Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Encyclopedia
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an action-adventure
platform
third-person shooter
video game developed by Naughty Dog
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
for the PlayStation 3
. It is the sequel to the 2007 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It was first shown and announced on December 1, 2008. Officially announced in the January 2009 issue of Game Informer
, it was released in October 2009. A major critical and commercial success, it was named by Metacritic
as the most critically acclaimed game of 2009, and won Game of the Year
awards on IGN
, Eurogamer
, Game Informer
, Joystiq
, Kotaku
, Giant Bomb
, AIAS
, X-Play
, Game Developers Choice Awards
, and the Spike Video Game Awards for the year 2009. A sequel and third entry to the series, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
, was released on November 1, 2011.
played from a third-person perspective, with the player in control of Nathan Drake
. Drake is physically adept and is able to jump, climb, and scale narrow ledges and wall-faces to get between points. Drake can be equipped with up to two firearms – one single-handed and one two-handed – and a limited supply of grenades. Drake can pick up weapons, automatically replacing the existing weapon he was using, and additional ammunition from killed enemies. The player can direct Drake to take cover behind corners or low walls using either aimed or blind-fire to kill his enemies. The player can also have Drake fire while moving. If Drake is undetected by his enemies, the player can attempt to use stealth to take them out, such as by sneaking up behind them to knock them out with one hit, or by pulling an unsuspecting foe over a ledge from which Drake is hanging. If all of the foes patrolling an area are killed stealthily then other waves that would normally appear do not. Some areas of the game require the player to solve puzzles with the use of Drake's journal, which provides clues towards the puzzles' solutions. When enabled, a hint system provides gameplay clues, such as the direction of the next objective.
Throughout the game are one-hundred and one special treasures that may be hidden or in difficult-to-reach places that the player can collect. There is also one secret "hidden" relic exactly the same as the one in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Collecting these treasures, along with completing certain feats within the game, is tracked by the awarding of medals, which gives the player in-game money to use to unlock extra content on the disc, including concept art, game movies, and game cheats such as guns with infinite ammunition. A large portion of the in-game medals are used to award trophies.
multiplayer. The co-op multiplayer allows a maximum of three players to take the roles of Drake and two other "hero" companions and features missions involving gunfights, platforming, and teamwork-based objectives. Players can also assist their comrades if they become critically injured or if they are grabbed by an enemy.
The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch
, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction. Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Drake, Sully, Elena, and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains. Players can select two Boost abilities which assist them in the matches. Plunder is similar to the traditional capture the flag
game mode, and sees each team attempt to capture the treasure from a central point in the map and return it to their base; the player carrying the treasure is slowed down a great deal, and may also choose to hurl the treasure away at any point, in order to keep it out of reach of the enemy, or to pass it to a teammate. Elimination has two teams of five players against each other with the objective of killing everyone on the other team. In Elimination, the players do not respawn. The goal is to eliminate the other team three out of five times.
Chain Reaction has the player capturing posts, but the player must do them in a specific order – one team works out from their base needing to capture 1 through 5 while the other team starts out from their home and needs to snag 5 through 1. King of the Hill has players capturing a hill, spawned on the map to score points. They must stay in the hill to score points while the enemy team tries to do the same.
Gold Rush is a cooperative mode of play where 2–3 players must team up to obtain a treasure, which is randomly spawned on the map, and take it back to their base, much like Plunder. However, AI
enemies try to stop the players from returning the treasure. If a player goes down and is not revived before the timer goes out, they will not come back until the next round. In each consecutive round the enemies become tougher to defeat. Survival is the second cooperative mode of play, where 2-3 players must work together to defeat a total of ten waves of enemies, each wave becoming more and more difficult. A new co-op game mode, titled "Siege", was also added, in which 2-3 players must team up to secure a zone while holding off waves of enemies.
On September 15, 2009, another beta was released and an open beta was released to the EU and US on September 29, 2009 via the PSN store. Both expired on October 12, 2009.
In the first year since the game's launch, more than 125 million matches and 10,500 man-years have been played online.
, "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed." The plot revolves around the doomed voyage home of Marco Polo from China
in 1292. After spending almost 20 years in the court of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan
, Marco Polo departed with fourteen ships and over six hundred passengers – but when he arrived at Persia a year and a half later, only one ship and eighteen passengers remained. Polo never revealed what had happened to the lost ships.
The story begins in medias res
, with a wounded Nathan "Nate" Drake (Nolan North
) waking up to find himself in a train hanging off a cliff. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that former associate Harry Flynn (Steve Valentine
) and old girlfriend Chloe Frazer
(Claudia Black
) approached him with a job to steal a Mongolian oil lamp
from an Istanbul
museum. Nate accepts the job when he learns that the lamp may lead to the treasure of Marco Polo's lost fleet. Harry and Drake acquire the lamp, which contains a map showing that the lost fleet had been transporting the Cintamani Stone from the mythical city of Shambhala
(better known as Shangri-La) before being thrown ashore in Borneo
by a tsunami
. Taking the map, Flynn double-crosses Drake, who is arrested and imprisoned for three months. Chloe, who claims to have had no knowledge of Flynn's treachery, asks for the help of Drake's friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan
(Richard McGonagle
) to secure his release.
Nate and Sully follow Flynn and his boss Zoran Lazarevic (Graham McTavish
), a Serbian
war criminal who is widely thought to be dead, to Borneo. With the help of Chloe working within Lazarevic's camp as a mole, they discover that the lost fleet never actually possessed the Cintamani Stone. They locate a tomb containing the bodies of Polo's passengers, as well as a Tibet
an phurba
and a letter from Polo saying that the next clue is in Kathmandu, Nepal
in a temple. Flynn and his men appear in the tomb soon after and take the letter, while Nate and Sully escape by jumping off a cliff into a river.
While Sullivan decides that the quest is too risky, Nate and Chloe head to Nepal, finding conflict as Lazarevic's mercenary army ravages the city looking for the right temple. After surmising that the temple they are looking for is adorned with one of the symbols on the phurba, the couple survey the area from the rooftop of a local hotel, finding its location.
En route to the temple, the pair runs into Elena Fisher
(Emily Rose
) and her cameraman Jeff (Gregory Myhre), who are tracking down Lazarevic to prove he is still alive. The four reach the temple and discover that the stone and Shambhala are in the Himalayas
. As they are about to leave, the group is ambushed, and Jeff is shot by one of Lazarevic's men. Despite Chloe's insistence to leave Jeff behind, the group pushes on until they are caught. Chloe reluctantly pulls her gun on Nate to protect her "cover", while Lazarevic executes Jeff. While Lazarevic and Chloe leave for the train yard, Nate and Elena manage to escape just as Flynn is about to kill them. The couple manages to catch up with Lazarevic's train on a stolen jeep. Nate boards the train and finds Chloe, who is upset about Nate having taken Elena and Jeff along earlier and refuses to leave with him. As the two argue, Flynn arrives and shoots Nate in the abdomen. With no other option, Nate shoots a pile of propane tanks, killing Flynn's men and sending Nate's half of the train over a steep cliff.
