Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review

Off the charts, off the scale. Naughty Dog’s latest PS3 action-adventure is one to treasure.

By Edwin Evans-Thirlwell, October 22, 2009


Should have gone to Specsavers?

Should have gone to Specsavers?

Online play also brings Uncharted 2′s small, well-balanced array of wildcard pick-ups into their own. Grab a riot shield and you’ll become a walking fortress with a deadly backhand, proof against frontal bombardment but absolutely begging to have your neck snapped; unholster the chaingun and you’ll slow to a highly conspicuous waddle, easily dispatched if the other team sees you coming, the wrath of Hades if they don’t.


Of the modes, CTF-variant Plunder probably has the longest shelf life: five-man hero and villain teams compete to return a cumbersome golden idol from the centre of the map to their respective treasure chests, whether by lugging it the whole way or hurling it from player to player American-Football-style. Treasure chests are sometimes situated above ground level, leading to frequent last-minute turnarounds as dispossessed teams ambush the carrier during that clumsy final ascent.


Climbing is the new rocket-jumping.

Climbing is the new rocket-jumping.

King of the Hill and Domination are self-explanatory shades of capture-and-hold, while Chain Reaction requires one team to storm control points in a certain order. The three-man cooperative experience is split between broken-off segments of the storyline, players blasting their way from checkpoint to checkpoint, and a compelling, round-based blend of area defence and CTF known as Gold Rush. Last and least, there’s Deathmatch and no-respawns-allowed Elimination.


Arriving fresh from the single player, you’ll have a healthy cash reserve to blow on custom character skins, tuned-up weaponry, abrasive “taunts” and Modern-Warfare-esque “booster” abilities. You can slot two of the latter into your profile at once, some run-of-the-mill (carry more ammo), some dangerously useful (see enemies through walls, or stop them from doing likewise), some masochistic (take double-damage from melee attacks). The more potent or eccentric are only available to high-levellers, but never fear, occasional players – Uncharted 2′s match-making system distributes these over-powered veterans even-handedly between teams.


7 Responses to “Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Review”

  1. JP says:

    Good review, but for me it’s never a 10. A 10 indicates perfection, and Uncharted 2, although a great game is never a 10.

    Personally, i’d give it an 8.

    • theegyptianone says:

      that is stupid from u because 10 in gaming doesnt mean perfect but it means that gaming doesent get any much beter with todays technology and in terms of the whol experiance but nothing is perfect so ur saying we shouldent score anything in the world 10? that is realy retarded

  2. join says:

    what a great game , what a great review , uncharted 2 is not a normal game it is a super game has made ever i dont love any game sush as uncharted 2 it is amazing every thing in the game is superior .
    shortly it is the game of the year 2009 .

  3. JP says:

    sorry for my stupid comment, uncharted 2 deserves an 11 and i’m an idiot for giving it an 8, i meant to give ODST the 8

    • theegyptianone says:

      lol i dint read ur last comment their but yea odst gets nothing from me because its more of the same as any halo game why would i play more of the same when i can go get my xbox 1 from my garage and play halo2?

  4. [...] 3D have compromised the past two decades’ worth of game-related writing. I gave Uncharted 2 a 10/10 in 2009. In hindsight, I should have rated it a 5 for making false pretenses to the title of a 3D [...]

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