[Offical]Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

[gigapixels Veteran]

This game is totally awesome. I've been loving every second of it. Now I wish I'd finished the first beforehand though :(

[Boz]

This game is totally awesome. I've been loving every second of it. Now I wish I'd finished the first beforehand though :(

Oh no.. that's a must! Othewise you really miss the feeling of familiar faces and you can't really connect as well with them when in game.

Playing Drake 1 should definitely be done before getting into U2

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Apparently playing and beating the SP does not prepare you at all for the MP. :laugh:

I was actually just checking out the MP menu, and saw Greyfox had joined me, so I figured why not play a few rounds before Flash Forward.

Man do I completely suck at the MP. 3 rounds, 4 kills and well over 20 deaths. :blink:

I also chose Competitive, and the one round I had not a single clue what I was supposed to do. Turns out I was supposed to capture points, I figured that out on the next round I played as it was the same game type, but the 2nd time I played the 1-5 numbers were showing up, and I swear they were not there the first time around? Are there two different modes with capture types that involve 1-5? Or did I somehow just miss the numbers the first time through? (Which could have happened, I was a bit flustered as I was sucking that bad LOL)

But man I need to definitely get into the speed of playing the MP. Seems a lot of it is just shooting from the hip and run n gun, something I seldom did in the SP Campaign.

MP did run like a dream though, no hiccups or lag at all, and I am pretty sure I was definitely on European servers, as there where multiple people speaking different languages rather than English, which sure I guess they could be from the US and just speaking different languages, but I am thinking they were from overseas so that is a good sign it runs that well with people from overseas. :yes:

So back to the SP real quick, I did indeed finish it, and I still do think it is possibly the best gaming experience of this generation. Yep, the best out of all of them. It is just that well made. With that said, it is not without a few very small minor things I think held it back from absolute perfection.

So first off, I really thought the introduction of the man-beasts or whatever they are supposed to be was a tad bit corny. I do understand why they are what they are, but still just seemed a bit to much. Up until this point, the story, as far fetched as it may be overall, actually was pretty well grounded in reality with a lot of historical references, etc. It is mainly because I thought they did such a good job of trying make it related to history that I just kind of wish they took a different direction here and did not have to resort to mutant like men. The original Far Cry took a turn like this as well, and I disliked it in that game, so maybe that is why I did not like it in this way either.. Maybe I will reconsider in a few days after looking back.

Also, the final boss fight with what's his name (something vich) just seemed a bit anti climatic. I actually thought fighting the man beast things getting to him was more challenging that the guy on his own.

Nevertheless, these are just small, small nitpicks, and I feel as if I have to point them out because the game is that damn good. These, and the stealth sequence, are the only negatives I can point out, and they are not deal breakers by any means, just aspects I wish were done different.

The SP Campaign is Near Perfection. I think members on here know me well enough to know I do not use these words lightly. I am a pretty damn critical person, as pointed out by the paragraphs above, and I usually can tear a game apart much easier than I can dish out compliments, so me saying it is near perfection is a huge nod to how much I absolutely respect this game.

[Boz]

So back to the SP real quick, I did indeed finish it, and I still do think it is possibly the best gaming experience of this generation. Yep, the best out of all of them. It is just that well made. With that said, it is not without a few very small minor things I think held it back from absolute perfection.

So first off, I really thought the introduction of the man-beasts or whatever they are supposed to be was a tad bit corny. I do understand why they are what they are, but still just seemed a bit to much. Up until this point, the story, as far fetched as it may be overall, actually was pretty well grounded in reality with a lot of historical references, etc. It is mainly because I thought they did such a good job of trying make it related to history that I just kind of wish they took a different direction here and did not have to resort to mutant like men. The original Far Cry took a turn like this as well, and I disliked it in that game, so maybe that is why I did not like it in this way either.. Maybe I will reconsider in a few days after looking back.

Also, the final boss fight with what's his name (something vich) just seemed a bit anti climatic. I actually thought fighting the man beast things getting to him was more challenging that the guy on his own.

Larry, I actually disagree with you. I actually wasn't surprised to see the beasts. I mean it was kind of a shocker where I thought those beasts are in the caves protecting the entrance from anyone trying to get in, but later it all made sense when you realize the Shambhala is a village and those men have been living there for ages and the tree of life being in the middle created them to be so strong. They were indeed the protectors of tree of life.

I actually appreciate that the final battle wasn't super hard like in other games. It perfectly complements the story as Lazarevich just barely drank the water and was still under the influence of the tree. It's definitely a good ending if you look at Uncharted 2 as a good movie.