Returning to where the game began, Nate escapes the train and travels through a snow storm, recovering the phurba among the wreckage before falling unconscious. He awakens in a Tibetan village, where he is reunited with Elena and is introduced to a German man named Karl Schäfer (Rene Auberjonois
). Schäfer tells Nate that the phurba is the key to finding Shambhala, but Nate tells him he is no longer interested. To convince him otherwise, Schäfer sends Nate and the village leader, Tenzin (Robin Atkin Downes
), to find the remains of the men in his expedition, who were looking for Shambhala and the stone 70 years earlier. Traveling through a series of caves to an ancient temple filled with yeti
-like creatures, Nate and Tenzin discover that Schäfer's men were SS members on an Ahnenerbe
expedition, and that he had killed them to protect the world from the power of the stone. They return to find Lazarevic's men attacking the village. After securing the village, Nate and Elena find out that Schäfer has been kidnapped along with the phurba. They then track Lazarevic's convoy to an abandoned monastery. The two locate a mortally wounded Schäfer, who tells Nate that he must destroy the Cintamani Stone. Schäfer then succumbs to his wounds and dies.
Nate locates Chloe, who surrenders the phurba after he promises to take Lazarevic down. Nate and Elena use the phurba to unlock the secret passage to Shambhala underneath the monastery, but Lazarevic corners them and forces Nate to open the gate. When the gate opens the group is attacked by the monsters from the ice caves, but Lazarevic manages to kill them. It is then revealed that they are actually the human Guardians of Shambhala, powered by the Cintamani stone and dressed like monsters to scare off anyone who trespasses in the city. Just as Lazarevic prepares to kill Elena and Nate, another wave of Guardians attacks, which allows them and Chloe (whose cover has been blown) to escape.
Making their way to the top of the central temple, Nate discovers that the Cintamani stone is in fact a giant amber of petrified blue resin embedded in a giant, prehistoric tree of life
. The true worth of Shambhala is the blue sap of the tree, which when ingested makes the drinker nearly invincible. As they prepare to go after Lazarevic, a wounded Flynn arrives and detonates a grenade, killing himself and seriously wounding Elena. Nate leaves Elena in Chloe's care and sets off to confront Lazarevic at the tree. Nate arrives just as Lazarevic drinks the tree's sap, which renders him nearly indestructible and heals his old wounds and scars. Detonating the pockets of explosive resin in the tree with his weapons, Nate defeats Lazarevic and leaves him to be killed by the Guardians. Nate reunites with Chloe and Elena and they escape the city as a series of explosions begins to destroy Shambhala.
Back in the village, Chloe asks Nate if he loves Elena, which he does not deny. Chloe bids Nate goodbye as Sully leads a recovering Elena over to him. While Sully chases after Chloe, Elena and Nate pay their respects at Schäfer's grave before embracing. They share a kiss and together they walk over to the edge of a cliff and watch the sun set behind the mountains.
half-buried in the snow. Lead character artist Richard Diamant remarked that the trailer was rendered in real-time, using the game's engine. A second teaser trailer was released soon after, showing a badly wounded Drake stuck in the remains of a wrecked train hanging precariously over a cliff.
Uncharted 2 features an online multiplayer component, the beta phase of which was playable by those who bought early copies of the game inFamous
. The beta was also accessible by annual subscribers of the PlayStation Network service, Qore
, on June 3, to those who have subscribed to Qore by May 15. The beta codes from Qore began to be sent out on May 8, 2009. Beta codes from inFamous shipped inside the game's packaging, on May 26, 2009.
On July 27, Naughty Dog Co-President Christophe Balestra revealed through a Twitter post that the game would not require installation to the PlayStation 3's hard drive.
suits, and their performance was used to provide both the motion capture and voice work. The actors would even rehearse together in a room and had discussions with the creative directors of the game before carrying out the performance.
's SPUs, as their estimates for utilization in the first Uncharted were only around 30%. As a result, the game has more realistic environments and animations.
Uncharted 2 uses Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0, a revamped and optimized version of the original engine that has allowed the game to have real-time moving environments, more realistic textures, and animations. The Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0 also works in harmony with Havok Physics.
On August 26, 2009, it was revealed that Uncharted 2 uses between 90 to 100% of the Cell's processor and uses all 25GB of a single Blu-ray Disc
. However, Evan Wells later pointed out "...now it's at least busy 100% of the time, but it's still not fully-optimized code. I mean, in order to get to that 100%, it was more about making sure the pipeline was filled, and we weren't running into one of the processors becoming idle because there wasn't a job ready for it."
In the interview, Christophe Balestra also pointed out how important it is to ship every system with a hard drive. "The fact that every PS3 has a hard drive is huge for us." He went on to describe how the game takes advantage of Sony's offerings. "It's the combination of Blu-ray and hard drive. You can play the entire game without loading. We don't require an install. We're doing all the post-processing effects on the Synergistic Processing Units." Screen Space Ambient Occlusion
for example, was done completely on the SPUs.
revealed a special Fortune Hunter edition of Uncharted 2 that isn't obtainable in stores. The Fortune Hunter edition contains the game, a replica of the Phurba Dagger
artifact and stand, a BradyGames strategy guide, an art book, the official soundtrack
, and a collector's case autographed by Naughty Dog. It is also said to include various downloadable content. A collector's edition of Uncharted 2 was not announced for sale in the United States.
SCEA marketing manager Asad Qizilbash told readers of the PlayStation Blog that the limited edition giveaways will take place on that blog, PlayStation Home
, the game's multiplayer demo, and a few other unnamed places. Qizilbash also mentioned that only residents in the US are eligible to win. Only 200 copies were released.
Exclusive to the PAL region, the Uncharted 2 special edition contains the game, gold versions of the Beretta
and AK-47
weapons, two post cards, a PlayStation 3 theme, and multiplayer skins. The game comes packaged in a steel case by SteelBook. Never formally announced, the Special Edition was discovered on the game's official European launch site, with the only link for the special edition leading to one of Britain's major game retailers, Game
.
A Game of the Year Edition was released October 12, 2010. Among other features, this edition includes all previously released Downloadable content
(with the exception of the Sidekicks Skin Pack), four motion comics, and Pinball Heroes: Uncharted for the PSP
.
On January 28, 2010, the "PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack" was released, containing Sev and a Helghast soldier from Killzone 2, Nathan Hale and a Chimera from the Resistance series, and Cole (Evil and Good) along with Zeke from inFamous
and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed . The single player demo of Uncharted 2 was released on the same day. On February 25, 2010, a DLC pack that contained two new multiplayer maps, six skins based on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, 12 PSN Trophies, and 13 medals was released. Skins were released as a single purchase and the 2 maps with the 12 PSN Trophies were released as a single purchase. A bundle of both purchases was also released. On April 22, 2010, the third expansion pack, "Siege" was released. This DLC pack contained a new co-op multiplayer mode known as Siege, two new multiplayer maps, six new character skins and 11 PSN Trophies (10 of which are bronze, one of which is silver). Two of the six new skins are from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and the other four are new and exclusive to the game. On August 26, 2010, the "Sidekick Skin Pack" was released, containing 6 alternate appearances of previously available characters, and 2 new villain skins, Dillon and Mac. On September 7, 2010, it was announced that new DLC for the game is on the way. On December 12, 2010, the previously exclusive "Golden Guns" DLC was released. This DLC pack contained gold skins for the AK-47 and Beretta weapons.
, the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, Naughty Dog has released a themed game space for Uncharted 2, developed by Outso. This makes the second game space to be released from Naughty Dog, the first being the game space for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This space is called "Nepalese Village" and features the mini-games Mask Mayhem, Torch Race, and Fortunate Thieves with rewards. There's also an Uncharted 2 Blog that lets users access the Uncharted 2 blog. It was released on October 23, 2009 in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home. In the video on the PlayStation blog, Jack Buser, the director of Home for SCEA, describes the mini-game, Fortunate Thieves, as being a "full on, interactive mini-MMO
." The Uncharted series is the first game series to have a game space for both games of the series in Home.
