Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Overview

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves follows up 2007's exclusive PlayStation 3 game, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It is a third-person cover based shooter which draws influences from older action-adventure movies and games.

Like its predecessor, Uncharted 2 follows Nathan Drake on his journey to find a mythical treasure with a link to a historical figure; in this case, Marco Polo. However, this game trades the dense jungle environment for a range of exotic and urban locales, including Borneo, Turkey and Nepal.

Gameplay

Overview

Uncharted 2 is made up of a mix between third-person cover-based shooting, light platforming/traversal, and puzzles. The game's structure is set across 26 chapters, all of which blend together and do not require loading screens to continue. Each chapter, once reached, will then forever be available for players to continue the story from.

What separates Uncharted 2 from other action-adventure games of this ilk is its priority on set-piece driven moments. Throughout the game Nathan Drake will find himself in a number of dramatic scenes, however most of these will still be playable. One example is Drake finding himself within a building that is currently collapsing, only the player must also fight their way through a squadron of enemy soldiers while this is happening. Or another where the player must leap between a number of moving vehicles. Mixing the game's shooting and platforming elements within such bombastic scenarios was designed as the primary appeal, rather than one specific style of gameplay or set of mechanics. Because of its set-piece driven design, however, Uncharted 2 is heavily scripted.

Nathan Drake is more often than not accompanied by one or more friendly NPCS. Though they are invulnerable with infinite ammo and primarily exist for narrative purposes; they can still kill enemies, but the frequency of such is low.

Difficulty Settings

The game features multiple difficulties, including:

• Very Easy
• Easy
• Normal
• Hard
• Crushing

None of them change up the game beyond altering the damage modifiers, however. The highest difficulty setting, Crushing, requires that players first complete the game before undertaking.

Combat

The shooting is what makes up the majority of the game and features all of the standard mechanics one would expect from a third-person shooter of this nature. Players can take cover against just about any object, transition between different pieces of cover if they're close by, blindfire, utilize a roll to avoid damage, and so on. What's different over most shooters is its implementation within the traversal; should Drake be hanging onto a piece of scenery, he will often still be able to fire his weapon, though only his sidearm.

Melee combat is once again featured as well, and functions with the basic method of timely pressing square. Upon enough damage, or if the player is to counter an enemy attack, players must press square, triangle, square in time with the animations to successfully kill an enemy in a melee struggle. If an enemy has already been weakened enough with gunfire, it's possible that the player will be able to kill them with a single melee hit.

What is somewhat new over the original Uncharted is a slightly larger focus towards stealth. One of the earliest levels of the game, set within a Museum in Turkey, requires that players take out guards without being seen -- doing so will result in instant failure. This is the only section of the game that requires players to use stealth to proceed, though there are opportunities for the player to use stealth instead of engaging in a firefight. More often than not it exists as a means for players to thin the herd before a firefight inevitably erupts, though there are occasions where the player may able to get through an encounter completely with the use of stealth alone. If the player is spotted amidst their attempts to stealth, however, they will not be able to escape the enemy's sight and must then resort to shooting.

Much like the TPS gameplay, stealth is generally rather basic. Nathan Drake will naturally go into a crouched stance as he moves about, so as to better keep his presence unknown, and players may then kill enemies quietly by sneaking up on guards and using a melee attack from behind -- which often results in Drake snapping the guard's neck. Other such manoeuvres include Drake being able to pull an unsuspecting guard over cover, should they be resting above the piece of cover the player is resting against. Similarly, players can stealth-kill a guard that is advancing towards them; once they get close enough to the edge of the cover the player is hypothetically hiding behind, a melee attack will instigate a stealth kill. Finally, if Drake is hanging on the edge of the environment, be it a cliff ect., and a guard is standing just above, players can then pull the guard down killing them instantly, regardless of the actual height of the fall.

Weapons

Drake can carry up to two weapons, one primary--such as assault rifles or shotguns-- one sidearm--pistols, micro-uzis--and grenades, all of which are selectable via the d-pad; primary is left, sidearm right, and grenades up. What weapons Drake begins with varies per chapter, though players will sometimes be able to carry over their current weapon-set. Weapons are still most commonly procured in the battlefield, either in the environment or from dead guards.

A list of the weapons within the game are as follows:

Primary Weapons

AK47 -- The most common primary weapon in the game, the AK is a reliable 30-shot assault rifle, great for any and all encounters in the game -- both singleplayer and multiplayer.

M4 -- The assault rifle alternative, the M4 is better than the AK is every way, with its noticeably higher fire rate and damage output. However it can only be found during the later chapters of the game.

FAL -- A burst-fire assault rifle, complete with a short-range scope for more precise aiming. Especially handy for nailing headshots, both for enemy soldiers and enemy players.

MP40 -- An old WWII-era submachine gun, the MP40 is only collected during one specific section of the story, and is otherwise delegated as an unlockable firearm within the cheats menu. It has a slower fire rate than the assault rifles, but it holds more ammo and is equally as powerful. Its recoil is noticeably higher than both the AK and M4, however. Cannot be used in multiplayer.

Moss-12 -- A 12-gauge shotgun that can hold up to 6 rounds. It is of course extremely powerful up-close, but falters at range. Makes for a great weapon for running and gunning with due to its potency at close-range. Cannot be used in multiplayer.