I found multiplayer to be amazing. I like every aspect of it, especially the fact that you literally can do anything - motion wise - as in the SP. The multitude of game types and the voting system is great. My only 2 gripes with MP is that you should be able to stay with the same group of people after the round is done as it happened to me that I was playing last night with a bunch of great people in one round and I couldn't reconnect with the same folks when the round was done. That's something that really needs to stay grouped when you are entering another map. The fact that you have to wait for a whole new set of people kind of sucks.

The second issue with MP is that you can't pick dedicated game modes. It kind of groups different modes in one choice so if you like "escort the item" mode you really can't just keep playing that. I appreciate the fact that the game offers you diversity in MP while introducing only pistols and snipers mode but as I noticed not a lot of people want to play that and there's no other way to keep playing normal modes. You are at the mercy of MP picker system of the game, so what game decides that's it.

If they fix those 2 issues, I think it will be amazing. I mean co-op modes are great but that's only worth if you constantly play with friends which sometimes it's not possible since not all my friends have the game or not all of them available for a game when I am.

[BoredBozirini]

Boz, to stay grouped with the same people, just create a party and you'll stay together in every game you connect to.

About dedicated game modes, I think you can do so when you party up.

I played today with DirtyLarry, sadly I was lagging to much and bailed out, I'll connect later on. Just add me to your friends list if you want to party up with me in the future.

About the beasts, they scared me out the first time you see one (in the ice cave when you're with Tenzin, you see the beast in the foreground, blacked out, in an instant). The other dudes, the one with the crossbows, I found totally stupid. They take a lot of bullets if you use conventional weapons, all you need to do is drop one, get its crossbow and go all barbaric on the rest. For some reason they're weak against their own weapons.

The final battle, I found it to be a hassle. To run, shoot the blue goo so it blows... repeat. I found it boring, but oh well, at least its not too difficult.

The game is the definition of perfection.

[rajputwarrior]

Its like the first Uncharted, you have to finish it on Hard to unlock Crushing.

But yea, doing it on Hard will unlock the trophies below it.

good thing i am playing on hard :) This game broke my trophy cherry :blush:

Oh no.. that's a must! Othewise you really miss the feeling of familiar faces and you can't really connect as well with them when in game.

Playing Drake 1 should definitely be done before getting into U2

I never played drake 1, from what i read on the internet there is no real need because the sotry is completely different. Yeah i may be missing some back story, but it doesn't really seem like i am missing much. Has anyone who has finished the game agree/disagree with this?

So back to the SP real quick, I did indeed finish it, and I still do think it is possibly the best gaming experience of this generation. Yep, the best out of all of them. It is just that well made. With that said, it is not without a few very small minor things I think held it back from absolute perfection.

Nevertheless, these are just small, small nitpicks, and I feel as if I have to point them out because the game is that damn good. These, and the stealth sequence, are the only negatives I can point out, and they are not deal breakers by any means, just aspects I wish were done different.

The SP Campaign is Near Perfection. I think members on here know me well enough to know I do not use these words lightly. I am a pretty damn critical person, as pointed out by the paragraphs above, and I usually can tear a game apart much easier than I can dish out compliments, so me saying it is near perfection is a huge nod to how much I absolutely respect this game.

I haven't finished the game but so far i am loving it. All those one liners between the characters are awesome, really add to the experience of the game. Like when Chloe was climbing up the ladder "Man that is just too pretty to sit on" I was howling. A couple of people where watching me play and their were gutting themselves too. The game honestly feels like a movie. I thought MGS solid felt like a movie, but that game is just more of play and long cut scene where as this one feels like you are part of a movie. But i deifnitely agree with the stealth comments, they could have been done better. Game of the Year for sure (well so far).

And Larry, we gotta play a game online here soon ( i haven't finished the campaign yet though :( )

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Larry, I actually disagree with you. <snipped>

Fair enough. You explaining it in thorough detail definitely makes it all seem more reasonable, I have always admitted I do not follow stories all that much in games, although I did follow this one and did know why they were what they were, but I did not really put it all together so to speak like you just explained it so yeah, okay, maybe I am already reconsidering like I said I possibly could. Maybe they were not to cheesy after-all.

And there is nothing I hate worse than a boss fight that is hard for the sake of being hard, so I am all with you for enjoying when a game does it right, but it just felt a bit off to me is all.

And I am with you 110%. I really wish you could just keep playing ALL of the same people you were playing. Huge flaw IMO as well. I especially would like to play the same group of people when it is a tight match, the rematch if you will, so would prefer if you could just stay.

