, 2009, "Uncharted: Eye of Indra Multiplayer Skin Pack" was released, exclusively for the PAL PlayStation Store. It includes all four parts of the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra and two Uncharted 2 multiplayer skins based on the motion comic. The pack contains Rika for the heroes and Pinkerton for the villains. The pack was later released in North America.^[29]

On January 28, 2010, the "PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack" was released, containing Sev and a Helghast soldier from Killzone 2, Nathan Hale and a Chimera from the Resistance series, and Cole (Evil and Good) along with Zeke from inFamous. The single player demo of Uncharted 2 was released on the same day.^[30] On February 25, 2010, a DLC pack that contained two new multiplayer maps, six skins based on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, 12 PSN Trophies, and 13 medals was released. Skins were released as a single purchase and the 2 maps with the 12 PSN Trophies were released as a single purchase. A bundle of both purchases was also released.^[31] On April 22, 2010, the third expansion pack, "Siege" was released. This DLC pack contained a new co-op multiplayer mode known as Siege, two new multiplayer maps, six new character skins and 11 PSN Trophies (10 of which are bronze, one of which is silver). Two of the six new skins are from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and the other four are new and exclusive to the game.^[32] On August 26, 2010, the "Sidekick Skin Pack" was released, containing 6 alternate appearances of previously available characters, and 2 new villain skins, Dillon and Mac.^[33] On September 7, 2010, it was announced that new DLC for the game is on the way. On December 12, 2010, the previously exclusive "Golden Guns" DLC was released. This DLC pack contained gold skins for the AK-47 and Beretta weapons.^[34]

PlayStation Home[edit]

In PlayStation Home, the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, Naughty Dog has released a themed game space for Uncharted 2, developed by Outso.^[35] This makes the second game space to be released from Naughty Dog, the first being the game space for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This space is called "Nepalese Village" and features the mini-games Mask Mayhem, Torch Race, and Fortunate Thieves with rewards. There's also an Uncharted 2 Blog that lets users access the Uncharted 2 blog. It was released on October 23, 2009 in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home.^[36] In the video on the PlayStation blog, Jack Buser, the director of Home for SCEA, describes the mini-game, Fortunate Thieves, as being a "full on, interactive mini-MMO." The Uncharted series is the first game series to have a game space for both games of the series in Home.

Between the hours of 8 am PT on November 5 and 12 pm PT on November 6, there was a contest in the North American Home (in which only U.S. citizens could participate), where users could win the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Fortune Hunter Edition. Between those times, users went to the Uncharted 2 space and played the "Mask Mayhem" mini-game. The user who placed first on the Uncharted 2 space's leader board won a copy of the Fortune Hunter Edition.^[37] Users had another chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition in the Uncharted 2 space between the times of 8 am PT November 20, 2009 and 12 pm PT November 21, 2009. Between those times, users had to try to get in first place on the "Fortunate Thieves" mini-game leader board to win the Fortune Hunter Edition.^[38] The user who placed first on the Fortunate Thieves leader board won the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had one final chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition from 8 am PT December 18, 2009 to 12 pm PT December 21, 2009. Users had to play the "Torch Race" mini-game and be first on its leader board in the Uncharted 2 space.^[39]

On May 6, 2010, an Uncharted apartment was released in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home called the "Uncharted Fortune Hunter's Apartment".^[40]Uncharted themed costumes have also been released in Home. The apartment was released on May 27, 2010 in the Asian version.

