jorimslist.com - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves ESRB content review

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Available on: PS3
More information: Wikipedia
Cover scans: MobyGames - CoverGalaxy
GameFAQs.com: PS3
Press: IGN: 9.5 - GameSpot: 9.5 - Metacritic (average): 96

Pros & Cons:
Pertaining to My short list below.

Surprisingly, the graphics are head and shoulders above the last, with roughly double the scale and variety in setting, from the opening's snowy mountain crags to the later lush, dense jungle setting, and an intricately detailed war-torn city. Character models are markedly improved, and things like the scruff on Nate's face and neckline, pores, wrinkles and scars in characters' gradually bloodied, dirt-caked faces, wear and water stains in their clothing, and now bouncing hair are all more apparent, along with their even more life-like, nuanced facial expressions. The snow (which clings to Nate's hair and clothes, kicking up and making deep, lingering trails as Nate trudges in it), sharp, pearly ice and flowing water (which soak his clothes and hair) are beyond impressive, and the depth-of-field effects with the adjoining subtle, natural motion blur gives sight transitions and all movement (including the pelting rain, or the thick, vision-obscuring snow storms) an incredibly smooth, convincing effect. Textures too have been upped, with all of the needed detail to easily pass for the real-life materials they imitate; for a game in the third-person, they're of first-person quality.

The screens (roll over the first for a second) speak for themselves. Yeah, it's pretty.

The lighting is also improved, and the best around, with a clear, gradual change from shadow to light as characters or objects pass through it; shadows that accurately cast individual blades of foliage and/or pins of light from lattice onto your surroundings, or light that filters through wind-swept clouds of dust; all light-sources have unique and specific color schemes, like the vibrant, brilliant blue of burning resin on all it shines; fire casts its own light source and visibly distorts the air around it; and there is nary a jagged edge or a dithered shadow to be seen. Tiny little details like flowing flags and foliage (that bends as you disturb it) or maps that fold as characters handle them are a nice touch; the once almost cartoony explosions have been subdued and more fully realized; the nicely-used Havoc physics engine makes everything from the collapsing buildings to disturbed objects (like stacks of books) thoroughly convincing; the screen- tearing is entirely absent; and there's no slow-down. And while brief texture pop-in is still sometimes noticeable during area start-ups, and boot-up loads are lengthy (there are none otherwise), this is the best looking console game yet.

All aspects have been enhanced, from the larger scale platforming portions, gunfights and action set-pieces, to more complex puzzles, stealth and ally interactions. To start with, the platforming portions, devoid scale, remain largely the same mechanic-wise, and Nate will still be scaling large structures by grabbing holds, shimmying on ledges and jumping gaps. A new move has been added, where Nate can now climb close-set poles like monkey bars or use the far-set ones to swing to further holds, and a tilt of the analog-stick has smartly replaced the underused Sixaxis tilt to balance on narrow objects. The war-torn city introduces a more organic feel to hold placement than even the first, as you scale lampposts, signs and brick walls, and there is also some semi- optional paths to choose from. Similarly, puzzles are still treated more like navigation with platforming mixed in, but are now a tad more intensive, and like the first, you'll use Nate's journal (it can now be flipped through, with funny pages like "The Faces of Victor Sullivan [only four]", with doodles on polaroids of his face, or a meter in which his mustache rates #3 in scary factor under mutants) for hints.

The gunfight's mechanics remain largely untouched, meaning you can still take cover behind most of the game's objects, pop-out and/or blindfire, and with Nate's relatively low resilience, it's still vital to keep the running and gunning to a minimum and use a more strategic approach by taking cover, conserving ammo and repositioning in order to survive. There are several new additions like the "Cover Transition," which allows you to press left, right or forward plus circle to quickly spin/slide, and then auto snap to nearby cover—giving it a quicker, more responsive feel; melee combos have been scrapped for a one button, mid-fight counter with the stronger enemies—adding a fun little extra layer to combat; a wider aim-reticle has been added for easier aim during blindfire; and the grenades can now be tossed at any time, without you first having to switch to them. You're now also able pick up, carry and fling nearby propane tanks at the enemy—with a quick tap of R1 to detonate them in mid-air—weapon kickback has been tweaked, making headshots more challenging...