@rajput - Definitely man. Now that I am done with SP, I will be playing MP all the way. (Y)

I am guessing we could get enough people easily to do an entire Neowin MP match no??

[Boz]

I never played drake 1, from what i read on the internet there is no real need because the sotry is completely different. Yeah i may be missing some back story, but it doesn't really seem like i am missing much. Has anyone who has finished the game agree/disagree with this?

Well true, you don't have to play Uncharted 1 for the story sake as they are completely different, but you do need to play it because it will create a much stronger emotional connection with characters and the history with Elena and the love triangle presented in the story. I'm sure you don't feel you are missing that much, but as I said, later you would understand what I'm saying and I'm sure you won't be as immersed or concerned about what happens to them unless you experienced Uncharted 1 and looked at them as real people just like in movies.

I'm sure you are having a blast, I just think that when you re-live the history, Uncharted 2 becomes an even better experience.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

All this chats making me jealous :(

By the way they're airing a new 15 sec Uncharted 2 ad, it's just a bit of gloating - http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/10/new...-tv-commercial/

But hey it sounds like this is one that deserves to sell well for ND.

[BoredBozirini]

Where is your copy Audio?

Here I was playing chapter per chapter on Hard so I could unlock Crushing, and it turns out I have to start a completely new game so I can unlock Crushing... I was already through chapter 11... No other option but to start again.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Where is your copy Audio?

Here I was playing chapter per chapter on Hard so I could unlock Crushing, and it turns out I have to start a completely new game so I can unlock Crushing... I was already through chapter 11... No other option but to start again.

Can't afford to buy it just now, I'm going to rent it this weekend. Won't get to play MP :( But I just really want to play the SP campaign.

Stuff like this just looks awesome

[Neo003]

Seems like everytime any new game comes for PS3 AB is the last one to get it :rofl:, goodluck (Y). I agree with all saying that SP is the best one ever & I MEAN EVER, and I'm only 7 hrs in and on chapter 19 of 26.

[Tech Star]

Uncharted 2: New Multiplayer Playlists

Naughty Dog have revised one playlist, and added two more, in the multiplayer mode of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (which we recently reviewed).

The ?Deathmatch? playlist has been revised, and consists of standard game types only (variants such as RPGs only have been removed).

A new playlist, ?Elimination? has been added, and as the name suggests only the elimination game types can be found there.

The final addition is the ?All Competitive Modes? playlist, which consists of all competitive games such as Standard Deathmatch, Deathmatch Variants, Plunder, Turf War etc.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Seems like everytime any new game comes for PS3 AB is the last one to get it :rofl:, goodluck (Y). I agree with all saying that SP is the best one ever & I MEAN EVER, and I'm only 7 hrs in and on chapter 19 of 26.

LIES!

I got LBP and MGS4 days before everyone else ;)

[Waylander]

coop objective is great, if anyone fancys agame next time im onl psn send me a message

[Boz]

Here's a couple of things Johnathan Lanier one of the guys from Naughty Dog (he's senior programmer there) said when asked about a few things:

When asked and commended about the exquisite 7.1 uncompressed audio here's what he said:

A ton of people are involved in dialog. The creative writing is all Amy Hennig though; she's brilliant at it. But also the actors themselves are allowed to ad lib to some extent, and we've been fortunate enough to have some excellent voice acting talent. I wish I could share the outtakes from Nolan's sessions; you'd be rolling on the floor for hours.

Some of the in-game dialog is scripted to happen at particular moments, but we also have a special system dedicated to vox logic to handle how random dialog is played during gameplay. It's pretty darn sophisticated, because the context and timing of the lines has to be appropriate, and the mood of the character has to be appropriate. For example, if it's a somber moment you can't be having Drake go "All right! Yeah!". But the attention to detail pays off, because the speech is crucial to developing the characters and immersing you in the game. Working on the code for the speech logic is one of the tasks I enjoyed the most.

If I recall correctly I think there's something like 17,000 lines of dialog in the game; multiply that by the lanugagues and you'll find that dialog alone almost takes up more space that you could even fit on a DVD total. All audio including effects is easily close to half the disc space of a 25GB single-layer BluRay. We are not kidding when we say we couldn't do this game without BluRay, no matter what some naysayers may think. There is a LOT of audio in this game. And NOTHING is duplicated across the disk, another incorrect assumption some people have been making. We don't need to duplicate data to speed up access because we have algorithms to precache everything through the hard drive. Which is why we require a hard drive! We use every bit of space we can for unique data.

