Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - (use spoiler tags please)

[quote name='Maklershed']:drool:

But I hope its not in urban environments too much. I loved being in the jungle in the first one and I would hope a good portion takes place outdoors again.[/quote]

I wouldn't worry about that it looks like they're just trying to vary it some more which's fine w/ me.
 
The first one wasn't all in jungles anyway, as it threw in a lot of different locations to keep it fresh.

The stealth stuff looks great and looks like it'll fit into the gameplay very well.
 
[quote name='fnord']I wouldn't worry about that it looks like they're just trying to vary it some more which's fine w/ me.[/quote]

Yeah it looks like it starts high up in the mountains with that snowy theme, and eventually you end up in the town/city.

Hm, if there's no more loading screens...could this end up being like WoW where you can cross different altitudes/terrains/game areas seamlessly? That would be pretty incredible to me...
 
I meant in the sense that travelling to the different game areas would appear seamless, w/o cutscenes. I'm probably playing too much WoW right now is why, lol.
 
[quote name='gunm']I meant in the sense that travelling to the different game areas would appear seamless, w/o cutscenes. I'm probably playing too much WoW right now is why, lol.[/quote]

I think you're expecting a little much from it. One of the problems with making environments as lush as the ones in the neogaf screens is that it takes a lot of manpower. To maintain that consistency over the area you're talking about would take a rediculous amount of work. Imo the loads will take place during cutscenes but honestly the Uncharted cutscenes were great and I'm actualy looking forward to them.
 
That's how they usually handle things, mask the load times via cutscenes captured in-engine animation.

Chloe Frazer looks interesting, there's concept art of how she'll look, but even Elena changed quite a bit before release.

Speaking of Elena, I would love to see her back in the game, at least for cameo just to see the interaction between her and Chloe.
 
I finally got around to reading the cover story article in GI and figured that I'd elaborate, correct, and add some new stuff from the article that was quoted a lot here.

First, the opening paragraph explains the premise very well:

"After more than a dozen years in the exotic court of Kublai Kahn, Marco Polo prepared to return home with a vast fortune of jewels and gold. He departed the far eastern lands with hundreds of passengers aboard 14 sailing vessels. Two years later, he arrived home in Italy with one ship. Most of Marco Polo's writings include intricate accounts of his extensive travels down to the last mundane detail. Yet, those writings fail to chronicle the fate of the 13 ships that didn't arrive with him to port all those years ago. Many believe scurvy and cholera took a horrible toll. Some say pirates caused untold losses. But what if something else happened to those lost ships? What if those forgotten treasures hid a deeper secret? One enterprising treasure hunter is clever (or foolish) enough to dig that secret up."

Not much different than the first in terms fo the gist of the story, but they also mentioned the locations and small details you'll be visiting in the game in order. There aren't really any specifics, but I'll spoiler it for those that want to stay surprised for a bit longer:

The initial search begins inn a lush, green swamp and moves to the search for the legendary, wish-fulfilling Cintamani Stone. Clues lead him to a Nepalese city (the one in the screenshots, I'm assuming) that's under attack by a paramilitary force that's competing with Nate for the same treasure. After that, you visit a massive ice cave, mountainside village, and a fabled lost city of Shambhala high in the Himalayan peaks. You've seen what happens on his way to the Himalayans if you've seen the trailer.

Another big point they make is how Nate's engaging in this journey to the seedier side of the treasure hunting world that was hinted at in quips between Eddie and Nate in the first game. I guess he's no stranger to getting a little dirty and growing beards to show that side of him.

They also mentioned that the writers did a lot of research and attended writing workshops to try to get the holywood movie-writing ideals and techniques down to try to make Uncharted 2 as much of a cinematic experience as they can make it. Apparently everything they've done, whether they were tweaks or additions, were done to push the story along and not just be filler. They're hoping to keep you on your toes and not let you get bored from doing the same thing for too long. Even parts of the environment that you assume are static and stable can hold a surprise, like the example of crawling up to a hole in a wall to get inside and the floor caving if you don't keep moving. They mention them being like QTE's but with you being in full control and no need to mash buttons to pass the test.