A riot shield has been added for portable cover; stronger weapons like the sniper and grenade launcher get far more use this time around; and enemy type is more varied, with mini-boss types that gradually intersperse with the rest—mixing things up quite nicely. The battlefields are much more open than before, with several alternate paths to choose from, where you can simply open fire then and there, flank the enemy from several positions, or take the more stealthy approach, shimmy through sidepaths and take them out one by one. This brings me to the stealth mechanics, which have been fleshed out, and devoid the solely stealthy heist near the very start (complete with a trank gun, which can be unlocked for further use), almost all areas after this can also be approached with stealth first. And unlike before, Nate can now pull down enemies as he hangs from ledges, grab them from behind and/or from corner cover, and drop kick them from low objects. The mechanics feel set apart from those like Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid, as areas are usually more open, and you more vulnerable since there's no use of vision modes or gadgets; just your bare hands.

Platforming (left) and gunfights (right) are greater in scale and scope than the first.

Stealth is a bit limited in the fact that after you're seen, that's it, an intentional design choice; once you reach a certain point, there's no option but to either first be seen, or open fire. But it still adds to the otherwise straightforward shooting, and is helpful for thinning the first wave of enemies—and besides, since sneaking is especially tough to pull off, you'll feel plain cool on completion. Compared to the last, the game ramps up the action's scope tenfold, and right from the start, Nate hangs, injured, from a train that dangles hundreds of feet off a steep, snowy ravine. It continues this nary-a-dull- moment trend throughout, including a copter chase that ends in an entirely destroyed building, with you in it; or one of the more standout portions (among several others), the train. It's visually stunning, with landscape that stretches out in both directions for miles, and nothing ever repeats during the twenty plus minute sequence. The full use of physics furthers the realism, by forcing your aim off as it shakes and twists about, along with downed enemies and hanging lights that sway with its constant movement. It's, by far, the most dynamic train sequence in a video game—ever.

After the fast-paced, action-packed first half, it slows to a finer focus, and what's left are light adventuring elements, as you walk through a brief but effective, quaint little mountain village as the adults stare, say hello and children giggle as you pass, or the ice caves that are made predominately of puzzles and platforming—until, of course, it reverts into flat-out action into the finale. Lastly, all gameplay elements are enhanced by Nate's eerily natural animation transitions and dozens of variations, as he trudges through water and snow, bends up steps (his feet make contact with each) and steep inclines or visibly runs out of breath; his movements actually effect navigation. As for AI, allies are as smart as ever; you can now boost them up to drop you ladders; have them help you push objects to reach ledges; and they will quickly move from cover if you prompt it. Enemy AI is smart, if not smarter than before; they will climb anything you can; and while those you sneak behind aren't too sensitive, enemy witnesses are. The negatives=nitpicking; some may not like the returning spawn triggers, you oddly still can't toss grenades back, and it eventually stops then ends.

The story begins in a well-chosen flash-foward format to tease at things to come, and then pulls back to show how Nate's situation came about, as it introduces you to new characters Harry Flynn, a humorous but egotistical crook out for himself, and Chloe, a conflicted, seductive but relatively well-meaning double agent. These two give a more gray moral perspective and shine a light on a different, somewhat more criminal side of Nate. And you begin to realize that Nate is closer to a common thief than a roguish hero, if it weren't for his strangely decent morals (for instance, he doesn't like to kill, at least museum guards), and if you saw him on the street, you would probably have him arrested. This take on Nate adds yet another layer to his character, and although these so called, "new" characters are just that, with the script and performances, they actually seem to have a more established history with Nate than Elena, or even Sully. The narrative itself consists of their search for the Cintamani Stone, which they soon learn may be more than just a large, priceless jewel; some of history's worst tyrants have had just bits of the Stone, giving them unrivaled power...

