Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

[patrickula]

Uncharted was good.  Hopefully this game will be better and NOT ruined by stealth or any other BS.

Of the PS3 exclusives coming up I've got the most hope for Infamous, though it seems to be getting the least hype.

PS3 fans 

[fistfulofmetal]

Of the PS3 exclusives coming up I've got the most hope for Infamous, though it seems to be getting the least hype.

PS3 fans 

Well we haven't seen that much from it. As apposed to Uncharted 2, which is a sequel. We at least have something to base excitement off of. Infamous isn't a sequel, and Sly Cooper wasn't that popular. You see the excitement when we hear new stuff.

Kinda like Alan Wake.

[patrickula]

We've already seen some real gameplay.  And that looked hot, I thought.

[cool breeze]

actually a lot of gameplay back at e3 despite the release being more than a year away.  Everything looks incredibly outside of the barrel pants running animation.

[drohne]

infamous, like all sandbox games, is guilty until proven otherwise

[duckman2000]

They need to draw some attention away from the lead character, and onto bosses and minions. Generally, villains seem to be more interesting to people, and since they are so bloody good at developing charming bad guys, that's what they should push.

[MrAngryFace]

Crysis still makes my jaw drop. Nothing looks as good.

[Don Flamenco]

Still looks worse than Crysis. Will we see a better looking game than Crysis this gen? I hope so but I do not think so.

considering console games that are pushing DX9 features are generally stuck at 25-30 fps, low AA + AF, and no vsync, I highly doubt it.

[duckman2000]

Developers who know how to design games to look great in spite of hardware limitations 

[Tieno]

-Scrap the platforming or make it not-automated
-Improve the sound design on the weapons
-More creativity in enemy encounters and enemy variety
-No ice skating
-Stop the enemy dancing to your bullet rain
-Etc


How is this an adventure game btw? I thought it was a 3rd person shooter.

[cool breeze]

Crysis still makes my jaw drop. Nothing looks as good.

KZ2 does look really good, but I don't think it will top Crysis in the end.  I think the only thing capable is RAGE or the next Crytek game.

[WrikaWrek]

Sterile, i don't even get it. It's such an image perception dependent point of view, which will never change for the Sfags.

How is GT and Motorstorm not sterile in comparison? And can you believe that despite being 10x the game, Halo has not yet had a spin off released, while Killzone has? And God of War? And Jak And Daxter had multiple spin offs already.

And ratchet and clank, along side with 4/5 main games released, who's counting anymore they are shit. And let's not talk about shitty games, Too Human was offensive, but then we have Lair, and we have Heavenly sword...

And it doesn't get any more insipid than Resistance 1 and 2, which look and play like games straight out of the FPS random generator, average and uninspired as shit.

It's funny, with Uncharted being the only game besides LBP that is worth its salt on Sony's 1st party catalog, you would think sfags would keep their mouth shut.

09 looks like a great year, i can count 4 games that could be awesome, but it's 09 suckas, the system was released in 2006. That doesn't give you the right to act like an elitist pig, that just gives you the right to act insane, which sfags clearly are acting like.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Oh yeah, Halo, some sterile dull as shit "racing" game, and of course some Rare shit. That is what will round out the experience.

That sterile shit that Rare produces like Banjo Kazooie Nuts N' Bolts is a hell of a lot more fun than PS3's latest savior, LBP or even Ratchet and Clank.

[cool breeze]

Nuts and Bolts is great, but I wouldn't say it's better than LBP. And maybe the PSN Ratchet, not the one that came out last year.  Probably will be better than the one coming out next year since I can no longer give Insomniac the benefit of the doubt when they rush games out as fast and they do.

[tiesto]

I tried the demo for the first game and just got sick of shooting darkies for like 20 minutes. And now that this game has stealth, I'll pass on this one too. Bring on Mirror's Edge 2 or something. (but with my luck, they'll remove 90% of the platforming out of it and turn it into a strictly combat/stealth game to appease the fratboy crowd)

[cool breeze]

Depending on the direction they go with Mirror's Edge 2, it could either be made up of purely the great parts of the first game or the poor parts of the first game, or maybe just the same mix of the two.  The ending had

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Faith as the #1 target and she no longer has something that she needs to do, so it would only make sense for her to constantly get chased instead of trying to find ways into buildings by doing boring sub-tomb raider shit.