That's enough for now, so I'll address the notes from the details:
[quote name='bmachine']http://www.n4g.com/ps3/News-244622.aspx

New Uncharted 2 Details
244622_1_hs.jpg
maddoggnick96 on Gamefaqs.com has posted some info from the new GI magazine:

- The biggest thing in the article IMO is that there's a new girl named Chloe Frazer. GI asked about Elena and Sully's return but they had no comment.
Click to expand...
While they don't talk too much about Chloe, she's apparently very compatible with Nate as the scene they talk about near the end of the article has her blowing up a ship full of enemies to save Nate's hide, then jumping up into Nate's arms, wrapping her legs around his waste like there's more going on than just being mutual partners. She's pretty much the female version of Nate, meaning she's tough and reckless, as well.
- The story is about looking for the ships that Marco Polo "lost" while returning home to Italy.
Click to expand...
Already fleshed out above.
- Melee combat is more dynamic now.
Click to expand...
Seems more like you're not just hitting combos and hoping the punches connect, but it's more dynamic. Examples being that enemies will try to pin Nate's arms or wiggle out of grapples, but you have counters to those types of moves to stay in control. That's all the details on how that works.
- They mentioned they were using only 30% of the PS3's power with Drake's Fortune and are planning to use nearly 100% with Among Thieves.
Click to expand...
It'll look great, which is all you need to know. They mention that the snow piles up and shifts as you move through it like you'd expect. The snow sparkles like the light is reflecting off of each individual snowflake. Nathan will even hobble around when he gets hurt to add more to the visual side of taking damage.
- A demo was shown to GI with Drake going through a city (I believe in Nepal), and he's stealthily taking out guards and escaping the city.
Click to expand...
Don't take this as being like MGS or Splinter Cell now, as it's purely optional. If you want to barge through areas with enemies like Rambo, you can stick with that plan. Otherwise, you have the option of taking out unsuspecting enemies with choke holds/snaps of the neck, swinging them into walls to knock them out, pulling guys over ledges onto the ground below, and probably more moves to let you take down a few guys first to make the rest of the enemies nearby a bit easier to handle.
- Nolan North returns to be Drake and Chloe Frazer is played by Claudia Black (Stargate SG-1, Fargate).
Click to expand...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0085227/

She's got experience with game voice acting (God of War, Conan, Crysis, Project Sylpheed), but the lone picture isn't so great, so here's what google found: http://www.imagecows.com/uploads/8ef7-Claudia_Black.jpg
- The Sixaxis mechanics were ditched for such things as throwing grenades.
Click to expand...
True, but the way they handle grenades now is that you aim the reticule where you want him to throw the grenade, and I mean where you want it to land, and press the grenade chucking button to make him throw it. The example has Nate throwing the grenade into a car, so you should be able to get very specific with where you want the grenade to go.

I'd imagine that enough bitching could get the option back in there, but it seems like they've designed these two mechanics around not using Sixaxis, so it may not fit the new gameplay changes as well as it did in the first game.
- One of the weapons revealed is a rocket launcher that Chloe uses (might only be for the cinematic).
Click to expand...
Not really much to say as it's just how that scene ends.
- There are no load screens.
Click to expand...
A bit of a false interpretation since there were no lead screens in the original, so this makes no sense. What they do say is that there's no visible loading, probably no texture pop-ins, and the second or two between cutscene and gameplay, which now features a seamless transition, whatever that specifically means. Basically, there won't be any hitches in the game at all that give you the hint that the game is loading assets into the game.
- The score is being composed by Greg Edmonson (same guy from the first one).
Click to expand...
Pretty much all that needs to be said.
- Weapons can be used in any stance (running, behind cover, hanging, climbing a wall, etc.).
Click to expand...
To add, you can get into cover aim for blind fire and back away from cover while still aiming the gun at the same spot, so there's not really much of anything that'll make you lose your shot. They even mention being able to fool the AI, which is supposed to be even better this time, by shooting some blind fire from behind cover and quickly getting away while still being hidden so that they head fo where they thought you still were. They also mention that the cover mechanic's been improved so that you should only stick to walls or cover you want to stick to without any mess-ups.
- You can now move while aiming behind cover.
Click to expand...
He already said that in the point right above this one. :lol:
"In Uncharted 2, every character fully interacts with the dynamic geometry moving around them, and environments in the background are real parts of the game world"
Click to expand...
They seem to suggest that they will be able to do more than just move around for cover, but climb walls or do whatever to get to you if they know you're up there. They're not just props in this world to fill seats, but can move around if they need to in most any situation.
"If Drake's on top of a train, he's going to be shaking with the train as it moves around"