Along the way to their race for the Stone, there's plenty of sarcastic humor (and light takes on dire situations, Nate; haha-we were almost in that! he says after both Chloe and he escape a collapsed building), refreshing dialog (Chloe; And still more climbing. Nate; Yeah, that's usually how it goes—they are still in on the "joke" with you), shaky alliances, betrayal, and tense standoffs, like an edgy first meeting with the brilliantly cold, merciless villain, Lazarevic; giving it a grim, serious tone the last lacked. A love triangle between Nate and the two girls adds some playful tension and a nice contrast between loose Chloe and girl next-door Elena, and not one part's underused, from the briefly appearing Sully, to totally unintelligible but likable Tibetan Tenzin and Schäfer, a kind old man who's made himself a native among Tenzin's village. The story is still very "Indy," evident in the fact that Nate does all the hard work, as the enemy steals it, there's Nazi references, and this too has a "Mcguffin." This does ultimately lead the story in a predictable direction, but with the dynamic characters, it's a blast to watch it all play out—if the first was a blockbuster, this is that and a half.

Nate and new character Harry Flynn (left), find their first clue—check out that lighting.

On the default Normal (out of four; Very Easy has been added, which enables an auto- aim and, among other things, allows you to take far more hits—good for more casual players), difficulty is more than moderate, and although it does stay manageable, and slowly, gradually ramps up as you progress, by game's end, you'll have wished Nate had some Kevlar to go along with that ammo of his. It starts with gray armor-wearing mercs, who only take a few shots and are armed with lesser weapons. But further in, resilient black-armored mercs get more frequent (and greater in number), with better weapons like M4 Assault rifles, RPG 7s, grenade launchers and laser-pointed (one-hit kill) sniper rifles and Desert Eagles. Mix this in with bulkier mini-boss types that take double the hits to down, or the later gatling-gun armed mercs, hulking Creatures and Shambhalans, which take nearly hundreds of hits before falling—just one of them is a major chore—and you'll find the single-player campaign will take more than moderate skill to complete (and if you can handle Normal, try Hard, if you finish that, you could always give the then unlocked Crushing difficulty a *shot*).

After completing the solid 10-12 hour single-player, there is a considerable amount of replay value (and as a side note, an extensive single-player Statistics screen), where you can start a new game (all found Treasure, earned Medals, Currency and unlocked content are rolled over)—or select a chapter from Chapters—to find all 100 Treasures (which can be viewed/rotated in their gallery) and earn Medals (from completing side goals like killing a certain amount of enemies with certain weapons or melee attacks, performing headshots, etc.) to net Currency, which can be spent at the game's Store. This is where you can buy 30 Single-Player Skins (ally/villain alternates, including the returning obese Doughnut Drake), all 21 Weapons (that can be equipped at any time), Render Modes (Black and White, Sepia and Next-gen Filter), 8 Bonus Movies (features that cover every aspect of the game's making), 8 Concept Art galleries, and 7 Tweaks (including Fast and Slow Motion, Mirror and Flip World, Infinite Ammo, One-shot Kills, and [a trippy looking] No Gravity)—all of which (along with the Story Cutscenes) can be accessed and/or toggled under Bonuses at any time.

Currency ties into multi-player as well, meaning what's earned in single-player can be spent in multi-player and visa-versa. You can also earn Medals in multi-player and co- op matches by completing a variety of side goals—anything from reviving teammates in Co-op matches to pulling rivals off ledges in Deathmatch—which can be repeated in an indefinite manner to earn Currency. Along with Medals, you'll earn a set amount of Currency for completing a match, depending on what rank you place in the match and the given times you completed a Medal's goal, ultimately resulting in a level up. With a higher level and adjoining Currency, Boosters begin to unlock, allowing you to enter the multi-player Store and purchase them, along with character Skins, Taunts and Co- op Weapon Upgrades. Before starting a match, you can go into your profile and select your preferred character skin, taunt, co-op difficulty, and fill up the two Booster slots, which enhance your abilities with anything from giving better sights accuracy on your pistols or long-range guns, to having you drop a grenade when killed.