SPAS-12 -- The later game shotgun of Uncharted 2, and like the M4 is exceeds the capabilities of its forbearer in every way. It's faster, more powerful, and can fit more ammo. At close range it's arguably one of most efficient weapons in the game and will kill a player instantly.

Dragon Sniper -- The one and only sniper rifle in the game, it is incredibly powerful and offers a high degree of zoom with its scope. However the recoil is incredibly difficult to manage, especially when aiming down the scope. A headshot will kill an enemy player outright, though it also only takes two shots to the body for the same result.

M32 Hammer -- A 4-shot grenade launcher, and one that is often only available at the most opportune moments such as involving boss battles. It is really powerful and can easily disperse a crowd with one or two shots. Despite its explosive power, it takes two shots to kill a player in multiplayer.

RPG 7 -- The ever popular RPG, it can only stock two rockets at a time, though each one of course will do tremendous damage if it hits its target. Even it doesn't hit its target directly, its splash damage may still knock an enemy off balance.

Sidearms

45. Defender -- Standard 9mm pistol, most commonly used by Chloe Frazier. It is the weakest weapon of the game and is primarily only for when the player has no other options. Cannot be used in multiplayer.

M92F 9mm Beretta -- Standard 9mm pistol. It is more powerful, more accurate, and has a slightly faster fire rate than the Defender, and is the default pistol of choice for Nathan Drake.

Micro-Uzi -- A fully-automatic pistol, one that deals a significant amount of damage due to its very high fire rate. Because of its high fire rate, however, ammo tends to run out relatively quickly. It's an especially useful weapon for quickly blindfiring from the hip and finishing off with a melee attack.

Wes 44 -- A very powerful 6-shot magnum revolver, most recognizable as Victor Sullivan's weapon of choice. It is rarely available through the game, but is always worth seeking out for its incredible power. Cannot be used in multiplayer.

Desert 5 -- The late game equivalent of the Wes 44, the Desert 5 is Uncharted's off-brand Desert Eagle equivalent. It is even more powerful than the Wes 44 and also has a larger ammo capacity. However its rate of fire is slightly slower. When used by enemy guards, it is fitted with a laser-sight, though no such feature is available to the player.

Pistole -- An old 2-shot pistol, one that is especially effective for blindfiring from the hip due to its high fire rate, and because of its short range. Though because it only stocks 2 shots at a time, missing with it can prove fatal.

Crossbow -- Found only during the final few chapters of the game, it is best used against the Shambala guardians, as it can kill them with a single shot; any other weapon will require a copious amount of gunfire. Cannot be used in multiplayer.

Miscellaneous

Shield -- Taking up the player's primary slot, this will be able to shield against gunfire. However, it isn't indestructible, and after so much gunfire will eventually break, which will leave the player highly vulnerable to further attack -- it also cannot defend against explosives. When equipped, it can be used a melee weapon, useful for 'stunlocking' enemies. Should players wish to unequip it, rolling will automatically do so.

MK NDI -- The grenades of Uncharted 2, they can be aimed with an arc, or thrown blindly. Their power is substantial, though they can sometimes be tricky for reaching enemies beyond medium range. Whence thrown, they will blink with a flashing red light and beep, alerting any players to their presence.

GAU 19 -- A heavy machine gun, one that is so heavy in fact that it will bring players to a steady walk when equipped. Its power is great, however, and while it requires a short build up, once it begins firing it won't take long before whatever it is targeted at perishes. Though despite this, players are still extremely vulnerable due to their limited movement speed, and are especially vulnerable to flanking. Players can at least drop the weapon by rolling, and it will not have replaced whatever primary weapon a player initially had equipped.

Propane Tank -- Found throughout the game, propane tanks can only be temporarily equipped, and will slow the player's movement and forces them to use their sidearm while holding on to one. If a player hurls it, firing any weapon right after will make it explode, regardless of whether it actually hits the tank or not.

Platforming/traversal & Puzzles

The common alternative to the combat is puzzles, which are often in line with the platforming. Players can leap, hang, and shimmy along surfaces. The traversal is largely automated, as while Drake still requires player inputs, most traversal obstacles are plainly laid out for the player to leap across, often there to provide a sense of scale rather than challenge. Platforming too is very specific and is only involved when the game demands its use.

Most puzzles will require the player browses through Nathan Drake's journal. It includes many clues and hints Drake himself has picked up upon and jotted down through his journey, alongside a lot of humorous doodles to serve as comic relief. It will be continually filled in automatically as the story goes on and does not require any player interaction beyond scrolling the pages.

Collectibles & Cheats

Like the original, there are 101 treasures to be collected throughout the story. They are represented as a shiny twinkle and each one has its own unique model. There is one especially unique treasure that acts as an easter egg for Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter franchise. Whereas all other treasures are counted up per chapter, the 'Precursors Stone' treasure is completely hidden.

Players cannot do anything with the treasures themselves, though collecting them will contribute towards points that can be spent on a number of unlockable doodads such as character skins, weapons, filters, developer diary videos and more. Most of which will require that players first complete the story, however.

Story

Main Characters

Nathan ''Nate'' Drake

The charming treasure-hunter returns, this time to attempt to beat the insidious war-criminal, Zoran Lazarevic, to the mythical Chintimani Stone. Easy going, with a dry sense of humor, Nathan continues his particular brand of suave, skill and astonishingly lucky impulse instincts to accentuate his ''every-man'' persona.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Nolan North.