"As he gets inside, his moveset is going to change, and he's going to be a lot more secure because the wind's not blowing."
Click to expand...
They give this the catchy PR name of contextual movesets, but the description just sounded like Nathan's animations and overall demeanor will change depending on the situation he's in.
- The graphics look better than Uncharted 1.
Click to expand...
Already mentioned earlier.
- Button sequence cinematics such as the final boss have changed so now Drake is now fully controllable in these parts...I think (This one's also hard to describe).
Click to expand...
They never mention the final boss when describing this, so I'm not sure where he pulled this one from. I mentioned it earlier about situations/areas that seems simple and stable can change without any hesitation so that it looks like a situation you'd expect to see buttons appear on screen, but you're in full control to fail or suceed and move on. It doesn't seem like you could fail these and have to retry since it mentions failing and that path being blocked, but you'd have to find another route to the goal as a result.
- Climbing seems improved upon. You can climb lamp posts now among other new things.
Click to expand...
This is the free-climbing thing, though it sounds more like free-running/parkour as they describe traversing rooftops and such. Think a bit more Tomb Raider-style platforming (swinging from poles and monkey bars) included with what you could do in the first game and some parkour-style stuff in there, as well.
- If there is an enemy patrolling a rooftop you're climbing a wall to, you can pull him off the roof while hanging on the wall.
Click to expand...
Mentioned this earlier, as well.[/QUOTE][/quote]
That's mostly it for the cover story. They hit on how everything was done to add to the cinematic feel of the game a lot, so expect that to be one of the key buzzwords for this game up to its launch. Captions for pics mention things like the environments matching the original concept art very well, they hit the "flawed and fallible hero" bit some more, that enemies that can take more damaged will be visibly wearing body armor or donning shields so you know that your aim isn't the issue if they're not going down as quickly as their friends (also seems to tackle the lack of visual enemy variety issue, too), more player choices in many aspects of the game, that there will definitely be big set pieces and cinematic moments like the trailers suggest, and that the lack of the word "Honor" to make the subtitle the cliched "Honor Among Thieves" suggests that this hints at themes of betrayal and greed.

I'd definitely recommend getting a hold of the issue, from a friend or from GS, to read it yourself and check out the great art and screenshots, too. If you have any questions or want more explanations of whatever is in the article, I can do my best to answer them.
 
Maybe Barnes and Noble since they're related to GS, but the mag's published by GameStop, so I don't think you'll find it elsewhere all that easily.
 
I think I seen the magazine at Barnes and Nobles, and sometimes at Carrs/Safeway. Oh. I like Claudia Black, she was great in Farscape and Stargate, two of my favorite shows. Uncharted is looking to be great so far, I think I might have to play the original again, just because it was so great.
 
[quote name='FriskyTanuki']Maybe Barnes and Noble since they're related to GS, but the mag's published by GameStop, so I don't think you'll find it elsewhere all that easily.[/quote]

Thanks...I hate giving my money to GS but it looks like they're going to get it one way or another!

Definitely need to pick this up.
 
Yeah, a couple of those still shots with Chloe Frasier do remind me of RE5. I'm pretty sure this is still solidly single player (and I would be totally fine with that), but I couldn't help but think multiplayer as well.

Edit: it is funny to read the speculation people have based on the director's reaction to that question, though. I don't think his slight stammer and smile really means that there's a guaranteed co-op mode, at least not in this game.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The screens with Chloe scream co-op, not that that's a bad thing, just looks obvious. However this still looks incredible!
 
*crosses fingers* No supernatural enemies, no supernatural enemies to force run-and-gun.

[quote name='Inf^Shini']good stuff, I hope they include co-op play! That would be pretty spiffy, and I'll just hope for multiplayer as well.[/quote]
A cooperative and/or multiplayer that aren't tacked on would sway me into a full price purchase; I waited 11 months for Uncharted:DF to drop to $30 and I'll be doing that again if they're just doing singleplayer again.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
There is a pretty nice interview with Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells on Joystiq Playstation (formerly PS3 Fanboy).