You can form a party manually with Custom Game or jump right in with Matchmaking, where you'll be able to select from Deathmatch, Elimination (no respawn), Objectives (Turf War—hold areas—Plunder—steal rivals' treasure—etc.), Ranked, All Competitive Modes, Co-op Objective (fight and platform through single-player maps with two other players), and Co-op Arena (with a Horde-like mode, where you fight endless waves of ramping enemy AI with two other players, or a Plunder/Survive mode; steal treasure as you try to survive). Matches are easy to get into and perform smoothly, and while, like Gears of War, you can take cover, with the ability to climb structures, hang from ledges and take rivals out with stealth (you can even pull them off ledges, or if you're on the receiving end, kick them off), this has a much quicker, ultimately more unique feel, and rivals every third-person multi-player game out there; from a relatively non- online player like me, I was hooked from the get go—that's saying something. Lastly, matches are recorded, can be extensively edited and shared with friends, and there is even a Machinima mode for the more ambitious players out there.

(Somebody's about to get sniped) You can take screens directly from your matches.

Closing comment:
So overall, this is twice the game the first was, including its variety in setting, action set-pieces with twice the scale and a story with twice the scope. The visuals, in many areas, are groundbreaking (is it better looking than Killzone 2? Lets just say it's better at showing itself off), and the Medals, Currency and multi-player (that ranks up there with the best of them) are brilliantly done. And while its plot-points aren't original per se, its fully likable, relatable characters and masterful methods of storytelling (some of the best in gaming—or movies for that matter), more than make up for it, and the rest of what could be considered negative is solely preferential; if you like this genre, you won't have a problem. In other words, if the first was a masterpiece, this is a da Vinci, Picasso and a Degas thrown in, and one of the best single-player experiences in its genre hands down—if you have a PS3, get it, if you don't, get that first.

Pros & Cons review posted: 11/02/09

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Content review for this game:
Pertaining to the ESRB rating.

Content sum up: Like the first, while overall violence—in terms of realism—is relatively subdued, this time around, blood effects are negligible, and the main casts' nonchalant take on their plight keeps things light; with the introduction of the flirtatious Chloe, the suggestive, low brow humor, along with now frequent language—with fifty-two uses of sh*t alone—have been considerably amped up, not to mention the cold, merciless anagonist's presence, the appearance of the freakish, hostile creatures, and the fact that Nate is in intense, near-death peril at a constant rate. So, I recommend this game for ages 14+.

Blood: The blood effects spurt in negligible, dark red clouds when enemy mercenaries are shot or after finishing melee blows to their face; blood does not splatter on walls, floors or linger. Dispatched (unbloodied) mercenary bodies do linger, and you will see skeletal remains scattered throughout. There is no option to turn blood off.

Specific scenes of blood (& mild gore):

(The ESRB didn't mention that there is mild gore)