Between the hours of 8 am PT
on November 5 and 12 pm PT on November 6, there was a contest in the North American Home (in which only U.S. citizens could participate), where users could win the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Fortune Hunter Edition. Between those times, users went to the Uncharted 2 space and played the "Mask Mayhem" mini-game. The user who placed first on the Uncharted 2 space's leader board won a copy of the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had another chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition in the Uncharted 2 space between the times of 8 am PT November 20, 2009 and 12 pm PT November 21, 2009. Between those times, users had to try to get in first place on the "Fortunate Thieves" mini-game leader board to win the Fortune Hunter Edition. The user who placed first on the Fortunate Thieves leader board won the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had one final chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition from 8 am PT December 18, 2009 to 12 pm PT December 21, 2009. Users had to play the "Torch Race" mini-game and be first on its leader board in the Uncharted 2 space.
On May 6, 2010, an Uncharted apartment was released in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home called the "Uncharted Fortune Hunter's Apartment". Uncharted themed costumes have also been released in Home. The apartment was released on May 27, 2010 in the Asian version.
. In their review, they called the game "Long, visually stunning, deep and explosive, Uncharted 2 combines all the qualities you can find in a videogame, and more! A new milestone has been reached in the videogame history." The magazine awarded the game its first ever, 21/20. PlayStation: The Official Magazine awarded the game a perfect score. In their review, they stated, "Forget Game of The Year. This is one of the greatest games of all time!". The UK
edition of the magazine also gave the game a perfect score, and Uncharted 2 was later awarded "Game of the Year 2009" by the magazine.. Later, readers of the same magazine voted it the greatest PlayStation title ever released.
Several mainstream press reviews praised the game, particularly for its graphics and cinematic quality. Hiawatha Bray
, of The Boston Globe
, said
The Los Angeles Times review suggested the game would "fit better on a big screen in some multiplex", and also added that "Uncharted 2 is ridiculously immersive, so much so that you forget you are controlling the actions of treasure hunter Nathan Drake ... everything is done right." In a review for The New York Times
, Seth Schiesel described it as "perhaps the best-looking game on any system, and no game yet has provided a more genuinely cinematic entertainment experience."
The game has a GameRankings score of 96.41% and a GameStats score of 9.6/10. The game also received a Metacritic score of 96 out of 100, making it the most critically acclaimed game of 2009. IGN
gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, praising its "stunning visuals", and calling the multiplayer mode "one of the best multiplayer experiences that you'll find in any game around ... it almost feels like Naughty Dog has given us an extra game for free."
Nevertheless, the game was criticised for some negative issues, such as lapses in the control system. The New York Times noted that "...its finicky controls can frustrate at times." Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer
found, "There are ... a few occasions where the platforming lets you down ... despite the feeling you were jumping in the right direction." IGN described certain repetitive gunfight sequences as "aggravating" and complained about the "very linear" climbing sections.
The game was placed 19th in Dengeki online
's reader poll of the best games of 2009, making it the only western game in the list.
's sales data shows that Uncharted 2 was the top-selling game in the United States for October 2009, at about 537,000 units sold, while Media Create
's sales data has Uncharted 2 selling 47,000 units for its first day in Japan. Phil Rosenberg of SCE says the game has crossed the one million sold mark on November 12, 2009. According to gaming analyst Jesse Divnich
, Uncharted 2 is the third first-party title on the PlayStation 3 to sell over 1 million units in North America. As of February 2010, the game has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling first-party title on any PlayStation platform. Uncharted 2 is now part of Sony
's selection of Greatest Hits. On 28 September 2010, Naughty Dog announced the title had now sold 3.8 million worldwide. As of October 2011, 4.9 million copies of the game had been sold.
, among numerous other video gaming websites and publications, awarded Uncharted 2 their overall Game of the Year
award. The game also won 10 AIAS
Interactive Achievement Awards including one for Overall Game of the Year.
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
platform
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
third-person shooter
Third-person shooter
Third-person shooter is a genre of 3D action games in which the player character is visible on-screen, and the gameplay consists primarily of shooting.-Definition:...
video game developed by Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog
Naughty Dog, Inc. is an American video game developer based in Santa Monica, California. Founded by Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin in 1986 as an independent developer, the studio was acquired by Sony Computer Entertainment in 2001...
and published by Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment
Sony Computer Entertainment, Inc. is a major video game company specializing in a variety of areas in the video game industry, and is a wholly owned subsidiary and part of the Consumer Products & Services Group of Sony...
for the PlayStation 3
PlayStation 3
The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
. It is the sequel to the 2007 game Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. It was first shown and announced on December 1, 2008. Officially announced in the January 2009 issue of Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
, it was released in October 2009. A major critical and commercial success, it was named by Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
as the most critically acclaimed game of 2009, and won Game of the Year
Game of the Year
Game of the Year is a title awarded by various magazines, websites, and shows to a deserving game. Many are only for PC or console video games...
awards on IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
, Game Informer
Game Informer
Game Informer is an American-based monthly magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of popular video games and associated consoles. It was formed in August 1991, when FuncoLand started publishing a six-page magazine, free in all its retail locations...
, Joystiq
Joystiq
Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of...
, Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
, Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb
Giant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes gaming news, reviews, commentary, and video, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis in collaboration with Whiskey Media...
, AIAS
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
, X-Play
X-Play
X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits...
, Game Developers Choice Awards
Game Developers Choice Awards
The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was...
, and the Spike Video Game Awards for the year 2009. A sequel and third entry to the series, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is the third game in the Uncharted series, created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 3, and was released in North America on November 1, 2011, Europe on November 2, 2011 and Australia on November 3, 2011. It is the sequel to 2009's Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It was...
, was released on November 1, 2011.
Gameplay
Uncharted 2 is an action-adventure gameAction-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
played from a third-person perspective, with the player in control of Nathan Drake
Nathan Drake (character)
Nathan "Nate" Drake is the fictional protagonist of the Uncharted video game series, developed by Naughty Dog. He is a playable character in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, and appears in the motion comic prequel...
. Drake is physically adept and is able to jump, climb, and scale narrow ledges and wall-faces to get between points. Drake can be equipped with up to two firearms – one single-handed and one two-handed – and a limited supply of grenades. Drake can pick up weapons, automatically replacing the existing weapon he was using, and additional ammunition from killed enemies. The player can direct Drake to take cover behind corners or low walls using either aimed or blind-fire to kill his enemies. The player can also have Drake fire while moving. If Drake is undetected by his enemies, the player can attempt to use stealth to take them out, such as by sneaking up behind them to knock them out with one hit, or by pulling an unsuspecting foe over a ledge from which Drake is hanging. If all of the foes patrolling an area are killed stealthily then other waves that would normally appear do not. Some areas of the game require the player to solve puzzles with the use of Drake's journal, which provides clues towards the puzzles' solutions. When enabled, a hint system provides gameplay clues, such as the direction of the next objective.
Throughout the game are one-hundred and one special treasures that may be hidden or in difficult-to-reach places that the player can collect. There is also one secret "hidden" relic exactly the same as the one in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Collecting these treasures, along with completing certain feats within the game, is tracked by the awarding of medals, which gives the player in-game money to use to unlock extra content on the disc, including concept art, game movies, and game cheats such as guns with infinite ammunition. A large portion of the in-game medals are used to award trophies.