Here's the link: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/02/04/joystiq-interview-talking-uncharted-2-with-naughty-dogs-evan-w/

Here's a little snippet about any co-op rumors:

You guys have gone to great lengths, it seems like more so than the original, to provide this second character Chloe with Claudia Black. Is she ever playable in the game or are you only Nathan Drake throughout the game?

You are only Nathan Drake. There are potential moments where... like on the Jet Ski in the first game where Elena helped you shoot and all that. It is a game about Nathan Drake and we are trying to make this the richest single-player experience that is out there. So, right now, the only person you control is Nathan Drake.
 
I'm super stoked about "Among Thieves." A part of me inside regrets selling "Uncharted" after only two play-throughs. Naughty Dog is really raising the bar on the Action/Adventure genre!
 
I'm pretty certain they're experimenting, or at least thinking about having co-op in the game. They would be fools not to since they already said Uncharted is a great game for couples or adult family to enjoy.

The way he words his answer to that question hints at this.

That said, it's unlikely it'll be in for Uncharted 2 unless they manage to pull of something amazing, or have it separate from the main story. One reason why it most likely won't be in is story constraints. There will likely be plenty of times where Nate is alone and him being alone fits best in the story (for example, in the teaser trailer where he retrieves the dagger). On the other hand, Half-Life 2 Episode 1 and 2 showed how to have a great story based game with a companion beside you all the time.
 
I wouldn't mind if level sections designed only for online coop while playing as Chloe were added. Although, this would leave out people who don't play online. But they're smelly anyway so to hell with them.
 
Looks awesome. I like how so much detail is put into the objects and environment you interact with. For example, those birds that fly off the sign during the platforming just add that extra touch.
 
[quote name='Hiei69']Looks awesome. I like how so much detail is put into the objects and environment you interact with. For example, those birds that fly off the sign during the platforming just add that extra touch.[/QUOTE]

Wow -- that looked amazing. I particularly liked how Drake crossed his hands as he traversed the side of a building laterally. WoW! Attention to detail!
 
[quote name='Hiei69']Looks awesome. I like how so much detail is put into the objects and environment you interact with. For example, those birds that fly off the sign during the platforming just add that extra touch.[/QUOTE]They just reused those birds from U:DF.

This'll be a rental or if I can find this for $20 a year later if they're sticking to the "solo" line till launch.
 
I just finished the first game a few nights ago and I really enjoyed it. However, did anyone else feel like the "tone" of this game was all over the place?

Essentially it is a 3rd person shooter in which you shoot and kill indigenous pirates, mercs, and other goons. So while I love violence, you really are murdering LOTS of people here. My problem with the "tone" is that the characters all act like they're in one of those shit-tastic Nick Cage Treasure flicks. Totally PG-13 character sensibilities, except that Drake feels it is obligatory for him to curse and say "shit". I guess I feel you should either play it totally PG-13 or just go all out rated R. It's just silly bouncing back and forth.

I must commend them for their rendering of the sidekick, Elena. She has the best "small" breasts I've ever seen in a video game. You don't get those too often around these parts.
 
[quote name='Shrapnellistic']They just reused those birds from U:DF.

This'll be a rental or if I can find this for $20 a year later if they're sticking to the "solo" line till launch.[/QUOTE]

You looking for co-op or Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Domination, King of the Hill, Reverse Capture the Flag, Last Man Standing, etc...?
 
I still vastly perfer solo to co-op, but that was when I was a 360 gamer and couldn't pay the ludicrous price of Live, now that i'm a PS3 player i'm more open to co-op games, although i'd perfer single.
 
Shit I tried really hard not to peek at any spoilers (even just for sample purposes), but I just had to watch a tiny smidge of that GDC video.

I quickly stopped not too far in, but I'm already hype. It looks totally badass and yeah, I'm getting really excited for the game again.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='BostonCollegeFan']I still vastly perfer solo to co-op, but that was when I was a 360 gamer and couldn't pay the ludicrous price of Live, now that i'm a PS3 player i'm more open to co-op games, although i'd perfer single.[/quote]


You're the only person in the world that pays for live on a month by month basis. It's $38.99 or less for normal people.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top