Since I was unable to join Joe, Jeff and Xan on last week’s fine episode of Big Red Potion which was all about Uncharted 2, I thought I would share a few, can’t-sleep-and-it’s-now-early-morning-already thoughts. Hope you enjoy.
Is there such a thing as too much action in an action game? In Uncharted 2: Among Thieves there’s a lot of it going around. It seems like every other jump will likely feature footing being lost or a desperate ledge-haul. Nothing is stable, nothing is secure, everything can and will happen. But is it overkill? We know roguish protagonist Nathan Drake is going to be in Uncharted 3, so does that demean the endless tirade of miniature cut scenes of him clinging on for supposedly dear life?
Uncharted 2 just about keeps its action-heavy narrative from feeling like overkill. At times, the impact of a shaky ledge or a difficult jump gets lost amongst many other similar moments. But, at its best, these moments are engrossing and spectacular. Tellingly, the best moments feature in the larger set pieces, and it’s in these that the game shines brightest.
Uncharted 2’s opening sequence, in which Drake scales a train carriage dangling off a snowy cliff, is nothing short of brilliant. It plays into action movie staples by throwing the player straight into the shit with little to no explanation. Why? Who cares, we’ll get to that later - just get out of this disaster, you big hero you. And, like with the original, these action movie staples help to define Uncharted 2. It’s not incredibly intelligent, it is very predictable, but it is also expertly delivered.
Its excellent delivery is largely thanks to those mini cut scenes, because they suddenly remove player control without warning. I can understand why some feel, whether it’s Drake getting slammed across said cabin, or a railing coming off its hinges and threatening to release him to his doom, that these brief detached action sequences are cheap, on-rails fare (no pun intended). I think they serve to stress the importance of getting a move on when the player is in control. Of course, players don’t actually have to get a move on because the game generally accommodates for those who like to take things slower. But it makes me feel like that’s the case, which is key. In the larger set pieces, these mini cut scenes are paced nicely, generally feeling more appropriate than in more subdued platforming moments.
Clearly Naughty Dog wants the player to feel like something is going on at all times. Even a brief stroll in a quiet village is filled with things to see, people to interact with. Often Drake is joined by a companion, and there are few moments when banter isn’t being exchanged. Again, the quantity of said banter is toeing the line between brilliant and overkill. I would’ve preferred some of the exchanges to be deeper, as most are funny but definitely shallow. Criminally, most miss the potential for background exposition. But the delivery is strong, and convincing, particularly between Drake and lead female Chloe. While Chloe is actually a cliche character in many respects, her voice actress Claudia Black does a great job of making her feel grounded and endearing despite her flaws. The best example of this is in one of the most golden of moments: Drake jumps into a rooftop swimming pool, and then initiates a cheesy but amusing game of Marco Polo, playing on the pair’s main quest to delve into the famous explorer’s history. Her restrained amusement at Drake’s horsing around briefly and subtly breaks her facade as a gritty, dark sexpot, and hints much more effectively at the pair’s rapport than the wealth of innuendo they exchange.
It’s unfortunate that the script plays too much on her sex appeal, probably there because Naughty Dog want to emphasize Uncharted’s status as a mature video game. In reality, most of the maturity is merely foreplay, literally or otherwise. There’s more to explain than is explained in the game’s plot, more to delve into, and far more to not shy away from, and it’s obvious that Uncharted 2 wants to go a bit further down some of these avenues than it ends up going. I’m not quite sure that its steering clear of these avenues is regrettable. I think it could have gone deeper, without having to rise too far above its station as a lowbrow action game, but I’m not sure it needed to either.
What’s curious is that some people seem to have forgotten how cheesy, indeed how derivative of action movies the first game was, with particular reference to the Indiana Jones series. The second game is no different, except that maybe any facade of subtlety has been removed. Maybe Uncharted 2 is best thought of as the great Indy game that seemingly isn’t going to feature again under the Indy name. It’s far from perfect, and I certainly have niggling issues with particular moments that I chose not to go into in this post. But, it’s pretty damn good for what it is. Just don’t expect too much from it, it’s no Shakespeare after all.
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