[close]

[Tieno]

Depending on the direction they go with Mirror's Edge 2, it could either be made up of purely the great parts of the first game or the poor parts of the first game, or maybe just the same mix of the two.  The ending had

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Faith as the #1 target and she no longer has something that she needs to do, so it would only make sense for her to constantly get chased instead of trying to find ways into buildings by doing boring sub-tomb raider shit.

[close]

It'd be cool if in the first part you're some project Icarus cop chasing Faith.

[Hitler Stole My Potato]

Nuts and Bolts is great, but I wouldn't say it's better than LBP. And maybe the PSN Ratchet, not the one that came out last year.  Probably will be better than the one coming out next year since I can no longer give Insomniac the benefit of the doubt when they rush games out as fast and they do.

I'd say it's better than both LBP and Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and it's not even close imo.  LBP suffers because the platforming mechanics feel like they've been ripped out of a game from 20 years ago, if it wasn't for the editor (which I've yet to see anyone make anything beyond the "how did they do that?" curiosity) and the visual novelty of it all, the game wouldn't even register a blip on the radar of anyone.  I will say though that it probably has the most infectious soundtrack I've heard since Katamari Damacy...pretty cool stuff.  

Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction was just straight up boring which sucks because this was one of the main reasons I bought the PS3 when I did.  I've already played this game like 3 times before.  I've made several attempts to actually finish the thing but I just can't stay interested enough to give a damn.  I guess I just don't give a shit about R&C anymore.

The only reason I pre-ordered Banjo was because a) it was cheap and b) you could get the XBLA game for free if you did.  After the incredibly shitty demo I was ready to cancel the whole damn thing but never did in the end, and I'm glad that I didn't.  Nuts N' Bolts turned out to be a hell of a lot of fun, surprisingly...especially for someone like myself that grew up playing with legos.  I have much more fun building crazy car/plane hybrids in B&K's garage than I have in LBP's much more feature rich level editor and I suppose that's mainly due to how quick I can get immediate results in BK.  I don't have the time to make much of anything of consequence in LBP.  

[cool breeze]

I can't say I feel the same way then.

I do agree that the Banjo demo was off putting while the full game is fantastic.  It actually annoys to read someone saying they wouldn't pick up the game because of the demo since it's not indicative of the final product.  I hated the demo but liked the full game so much that it was the first game this gen that I got 1000/1000 in.

It'd be cool if in the first part you're some project Icarus cop chasing Faith.

That would be cool, but the combat would need a huge overhaul.

[patrickula]

It's interesting to hear that Nuts and Bolts is better than the lackluster demo...  I'll have to pick it up when it hits the inevitable bomba pricing
(I don't have time to play it now anyway)

[WrikaWrek]

?

Story isn't any better than GOW2. And i don't see how it is gears, besides having a cover system.

Gears has a squad, it's more frenetic, enemy variety, whatever. That's like saying, Call of Duty is Halo but non sci fi.

[Purple Filth]

Excellent.

Another game to check out.

[ManaByte]

Uncharted 2 = FUCK YES!

Stealth gameplay = OH FUCK NO!

Thanks for ruining yet another great franchise SCEA. Fuck you.

[y2kev]

lol

[hyp]

good jon sony.  uncha1 has gone from snorefest to comatose.  even kojima was smart enough to make MGS4 a little more "actiony" than previous iterations.  

smh

[duckman2000]

ND did a pretty damned good job making a shooter with their last game, I don't really see why it should be automatically assumed that their implementation of stealth will suck.

[WrikaWrek]

?

Story isn't any better than GOW2. And i don't see how it is gears, besides having a cover system.

Gears has a squad, it's more frenetic, enemy variety, whatever. That's like saying, Call of Duty is Halo but non sci fi.

Uhm it's more like GOW then let's say Tomb Raider, which most assholes compare it to just because of the setting. It's core mechanic is the cover based shooting, just like in Gears. In Gears (and I'm talking 1 cause I haven't played 2) your squad is totally irrelevant btw.

Thematically it is more Tomb Raider than Gears. Mechanically it's more Gears than Tomb Raider. But just because basic mechanics are X or Y, it doesn't mean it's just like game X or Y. Or every FPS in the planet would be the same.

And the squad isn't irrelevant, in GOw2 they actually revive you for example, and let's not discount how much it matters for the Co Op. Gears and Uncharted are different games, and liking one doesn't = liking the other.

