Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

[wco81]

I thought the complaint was about the tone of the game, changing from very realistic and then having some freaky, mythical, supernatural element thrown in.

Lost would have worked well without throwing in all this time travel, alternate universe and good vs. evil mysticism.

But that show would have lasted only a couple of seasons in length so they padded it out with all this voodoo. You went from hyper-realism to this ahistoric vapors. It would have been more interesting if the monster in the forest was some prehistoric thing out of Jurassic Park, instead of turning out to be a "security system." Or that there was some time-space fissure which put polar bears on the tropical island (and somehow allowed them to survive).

Instead, we have mysticism, which feels tacked on, like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark with the spirits which punish the evil Nazis.

[LAking]

I thought the complaint was about the tone of the game, changing from very realistic and then having some freaky, mythical, supernatural element thrown in.

Lost would have worked well without throwing in all this time travel, alternate universe and good vs. evil mysticism.

But that show would have lasted only a couple of seasons in length so they padded it out with all this voodoo. You went from hyper-realism to this ahistoric vapors. It would have been more interesting if the monster in the forest was some prehistoric thing out of Jurassic Park, instead of turning out to be a "security system." Or that there was some time-space fissure which put polar bears on the tropical island (and somehow allowed them to survive).

Instead, we have mysticism, which feels tacked on, like the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark with the spirits which punish the evil Nazis.

That's the thing, Uncharted is obviously modeled after Indiana Jones, and all of those movies have some sort of supernatural element to them. I was never bothered by the ending to Raiders. It felt satisfying. Drake's Fortune's "twist" on the other hand felt completely out of place. It was just an excuse to make more difficult and frightening enemies. Plus, the use of cover that was so important for the rest of the game went completely out the window with the new enemies. They just ran toward you in hallways. It became survival horror and I hated that.

[TCrouch]

That would explain why I couldn't stand Lost after a few episodes as well. If the game is built around a supernatural setting, then awesome.

But to have it go 90% of the way with a realistic "action movie" setting, then completely switch up to supernatural is what doesn't do it for me. I realize other people have no issue with it, but for me, I'd rather have mercs I'm fighting the whole way.

Drake's Fortune's "twist" on the other hand felt completely out of place. It was just an excuse to make more difficult and frightening enemies. Plus, the use of cover that was so important for the rest of the game went completely out the window with the new enemies. They just ran toward you in hallways. It became survival horror and I hated that.

This is exactly the beef I had with it.

[dbdynsty25]

That would explain why I couldn't stand Lost after a few episodes as well. If the game is built around a supernatural setting, then awesome.

But to have it go 90% of the way with a realistic "action movie" setting, then completely switch up to supernatural is what doesn't do it for me. I realize other people have no issue with it, but for me, I'd rather have mercs I'm fighting the whole way.

The thing that bothered me the most was the complete change in tactics more than the actual style of the opposition. Highlight cuz it's a pretty big spoiler:

Having to shoot the stupid sap stuff to beat Lazeravich at the base of the tree was stupid. Why have an entire game of shooting and make ONE boss battle completely different? It really just didn't feel like it fit in with the rest of the game. Assuming you had to use a different tactic than just blowing up s*** at another point in the game would have been a good start, but just randomly, for the last boss, making him invincible to bullets & grenades seemed ridiculous to me.

That's the part that bothered me the most.

[sportdan30]

Couldn't agree more with the last few posts. The ending left me shaking my head on what otherwise is one of my favorite non-sports games of all time. The storyline just didn't make a whole lot of sense once the supernatural enemies were once again reintroduced. I really believe the devs could have made a jaw dropping, action packed, last sequence that would have left the gamer feeling exasperated with an overkill of gun fights, helicopters, and stealth. Instead, it left me questioning who the f**k came up with this ending?

[Feanor]

Lost would have worked well without throwing in all this time travel, alternate universe and good vs. evil mysticism.

