Wednesday, October 21, 2009

October Confessions

It's been a few weeks since my WOW guild imploded, and you know what? I've found it pretty easy to disengage from the game completely. I've done a few TOC 10 mans, even a few attempts in heroic; but that's about it. Quite frankly, the break is doing me some good. And it's given me a chance to play a few other kinds of games, do some reading, and some other things that I haven't done much in a while.

Like, Uncharted 2!

I remember the original Uncharted, which was a good game with some frustrating controls and stellar production values. I don't think I actually finished the original...at the time something came up and I wasn't able to do any gaming for a few weeks, and never came back to it.

Uncharted 2 has been hyped to hell and back. And while I would say to ignore the hype, the game really IS good. I've had a ton of fun with it. The controls are tighter, there game play elements are more refined and varied, and the action sequences longer and more interesting both in game elements and presentation. It's a bit longer than the first game, and there is a welcome, yet abrupt increase in difficulty after a certain point in the game.

There are a few problems with the game.

First, the stealth elements are so simplistic as to be unrealistic. It is very easy to stealth past, and kill people, in the open, with others watching, and not sound an alarm. Sure it makes it easier, but when you stealth-kill the middle guy in a 3-man patrol; then stealth kill the other two and no one ever notices...it just becomes a joke. The stealth element is welcome in the game, but certainly could have been a bit more refined if for no other purposes as to make it a little more realistic.

Second, there are some annoying sections of platforming which are extremely forced. And I'm not talking about stuff in the temples/ruins, but mundane sections where you are forced to do really complex platforming to...get past a pipe on the floor; or exit a building with open doors. Of course, Uncharted is 50% platforming, so that is probably a nitpick.

Third, I would have liked the end section to have been expanded slightly. Shambala was very pretty, and I would have liked to have seem more of it. And maybe had some more complex action sequences set there.

Fourth...they don't let you play with Doughnut Drake from the start. Doughnut Drake is the perfect avatar for this game.

Overall, Uncharted 2 was probably the closest experience to playing Raiders of the Lost Ark of any game I've ever played. Some of the action sequences are very similar and may of the characters, betrayals, and story seem very similar. In particular I loved the whole train sequence; the helicopter gunfight in the city, and the truck chase through the mountains--all of which had shades of Indiana Jones written all over them.

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