Multiplayer
Uncharted 2 features both competitive and co-operativeCooperative gameplay
Cooperative gameplay is a feature in video games that allows players to work together as teammates. It is distinct from other multiplayer modes, such as competitive multiplayer modes like player versus player or deathmatch...
multiplayer. The co-op multiplayer allows a maximum of three players to take the roles of Drake and two other "hero" companions and features missions involving gunfights, platforming, and teamwork-based objectives. Players can also assist their comrades if they become critically injured or if they are grabbed by an enemy.
The competitive multiplayer allows a maximum of ten players to play against each other in two teams of five. Six competitive modes are featured: Deathmatch
Deathmatch (gaming)
Deathmatch or Player vs All is a widely-used gameplay mode integrated into many shooter and real-time strategy computer games...
, Plunder, Elimination, Turf War, King of the Hill and Chain Reaction. Deathmatch features two teams of five, with one team acting as heroes and the other as villains. Players can choose their own appropriate character models (such as Drake, Sully, Elena, and new characters Tenzin and Chloe for the heroes team). As players accrue points and rank up, they can purchase more skins for both heroes and villains. Players can select two Boost abilities which assist them in the matches. Plunder is similar to the traditional capture the flag
Capture the flag
Capture the Flag is a traditional outdoor sport generally played by children, where two teams each have a flag and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base," and bring it safely back to their own base...
game mode, and sees each team attempt to capture the treasure from a central point in the map and return it to their base; the player carrying the treasure is slowed down a great deal, and may also choose to hurl the treasure away at any point, in order to keep it out of reach of the enemy, or to pass it to a teammate. Elimination has two teams of five players against each other with the objective of killing everyone on the other team. In Elimination, the players do not respawn. The goal is to eliminate the other team three out of five times.
Chain Reaction has the player capturing posts, but the player must do them in a specific order – one team works out from their base needing to capture 1 through 5 while the other team starts out from their home and needs to snag 5 through 1. King of the Hill has players capturing a hill, spawned on the map to score points. They must stay in the hill to score points while the enemy team tries to do the same.
Gold Rush is a cooperative mode of play where 2–3 players must team up to obtain a treasure, which is randomly spawned on the map, and take it back to their base, much like Plunder. However, AI
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
enemies try to stop the players from returning the treasure. If a player goes down and is not revived before the timer goes out, they will not come back until the next round. In each consecutive round the enemies become tougher to defeat. Survival is the second cooperative mode of play, where 2-3 players must work together to defeat a total of ten waves of enemies, each wave becoming more and more difficult. A new co-op game mode, titled "Siege", was also added, in which 2-3 players must team up to secure a zone while holding off waves of enemies.
On September 15, 2009, another beta was released and an open beta was released to the EU and US on September 29, 2009 via the PSN store. Both expired on October 12, 2009.
In the first year since the game's launch, more than 125 million matches and 10,500 man-years have been played online.
Plot
The narrative opens with a quote attributed to Marco PoloMarco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
, "I did not tell half of what I saw, for I knew I would not be believed." The plot revolves around the doomed voyage home of Marco Polo from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in 1292. After spending almost 20 years in the court of the Mongol Emperor Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan , born Kublai and also known by the temple name Shizu , was the fifth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire from 1260 to 1294 and the founder of the Yuan Dynasty in China...
, Marco Polo departed with fourteen ships and over six hundred passengers – but when he arrived at Persia a year and a half later, only one ship and eighteen passengers remained. Polo never revealed what had happened to the lost ships.
The story begins in medias res
In medias res
In medias res or medias in res is a Latin phrase denoting the literary and artistic narrative technique wherein the relation of a story begins either at the mid-point or at the conclusion, rather than at the beginning In medias res or medias in res (into the middle of things) is a Latin phrase...
, with a wounded Nathan "Nate" Drake (Nolan North
Nolan North
Nolan Ramsey North is an American actor and voice actor born in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been described as "the nearest thing the games industry has to a bona fide leading man."-Biography:...
) waking up to find himself in a train hanging off a cliff. Through flashbacks, it is revealed that former associate Harry Flynn (Steve Valentine
Steve Valentine
Steven John Valentine is a Scottish actor, singer and magician who has performed on stage and screen, but is best known for his role as the eccentric Nigel Townsend on NBC's crime drama Crossing Jordan...
) and old girlfriend Chloe Frazer
Chloe Frazer
Chloe Frazer is a fictional character in the Uncharted series, and serves as a female protagonist of the 2009 video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Frazer was designed to provide a darker counterpart to main series protagonist Nathan Drake, and to highlight these facets of his personality. She is...
(Claudia Black
Claudia Black
Claudia Lee Black is an Australian actress and voice actor, known for her portrayals of Aeryn Sun in the science fiction television series Farscape, Vala Mal Doran in the science fiction series Stargate SG-1, Chloe Frazer in the Uncharted series, the witch Morrigan in Dragon Age: Origins and...
) approached him with a job to steal a Mongolian oil lamp
Oil lamp
An oil lamp is an object used to produce light continuously for a period of time using an oil-based fuel source. The use of oil lamps began thousands of years ago and is continued to this day....
from an Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
museum. Nate accepts the job when he learns that the lamp may lead to the treasure of Marco Polo's lost fleet. Harry and Drake acquire the lamp, which contains a map showing that the lost fleet had been transporting the Cintamani Stone from the mythical city of Shambhala
Shambhala
In Tibetan Buddhist tradition, Shambhala or Shangri-la is a mythical kingdom hidden somewhere in Inner Asia...
(better known as Shangri-La) before being thrown ashore in Borneo
Borneo
Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....
by a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
. Taking the map, Flynn double-crosses Drake, who is arrested and imprisoned for three months. Chloe, who claims to have had no knowledge of Flynn's treachery, asks for the help of Drake's friend Victor "Sully" Sullivan
Victor Sullivan
Victor "Sully" Sullivan is a protagonist from the Uncharted video game franchise. He is voiced by Richard McGonagle, who also did the motion capture for the character. In the games, he is a friend and mentor to Nathan Drake, the main series protagonist. He is a man with large debts and a criminal...
(Richard McGonagle
Richard McGonagle
Richard Francis McGonagle is an American actor and voice actor.McGonagle was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Hildagard Virginia and William Francis McGonagle....
) to secure his release.
Nate and Sully follow Flynn and his boss Zoran Lazarevic (Graham McTavish
Graham McTavish
Graham McTavish is a Scottish television and film actor.He has played the character Warden Ackerman in Red Dwarf in five episodes of series 8. McTavish has also had many supporting roles in British dramas and films such as Casualty, Jekyll, The Bill, Taggart and Sisterhood...
), a Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
war criminal who is widely thought to be dead, to Borneo. With the help of Chloe working within Lazarevic's camp as a mole, they discover that the lost fleet never actually possessed the Cintamani Stone. They locate a tomb containing the bodies of Polo's passengers, as well as a Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
an phurba
Phurba
The kīla is a three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail like ritual implement traditionally associated with Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Bön, and Indian Vedic traditions. The kīla is associated with the meditational deity The kīla (Sanskrit Devanagari: कील; IAST: kīla; , pronunciation between pur-ba and...
and a letter from Polo saying that the next clue is in Kathmandu, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
in a temple. Flynn and his men appear in the tomb soon after and take the letter, while Nate and Sully escape by jumping off a cliff into a river.
While Sullivan decides that the quest is too risky, Nate and Chloe head to Nepal, finding conflict as Lazarevic's mercenary army ravages the city looking for the right temple. After surmising that the temple they are looking for is adorned with one of the symbols on the phurba, the couple survey the area from the rooftop of a local hotel, finding its location.