Victor ''Sully'' Sullivan

Nathan Drake's long-time friend, mentor and father figure, Sully tags along to help Nate beat Zoran Lazarevic to the prize. But with a much more diminished presence, however, as his age rapidly catches up to him.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Richard Mcgonagle.

Elena Fisher

The chirpy and mild-mannered journalist Elena returns for the long haul to once again duo up with Nate to act as both a damsel in distress, and a supportive ally. The romance sparked between Elena and Nate ultimately begins to blossom as the two once more are forced to endure a seemingly endless stream of perilous situations.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Emily Rose.

Chloe Frazer

An old partner and fling of Nate's, Chloe originally arrives to help Nate scam Zoran; she is quickly thrust into a flickering light, however, as her moralities and allegiances are questioned time and time again across the adventure.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Claudia Black.

Tenzin

A reliable guide from a small village in the mountains of Tibet, Tenzin can barely speak a word of English, yet can still express a kind and reliable strength.

• Voiced by Pema Dhondup
• Mo-capped by Robin Atkin Downes.

Karl Schafer

An old and wizened adventurer, comparable to Nate himself during his younger days, Schafer bestows unto Nate important advice that'll help him stray back onto the path he must follow.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Rene Auberjonois.

Jeff The Cameraman

Elena's cameraman for her most recent show as she embarks on a chase after Zoran Lazarevic, who is officially registered as deceased. Jeff is thrust into a situation far beyond him, and unlike the rest of the cast, has little experience when it comes to fire-fights.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Gregory Myhre.
• For the multiplayer, Jeff is also technically voiced by Steve Valentine, as his mid-gameplay 'efforts' for the acrobatics are the same as Harry Flynn's.

Harold '''Harry'' Flynn

Once a work associate of Nate, Flynn has constantly displayed an appearance of disrepute and ineptitude. Even when it looks like he appears to be on the level, Flynn quickly escalates to the role of supporting villain throughout and is near enough the polar opposite to Drake with his selfish and loose morals.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Steve Valentine.

Zoran Lazarevic

A highly feared and ruthless war criminal, Zoran is on the hunt for the Chintimani Stone for what can only be for questionable causes. Unfortunately for Zoran however, he has Nathan Drake to contend with, and Drake will prove to be an ever-threatening presence.

• Voiced and mo-capped by Graham McTavish.

Plot

The game starts off with Nathan Drake in a train car that is hanging off a snowy cliff. He doesn't know where he is or how he really got there. He realizes that he's been shot in the abdomen and that he must get out of the train. After climbing up the hanging train and escaping at the very last second, he starts painfully walking through the wreckage. There he meets some enemies whom he kills and painfully sits down in the freezing snow, getting ready for a long, hard fight.

The game then flashes back. Nathan Drake is comfortably sitting at a bar when his old friend Harry Flynn approaches him. He wants Nathan's help to steal an oil lamp from a museum in Istanbul. Drake at first refuses the offer, but when when learns that there might be a map to Marco Polo's lost fleet in this lamp, he accepts. He travels to Istanbul with Flynn and Chloe, an ex love interest who's working with Flynn. They infiltrate the museum through the sewers and manage to find the lamp. Inside the lamp, they find the map of Polo's lost fleet, fleet that was transporting the Cintamani Stone from the sacred city of Shambhala before getting hit by a massive tsunami and washing up on the shores of Borneo. Flynn then takes the map and double crosses Drake. Flynn also triggers the alarm. Despite Drake's best efforts to escape, he gets arrested.

Nathan Drake passes three months before being set free by Sully and Chloe. Chloe swears that she had no idea what Flynn was planning. Flynn is in fact working with war criminal Zoran Lazarevic and both are in Borneo, looking for the stone. They decide to all go to Borneo as well, with Chloe serving as a mole in Zoran's camp. Once they get there, they discover that Lazarevic is very well prepared. After shooting up some of his men, Drake, Sully and Chloe find an underground cave where they discover the lost fleet's passengers. They realize that the stone was never on one of those ships but find a letter from Marco Polo telling them to go to a city in Nepal (Pokhara) and find a certain temple. They also find a sort of dagger. However, Flynn's men soon arrive, taking the letter. Drake and Sully manage to get away, Chloe decides to stay as to not blow her cover. Right before making their daring escape, Sully tells Drake that he won't be joining him in Nepal as the risks are too high for a man of his age.

Nate arrives at Pokhara only to find that Zoran has torn it apart, going through every last temple. Drake gets some help from the local militia and meets up with Chloe. They decide that whichever temple Marco Polo wants them to find must have the same symbols on it as the symbols found on the dagger. So they decide to stick to the rooftops, ultimately finding which temple they must go to. After an epic helicopter chase, the couple finally find the temple. On the way, they bump into Elena and her camera man. She's investigating Lazarevic, wanting to prove that he's still alive. All four of them enter the temple and after solving a couple puzzles, find a secret room in which there's a map. Drake sticks the dagger into a hole that makes a map appear, indicating that the stone and Shambhala are somewhere in the Himalayas. Zoran and his men find the temple and Drake fights his way out of it. When they arrive in the temple's main court yard, they find Elena's camera man who's been shot. Chloe wants to leave him behind but Drake takes him anyways. They end up getting caught, at which point Chloe points her gun at Drake so as not to lose her cover. Zoran and Flynn come and the camera man is executed. As Zoran and Chloe leave, Flynn is about to execute Drake and Elena when they manage to escape.

