E3 09: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

After being treated to a jaw dropping level demo at the Sony press conference, I was eager to get my hands on Nathan Drake in his newest adventure. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Unfortunately, the game wasn't available for any hands on time, but I was able to view another gorgeous level steered by the capable hands of Naughty Dog's Bruce Straley. I have long thought that Uncharted: Drakes Fortune was one of the best looking and most entertaining games on the PS3 and quite frankly I wasn't sure if Naughty Dog could top themselves. These fears were quickly waylaid as soon as I cast eyes on the game up close for the first time. The graphics are more detailed, richly colored and beautiful than you could possibly imagine. The details on the enemies was much improved over the original and even the blood seemed to have gotten a graphical upgrade. If I had to give an award for the best looking game at E3, Uncharted 2 would definitely make it into the final four along with God of War III, Splinter Cell: Conviction and Assassin's Creed 2.

This time around, our hunky hero Nathan Drake is following Marco Polo's trail to find the lost city of Shambhala in the Himalayas and recover the legendary Cintamani Stone. The level demoed for me and a fellow journalist had Nathan and his old sidekick Elena trying to help out Elena's cameraman who had been shot. also along for the ride is Chloe, a new female character who is the dark to Elena's light in more ways than one. Where Elena is white, blonde, sassy and helpful, Chloe is tanned, brunette tough and impetuous. Elena even makes light of the situation, referring to herself as "last year's model." While Nathan helps the ailing cameraman, Chloe forges ahead trying to escape the many enemies, while Elena trails behind making sure everyone is safe from any baddies that my be following. Chloe is the perfect foil for Elena and it will be interesting to see how the game handles the rivalry between the two women. The level design in general has been altered from the original which sometimes seemed a bit rigid in it's platforming-then-shooting-then-platforming method and now the two are blended together a bit more to create a more seamless game experience.

Being a movie buff, I really appreciated the cinematic quality of the game and its approach to storytelling. Straley explained how they employed movie-like elements to create the atmosphere of the game. For instance, the story this time really delves into Nathan Drake's character and decisions he has to make and the rainy weather in the demo level reflected his darker mood at this time. Quite poetic I thought, very cinematic and effective. Armed with this knowledge, I will be looking out for other such elements which will surely be spread throughout the game. If only more games paid attention to details like this we would have a much richer gaming experience overall. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is definitely amongst my picks for the top games shown at E3 and I look forward to its launch later this year.