After I told him how I was dissapointed with Sony not supporting them by not releasing collector's edition (as it really bugged me) he responded that collectors edition was made (only 200 pieces and they were given away for free as a prize - $300 value). Here's what he said:

I assure you that is not the case. In fact we ARE Sony; ND is a full subsidiary of SCEA. They love us, and we love them.

It is a marketing decision, nothing more, nothing less. You should note that none of the other first-party Sony titles (of which we are one, like I said, we ARE Sony) come in collectors editions.

Having said that, I will now contradict myself by pointing out that for the first time ever, there IS a collector's edition of a Sony first-party product: Uncharted 2: Fortune Hunter Edition. And yes, it includes a Phurba dagger replica, as well as an art book, and of course, the game.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2009/09/unc...hunter-edition/

However, you cannot BUY it, you can only WIN it. And frankly I'm glad there are only a few hundred of these, because my hand was freaking worn out after signing all of them. And the estimated retail value of this is around $300, so it's a lot more than most people would pay for such a thing.

Having said that, I hear where you're coming from; it's a shame there's nothing you can go out and buy. Frankly I'm just thrilled that a collectors edition exists at all, because I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time, and I think it's pretty cool.

About the audio question so you guys know as well: "What's the best audio setting to use? Last night I had it on LPCM 7.1 with the 'default' dynamic range. Think I should change the dynamic range?"

Here's what he said:

Actually, the dynamic range menu option in U2 isn't *exactly* the same as a processor's DRC, but it is similar in many respects. You are correct that it's really all about how much difference exists between the loudest and softest sounds. In U2, the dynamic range game audio setting breaks down as follows.

Default: The game picks what it thinks is the most appropriate compression based on your output format. This will be 'Wide' if you have 'Stereo Headphones' selected, 'Normal' if any discrete multichannel output 5.1 or better is selected, or 'Narrow' if 'Stereo' or 'Dolby PLII' is selected. Note that 'Maximum' and 'Midnight' are not in this list; those have to be set explicitly.

Maximum: No dynamic range compression applied at all.

Wide: A small amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -4.0dB.

Normal: A medium amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -8.0dB.

Narrow: A large amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -10.0dB. This really squashes the dynamic range, but makes quiet sounds perceptible on poor fidelity systems. Like, your average TV set.

Midnight: A very large amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -16.0dB, and the volume is also scaled back quite a bit. The end result, is almost everything sounds the same volume. Also, the LFE channel is disabled in this mode. Meant for playing the game at very low volume levels late at night.

If you ask me, the amount of dynamic range you want is going to be based on more about whether or not you like what you hear. 'Maximum' is the way the game was mixed, with reference monitors. However, unless you are listening in a room that has very good acoustic treatment, the quiet bits might be a tad too quiet with all compression disabled. The default dynamic range will pick 'Normal' on any 5.1/7.1 setup, which should hopefully not sound too squashed. I'd be keen to hear feedback from audiophiles about what they think about the fidelity of these different modes.

I cringe when I see forum posts where people suggest setting the option to 'Midnight' to make anything louder. I'm quite sure they aren't aware they're ruining the fidelity (and losing their sub!) with that option. A true shame none of this information was printed in the instruction manual. Oh well...

And while I'm on the topic of U2 audio options, note that the center channel size defaults to 'small', and for good reason. It isn't just about having a full-range center, though if you don't, I CERTAINLY wouldn't pick 'large' unless you have good bass management. What it is really for is to manage whether or not FX pan across the center or not. Dialog always pans across center, but in movies, most FX generally don't. In games, since much of the action happens up front, even with full-range centers, putting all of the volume in one speaker for all the dialog *and* FX happening directly in front of you generally doesn't sound as good as spreading the power for the FX around to the front mains. It also can make the sound field feel a bit narrower. Movies don't generally spread FX across center for the same reason, so I don't see why games should. However, if you've got a 5.1/7.1 setup where all 3 front speakers are identical, and you like the way it sounds spreading the effects across center, then by all means go for it. The reason this option even exists, is because unlike a movie, the game mixes its dialog and effects on-the-fly, so there is no reason to force the user to have (or not have) 'phantom center' for FX

The normal setting will bring up some of the quieter bits, and add a bit of punch as well. The volume maximization we're using is technically a form of distortion, but if not abused it can make it 'rock' a bit more. I'm worried that we might have put too much dynamic range in on maximum. We just didn't want to sacrifice dynamic range for the sake of people with TVs that couldn't reproduce it, so by adding in the DR option we hoped to have our cake and eat it too. Uncharted 2 is the first PS3 game to use this technology, though I expect you'll be seeing more of it in the future. I'm not sure we dialed it in perfectly, but we tried. Mixing was done in a very short amount of time, unfortunately. If it rocks on normal, then by all means leave it there; the distortion applied is certainly no worse than that used by most modern music production (i.e. the 'loudness wars').