The opening shows as Nate—protagonist—awakens to discover that he is sitting sideways in a ruined train car hanging off a snowy cliffside. A close shot shows his face with three bloodied abrasions, and cuts to a wider shot showing Nate's blood-caked hands, arms and soaked clothes. He clutches the wound at his side and lifts his hands to inspect the substance, realizing it's a heavy amount of his blood laced on his palms—Nate is in this shape throughout the playable intro.
While Nate, Chloe (a main female character) and Sully (a main male character) explore a ruin, they use a resin torch (turning all light to a blue shade) to follow a trail of long dried blood (which also appears blue) among piles of skeletons.
After a group of city resistance fighters crash into mercenaries with a huge bus, the remaining hostiles shoot the fighters down—several more of them are seen being shot by the mercs throughout this area; all causes light blood splatter.
As Nate and Chloe rejoin Elena—female protagonist—they find her cameraman, Jeff, with a bullet wound to his side. It cuts to a closer shot as Nate inspects the wound, showing Jeff's blood soaked clothes and a bloodied hole in his jacket. As Nate drags him to safety, you can see the bloodied exit wound from the back.
Elena punches Harry Flynn (a main antagonist) in the nose—visibly bloodying it.
After Nate retrieves a key artifact from a downed mercenary and begins walking to the exit, the mercenary abruptly gets up, puts his hands around Nate's throat and pushes him up against the edge of the moving train's open window; right as Nate is about to be finished, the already cut and bloodied offender is shot in the head from off-screen, as he collapses to the ground (full impact is not seen).
When Nate finds Chloe on the train and tells her he has come to rescue her, she makes it clear this isn't what she wanted him to do. They start to argue, but are interrupted as a shot is fired from off-screen; presumably by Chloe, but cuts to Flynn holding the gun. It hits Nate's side, which he slowly grasps in shock as his blood soaks the area—Flynn tries to shoot him again, but Chloe lets Nate run.
As Nate and his guide Tenzin explore the ice caves, they find a decomposed but cold-preserved corpse, and a later corpse has a bullet hole in its forehead—this zombie-like "Dead Explorer" skin can be unlocked to wear for both single-player and multi-player; there is a dried blood trail running down its wound and as you run around, you can see directly through the gaping hole in its forehead.
While Nate and Tenzin continue into the ice caves, wolves are heard whining in the distance. When you reach them, you find several wolves newly slaughtered, with moderate amounts of blood splatter on their fur and the surrounding ice.
As they try to save (side character) Schäfer from Lazarevic (the heavily scared main villain), Nate and Elena find Schäfer in a ruined room moderately bloodied and injured, propped on wreckage—Schäfer strains as he talks, and then dies.
After Nate grabs a mercenary and holds him at gunpoint for leverage, Lazarevic shoots his own man in the head with no hesitation, causing mild blood splatter.
After Nate, Chloe, Elena and a few mercenaries take a ride on a broken, sliding platform, the three find an (unbloodied) enemy impaled on a tree's branch.
When Nate, Chloe and Elena are close to catching up to Lazarevic and his men, Flynn stumbles out from behind a large pillar; half-dead, bloodied and clutching a blood-soaked bullet wound to his side. He slowly slides down onto the pillar in pain and rests there, as Elena slowly edges closer to check his condition. Flynn then pulls out a grenade and lets it detonate, killing him (which isn't seen), and throwing back the other three. In its aftermath, Nate and Chloe have a few mild bloody scrapes on their face and body, but since Elena was near the point-blank range, she bore the brunt. And as such, she is heavily bloodied all over; mostly from a wound on her side and left arm, both of which are fully blood-soaked.
When he finally confronts Lazarevic, Nate shoots him several times in the torso, causing Lazarevic to stagger back and spurt light blood. But since Lazarevic has already found Shambhala's secret, he can partially regenerate; though this does not stop him from getting bloody and cut as Nate fights him.

Language: There is over four dozen uses of sh*t, over three dozen uses of hell, over a dozen uses of God, under a dozen uses of d*mn, a**, SoB, a**hole, God d*mn and Jesus, and three or under uses of b*tch, p*ss, bastard and Christ. Other than the main script, Nate infrequently spouts, "Hell yeah!", D*mn!", "Oh sh*t!", "See yah, jacka**!" and, "For the love of God!" during gunfights; both Flynn and Chloe use the mildly rude British slang term "bloody" several times throughout; and in Nate's journal, there are four uses of God d*mn and one use of sh*t and a**hole in text—Nate also has "WTF" written on one drawing. Lastly, all of the above characters will infrequently utter hell, sh*t and d*mn during brief cutscenes as you traverse the online multi-player mode's, "Co-op Objective" maps. There is no option to turn language off.