As Nate and Elena escape, they decide to head for the trainyard as that is where Zoran is headed as he plans to take a train up to the Himalayas and find the stone. They make it to the train yard just as the train is leaving. They hijack a jeep and Drake jumps onto the train. He fights his way through the train before bumping into Chloe. They argue, Chloe hating Drake because he chose Elena over her safety, that her cover could have been blown and she could've died. Suddenly, a shot is fired and Drake collapses, clutching his abdomen. Flynn appears, happy because he thinks he's finally killed Drake. As Flynn sends men out to finish off a retreating Drake, our hero manages to blow up part of the train, sending him and half the train off a cliff, bringing us back to where the story started. As Drake saves himself from the train wreck, he must fight Zoran's men who've come looking for him and steal the dagger that is in fact the key to Shabalha. After killing everyone, Nathan collapses in the snow, having given up on surviving. When all hope seems lost, a man comes out of the blizzard and carries Drake away.

Nathan Drake wakes up in a small Tibetan village. He's reunited with Elena and introduced to an old man called Karl Schafer. Schafer tells him that he must find the stone but Drake tells him that he isn't interested anymore. The old man sends him on an expedition into the mountains with Tenzin so that Drake can see why he must find the stone before Zoran does. In the caves, Drake discovers yeti like monsters and Schafer's old expedition team, who were in fact SS. Schafer had killed them so the Nazis couldn't get a hold of the stone's powers. On their way back, they discover that the small village has been attacked by Zoran's men and that Karl and the dagger have been taken. After fighting a tank and securing the city, Elena and Nate go after Zoran and Flynn. They make it to a temple. Drake finds Schafer who's been shot. He tells him that he must destroy the stone and dies in his arms. He also finds Chloe. He convinces her to give him the dagger and promises her to kill Zoran. Elena and Nathan find a secret passage to Shambhala which they unlock using the dagger. However, they get caught once again by Zoran's men who force Drake to lead them to the secret city. Once they finally get there, they're violently attacked by blue colored monkey men, guardians of the city who are enhanced with the power of the stone. Before they were the ones dressed up as yetis attacking Drake in the caves. Thanks to the chaos, Drake, Chloe and Elena manage to escape.

As Drake makes his way to the stone, he realizes that said stone is in fact embedded in resin in a giant tree. When they arrive at the tree, they discover a wounded Flynn who detonates a grenade, killing himself as well as wounding Elena. Drake leave Elena in the care of Chloe as he goes to confront Zoran. The evil Russian is at the source of the tree. He drinks its resin, making him invincible. As he tries to kill Drake, our hero kills him by blowing up pockets of resin. As he does this though, the tree begins to die and the city to collapse. He defeats Zoran, leaving him to be finished off by the city's guardians. Drake, Chloe and a dying Elena narrowly make it out of the city alive.

The final scene happens at the small Tibetan village, during Schafer's funeral. It's revealed that Elena survived her wounds and when Chloe asks Drake if he really loves Elena, he answers yes. Sully arrives as Chloe leaves. Sully, clearly interested in Chloe, chases after her, leaving Nathan and Elena alone, ending the game on a romantic note.

Competitive Multiplayer

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves introduces multiplayer to the franchise, with both competitive and cooperative game modes. As players complete multiplayer matches, they earn cash, which is Uncharted 2's version of experience points. Cash goes towards the player's persistent leveling up progression, which in turn unlocks the availability of multiplayer items, such as character skins, taunts, and boosters. These boosters act as perks for the player, providing things such as increased accuracy, faster reloading, increased ammo capacity, etc. There are two booster slots for the player, each with their own unique set of boosters. whenever a multiplayer item is unlocked, the player can only use it if they choose to purchase it using the cash they have earned.

Competitive Game Modes

All competitive game modes divide the players into two teams, Heroes and Villains, with a maximum of 10 players per match (5 vs 5).

• Deathmatch - This is actually a Team Deathmatch mode, where players score points by killing the opposing team. First team to 50 kills wins. Deathmatch also includes variations on the mode. These variations include Sniper Rifles and Pistoles (Where you can only use those two weapons) and Pistols and Grenades (Same as other variation but this time you only use pistols and grenades). You can't search for these types of modes, but when you're in a lobby, the players vote on one map/mode or another. You are not guaranteed to be able to vote on these variations every time you play, but will come up often.

• Elimination - This is a Last Man Standing mode, where players are given no respawns. A player scores a point for the team by being the last player alive in the round. First team to score 3 points wins.

• Plunder - A Capture the Flag mode, but with a "treasure" acting as the flag. Players score a point by bringing the other team's treasure to their base, but the treasure will drastically reduce the speed at which the player can run, and also confines the player to only be able to use their sidearm. First team to score 5 points wins.

• King of the Hill - Players attempt to capture and hold a specific zone on the map. Their score increases as long as they hold that location. First team to 50 points wins.

• Turf War - A Conquest game mode, where players must try to capture and hold 3 different waypoints on the map. The more waypoints held, the faster the team's score increases. First team to 250 points wins.