En route to the temple, the pair runs into Elena Fisher
Elena Fisher
Elena Fisher is one of the protagonists of the Uncharted series created by developer Naughty Dog. Fisher appears in all the three video games in the series: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. While not a playable character, Fisher acts as...
(Emily Rose
Emily Rose (actress)
Emily Rose Maier is an American actress. She is best known for her lead role in the Syfy TV series Haven .-Early life:...
) and her cameraman Jeff (Gregory Myhre), who are tracking down Lazarevic to prove he is still alive. The four reach the temple and discover that the stone and Shambhala are in the Himalayas
Himalayas
The Himalaya Range or Himalaya Mountains Sanskrit: Devanagari: हिमालय, literally "abode of snow"), usually called the Himalayas or Himalaya for short, is a mountain range in Asia, separating the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau...
. As they are about to leave, the group is ambushed, and Jeff is shot by one of Lazarevic's men. Despite Chloe's insistence to leave Jeff behind, the group pushes on until they are caught. Chloe reluctantly pulls her gun on Nate to protect her "cover", while Lazarevic executes Jeff. While Lazarevic and Chloe leave for the train yard, Nate and Elena manage to escape just as Flynn is about to kill them. The couple manages to catch up with Lazarevic's train on a stolen jeep. Nate boards the train and finds Chloe, who is upset about Nate having taken Elena and Jeff along earlier and refuses to leave with him. As the two argue, Flynn arrives and shoots Nate in the abdomen. With no other option, Nate shoots a pile of propane tanks, killing Flynn's men and sending Nate's half of the train over a steep cliff.
Returning to where the game began, Nate escapes the train and travels through a snow storm, recovering the phurba among the wreckage before falling unconscious. He awakens in a Tibetan village, where he is reunited with Elena and is introduced to a German man named Karl Schäfer (Rene Auberjonois
Rene Auberjonois
René Murat Auberjonois is an American actor, known for portraying Father Mulcahy in the movie version of M*A*S*H and for creating a number of characters in long-running television series, including Clayton Endicott III on Benson , Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Chef Louis in The Little...
). Schäfer tells Nate that the phurba is the key to finding Shambhala, but Nate tells him he is no longer interested. To convince him otherwise, Schäfer sends Nate and the village leader, Tenzin (Robin Atkin Downes
Robin Atkin Downes
Born in London, England, Robin Atkin Downes is an English actor who is one of the most prolific voice-over actors in Los Angeles. He is well known for his work in film, television and voice acting...
), to find the remains of the men in his expedition, who were looking for Shambhala and the stone 70 years earlier. Traveling through a series of caves to an ancient temple filled with yeti
Yeti
The Yeti or Abominable Snowman is an ape-like cryptid said to inhabit the Himalayan region of Nepal, and Tibet. The names Yeti and Meh-Teh are commonly used by the people indigenous to the region, and are part of their history and mythology...
-like creatures, Nate and Tenzin discover that Schäfer's men were SS members on an Ahnenerbe
Ahnenerbe
The Ahnenerbe was a Nazi German think tank that promoted itself as a "study society for Intellectual Ancient History." Founded on July 1, 1935, by Heinrich Himmler, Herman Wirth, and Richard Walther Darré, the Ahnenerbe's goal was to research the anthropological and cultural history of the Aryan...
expedition, and that he had killed them to protect the world from the power of the stone. They return to find Lazarevic's men attacking the village. After securing the village, Nate and Elena find out that Schäfer has been kidnapped along with the phurba. They then track Lazarevic's convoy to an abandoned monastery. The two locate a mortally wounded Schäfer, who tells Nate that he must destroy the Cintamani Stone. Schäfer then succumbs to his wounds and dies.
Nate locates Chloe, who surrenders the phurba after he promises to take Lazarevic down. Nate and Elena use the phurba to unlock the secret passage to Shambhala underneath the monastery, but Lazarevic corners them and forces Nate to open the gate. When the gate opens the group is attacked by the monsters from the ice caves, but Lazarevic manages to kill them. It is then revealed that they are actually the human Guardians of Shambhala, powered by the Cintamani stone and dressed like monsters to scare off anyone who trespasses in the city. Just as Lazarevic prepares to kill Elena and Nate, another wave of Guardians attacks, which allows them and Chloe (whose cover has been blown) to escape.
Making their way to the top of the central temple, Nate discovers that the Cintamani stone is in fact a giant amber of petrified blue resin embedded in a giant, prehistoric tree of life
Tree of life
The concept of a tree of life, a many-branched tree illustrating the idea that all life on earth is related, has been used in science , religion, philosophy, mythology, and other areas...
. The true worth of Shambhala is the blue sap of the tree, which when ingested makes the drinker nearly invincible. As they prepare to go after Lazarevic, a wounded Flynn arrives and detonates a grenade, killing himself and seriously wounding Elena. Nate leaves Elena in Chloe's care and sets off to confront Lazarevic at the tree. Nate arrives just as Lazarevic drinks the tree's sap, which renders him nearly indestructible and heals his old wounds and scars. Detonating the pockets of explosive resin in the tree with his weapons, Nate defeats Lazarevic and leaves him to be killed by the Guardians. Nate reunites with Chloe and Elena and they escape the city as a series of explosions begins to destroy Shambhala.
Back in the village, Chloe asks Nate if he loves Elena, which he does not deny. Chloe bids Nate goodbye as Sully leads a recovering Elena over to him. While Sully chases after Chloe, Elena and Nate pay their respects at Schäfer's grave before embracing. They share a kiss and together they walk over to the edge of a cliff and watch the sun set behind the mountains.
Development
First revealed by Game Informer in December 2008, the first teaser trailer shows a weary, wounded Drake marching through a snowstorm to reach a phurbaPhurba
The kīla is a three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail like ritual implement traditionally associated with Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Bön, and Indian Vedic traditions. The kīla is associated with the meditational deity The kīla (Sanskrit Devanagari: कील; IAST: kīla; , pronunciation between pur-ba and...
half-buried in the snow. Lead character artist Richard Diamant remarked that the trailer was rendered in real-time, using the game's engine. A second teaser trailer was released soon after, showing a badly wounded Drake stuck in the remains of a wrecked train hanging precariously over a cliff.
Uncharted 2 features an online multiplayer component, the beta phase of which was playable by those who bought early copies of the game inFamous
InFamous
Infamous, stylized as inFAMOUS or inFamous, is an open world video game for the PlayStation 3 video game console. It was developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment...
. The beta was also accessible by annual subscribers of the PlayStation Network service, Qore
Qore (PlayStation Network)
Qore is a subscription-based interactive online magazine for the PlayStation Network and replaces the Jampack series of disks offered by PlayStation Underground. Currently only available in North America, the service offers high definition videos, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage...
, on June 3, to those who have subscribed to Qore by May 15. The beta codes from Qore began to be sent out on May 8, 2009. Beta codes from inFamous shipped inside the game's packaging, on May 26, 2009.
On July 27, Naughty Dog Co-President Christophe Balestra revealed through a Twitter post that the game would not require installation to the PlayStation 3's hard drive.
Motion capture
In E3 2009 videos from Naughty Dog showed the voice actors of the characters performing the motion captures in some of the scenes. The actors act out the scene wearing specially designed motion captureMotion capture
Motion capture, motion tracking, or mocap are terms used to describe the process of recording movement and translating that movement on to a digital model. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, and medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robotics...
suits, and their performance was used to provide both the motion capture and voice work. The actors would even rehearse together in a room and had discussions with the creative directors of the game before carrying out the performance.