Suggestive themes:

A fairly-sized list of women's names and their adjoining phone numbers take up two pages in Nate's journal—his journal is made viewable at any time early in.
Chloe has a well-sized bust, wears a form-fitting top—showing a mild amount of her midriff—and tight, low-cut jeans, displaying her shapely hips and behind.
Nate hears a knock on his room door and answers; it's Chloe. Nate quickly pulls her onto the room in a panic—the currently allied Flynn doesn't know they have a history—prompting her to state, "Well, so much for foreplay." As he talks with Chloe about her seemingly not so platonic relationship with Flynn in a somewhat irritated manner, Chloe playfully pushes Nate to the bed, and then straddles him (both fully clothed) as they continue to talk; when she unabashedly confirms her non-platonic relationship with Flynn, he drops flat on the bed in exasperation of this fact. Chloe continues to straddle him, leans closer, then suggestively places each of Nate's hands on either side of her lower thighs—it goes to a brief, close- up shot of her backside as he lightly pats her thigh, distractedly. They continue to converse as Chloe runs her hands down his chest, resting them around Nate's waist, and while she tells him how just the two of them will run away once they find the artifact—embellishing her point by using spidery movements to run her fingers up his chest—Chloe pushes Nate down; they kiss, as it slowly pans up to a painting over the bed, then fades to black—suggesting they sleep together.
As Nate, Chloe and Sully discuss their plans to infiltrate Lazarevic's camp, Nate makes it clear that he will need a five minute distraction, but that it must be an inside job—Chloe works for Lazarevic—as Chloe remarks, "Really, five minutes? Well that's great. I won't even have to get my top off." Perplexed, Nate corrects her with this simple reply, "Chloe, I was thinking of more like an explosion."
As they run through the jungle on the way to Lazarevic's camp, Sully tells Nate that "I'm sweatin' like a hooker in church," prompting Nate to ask, "You brought a hooker to church?" After a very slight pause, Sully simply says, "Why not?"
When Sully spots a supply hose to the enemy camp he states, "What do you bet we follow the hose - we find the camp? Nate says, "You always follow the hose. Just like in Montreal huh?" (perhaps in reference to his regular womanizing).
As Nate boosts Sully up to an out-of-reach ladder, he playfully quips, "You got a great a** Sully." Sully plainly—and almost sincerely—replies with, "Thanks."
After saving Nate from an enemy turret, Chloe jumps on his body, wrapping her legs around his lower torso. Once "mounted," she asks in playful surprise, "Oh, is that an ancient ritual Tibetan dagger in your pocket?" He answers with, "Well, maybe I'm just happy to see you." She then pulls the dagger from Nate's jean's crotch area, as he nervously shouts, "Hello!" And as they talk about finding tall buildings to get a better view of the surrounding area, Chloe suggests the hotel, prompting Nate to say in—pleasantly surprised—exasperation, "(laughs) Chloe, now's not the time." She then explains her suggestion was for the view only.
As he boosts Chloe up to an out-of-reach ladder, Nate quips, "Boy, it's a shame you have to sit on something that pretty." Referring to, of course, her behind.
As they try to solve a puzzle, you—the player—can direct Nate into a small pool in the middle of the room, prompting Nate to tell her, "Come on in, the water's fine!" She swiftly retorts with, "No way! You just want to see my t-shirt wet."
Nate and Chloe lean to kiss after a successful discovery, but are interrupted by the sound of enemies above, prompting Chloe to state, "That kills the mood."
As Elena climbs the rocks above him, Nate looks out onto the snowy mountains and says, "Nice view." Elena—thinking he meant her—then says in light disgust, "Men!" Nate clarifies with, "No no, I was talkin' about the mountains. Really."
As Chloe says her goodbyes, and then walks away, she turns towards Nate and says, "Admit it, you're gonna miss this a**." And after Sully makes his, he asks what direction Chloe went; Nate yells out, "You're a dirty old man Sullivan!"
Nate and Elena are seen having a light, brief kiss at the very end of the game.
After you reach a very high level of 53 in multi-player and have $500,000 in the game's Currency to spend, you can unlock and equip the last multi-player Taunt "Pump." This will have your character (both male/female) repeatedly perform a pelvic thrust that is used to flaunt your victory over rival players' bodies.

