Video games often evoke the spirit of cinema, whether it’s through intentional homage, parody or just imitation. Today, we’re going to talk about Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which is one of the most cinematic games I’ve ever played
CHENNAI: Naughty Dog released Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune in 2007 to much critical acclaim, and it became one of the most important titles in the early PlayStation 3 years. Charming rogue Nathan Drake — a less scrupulous combination of Indiana Jones and Lara Croft — was a familiar and yet likeable protagonist, and a sequel was only a matter of time. Cue Uncharted 2, which released two years later.
Nathan Drake returns, but this time he’s in search of relics from the 13th century voyage of Marco Polo that could lead him to his fabled treasure. However, as you might expect, things don’t go as planned and Drake has to face a number of obstacles and enemies out to put an end to his treasure-hunting career. Here’s the thing about Uncharted 2’s plot (and, to some extent, every Uncharted game’s plot) — this isn’t particularly groundbreaking writing so as to speak, and you will see some twists coming long before they come to pass.
That said, that really isn’t what this game’s trying to do; which is to tell the tale of Nathan Drake and his friends and partners and enemies. This is a game all about its characters and the interactions between them. To put this into perspective, I had to look up some plot details to refresh my memory before writing this piece but I can still remember entire conversations that Drake had with Sully or Chloe during this game. Those conversations added so much personality to the game, and that really helps you connect with those characters really well.
It also helps that Uncharted 2 looks absolutely stunning (even more so now that it’s been remastered for the PS4). Every Uncharted game released so far has represented some of the best graphical quality that the PlayStation platform has had to offer at the time of its release, and Among Thieves was no different.
Graphics don’t mean much, though, if you don’t use them effectively and this is why I’m talking about Uncharted 2 today and not any of the other games in the series — because Uncharted 2 was packed with stunning moments. You know, the ones that you message your friends about afterwards — ‘oh my god, did you see that?!’, ‘I can’t believe that just happened!’ and so on. Starting at the very beginning, Among Thieves is one heck of a wild ride; a sort of breathless love letter to action movies and Hollywood spectacle.
I haven’t spoken about gameplay yet, and that’s because it’s enjoyable enough but not the heart of what this game is all about, in my opinion. In Uncharted, Naughty Dog created a wonderful series, one of the best that the PlayStation has to offer; and for my money, Uncharted 2 is the pinnacle of that series.