• Chain Reaction - A variation on Conquest, players start at opposite ends of the map, and attempt to capture 5 waypoints. Players must capture them in order, with one side moving from waypoint 1 to 5, and the other side moving from 5 to 1. First team to capture all 5 wins.

• The Lab - A primarily deathmatch focused mode that was used to test out certain variables, such as restricting the weapon selections to just one or two power weapons and additions. Naughty Dog also reported that The Lab was to help prepare for Uncharted 3's multiplayer, such as weapon-balancing in particular.

Default Maps

• The Ice Cave - A bristling cave drowning in snow, The Ice Cave resembles a small labyrinth complete with multiple pathways, separating the two spawn points at each end, and plenty of flanking opportunities. There are primarily three pathways: one of which leads underground, while the other two circle around the underground arena, eventually reaching the opposing spawn point. There also exist a minor few situated perches for snipers, two for each side, though they're so exposed and easily overwhelmed that they're often not recommended.

• The Lost City - One of the larger maps within Uncharted 2, The Lost City is an adapted environment taken from the Shambhala chapters during the single player. It still retains its lush and beautiful appearance, with the sun bearing down throughout the map. It is largely symmetrical with a small tower situated in the middle, offering a fair game for both factions. Besides the small balconies on each side and the tower in the middle, there exists a small underground tunnel that stretches beneath near enough the entire map; it offers a somewhat more secluded means of travel, but such a prospectus opportunity--complete with the Grenade Launcher residing within the middle--creates a wild juxtaposition as players sometimes swarm within.

• The Plaza - The Plaza is the most open of all the maps within Uncharted 2; based at night-time, it features a huge open battleground based within the middle, separated by a symmetrical make-shift base-of-sorts for both factions with a busted tower in the middle featuring a ruptured floor for players to find a shotgun, or at the very least to potentially hide from the opposing team. Broken down buildings offer up plenty of sniping opportunities and the large open-space that permeates the map offers up a non-stop stream of gun-battles. The Plaza was one of three maps along with The Temple and The Village that was apart of the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta.

• The Sanctuary - Similar in scope to The Plaza, The Sanctuary is a rather large map, though it differs for being more enclosed. Another cold environment, The Sanctuary gives off a chilling scene with snow draped over most of the buildings present; it isn't nearly as thick as is seen in The Ice Cave, however. This map too separates the main-battleground with two opposing towers, both offering substantial cover and opportunities to make sniper-perches. The entire map is fairly elaborate, offering up multiple routes to go from point A to point B; the middle ground being the most straight-forward, with an underground passage accessible via four different passageways culminating into the map's circular core. In the middle is also a bridge, separating two more towers adjacent to one another, with four corner towers surrounding the entire middle. Plenty of high-ground to take advantage of, leaving the middle-ground sometimes an absolute death-zone.

• The Temple - Trading in the outdoor environments, The Temple is predictably situated within a large temple. It is designed fairly similarly all the same, with two opposing symmetrical entrances for the factions, but this time with two centred battlegrounds. One on a lower level, the other higher, they are both attached to the hallways that each faction gains access to as the match begins and gives the player the choice for which battleground they will storm first. There also small segues to possibly hide in, and the remains of what looks like an upper-balcony residing in the middle of both battlegrounds, giving a solid survey over most of the map. The Temple was one of three maps along with The Plaza and The Village that was apart of the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta.

• The Train Wreck - Similar to The Ice Cave, the Train Wreck is almost entirely encased in snow, caused by the raging blizzard that flows throughout. The map is mostly on a single level of ground, but is littered with derelict trains that make good use for hiding. There are bits and pieces of small cover littered all over, however The Train Wreck is second to The Plaza for being the most open map of the lot. The blizzard that encompasses the map can still deteriorate players vision and can make long-range combat somewhat unreliable at times; the blizzard varies with its ferocity, sometimes forcing players to rely solely on spotting any enemy name-tags with their reticule. After so often, one of the broken down trains will fall off the cliff edge, revealing an RPG - 7 launcher for players to vie for.

• The Village - The smallest map of the lot, The Village encompasses the Tenzin's own village shown is disarray as it was sieged by Zoran. The map itself features a small number of enclosed huts, with their low-height rooftops accessible to players for some higher ground. Most of the fighting will be fought on equal ground as the map is fairly flat overall; a lot of close-quarters gun-play and flanking to be had. After so long, a tank will eventually barge out of a wall outside of the map and storm its way through the map, attacking anyone its heavy machine-gun can catch. It cannot be destroyed and should be avoided at all costs as it makes its route. On the plus side, it does also unlock the RPG - 7 launcher within the broken down wall it crashed for players to try and claim.

• The Fort - The Fort was the first post-launch map to be released; it was made available for all, for free, through a mandatory online update for Uncharted 2. The Fort is an adapted environment of a large fort from an Indonesian jungle during Uncharted: Drakes Fortune. It's design is mostly situated as a kind of gauntlet, with each faction spawning on each end of the map with plenty of cover in between; this particular set-up is most agreeable for campers and snipers--especially since FAL assault rifles spawn alongside the players at each side of the map. There is also an underground, and a couple of side passages, though the main frontier is easily summarised to the ground floor action.

