Still true.
Good friend and local crazy person, Andogo was super-kind enough to lend me his copy of Uncharted 2 yesterday, so of course I stayed up until 6am playing through 16 straight chapters. It is definitely everything I expected and so Uncharted remains one of my most beloved franchises of this generation. So far, however, I don’t think my opinion is of the exact same superlative nature as Riddles, but that’s not to say that I don’t adore the game.
The thing is that Uncharted can only be as good as Uncharted.
Granted, the whole experience is mind-blowing. Riddles already summed up my general feelings in his 4 billion word review, but the characters, pacing, and overall cinematic experience simply cannot be found in any other series. I love it for that, and I hope it never changes. But when it comes down to it, no matter how good Uncharted gets, I don’t think any entry in the series could become my favourite game. They suck me in for a day or two and spit me back out shaking in exhausted ecstasy, but the experience doesn’t stay with me. It’s a fantastic and almost perfectly crafted adventure that doesn’t resonate with me beyond the story itself.
Still, all that being said, I am otherwise in the same boat as everyboat else when they heap praise on the title. Non-interactive cutscenes are worth it when they attach you to the characters and intensify the mood to prep you for your next mission. There are definitely really glitchy cover mechanics that have been responsible of a few of my deaths, but that hardly detracts from the overall experience.
Speaking of dying, I’m playing on Hard mode (probably the first time that I’ve started my first playthrough on Hard, much less any playthrough), and I’m actually enjoying it. It’s a pleasant challenge, but my experience with the first game has allowed me to still progress at a steady clip. Except for at the train. I died a lot on the train. I mean a lot.
Anyhoo, I fully expect to beat the title tonight and love every second of it. As a final note, I love all the plot twists especially because they don’t overuse the “double cross” device. That gets boring and predictable fast.
Alright, those are my thoughts.
Notice the TIMELINESS?!
Although I suppose it’s easier for me to write from work than it is for Riddles. Still, I’d rather give him a hard time. FUCK YOU, RIDDLES!
You mean you didn’t take several days to put this up? Wow, that’s timeliness man!
I know, right?
Man, the end boss was a bitch on Hard. Also, it was 7:30am so I was more inclined to be frustrated.
Wait so you didn’t even have to defer a HLL to put this up?
-The more frustrated I get, the worse I get at playing.
Bah-ha, I would feel bad about giving Riddles such a hard time if he didn’t deserve it!
-Generally that’s true for me too, but I NEEDED to beat the game, so I put my head down and beat him on under my 5th try.
That’s a lot better than I can say for some of the other sections…
Hard can be hard…
I’m only playing on normal, I’ve died a few times (esp. the train level) but it’s been reletively smooth sailing.
I can totally relate to the frustration issue. Especially in action games, I get horrible at them when I’m frustrated. Most recent example I can think of is the second to last segment of Red Faction. I must’ve tried 20 times to finish it up and never got more than 1/2 way through. I put the game down and tried again the next day and sailed through on my first try without any major change in strategy.
With me when I’m playing normally, I’ll go through at a cautious but steady pace, but if I keep dying I’ll try to force my way through at a reckless breakneck speed. I know that it’s counter productive, but I can’t help it.
Halfway through on Crushing… It feels like it’s easier than it it was in DF, or rather, it’s less frustrating. There’s only one part that really annoyed me, where someone’s firing an RPG at you from across the bridge, and the distance is such that you need the sniper rifle to have a good chance of taking him out. Won’t bore you with details, but I resorted to hanging off the ledge in the area because there wasn’t any good cover in the room.