Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

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UNCHARTED 2 Officially Goes Gold, Plus Sneak-Peek Cinema Events!

Posted by Asad Qizilbash // Marketing Manager, SCEA

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves has officially gone gold in North America! That means only 32 days until it hits store shelves. I couldn’t be more proud of the teams at Naughty Dog and Sony who have put their lives on hold to make a truly exceptional game.

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Uncharted 2: Multiplayer Demo Details

September 11, 2009 - Back in June, a handful of PlayStation 3 owners got tapped to participate in the multiplayer beta for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Players could take on a co-op mission, blast each other in deathmatch, and go after some golden idols whenever they felt like it. People seemed to be having fun and enjoying the taste of what was to come.

Now, Naughty Dog's going to blow that "taste" out of the water with a massive Uncharted 2 multiplayer demo that is open to anyone with a PS3 and the Internet.

There's so much going on in this demo that's it's really hard to pick where to begin describing it. I talked to the developers the other day, and they said the purpose of this freebie is to give you as much of the multiplayer game as they can in a reasonably sized file. So, you give Naughty Dog 1.5 GB, and they're giving you four maps, four competitive modes, two co-op modes, the much-hyped cinema mode, the ability to create custom games, access to new skins, about 80 percent of the boosters you'll find in the final game, and so much more.

If they weren't planning on shutting the demo down around the time the game ships on October 13th, there's a good chance people would play this forever.

In terms of maps, you're getting the same Plaza and Village settings you played on or at least saw during the beta along with the Ice Cave and Temple. Both of these locales are described as smaller venues that are going to be a blast for close-quarters combat. The Ice Cave, of course, is going to feature that snow you're always seeing in the Uncharted trailers while the Temple will pack water sections and plenty of opportunities to flank opponents.

Similarly, Deathmatch and Plunder are back this time around -- both packing variations such as different difficulties for Plunder and weapon sets such as shotguns/snipers and pistols/grenades for DM -- but joined with Elimination and Chain Reaction. A round-based game, Elimination has two teams squaring off with the objective of killing everyone on the other team. Wipe out the other guys three out of five times, and you're the big winner. Chain Reaction has you capturing flags, but you have to 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.

If you don't like any of the default settings, this demo's going to allow you to mess around with the options for sore limits, friendly fire and so on as well as letting you set up matches for just your friends. If you play with strangers, the new skill ranking system will pair you with similarly experienced players.

Of course, all of this multiplayer mayhem plays into the game's cinema mode where you can save matches, replay them, move the camera around, and do nifty green screen stuff. All of the tools that will be in the final cinema portion of the game are going to be here for you to play around with.

A final feather in the demo's cap is that it's going to have the fully fleshed-out money/store system so that you can take the cash you're earning in multiplayer and buy new skins, boosters, co-op weapon upgrades and taunts.

Sadly, none of the stuff you unlock and none of the cinemas you create will carry over to the retail release of Uncharted 2. Similarly, your multiplayer rank will be wiped when the final game hits stores. However, Uncharted 2 packs a built in Twitter link and it's going to be active in this demo. If you enter in your Twitter username and password, the game will automatically Tweet your special accomplishments.

So, when is all of this greatness coming to a PS3 near you? Well, if you preorder the game from GameStop, you can get into the demo exclusively from Sept. 15 to Sept. 28, 2009. On Sept. 29, 2009, the demo will open to everyone and stay that way until Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is out on the streets.

Happy hunting.

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"Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. It looks amazing, plays like a dream and the voice-acting/story-telling will hook you in right from the off."

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You'll love
Voice acting and scripting are of an award winning standard
The action just keeps on coming
Attention to detail

You'll hate
Some jump and grab sections can be a bit tricky
There are enemy types that are a pain in the ass
It has to end

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If you're reading this, it was unlikely that you weren't already going to buy Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on day one. Really, you just wanted to know how good it is, and fortunately I can say that it's very, very good. It's easily one of the best games on the system, blending fantastic presentation and visuals with gameplay that is practically second to none. And then there's the stellar multiplayer which you'll probably be playing until Uncharted 3 ships. No, Uncharted 2 is not perfect, but it's closer than pretty much any other game out there these days.

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Another Take

Roper's right; Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is fantastic. I'm probably one of biggest fans of the franchise in the office, but even I had trouble believing that Naughty Dog could surpass its original gem. I mean, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune had one of the best stories the PS3 has ever seen, it packed some of the best graphics I had ever seen, and it was some of the most fun I have ever had in a videogame.

Uncharted 2 keeps all of that and builds on it.

There came a point when I was early in the game, and I couldn't wipe the smile off of my face as I took cover, shot bad guys, and did all the stuff I remember making the first game great. This was like putting on an old pair of jeans or picking up one of your favorite books again -- it just felt right. Toss in the fact that the new stealth kills are awesome and reward you for being sneaky, the game's prettier than ever, and that this game gives us an ending cinematic that's the perfect nightcap to this chapter of Drake's story, and you've got something amazing.

Admittedly, I think I set my expectations a little too high. The reappearance of rooms filling with waves and wave of baddies was annoying, the story felt a bit too familiar at times, and the fact that I would've liked to have seen some new Trophies dampened my spirits a bit, but there's no denying this is one of the best games on the PlayStation 3.

Oh, and the multiplayer is awesome enough to get a loner like myself out of the single-player campaign and chasing the next rank online.

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9.5 Presentation
Fantastic cutscenes tell a very good if not perfect story.

10 Graphics
Absolutely the best of the best these days. Your jaw will drop.

9.5 Sound
Great weapon effects, fantastic voice acting and a mostly brilliant (though sometimes overdone) soundtrack.

9.5 Gameplay
Great gunplay, stealth works very well (mostly), the puzzles are rewarding and, maybe even best of all, a killer online component.

9.5 Lasting Appeal
The game is give or take about 10 hours in length, which feels right, but then there's the multiplayer. Yes, you will be hooked.

9.5
Incredible OVERALL
(out of 10 / not an average)

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Uncharted 2 dated for Europe

Today 13:15

Sony has told Eurogamer that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will be released here earlier than expected on 16th October.

The PS3 exclusive had originally been poised for a 23rd October launch, although that date was retracted quickly by developer Naughty Dog on Twitter.