DLC Maps

• The Highrise - One out of two DLC maps that came with the Survival multiplayer DLC pack. The Highrise covers across the rooftops of Nepal, with scattered debris and broken down buildings to allow plenty of maneuverability and flanking opportunities. There are multiple sniping positions, and because of the height of the map accidental deaths from falling between the buildings are easy to succumb to. Every so often a siren will sound, alerting players that an incoming attack helicopter is on its way. It will periodically shoot down parts of the environment, opening up different passages to travel across, and for extra weapons to spawn.

• The Museum - The other DLC map apart of the Survival multiplayer DLC pack, The Museum is easily the largest map out of the entire cast, almost resembling a labyrinthine with its many corridors, halls and rooftops to traverse across. Because of its large size, The Museum is a haven for snipers, offering plenty of cover and against the night-sky can marginally better players stealth capabilities.

• Flooded Ruins - Also a DLC map, the Flooded Ruins is map introduced via the Uncharted: Drake's Fortune pack, alongside one more map--both taken and adapted from environments from UDF's campaign. Flooded Ruins is set during the parts s apart of the single-player campaign as Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher are attempting to lose Eddy Raja's pirate gang; Gabriel Roman's chopper will also fly overhead during a match much like it did during the campaign. The map consists of a lot of busted down structures amidst a courtyard, with a temple suffering a large gaping hole in its ceiling, residing in the middle. Because of the face-high rubble scattered about, it leaves plenty of opportunities for ambushes and stealth kills - and at the very least a substantial amount of cover for getting around. The Temple offers sniping positions to counter the large sea of ground-combat the rest of the map indefinitely erupts.

• The Facility - Much like Flooded Ruins, The Facility is taken and adapted from an Uncharted: Drake's Fortune set-piece. This time it is set around the time as Nathan Drake is contesting against both Gabriel and Atoq Navarro's mercenaries, but also Spanish zombie-like creatures who were cursed by the evil of El Dorado, The Golden Man. The Facility itself is rather worn down, covered in rust with plenty of loose pipes for players to take advantage of with their traversal abilities. The Facility is also fairly large, though not quite as large as The Museum. It features a chasm of hallways, all separated by a German U-boat.

Character Skins

Heroes:

• Nathan Drake.
• Heist Drake.
• Winter Drake.
• Donut Drake.
• Victor Sullivan.
• Elena Fisher.
• Winter Elena.
• Chloe Frazer.
• Winter Chloe.
• Tenzin.
• Jeff The Cameraman.
• Karl Schafer.
• Marco Polo (skeleton).

DLC Heroes:

• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Drake.
• Wetsuit Drake.
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Sullivan.
• Borneo Sullivan.
• Winter Sullivan.
• Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Elena.
• Wetsuit Elena.
• Heist Chloe.
• Borneo Chloe.
• Rika Raja.
• Cole MacGrath Hero.
• Sev.
• Nathan Hale.
• Zeke Dunbar.

Villains:

• Dragen (Heavy armoured soldier).
• Tetram (Gas mask soldier).
• Sark (Face-mask soldier).
• Lovac (Headphones soldier).
• Vodnik (Balaclava soldier).
• Zorskel (Skull-mask soldier).
• Harry Flynn.
• Heist Flynn.
• Winter Flynn.
• Zoran Lazarevic.
• Lieutenant Draza.
• Genghis Khan (skeleton).

DLC Villains:

• Dead Explorer.
• Skelzor (skeleton).
• Glowzor (skeleton).
• Platzor (skeleton).
• Mac (Eye-patch pirate from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).
• Prakoso (Yellow tank-top pirate from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).
• Javier (Pilot mercenary from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).
• Dutch (Grenade Launcher mercenary from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).
• Blain (Aviator mercenary from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).
• Dillon (Shades mercenary from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).
• Atoq Navarro.
• Gabriel Roman.
• Eddy Raja.
• Daniel Pinkerton.
• Cole MacGrath infamous.
• Helghast Soldier.
• Chimeran Hybrid.

Multiplayer Events

During the course of Uncharted 2's multiplayer when it was most populous, Naughty Dog would introduce certain events for specific holidays. They would most often include an experience multiplier and would sometimes even place pre-set skins for players to play as over the usual cast. All of those skins were completely exclusive to the events and would not be released for download once the events were up.

Thanksgiving 2009/2010

To celebrate the US holiday, Thanksgiving, Naughty Dog implemented a 2 week double experience run for players worldwide. Players were also restricted to only playing as Donut Drake on the Heroes side, and Donut Lazarevic for the villains. Naughty Dog would also do another Thanksgiving event with the same available skins, and a 2x experience increase. Donut Lazarevic is one of few skins that has never publicly been made available for use outside of the Thanksgivings event.

Christmas 2009

Soon following after Thanksgiving, Naughty Dog initiated the Christmas 2009 Event. Similar to the Thanksgiving event prior, the player's experience gain was doubled. This time players were restricted to only playing as Default Drake while he wears a Santa hat, and Winter Flynn wearing a paper party-cracker crown around his head.

One Year Anniversary - 16/10/10

To celebrate the one year anniversary for Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog held a 24 hour event, offering a 5x experience bonus and an Anniversary Drake skin for all who participated.

They recorded that over 2.5 man years of game-time transpired across the 24 hour event, with a whopping 1,079,850 games played, 12,376,755 player kills and 49 billions worth of experience accumulated.