And comparing to GOw1 sucks dick, because Gow 2 is out, so who gives a shit about Gow 1.

And regarding Uncharted 2, i hope they mix in a bit more of that Indiana Jones dust, and take away a bit of that Die Hard in the jungle dust.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Even Zelda 64 and FF7 had stealth bits, eat it haters!

two of the most overrated games of the gen, big surprise

[y2kev]

ff7

[duckman2000]

Wasn't the second Sly game subtitled Honor Among Thieves?

edit: I guess it was Sly 3

[WrikaWrek]

FF7 sucks dick.

[dammitmattt]

I really enjoyed Uncharted but ultimately it still left me feeling a bit hollow for a number of reasons (especially in comparison to Ratchet & Clank: Future).  Here are some improvements that I hope they implement into Uncharted 2:

• More interesting and challenging platforming sections
• At least one actual puzzle
• Improve the mixture between platforming and combat so it's more organic (no more enemy waves, please)
• For the love of God, do something to improve the vehicle sequences if you must have them
• Make the hidden treasures actually mean something (and make them easier to spot while you're at it)
• Have some kind of progression/reward for the combat system (whether it's exp to improve abilities or an in-game store)
• Give the (generally interesting) characters from the first game a more interesting narrative
• Get rid of the motion controls for any action

[duckman2000]

3 posts, 2 bullet lists. I take it you will be the new resident list dude?

[dammitmattt]

3 posts, 2 bullet lists. I take it you will be the new resident list dude?

I like nice, neat things.  Lists are nice and neat. 

OCD does weird things, even to people like me who only have a mild touch of it.

[Draft]

Stealth is the worst concept in games.

If your game at any time even begins to resemble an action game, you are morally obligated to not include stealth, because it's going to be atrocious.

[dammitmattt]

Stealth is the worst concept in games.

If your game at any time even begins to resemble an action game, you are morally obligated to not include stealth, because it's going to be atrocious.

Unless we're in an alternative universe where stealth is a perfectly viable alternative to a guns-blazing approach for a particular scenario, I am inclined to agree with you.

At the very least, the player should never have to completely restart a section solely because they were nicked by a searchlight.  That's just lazy as fuck game design.

[duckman2000]

Yeah, the penalties tend to be what makes stealth such shit. Still, I don't think it's been all that far developed; most of it still revolves around keeping a certain distance, so maybe they could make it more a matter of finding alternate paths (less noise and visibility). Simply sneaking at a certain pace while keeping a specific distance feels a bit like driving in tight, slow traffic. Not very exciting.

[Draft]

You can merge stealth and action. It's been done.

But it's master level game design. It's Spector level, or God forgive me, Kojima level.

It is far beyond whoever makes Uncharted.

[duckman2000]

Eh, everyone bitched when it became obvious that Uncharted was going to be a shooter of sorts, and they pulled that off pretty well, at least for a company that everyone then said should stick to platforming. Maybe they will fuck it up, but ND is hardly a newbie studio.

[fistfulofmetal]

The idea of stealth makes a ton of more sense in Uncharted then full guns-a-blazing. The fact that this everyday dude is a killing machine annoyed me in the first. He kills so many people.
It makes more sense in my mind that he would rather sneak his way through a setting than just kill everyone.

But like I said earlier. As long as the stealth turns into perfectly normal action if you're caught, I'm fine with it.

[dammitmattt]

You can merge stealth and action. It's been done.

But it's master level game design. It's Spector level, or God forgive me, Kojima level.

It is far beyond whoever makes Uncharted.

There are a lot of game design elements that are beyond the capabilities of Naughty Dog, and this is coming from a guy who was a huge Crash/Jak fan.  They're much better at "lifting and improving" than doing anything terribly imaginative or unique.

[WrikaWrek]

Riddick does Stealth + Action.

Stealth is the worst concept in games.

If your game at any time even begins to resemble an action game, you are morally obligated to not include stealth, because it's going to be atrocious.

Not true. Mgs4 also does action + stealth well.

It's all about how you balance it. If you design a segment just to be played in stealth mode, then yeah, it will probably will suck, but if you freeform it, like MGs4 and Hitman and Crysis, you can do good things.

[Oblivion]

Even Zelda 64 and FF7 had stealth bits, eat it haters!

two of the most overrated games of the gen, big surprise

Speaking of which, nice to see a smiley that can go in conjunction with .

p.s. and people really need to quit the whole overrated = game i don't like thing

p.p.s.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[dammitmattt]

Riddick does Stealth + Action.