Graphics and technology
Naughty Dog intended to maximize the utilization of the CellCell microprocessor
Cell is a microprocessor architecture jointly developed by Sony, Sony Computer Entertainment, Toshiba, and IBM, an alliance known as "STI". The architectural design and first implementation were carried out at the STI Design Center in Austin, Texas over a four-year period beginning March 2001 on a...
's SPUs, as their estimates for utilization in the first Uncharted were only around 30%. As a result, the game has more realistic environments and animations.
Uncharted 2 uses Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0, a revamped and optimized version of the original engine that has allowed the game to have real-time moving environments, more realistic textures, and animations. The Naughty Dog Game Engine 2.0 also works in harmony with Havok Physics.
On August 26, 2009, it was revealed that Uncharted 2 uses between 90 to 100% of the Cell's processor and uses all 25GB of a single Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
. However, Evan Wells later pointed out "...now it's at least busy 100% of the time, but it's still not fully-optimized code. I mean, in order to get to that 100%, it was more about making sure the pipeline was filled, and we weren't running into one of the processors becoming idle because there wasn't a job ready for it."
In the interview, Christophe Balestra also pointed out how important it is to ship every system with a hard drive. "The fact that every PS3 has a hard drive is huge for us." He went on to describe how the game takes advantage of Sony's offerings. "It's the combination of Blu-ray and hard drive. You can play the entire game without loading. We don't require an install. We're doing all the post-processing effects on the Synergistic Processing Units." Screen Space Ambient Occlusion
Screen Space Ambient Occlusion
Screen Space Ambient Occlusion is a rendering technique for efficiently approximating the well-known computer graphics ambient occlusion effect in real time...
for example, was done completely on the SPUs.
Special editions
Naughty Dog's creative director Amy HennigAmy Hennig
Amy Hennig is a video game director and script writer currently employed by video game company Naughty Dog. She began her work in the industry on the Nintendo Entertainment System, with her design debut on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City...
revealed a special Fortune Hunter edition of Uncharted 2 that isn't obtainable in stores. The Fortune Hunter edition contains the game, a replica of the Phurba Dagger
Phurba
The kīla is a three-sided peg, stake, knife, or nail like ritual implement traditionally associated with Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Bön, and Indian Vedic traditions. The kīla is associated with the meditational deity The kīla (Sanskrit Devanagari: कील; IAST: kīla; , pronunciation between pur-ba and...
artifact and stand, a BradyGames strategy guide, an art book, the official soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
, and a collector's case autographed by Naughty Dog. It is also said to include various downloadable content. A collector's edition of Uncharted 2 was not announced for sale in the United States.
SCEA marketing manager Asad Qizilbash told readers of the PlayStation Blog that the limited edition giveaways will take place on that blog, PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home
PlayStation Home is a virtual 3D social gaming network developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network . It is available directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar under PlayStation Network. Membership is free, and only requires a PSN...
, the game's multiplayer demo, and a few other unnamed places. Qizilbash also mentioned that only residents in the US are eligible to win. Only 200 copies were released.
Exclusive to the PAL region, the Uncharted 2 special edition contains the game, gold versions of the Beretta
Beretta
Fabbrica d'Armi Pietro Beretta is an Italian firearms manufacturer. Their firearms are used worldwide for a variety of civilian, law enforcement, and military purposes. It is also known for manufacturing shooting clothes and accessories. Beretta is the oldest active firearms manufacturer in the...
and AK-47
AK-47
The AK-47 is a selective-fire, gas-operated 7.62×39mm assault rifle, first developed in the Soviet Union by Mikhail Kalashnikov. It is officially known as Avtomat Kalashnikova . It is also known as a Kalashnikov, an "AK", or in Russian slang, Kalash.Design work on the AK-47 began in the last year...
weapons, two post cards, a PlayStation 3 theme, and multiplayer skins. The game comes packaged in a steel case by SteelBook. Never formally announced, the Special Edition was discovered on the game's official European launch site, with the only link for the special edition leading to one of Britain's major game retailers, Game
GAME (retailer)
The Game Group plc is a British video games retail company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index....
.
A Game of the Year Edition was released October 12, 2010. Among other features, this edition includes all previously released Downloadable content
Downloadable content
Downloadable content is official additional content for a video game distributed through the Internet. Downloadable content can be of several types, ranging from a single in-game outfit to an entirely new, extensive storyline, similarly to an expansion pack. As such, DLC may add new game modes,...
(with the exception of the Sidekicks Skin Pack), four motion comics, and Pinball Heroes: Uncharted for the PSP
PlayStation Portable
The is a handheld game console manufactured and marketed by Sony Corporation Development of the console was announced during E3 2003, and it was unveiled on , 2004, at a Sony press conference before E3 2004...
.
Downloadable content
The first DLC pack was released on November 27, 2009 and featured a new multiplayer map, "The Fort," from The Fortress chapter in Drake's Fortune for free. On December 11, 2009, "Uncharted: Eye of Indra Multiplayer Skin Pack" was released, exclusively for the PAL PlayStation Store. It includes all four parts of the motion comic Uncharted: Eye of Indra and two Uncharted 2 multiplayer skins based on the motion comic. The pack contains Rika for the heroes and Pinkerton for the villains. The pack was later released in North America.On January 28, 2010, the "PlayStation Heroes Skin Pack" was released, containing Sev and a Helghast soldier from Killzone 2, Nathan Hale and a Chimera from the Resistance series, and Cole (Evil and Good) along with Zeke from inFamous
InFamous
Infamous, stylized as inFAMOUS or inFamous, is an open world video game for the PlayStation 3 video game console. It was developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment...
and Starkiller from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed . The single player demo of Uncharted 2 was released on the same day. On February 25, 2010, a DLC pack that contained two new multiplayer maps, six skins based on Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, 12 PSN Trophies, and 13 medals was released. Skins were released as a single purchase and the 2 maps with the 12 PSN Trophies were released as a single purchase. A bundle of both purchases was also released. On April 22, 2010, the third expansion pack, "Siege" was released. This DLC pack contained a new co-op multiplayer mode known as Siege, two new multiplayer maps, six new character skins and 11 PSN Trophies (10 of which are bronze, one of which is silver). Two of the six new skins are from Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and the other four are new and exclusive to the game. On August 26, 2010, the "Sidekick Skin Pack" was released, containing 6 alternate appearances of previously available characters, and 2 new villain skins, Dillon and Mac. On September 7, 2010, it was announced that new DLC for the game is on the way. On December 12, 2010, the previously exclusive "Golden Guns" DLC was released. This DLC pack contained gold skins for the AK-47 and Beretta weapons.
PlayStation Home
In PlayStation HomePlayStation Home
PlayStation Home is a virtual 3D social gaming network developed by Sony Computer Entertainment's London Studio for the PlayStation 3 on the PlayStation Network . It is available directly from the PlayStation 3 XrossMediaBar under PlayStation Network. Membership is free, and only requires a PSN...
, the PlayStation 3's online community-based service, Naughty Dog has released a themed game space for Uncharted 2, developed by Outso. This makes the second game space to be released from Naughty Dog, the first being the game space for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This space is called "Nepalese Village" and features the mini-games Mask Mayhem, Torch Race, and Fortunate Thieves with rewards. There's also an Uncharted 2 Blog that lets users access the Uncharted 2 blog. It was released on October 23, 2009 in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home. In the video on the PlayStation blog, Jack Buser, the director of Home for SCEA, describes the mini-game, Fortunate Thieves, as being a "full on, interactive mini-MMO
Massively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
." The Uncharted series is the first game series to have a game space for both games of the series in Home.
