Uncharted 2 Game Review

Uncharted 2 is a game that likes to grab hold of players and doesn't want to let go until it's through having its way with them. It mostly accomplishes this feat by being action packed and well paced. It moves seamlessly from one part to the next at a speed that's fast enough to keep the player on the edge of their seat, but slow enough that they still know what's going on. There are no loading screens in between acts and there are numerous high adrenaline set pieces scattered throughout. It is truly a roller coaster ride from start to finish.

The game follows the storyline of series protagonist Nathan Drake as he follows clues left behind by Marco Polo and embarks on an action packed adventure to locate the lost city of Shangri-la. The plot itself is nothing special: Man and his friends learns of a lost city, enemy also knows of said city, follow clues and try to find the lost city before the enemy. Even so, the story still offers more than enough to keep the game moving while keeping the player from feeling lost or uninterested. Keeping in tune with the excellent pacing, the game transitions from gameplay to cutscene almost seamlessly, and the cinematics are always welcome thanks to the well voice acted cast of characters. The three main characters from Drake's Fortune, Nate, Sully, and Elena returns along with a few newcomers who, while a little cliché, are welcome editions. There's a British guy named Flynn, a strong willed woman named Cloe, and even a scar covered villain from Eastern Europe. Each of these characters carries with them a well written personality that gels perfectly with one another and creates a chemistry that most Hollywood movies can only envy.

While being able to generate the level of voice acting and character development present in uncharted 2 is a great accomplishment, what really makes Uncharted 2 great is the way it incorporates action packed set pieces into its gameplay. For starters, the game is littered with them. There are so many instances in which Drake will unexpectedly fall through floors, have a zip line snap while sliding down it, or have to run and gun while being chased by a large vehicle that every time Drake turns the corner the player will be wondering what is going to happen next. These examples are just crumbs at the bottom of the bag when compared to exhilarating set pieces such as repeatedly jumping from moving car to moving car, or participating in a gun fight inside a collapsing building before leaping to safety at the last second. What really makes these set pieces so great is the fact that not a single one of them is a quick time event. Instead of making the player sit idly by and occasionally press a button or two during these great moments, Uncharted decides to have these set pieces happen at unexpected moments during real time gameplay.

As for the gameplay itself, there's really not much to say about it. Uncharted 2 uses the same basic gameplay mechanics as Drake's Fortune, although it has been slightly improved upon. The puzzles are a little more intricate, enemies can now be brought down with a more reasonable number of shots, and the hand to hand combat is actually quite good this time around. Not all has improved however, as a few sins from the past make a return. One of the things I didn't like about Drake's fortune was the fact that the gun battles were repetitive and overly drawn out. Uncharted 2 suffers from this same flaw, expectantly towards the end. While this is in no way game breaking, when combined with twitchy character movement and a buggy cover system, it slows down the games other wise fast and exciting pace. While for the most part it does have a greater amount of verity than its predecessor, if it were not for the exhilarating set pieces, Uncharted 2's gameplay would not be able stand up to that of other games in the genre.

While the gameplay is generic and the plot is just shy of forgettable, The game's fast pace combined with superb voice acting and action packed set pieces blend perfectly into one big twelve hour long shot of adrenaline. Not a gaming masterpiece that'll have its players returning for more time and time again, but it is a fun ride the first couple times through.

9/10

Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing Demo Impression

Sonic and Sega All Stars Racing is a kart racing game that seems to be Sega's attempt to compete with with Nintendo's long running and highly successful kart racer, Mario Kart. To be completely honest, I wasn't expecting much going into this demo, seeing how the majority of Sega's attempts to rekindle the flame of their once highly successful mascot usually ends in mediocrity. So I was expecting to find something bland and borderline terrible, but to my amazement, the demo was actually pretty good.

All of the nuts and bolts for a good kart racer were there. Lots of different vehicles and tracks to choose from, lots of random weapons/abilities to use during racing, and a decent selection of multi-player options including both on-line and split-screen. While I can't speak on the quality of everything, (there were only two playable vehicles, one track, and split-screen multi-player options available in the demo) I can say that everything I had a chance to toy around with seemed to be tip-top.

The only thing about the game that annoyed me (and hurt the overall quality of the game) was the way All-Stars were handled. Every character has a unique and powerful ability they can use called All-Star. For instance, Sonic's all-star ability allows him to leave his kart and speed down the track running over everyone in his way, while Dr. Eggman's All-star gives him unlimited rockets to fire at opponents for a short period of time.

What bugs me about the all-star abilities is the fact that they are handed out at random as if they were any other weapon or ability. Throughout the multiple races I played, I was lucky if I received an all-star once every other race, where as some of my cpu controlled opponents would often receive multiple all-stars in a single race. I feel that the game would have been better served if each player all-ready possessed their all-star but could only use it once per race, or have to perform certain actions to build up an all-star meter.

If not for the mishandling of the all-star abilities, Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing seems like it would have been a superb kart racer. Still, the game looks as though it will be a pretty good one.