Boosters

Cooperative Multiplayer

Alongside the huge host of competitive multiplayer options, Uncharted 2 also brought with it a sizable cooperative menu of modes. It allows up to only three players maximum and none of the modes can be played alone. The unlockable boosters do not apply for the cooperative modes, however there are a separate set of upgrades for cooperative-only. They are all passive weapon upgrades and near enough every weapon in the game has the same three available: increased reload speed, increased blindfire accuracy, increased overall accuracy.

The host player gets to choose the difficulty level for the co-op game modes, to which there are four: Easy, Normal, Hard and Crushing. Easy - Hard all virtually play and appear the same, with them only increasing the damage/health modifiers for the enemies. Crushing mode, however, actually turns all of the mercenaries undead, with their default face models being replaced with pale white skulls. They still function the same and can be killed through the exact same tactics as in the lesser difficulty modes.

If a player is killed, his teammates are given a short window to revive them before the are permanently eliminated. If all players are killed, the team gets to restart at the last checkpoint. Teams are given 3 retries to complete the level. The same character skins from the competitive modes still apply towards the Arena and Hunter modes, though Adventure is loosely centered around a small narrative and thus has fixed characters for players to control.

Initially both the Survival and Gold Rush coop modes forced players to stick to preset characters. Once the 1.07 update become live, players were allowed to head in with their personally selected profile Hero skins.

Modes

• Co-op Adventure - There exist three maps, all of which play out with a superfluous narrative, largely reminiscent from specific set-pieces from the main campaign.

• Survival - A horde-like game mode, players must survive 10 waves of enemies. Each wave gets increasingly more difficult. All maps from the competitive modes can be applied for this mode as well.

• Gold Rush - Similar to Survival, Gold Rush asks players to transport a golden idol from one side of the map to the other. The players will face the exact resistance as they did during the Survival mode (including which enemies spawn on which enemies), though this time they are infinite and will not stop spawning until the idol has been placed within the box. Once completed, all enemies currently in the map die instantaneously. The box players must take the idol to is also randomised each time. All maps from the competitive modes can be applied for this mode as well.

• Siege - Similar to Survival and Gold Rush, players must defend the marked territory from waves of NPC enemies. Points can only be scored if all of the players are in the marked territory. After each round, the marked territory will change and enemies will become more difficult. This mode is only available if you purchase the Siege Expansion Pack. All maps from the competitive modes can be applied for this mode as well.

Adventure Maps

• Nepal - Characters: Nathan Drake (Default), Chloe Frazer (Default) and Victor Sullivan (Default).

Here Nate along with his trusty adventurin' cohorts, Chloe and Sully, embark across the war-torn streets of Nepal, fighting against a huge swarm of Serbian mercenaries as the trio attempt to locate a batch of golden relics. They'll contend with a multiple variety of mercenaries, including the heavily armoured ''mutants'', as Nate calls them, equipped with massive GAU machine guns. Eventually the three will find themselves at the City square, with the treasure heavily guarded by a squadron of mercenaries. After killing them all, Nate celebrates their find and calls dibs on the large golden idol.

• The Village - Characters: Nathan Drake (Winter), Elena Fisher (Winter) and Tenzin (Default).

Nate, Elena and Tenzin quickly grab word that Tenzin's village is soon to be attacked; just as they arrive, they are quickly ambushed and forced to fight their way through. Finding a hostage tied up, the hostage alerts them of more hostages in the village. The three set out fighting their way against heavy resistance, eventually finding themselves contending against a tank. Thanks to an RPG - 7 stash within the Village, the three destroy the tank and with it scare off the remaining mercenaries, saving the Village.

• The Sanctuary - Characters: Nathan Drake (Winter), Elena Fisher (Winter) and Chloe Frazer (Winter).

Nate along with both of his fiery love-interests must find and destroy the Communication Tower, so as to thwart any more mercenary recruitments. The trio must now clamber their way up the Sanctuary itself to reach to destroy the tower. They naturally must still combat against an army of mercenaries, of all sizes, as they fight their way through. Once they reach the location where Nate will plant the explosive device for the tower, they are ambushed by a huge array of snipers perched on the rooftops way above them all. Alongside the marksmen, many more ground-level mercenaries--including more GAU toting mutants--make their presence known. The three against all odds still prevail; Nate finally plants the bomb and three quickly retreat to escape the blast radius.

Downloadable Content

On November 27th, 2009 a new multiplayer map called The Fort was patched into the game for free. The Fort is based on the chapter 5 level "The Fortress" in the first Uncharted game. (It's debatable whether or not this is actually DLC, considering it is automatically patched into the game with a title update.)

On January 28th, 2010 the "PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack" was released for purchase, and contains 7 new multiplayer skins; Sev and a Helghast soldier from Killzone 2, Nathan Hale and a Chimera from Resistance 2, and Cole (both good & evil versions) and Zeke from inFAMOUS.

On February 25th, the "Drake's Fortune Multiplayer Pack" was released for purchase, and contains 6 new multiplayer skins and 2 new maps based on characters and locations from the first Uncharted game. The skins include Drake’s Fortune Nathan Drake, Drake’s Fortune Elena Fisher, Gabriel Roman, Atoq Navarro, Eddy Raja, and Javier the mercenary. The new maps are The Flooded Ruins (based on the chapter 10 level "The Customs House" in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune) and The Facility (based on the chapter 18 level "The Bunker" in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune).