So this took us to discussion about the difference in audio: "how does the PCM 5.1 option compare to DD5.1?"

He says:

The LPCM options will always sound better than DD or DTS options, because the audio doesn't have to be transcoded into another compressed format. The game internally stores audio in a variety of compressed formats (######, MP3), decompresses it as sounds are synthesized and mixed, and then has to recompress the final result if DD or DTS is selected. If LPCM is selected, that last lossy recompresssion step doesn't have to happen.

If you don't have HDMI, LPCM output is limited to 2 channels over the optical output, so you're better off sticking with DTS and DD, in that order (DTS is less lossy than DD). In fact, if you leave the output format setting on 'default', the game will do this for you; the best mode possible is always selected automatically based on the audio settings you've enabled in the PS3 OS XMB.

Overriding the default is most useful when you are using an output format the game can't detect, such as headphones (uses a completely different panning algorithm) or stereo (default 2-channel output is Dolby PLII, which doesn't sound good when played on a device without a surround decoder, like a TV). Or if you just want to do A/B comparisons of the different modes. But if you do that, bear in mind you're not A/B'ng game audio assets or the codecs themselves; you're comparing the PS3's internal realtime compression modes for those formats (DD, DTS), which due to their realtime nature are never as optimal as content that is compressed offline.

And HAHAHAH .. here's what he said about what he felt about the game himself :)

That's a tricky question to answer objectively. Nothing is ever perfect, but this is certainly the game I'm most proud of in my career so far. Don't misunderstand - there were LOTS of things I would have liked to do better, but hey - there's always the next game to make. There's a lot of new audio tech in U2 that I don't think other games are using, because much of it was created from scratch. Heck, not many game companies even HAVE an 'audio programmer' position. So I personally hope that I and my fellow audio coworkers from ND and SCEA succeeded in dramatically raising the bar for game audio. Maybe we did, maybe we didn't - that's for you guys to decide. Unfortunately audio is one of those things that if you do it perfectly, nobody notices...

Likewise, I hope ND managed to raise all the bars for all the disciplines, including art, design, and technology. But at the end of the day, the important thing is that people really just enjoy playing the game. If they do, then we succeeded, and all our crunch time wasn't for naught.

Hopefully it gets everyone to appreciate the game more cause Johnathan is very cool and polite not to mention helpful.

[KoL Veteran]

Loving the game. Nate comments are hilarious. :laugh:

[Tech Star]

New Ad: http://www.viddler.com/explore/sceablog/videos/623/0

[AbandonedTrolley]

Boz as you are pretty hot on audio aspects, what were your impressions of it? Does it live up to the hype of how good they say it is? I'm guessing you had it running through quite a setup?

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Nice it's enjoyable to get good audio in a game when you have a decent setup.

By the way, looks like crazy Japanese box art worked :p

http://ameblo.jp/sinobi/entry-10365289030.html

Uncharted JP first day sales: 7.300

Uncharted 2 JP first day sales: 47.000

[AbandonedTrolley]

Anyone in the UK seen supermarket prices for this yet? Anywhere got it on a 1 day special? Leaving work in about 90 minutes and picking up on the way home.

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Anyone in the UK seen supermarket prices for this yet? Anywhere got it on a 1 day special? Leaving work in about 90 minutes and picking up on the way home.

My mate says it's like ?39 in Asda, so avoid.

[MrArifPatel]

campaigns great as all of us expected, co-op is fantastic, mp is great i just wanted ND to change the amount of bullets to kill someone, im shooting someone and he runs all the way to me and melees me, im like wtf??

[Pablo2008jedi]

Wife just picked up my copy, 1.5hours of work left...that's my weekend sorted :)

Edit: btw cost ?42.99 from Gamestation (pre-orded) but I had trade-ins and basically got it for nothing:pp

[AbandonedTrolley]

Wife just picked up my copy, 1.5hours of work left...that's my weekend sorted :)

Edit: btw cost ?42.99 from Gamestation (pre-orded) but I had trade-ins and basically got it for nothing:pp

Ouch at that price! trade in or not that is still high:((