Between the hours of 8 am PT
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
on November 5 and 12 pm PT on November 6, there was a contest in the North American Home (in which only U.S. citizens could participate), where users could win the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Fortune Hunter Edition. Between those times, users went to the Uncharted 2 space and played the "Mask Mayhem" mini-game. The user who placed first on the Uncharted 2 space's leader board won a copy of the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had another chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition in the Uncharted 2 space between the times of 8 am PT November 20, 2009 and 12 pm PT November 21, 2009. Between those times, users had to try to get in first place on the "Fortunate Thieves" mini-game leader board to win the Fortune Hunter Edition. The user who placed first on the Fortunate Thieves leader board won the Fortune Hunter Edition. Users had one final chance to win the Fortune Hunter Edition from 8 am PT December 18, 2009 to 12 pm PT December 21, 2009. Users had to play the "Torch Race" mini-game and be first on its leader board in the Uncharted 2 space.
On May 6, 2010, an Uncharted apartment was released in the European and North American versions of PlayStation Home called the "Uncharted Fortune Hunter's Apartment". Uncharted themed costumes have also been released in Home. The apartment was released on May 27, 2010 in the Asian version.
Reception
Uncharted 2 received universal critical acclaim, receiving numerous "Game of the Year" awards. The first publication to review Uncharted 2 was the French edition of PSM3PSM3
PSM3 is a video game magazine specialising in all Sony video game consoles and handheld gaming platforms. PSM3 is published by Future Publishing, a UK-based publishing company....
. In their review, they called the game "Long, visually stunning, deep and explosive, Uncharted 2 combines all the qualities you can find in a videogame, and more! A new milestone has been reached in the videogame history." The magazine awarded the game its first ever, 21/20. PlayStation: The Official Magazine awarded the game a perfect score. In their review, they stated, "Forget Game of The Year. This is one of the greatest games of all time!". The UK
PlayStation: The Official Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine is a magazine originally known as PlayStation Magazine . After Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was canceled, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become "PlayStation: The Official Magazine"...
edition of the magazine also gave the game a perfect score, and Uncharted 2 was later awarded "Game of the Year 2009" by the magazine.. Later, readers of the same magazine voted it the greatest PlayStation title ever released.
Several mainstream press reviews praised the game, particularly for its graphics and cinematic quality. Hiawatha Bray
Hiawatha Bray
Hiawatha Bray is a technology columnist for The Boston Globe. Born in Chicago, he started as a reporter and managing editor for Computerpeople Weekly....
, of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, said
...no video game has ever done a better job of capturing the style and rhythm of the movies. The action sequences in Uncharted 2 look as if they were shot by a team of cinematographers, then edited into a coherent and thrilling narrative. The game’s storyline is trite, but a first-rate cast of voice-over actors carry it off with flair.
The Los Angeles Times review suggested the game would "fit better on a big screen in some multiplex", and also added that "Uncharted 2 is ridiculously immersive, so much so that you forget you are controlling the actions of treasure hunter Nathan Drake ... everything is done right." In a review for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Seth Schiesel described it as "perhaps the best-looking game on any system, and no game yet has provided a more genuinely cinematic entertainment experience."
The game has a GameRankings score of 96.41% and a GameStats score of 9.6/10. The game also received a Metacritic score of 96 out of 100, making it the most critically acclaimed game of 2009. IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the game a 9.5 out of 10, praising its "stunning visuals", and calling the multiplayer mode "one of the best multiplayer experiences that you'll find in any game around ... it almost feels like Naughty Dog has given us an extra game for free."
Nevertheless, the game was criticised for some negative issues, such as lapses in the control system. The New York Times noted that "...its finicky controls can frustrate at times." Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
found, "There are ... a few occasions where the platforming lets you down ... despite the feeling you were jumping in the right direction." IGN described certain repetitive gunfight sequences as "aggravating" and complained about the "very linear" climbing sections.
The game was placed 19th in Dengeki online
ASCII Media Works
is a Japanese publishing company in the Kadokawa Group which formed on April 1, 2008 as a result of a merger between ASCII and MediaWorks where MediaWorks legally absorbed ASCII. Despite this, the former president of ASCII, Kiyoshi Takano, became the president of ASCII Media Works. The company...
's reader poll of the best games of 2009, making it the only western game in the list.
Sales
NPD GroupNPD Group
The NPD Group, Inc. is a leading North American market research company. The NPD Group consistently ranks among the top 25 market research companies in the independent Honomichl Top 50 report, which the media and the research industry acknowledge as a credible source of information on the market...
's sales data shows that Uncharted 2 was the top-selling game in the United States for October 2009, at about 537,000 units sold, while Media Create
Media Create
is a Japanese company that "gathers and analyzes data from the digital entertainment industry, specifically focusing on the Japanese console gaming market...
's sales data has Uncharted 2 selling 47,000 units for its first day in Japan. Phil Rosenberg of SCE says the game has crossed the one million sold mark on November 12, 2009. According to gaming analyst Jesse Divnich
Jesse Divnich
Jesse Divnich is the Vice President of Analyst Services for Electronic Entertainment Design and Research .- Background :Divnich was born in LaSalle, Ontario, but currently resides in Carlsbad, California...
, Uncharted 2 is the third first-party title on the PlayStation 3 to sell over 1 million units in North America. As of February 2010, the game has sold over 3.5 million copies worldwide, becoming the fastest selling first-party title on any PlayStation platform. Uncharted 2 is now part of Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's selection of Greatest Hits. On 28 September 2010, Naughty Dog announced the title had now sold 3.8 million worldwide. As of October 2011, 4.9 million copies of the game had been sold.
Awards
As of now, it received around 100 Game of the Year awards. At Sony's E3 media briefing, an Uncharted 2 gameplay demo was shown early in the conference. Critics were very impressed with the demo, which led many to believe Uncharted 2 to be a strong competitor for "Game of the Year" with Uncharted 2 winning the most E3 awards of any game. After the game's release, it went on to win numerous awards, including a record eight award nominations in the Spike Video Game Awards and was voted for by fans for three wins, including Game of the Year. IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, among numerous other video gaming websites and publications, awarded Uncharted 2 their overall Game of the Year
Game of the Year
Game of the Year is a title awarded by various magazines, websites, and shows to a deserving game. Many are only for PC or console video games...
award. The game also won 10 AIAS
Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998...