On April 22nd, the "Siege Expansion Pack" was released for purchase, and includes six new multiplayer skins, two new maps, and a new co-op multiplayer game mode. The new skins include Wetsuit Drake, Baseball Shirt Drake, Prakoso, Platzor, Glowzor, and Dead Explorer. The two new maps are called Highrise and The Museum, based on locations from the single player campaign of Uncharted 2. The new game mode is called Siege, and is much like the co-op Survival mode, except the players have to hold off waves of enemies while defending a specified zone. The only way for players to score points is for all the players to be within the zone. The location of the zone changes after each wave of enemies.

References

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969 film)

In the cutscene immediately following Chapter 4 and preceding Chapter 5 ("Trouble in Nepal"), Nate and Sully are forced to jump off a very high cliff into the water below in order to escape from their pursuers. When Nate tells Sully they have to jump, Sully says, "Hold on there, Sundance - you gotta be outta your mind." This is a direct reference to a very similar scene in the film where the younger Sundance Kid tells the older Butch Cassidy they have to jump off a sheer cliff into a river below in order to escape law enforcement officers who are chasing them.

Apocalypse Now (1979 film)

In the middle of Chapter 12, after Drake uses a zip-line to get down to the train yard, Drake says "I love the smell of train yards in the morning". This is a direct reference to a line in Apocalypse Now when Col. Kilgore says, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning."

Air Force Once (1997 film)

One of Drake's random lines after pushing an enemy off the train is "Get off my train!", a reference to the "Get off my plane!" line from Air Force One.

Install Data

Uncharted 2 does not have any install. Christophe Balestra was quoted simply saying: "Uncharted 2 does not require any install." Although the box does seem to indicate that the game requires at least 1000 MB of hard drive space.

The multiplayer portion of the game does require, as of October 17th, 2009, around 450 MB of space to access. Downloadable content must be installed as well.

Collector's Edition

The Fortune Hunter Edition for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has another case with an art book, download codes for new gun skins, XMB Theme and various bonuses, and a replica of the Phurba Dagger featured in the game. It wasn't available for purchase, but instead was given away through competitions including some held on the PlayStation blog, PlayStation Home, and the game's multiplayer beta. It is only available to North America.

Europe got a Limited Edition Collector's Box that is for sale. It's in a metal case with different box art and contains the same download PS Store code as the American version.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was released on October 13th, 2009 and was composed by Greg Edmonson.

1. Nate's Theme 2.0
2. The City's Secret
3. Bustin' Chops
4. Reunion
5. Breaking and Entering
6. Desperate Times
7. Helicopter and Tank
8. Marco Polo
9. The Monastery
10. Refuge
11. Warzone
12. Train Wrecked
13. Cat and Mouse
14. Cornered
15. The Gates of Shambhala
16. Broken Paradise
17. Brutal Combo Mambo
18. Among Thieves
19. A Rock and a Hard Place
20. The Road to Shambhala

Reception

The game was very well reviewed with a Metascore of 96 – the highest for any game in 2009 – and won numerous Game of the Year/Best of awards from various publications. It was also the best selling game of the month during which it was released in the U.S. (at 537K according to NPD), and has since sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide.

Awards

Runner-up awards are not included. Only highest tier is included per category (e.g. Overall Game of Year overrides platform and genre awards).

Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2009

• Game of the Year (also Users' Pick)
• Best Graphics
• The Northies - Best Performance By Nolan North
• Best New Non-Player Character

13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards

10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards

• Game of the Year
• Best Writing
• Best Technology
• Best Visual Arts
• Best Audio

Writers Guild of America Awards 2009

• Videogame Writing

9th Annual NAViGaTR Awards

2010 GAME British Academy Video Games Awards

• Action
• Story
• Use of Audio
• Original Score

IGN Best of 2009

• Overall Game of the Year (also Readers' Choice)
• Overall Award for Visual Excellence (also Readers' Choice)
• Overall Award for Excellence in Sound (also Readers' Choice)
• Overall Best Story (also Readers' Choice)
• Best Multiplayer Game (PS3-specific)

GameSpot's Best Games of 2009

• Best Action/Adventure Game (also Readers' Choice)
• Best Graphics, Technical (also Readers' Choice)
• Best Voice Acting (also Readers' Choice)

Readers' Choice

• Game of the Year
• Best Graphics, Artistic

GameTrailers Game of the Year Awards 2009

• Best Single-Player Campaign
• Best Third-Person Shooter
• Best Story
• Best Graphics

X-Play Best of 2009

• Game of the Year
• Best Animation
• Best Writing

1UP Readers' Choice Awards 2009

• Game of the Year

Editors' Special Recognition

• The "GPU Gods" Award for Most Impressive Visuals

Spike Video Game Awards 2009

• Game of the Year
• Best Graphics

GameSpy – Best Games of 2009

• PlayStation 3 Game of the Year (also Gamers' Choice)
• The Pay Attention, Hollywood Award

GamePro's Best Games of 2009

• Best Storytelling

Yahoo – Best Games of 2009

• Best Overall Videogame

Joystiq's Best of 2009 – #1

Destructoid Game of the Year 2009 – Winner

Kotaku's 2009 Game of the Year – Winner (also Readers' Choice)