But that show would have lasted only a couple of seasons in length so they padded it out with all this voodoo. You went from hyper-realism to this ahistoric vapors. It would have been more interesting if the monster in the forest was some prehistoric thing out of Jurassic Park, instead of turning out to be a "security system." Or that there was some time-space fissure which put polar bears on the tropical island (and somehow allowed them to survive).

I think your complaints about Lost belong in the Lost thread, but since you''ve put them in here too, the polar bears were just brought to the island by people (DHARMA) to be experimented on.

The smoke monster being some dinosaur does not sound more interesting to me, it sounds trite and boring as hell. Thank god you're not a TV producer for ABC.

[Brando70]

I didn't find the twist any more difficult to buy than one of the Raiders of the Lost Ark movies -- mostly realistic but with hints of a mystical build-up. In the first game there is no foreshadowing of that coming which is why it's so jarring (and reminded me of Far Cry). And in Uncharted 2, you could also pit your enemies against each other, which was kind of cool.

But it would be nice for the game to avoid the same approach next time. I definitely have enjoyed fighting human enemies the most in both games.

[Feanor]

The thing that bothered me the most was the complete change in tactics more than the actual style of the opposition. Highlight cuz it's a pretty big spoiler:

Having to shoot the stupid sap stuff to beat Lazeravich at the base of the tree was stupid. Why have an entire game of shooting and make ONE boss battle completely different? It really just didn't feel like it fit in with the rest of the game. Assuming you had to use a different tactic than just blowing up s*** at another point in the game would have been a good start, but just randomly, for the last boss, making him invincible to bullets & grenades seemed ridiculous to me.

That's the part that bothered me the most.

Beating him on Hard was incredibly annoying... they really should have added a checkpoint into that boss battle for that difficulty.

I haven't tried doing it on Crushing and I don't plan to.

[wco81]

Lost would have worked well without throwing in all this time travel, alternate universe and good vs. evil mysticism.

But that show would have lasted only a couple of seasons in length so they padded it out with all this voodoo. You went from hyper-realism to this ahistoric vapors. It would have been more interesting if the monster in the forest was some prehistoric thing out of Jurassic Park, instead of turning out to be a "security system." Or that there was some time-space fissure which put polar bears on the tropical island (and somehow allowed them to survive).

I think your complaints about Lost belong in the Lost thread, but since you''ve put them in here too, the polar bears were just brought to the island by people (DHARMA) to be experimented on.

The smoke monster being some dinosaur does not sound more interesting to me, it sounds trite and boring as hell. Thank god you're not a TV producer for ABC.

Again, a matter of taste. Scientifically plausible is one thing. The way they set up the opening in the pilot, the chaos in the wake of the crash, even Locke's miraculous cure, could all have been a part of a heightened reality.

They were sneaky about gradually putting in the supernatural elements which seemed like throwing in the kitchen sink approach. Given how popular movies and shows featuring vampires, werewolves, etc. have become, it was a commercially savvy decision in the way they shaped the story.

Maybe they didn't want it to become an updated Gilligan's Island so they layered on more and more genre elements, characters, plots, mysteries and so on.

Honestly the first time they saw something unreal like smokey plowing through trees in season 1, people would have been talking about it and they would have become inured to seeing miracles. Like the resurrections of Locke and Sayid, time travel, etc.

Similarly, if the game introduced these superhuman enemies early on, maybe the abrupt revelation of them at the end wouldn't be so jarring to people.

But you expect better storytelling from professional TV writers than video games.

[Feanor]

I really don't think anything that's been introduced to Lost is related to the late 2000s popularity of vampire stuff like Twilight.

[dbdynsty25]

Beating him on Hard was incredibly annoying... they really should have added a checkpoint into that boss battle for that difficulty.

Luckily they do on Easy.

As mentioned in other threads, I've given up on playing these types of games on anything other than Easy. I simply get frustrated and turn them off if that's the case, so Easy is the way to go if I ever want to finish a game.

[Brando70]

They were sneaky about gradually putting in the supernatural elements which seemed like throwing in the kitchen sink approach. Given how popular movies and shows featuring vampires, werewolves, etc. have become, it was a commercially savvy decision in the way they shaped the story.