Interactive Achievement Awards including one for Overall Game of the Year.
| Honor | Awards | Presented by | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best of Show | Best Games of E3 2009 | 1UP.com 1UP.com 1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009.... |
|
| Game of E3 PS3 Game | |||
| Game of Show | Best of E3 2009 | X-Play X-Play X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits... |
|
| Best PlayStation 3 Game | |||
| Best Graphics | Best of E3 2009 Awards | GameTrailers GameTrailers GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create... |
|
| Best Third-Person Shooter | |||
| Most Surprisingly Awesome Demo | E3 2009 Awards | GamesRadar GamesRadar GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing... |
|
| PlayStation 3 Game of the Show | Best of E3 2009 Awards | IGN IGN IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment... |
|
| Best Overall Graphics Technology | |||
| Best PlayStation 3 Graphics Technology | |||
| Best PlayStation 3 Action Game | |||
| Best PlayStation 3 Multiplayer Experience | |||
| PlayStation 3 Achievement for Technological Excellence | |||
| Best PS3 Game | E3 2009 Editors' Choice Awards | GameSpot GameSpot GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which... |
|
| Best Graphics | |||
| PS3 Game of Show | Best of E3 2009 | GameSpy GameSpy GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current... |
|
| Best of Show | Best of E3 2009 | Game Critics Awards Game Critics Awards The Game Critics Awards are a set of annual awards held after the E3 video game conference since 1998. The awards are given to products displayed at E3 with the title Best of E3 of their category. The nominees and winners of the awards are chosen by individual judges representing 35 major North... |
|
| Best Console Game | |||
| Best Action/Adventure Game | |||
| Best Console Game | Gamescom Gamescom gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is organised by the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware... Awards 2009 |
Gamescom Gamescom gamescom is a trade fair for video games held annually at the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is organised by the Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware... |
|
| Best Overall Videogame | Game of the Year 2009 | Yahoo! Games Yahoo! Games Yahoo! Games is the section of the Yahoo! website in which Yahoo! users can play games either with other users or by themselves. The games on the website are typically Java applets or quick Flash games, but there are others which require a download. Many of the games that require a download... |
|
| Game of the Year | 2009 Video Game Awards | Spike Video Game Awards | |
| Best PS3 Game | |||
| Best Graphics | |||
| Game of the Year | Best of 2009 Awards | X-Play X-Play X-Play is a TV program about video games, known for its reviews and comedy skits... |
|
| Best Action/Adventure Game | |||
| Best Animation | |||
| Best Writing | |||
| PlayStation 3 Game of the Year | Best Games of 2009 | GameSpy GameSpy GameSpy Industries, Inc., known simply as GameSpy, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game websites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current... |
|
| The Pay Attention, Hollywood Award | |||
| Game of the Year 2009 | Game of the Year 2009 | Destructoid Destructoid Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month... |
|
| Best Storytelling | Best Games of 2009 | GamePro GamePro GamePro Media was a United States gaming media company publishing online and print content on the video game industry, video game hardware, and video game software developed for a video game console , a computer, and/or a mobile device . GamePro Media properties include GamePro magazine and... |
|
| Best Action/Adventure Game | Best Games of 2009 | GameSpot GameSpot GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which... |
|
| Best Graphics, Technical | |||
| Best Voice Acting | |||
| Best Third-Person Shooter | Game of the Year Awards 2009 | GameTrailers GameTrailers GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create... |
|
| Best Single-Player Campaign | |||
| Best Graphics | |||
| Best Story | |||
| Game of the Year | End of the Year Awards 2009 | Eurogamer Eurogamer Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on... |
|
| Readers' Game of the Year | |||
| Best PS3 Game of 2009 | Best Games of 2009 | PakGamers | |
| Best Action/Adventure Game of 2009 | |||
| Number 1 | Top 10 of 2009 | Joystiq Joystiq Joystiq is a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 that has since become one of the most successful sites within the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs. It is the centerpiece of WIN's own network of video gaming blogs, which also includes a blog dealing specifically with the popular MMORPG World of... |
|
| Game of the Year | Game of the Year Awards 2009 | Giant Bomb Giant Bomb Giant Bomb is an American video game website and wiki that includes gaming news, reviews, commentary, and video, created by former GameSpot editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis in collaboration with Whiskey Media... |
|
| Game of the Year Community Edition | |||
| PlayStation 3-Only Game of the Year | |||
| Best New Non-Player Character (Tenzin) | |||
| The Northies - Best Performance By Nolan North Nolan North Nolan Ramsey North is an American actor and voice actor born in New Haven, Connecticut. He has been described as "the nearest thing the games industry has to a bona fide leading man."-Biography:... |
|||
| Best Graphics | |||
| Overall Game of the Year | Best of 2009 | IGN IGN IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment... |
|
| Overall Best Action Game | |||
| Overall Award for Visual Excellence | |||
| Overall Award for Excellence in Sound | |||
| Overall Best Story | |||
| PS3 Game of the Year | |||
| PS3 Best Action Game | |||
| PS3 Award for Visual Excellence | |||
| PS3 Award for Excellence in Sound | |||
| PS3 Best Multiplayer | |||
| Game of the Year | 2009 Readers' Choice Awards | 1UP 1UP.com 1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009.... |
|
| Best Action/Adventure Game | |||
| Best PS3 Game | |||
| The "GPU Gods" Award for Most Impressive Visuals | |||
| Game of the Year | Game of the Year Awards | Kotaku Kotaku Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100... |
|
| Game of the Year (Readers' Choice) | |||
| Game of the Year | 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards | Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences , founded in 1996, is a non-profit organization that promotes computer and video game entertainment with the annual D.I.C.E. Summit event, where its Interactive Achievement Awards ceremony has been held annually since 1998... |
|
| Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction | |||
| Adventure Game of the Year | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Animation | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Story - Original | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering | |||
| Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design | |||
| Best Sound Editing - Computer Entertainment | 2009 Golden Reel Awards | MPSE | |
| Videogame Writing | Writers Guild of America Awards 2009 Writers Guild of America Awards 2009 The 62nd Writers Guild of America Awards honored the best film, television, and videogame writers of 2009. Winners were announced on February 20, 2010.-Best Adapted Screenplay:*Crazy Heart*Julie & Julia... |
Writers Guild of America Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is a generic term referring to the joint efforts of two different US labor unions:* The Writers Guild of America, East , representing TV and film writers East of the Mississippi.... |
|
| Outstanding Adventure Game Sequel | 9th Annual NAViGaTR Awards | National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers Corp. | |
| Animation 3D | |||
| Art Direction | |||
| Camera Direction in a Game Engine | |||
| Direction in a Game Cinema | |||
| Graphics/Technical | |||
| Lighting/Texturing | |||
| Original Musical Score | |||
| Writing in a Drama | |||
| Lead Performance in a Drama (Nolan North) | |||
| Game of The Year | 10th Annual Game Developers Choice Awards Game Developers Choice Awards The Game Developers Choice Awards are annually presented by the Game Developers Conference for outstanding game developers and games.Introduced in 2001, the Game Developers Choice Awards were preceded by the Spotlight Awards, which were presented from 1997 to 1999.The 2009 award presentation was... |
International Game Developers Association International Game Developers Association International Game Developers Association is the professional society for over 10,000 video and computer game developers worldwide.It is incorporated in the United States as a non-profit organization.... |
|
| Best Writing | |||
| Best Technology | |||
| Best Visual Arts | |||
| Best Audio | |||
| Audio of The Year | 8th Annual Game Audio Network Guild Awards | Game Audio Network Guild | |
| Music of The Year | |||
| Sound Design of The Year | |||
| Best Cinematic/Cut-Scene Audio | |||
| Best Dialogue | |||
| Best Original Instrumental | |||
| Story | 2010 GAME GAME (retailer) The Game Group plc is a British video games retail company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.... British Academy Video Games Awards |
British Academy of Film and Television Arts British Academy of Film and Television Arts The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:... |
|
| Action | |||
| Use of Audio | |||
| Original Score | |||
| Game of the Year | Gamers Choice Awards 2010 | AT&T AT&T AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services... through Spike TV Spike TV Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc... |
|
| Favorite Music | |||
| Favorite Video Game Vixen (Chloe Frazer) |
See also
- Uncharted video game series
- List of characters in the Uncharted series