Reception[edit]

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves received universal acclaim, being praised as one of the best video games of all time, and earning numerous "Game of the Year" awards, including Spike'sVideo Game Awards.^[61] The game has a GameRankings score of 96.43%.^[62] The game also received a Metacritic score of 96 out of 100,^[41] making it the most critically acclaimed game of 2009.^[63]

The first publication to review Uncharted 2 was the French edition of PSM3. In their review, they called the game "Long, visually stunning, deep and explosive, Uncharted 2 combines all the qualities you can find in a videogame, and more! A new milestone has been reached in the videogame history." The magazine awarded the game 21/20, a score that was reached five years prior by Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.^[58]PlayStation: The Official Magazine awarded the game a perfect score. In their review, they stated, "Forget Game of The Year. This is one of the greatest games of all time!"^[55] The UK edition of the magazine also gave the game a perfect score,^[56] named it the 2nd best PS3 game of all time,^[60] while readers of the same magazine voted it the greatest PlayStation title released.^[64]

Hiawatha Bray of The Boston Globe said:

... no video game has ever done a better job of capturing the style and rhythm of the movies. The action sequences in Uncharted 2 look as if they were shot by a team of cinematographers, then edited into a coherent and thrilling narrative. The game's storyline is trite, but a first-rate cast of voice-over actors carry it off with flair.^[65]

The Los Angeles Times review suggested the game would "fit better on a big screen in some multiplex", and also added that "Uncharted 2 is ridiculously immersive, so much so that you forget you are controlling the actions of treasure hunter Nathan Drake ... everything is done right."^[66] In a review for The New York Times, Seth Schiesel described it as "perhaps the best-looking game on any system, and no game yet has provided a more genuinely cinematic entertainment experience."^[67]

Uncharted 2 also received praise from other developers. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 producer Gordon Van Dyke stated "Uncharted 2 is an amazing-looking game. But we're reaching that level of quality. It's going to be hard for any game to be able to make a claim that they look better ... to even be close, to me is quite an honour as a developer. The one thing I did was, when I looked at their game I was like, damn them! What have they done to the rest of us? I was looking for something where I could say, okay, that we're doing better."^[68]

IGN gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, praising its "stunning visuals" and saying "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is fantastic", and calling the multiplayer mode "one of the best multiplayer experiences that you'll find in any game around ... it almost feels like Naughty Dog has given us an extra game for free."^[54]X-Play's Adam Sessler gave the game a 5 out of 5, saying that "Uncharted 2 has the best single-player I have ever played".^[69]

The game was criticized for some negative issues, such as lapses in the control system. The New York Times noted that "... its finicky controls can frustrate at times."^[67] Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer found, "There are ... a few occasions where the platforming lets you down ... despite the feeling you were jumping in the right direction."^[45] IGN described certain repetitive gunfight sequences as "a little aggravating" and complained about the "very linear" climbing sections, yet calling it a forced complaint.^[54]

The game was placed 19th in Dengeki online's reader poll of the best games of 2009, making it the only non-Japanese game in the list.^[70]

Sales[edit]

NPD Group's sales data show that Uncharted 2 was the top-selling game in the United States for October 2009, at about 537,000 units sold,^[71] while Media Create's sales data has Uncharted 2 selling 47,000 units for its first day in Japan.^[72] Phil Rosenberg of SCE says the game has crossed the one million sold mark on November 12, 2009.^[73] According to gaming analyst Jesse Divnich, Uncharted 2 is the third first-party title on the PlayStation 3 to sell over 1 million units in North America.^[71][74] As of February 2010, the game has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling first-party title on any PlayStation platform.^[75]Uncharted 2 is now part of Sony's selection of Greatest Hits.^[76] On September 28, 2010, Naughty Dog announced the title had now sold 3.8 million worldwide.^[77] By December 2011, over 5 million copies of the game had been sold.^[78] As of March 2015, Uncharted 2 has sold over 6 million copies.^[79]

Awards[edit]

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves received numerous Game of the Year awards and has been called one of the best video games of all time for its set pieces, graphics, motion capture acting, original characters and performances, as well as the story and multiplayer.^[80] At the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards, it earned a record eight award nominations, winning three, including Game of the Year.^[81]IGN, among numerous other video gaming websites and publications, awarded Uncharted 2 their overall Game of the Year award.^[82] The game also won ten AIASInteractive Achievement Awards including Game of the Year.^[83]

References[edit]