Not true. Mgs4 also does action + stealth well.

It's all about how you balance it. If you design a segment just to be played in stealth mode, then yeah, it will probably will suck, but if you freeform it, like MGs4 and Hitman and Crysis, you can do good things.

I would argue that MGS4 does not actually do action very well (this is most apparent when fighting the bosses) and it's stealth implementation only works well when the level is moderately well-designed (Act 2, NOT Act 3).

[Don Flamenco]

action in MGS4 is awful.  one of the reasons why MGO feels like shit. 
 

[demi]

Even Zelda 64 and FF7 had stealth bits, eat it haters!

two of the most overrated games of the gen, big surprise

Speaking of which, nice to see a smiley that can go in conjunction with .

p.s. and people really need to quit the whole overrated = game i don't like thing

p.p.s.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

maybe you should stop playing overrated games

[drohne]

naughty dog has got a weird capacity to turn bad ideas into good games. jak 2 was an unparalleled clusterfuck of bad ideas -- open world, carjacking, factitious 'grittiness' in a platformer, hoverboarding, wisecracking animal sidekicks, questionable facial hair, etc, etc, ETC -- and it was nonetheless better than the overrated ratchet games or whatever passed for mario last gen

[Oblivion]

maybe you should stop playing overrated games

demi hatin on a good game. shokku

like smash brothers

spoiler (click to show/hide)

i didn't like brawl, tho

[close]

[duckman2000]

the overrated ratchet games

 

[demi]

maybe you should stop playing overrated games

demi hatin on a good game. shokku

i like uncharted. maybe you should get your eyes checked. oh wait you cant. banned.

[CurseoftheGods]

Even Zelda 64 and FF7 had stealth bits, eat it haters!

two of the most overrated games of the gen, big surprise

http://www.rpgamer.com/editor/1997/q3/082097av.html

[Kestastrophe]

it was nonetheless better than the overrated ratchet games or whatever passed for mario last gen

I don't ever remember that series being marketed as a mario-killer or anything like that. Since the second game, the series has played much more like a shooter (I haven't played the PS3 one)

[dammitmattt]

ironically,  act 3 supposed to be the level where you are all stealthy following the whistling mang.

And that was the absolute worst part of the game.  Then it's followed up by an endless cutscene, a mediocre boss fight, then a terrible on-rails section that was divided into 45-second chunks due to the game's weird engine.  What a terrible, terrible act.  I wish it would've just stopped at Act 2 because it only went downhill from there.

[Van Cruncheon]

i gave oot a 96 or something back when i came out and didn't know any better. i wouldn't give it anything approximating that now

[Oblivion]

i gave oot a 96 or something back when i came out and didn't know any better. i wouldn't give it anything approximating that now

succumbing to peer pressure nowadays tsk tsk

[Oblivion]

I bet we could get prole to shoot up pretty easily if we told him the cool kids are doing it

indeed. kids today with their backwards caps and jaded misconceptions

[CurseoftheGods]

I bet we could get prole to shoot up pretty easily if we told him the cool kids are doing it

[cool breeze]

new stuff from gaf

- 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.
- The story is about looking for the ships that Marco Polo "lost" while returning home to Italy.
- Melee combat is more dynamic now.
- 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.
- 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.
- Nolan North returns to be Drake and Chloe Frazer is played by Claudia Black (Stargate SG-1, Fargate).
- The Sixaxis mechanics were ditched for such things as throwing grenades.
- One of the weapons revealed is a rocket launcher that Chloe uses (might only be for the cinematic).
- There are no load screens.
- The score is being composed by Greg Edmonson (same guy from the first one).
- Weapons can be used in any stance (running, behind cover, hanging, climbing a wall, etc.).
- You can now move while aiming behind cover.
- I'm not sure how to explain this one so this is what it says:
"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"
"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."

- The graphics look better than Uncharted 1.
- 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).
- Climbing seems improved upon. You can climb lamp posts now among other new things.
- 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.

can't tell shit from the picture

[Junpei the Tracer!]

Hot hot stuff. PS3 

[WrikaWrek]

From 30 to 100%, that gap is so big you don't even notice it.

Anywaaaayy.

I like the blood in the hands and shirt thing. Getting more like Die Hard, good, embrace it.