I don't want to cock up the Uncharted 2 thread, but that's just a ridiculous statement. There is nothing in the current Lost storyline to tie into the explosion of vampire/zombie/snuff horror. Nothing. Furthermore, they established the mystical elements early, with dead people appearing, Locke's cure, etc. You're acting like it was a desert island version of Alive, when it's always had supernatural undertones. As they have gradually explored the island, they've (wait for it) unraveled more and more of a mystery.

I can understand if people don't like the show -- no problems here -- but people often criticize the show for elements that are at the core of the story, like the time-travel. That's like saying "I'd love the X-Files if it wasn't for the aliens" or wishing a John Woo movie had more realistic gunplay.

To relate it back to Uncharted, I think the first game does suffer from that logic leap. A historical action-adventure game suddenly morphed into something else, for seemingly the sake of having something else to shoot. The game was still a lot of fun despite that flaw, and in the second game, they at least tried to set up the supernatural element so that it wasn't a complete surprise.

But the boss battle at the end sucked. I haven't been that annoyed with a game since Metal Gear Solid 2 where you have to kill 25 Metal Gears in a row.

[LAking]

Beating him on Hard was incredibly annoying... they really should have added a checkpoint into that boss battle for that difficulty.

Luckily they do on Easy.

As mentioned in other threads, I've given up on playing these types of games on anything other than Easy. I simply get frustrated and turn them off if that's the case, so Easy is the way to go if I ever want to finish a game.

I think we have the same approach to these games. While I do at least try the "normal" difficulty on most games I definitely avoid anything above that. To me, it's not about the challenge so much as it's about the experience. It's much more satisfying to finish a game as one long stream of storytelling opposed to having to repeat certain scenes (usually boss fights) over and over until you get the "right" ending.

[jLp vAkEr0]

Beating him on Hard was incredibly annoying... they really should have added a checkpoint into that boss battle for that difficulty.

I haven't tried doing it on Crushing and I don't plan to.

Annoying?

More like soul-crushing...

I'm pretty sure I tried it more than 50 times until finally beating him...

No interest in losing my sanity trying it on Crushing.

[Feanor]

There's a glitch/strategy you can use to make things easier, but I don't need a Platinum trophy that badly.

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[fletcher21]

Sold this game to a buddy for $45. I tried to get back into it again but I couldn't do it. First time thru it's the most incredible gaming experience I've had, but it's just not as fun the 2nd time thru since you know what's going to happen. Uncharted 3 will be legendary!

[toonarmy]

Finally got around to playing this one in a serious way. I am about 3/4s of the way through, trying to find as many treasures as possible. Started out on Hard level because I wanted to unlock crushing level. Much of the stuff on Hard is very doable, but I got frustrated eventually and went to Normal. I felt I might get so frustrated on Hard that I would have never taken the time to finish the game.

In any case, I am blown away by how great this game is. I had started it on a couple occasions but never progressed past a few hours -- big mistake. The graphics are simply jaw-dropping at times and the sense of depth and height is impressive. The gameplay is fun as hell too. After beating it on Normal I may try to go back through on Hard since I will have a better idea of what to expect and how to defeat the enemies.

[Diablo25]

Finally got around to playing this one in a serious way. I am about 3/4s of the way through, trying to find as many treasures as possible. Started out on Hard level because I wanted to unlock crushing level. Much of the stuff on Hard is very doable, but I got frustrated eventually and went to Normal. I felt I might get so frustrated on Hard that I would have never taken the time to finish the game.

In any case, I am blown away by how great this game is. I had started it on a couple occasions but never progressed past a few hours -- big mistake. The graphics are simply jaw-dropping at times and the sense of depth and height is impressive. The gameplay is fun as hell too. After beating it on Normal I may try to go back through on Hard since I will have a better idea of what to expect and how to defeat the enemies.

Incredible game. I'm very much looking forward to Uncharted 3 this fall.