Mild crude humor: (The ESRB did not mention this in their rating, although it is mild) As Flynn goes to pick a lock, he quips to Nate, "I pick more than my nose my friend"; Chloe and Sully go to bail Nate out of jail: as they enter his cell, she sniffs in disgust, causing Nate to state in annoyance, "Oh look, it's not that bad, I have my own bucket! Last cell I was in, eight of us had to share"; and later on, an enemy is seen relieving himself off the side of a cliff; at a distance—no details are seen.

Use of alcohol and tobacco: (The ESRB did not mention this in their rating) An early scene shows Nate take a swig from a bottle of beer while he sits at a bar—its shelves lined with the substance—he continues to hold the bottle and take several more swigs through the scene's remainder; and Sully is seen clenching cigars in his mouth and/or holding them throughout—he's never actually seen smoking them.

Violence: Close to two years after his adventures on the hostile island, Nathan Drake takes a vacation at a more friendly setting, when he's approached by an old "friend," Harry Flynn, and Flynn's partner, Chloe, one of Nate's old flames. They then give Nate a proposition to help them break into a museum and lift an artifact that they and their client thinks holds the secret to Marco Polo's lost fleet. After Nate and Flynn infiltrate the museum and successfully retrieve the artifact, they find a map pointing directly to Marco Polo's fleet, with information on what they were carrying; the Cintamani Stone, thought to be a giant, precious jewel. Flynn then betrays Nate and escapes, as Nate is caught and imprisoned. After the irritated Nate is bailed out by Chloe and Sullivan, he discovers that Chloe, unlike Flynn, is pretending to work for their client, war criminal Zoran Lazarevic, and that she'll help them reach the next clue. After they arrive, they discover a tomb holding the bodies of Marco Polo's men, a map to the Stone's location and a golden dagger said to be a passport—now that Nate has the key, he just needs to find the door, that is, while trying his best to avoid Lazarevic...

The game opens as Nate awakens injured in a train, which is hanging off a mountain's snowy cliff; once you climb out, it flashes back to the heist—after you lift the artifact, and then find the dagger, you'll set out for the Stone's locale. And the base gameplay consists of navigating the environments with Nate's traversal (pull levers, switches or turn cranks to enable objects and open doors; boost allies up to ladders; push objects to reach higher hold, squeeze through tight places, etc.) and platforming skills (hurdle over gaps, shimmy on ledges, climb from hold to hold, scale up ladders and rope—or swing from rope—etc.), as you combat enemies (take cover and replenish ammo with downed enemy weapons while using Nate's varied arsenal, stealth and melee moves), evade and counter larger scale affronts (destroy helicopters and a tank with weightier weapons or turrets, etc.) and consult Nate's journal in puzzle-solving (rotate objects in correct direction, direct mirrors, place the correct objects on pressure plates, etc.) in order to make your way past the environments' blockages and closer to the Cintamani Stone's resting place; the ancient, fabled city of Shambhala.

Your enemy is Lazarevic's fully armored mercenaries—and their many types: the gray armored grunts; more resilient, black armored (often helmeted) mercs; more heavily armored mini-boss-like mercs with Kevlar from head to toe (they take dozens of hits to down), and the even more heavily armored mercs equipped with the giant GAU 19 gatling-gun (taking dozens upon dozens of hits to down)—along with later hulking, yet agile yeti-like creatures and the (blue, ape-like) Shambhalan Guardians (both of which take nearly hundreds of hit to down). You'll be combating the above enemies with the Tranquilizer Dart Gun (used in an early heist), 92FS 9mm pistol, P08 9mm pistol, .45 Defender pistol, Pistole (shotgun pistol), 9mm fully auto pistol (or Uzi), Desert 5 (one- shot) pistol, Wes 44 Revolver, Moss 12 Shotgun (good), SAS 12 Shotgun (better), AK- 47 Assault Rifle (mid-range), FAL Assault Rifle (long-range), (best overall) M4 Assault Rifle, MP40 Submachine Gun, Dragon Sniper, M32 Hammer—grenade launcher, RPG 7, GAU 19 (gatling-gun), Crossbow, and Mk-NDI Grenades.

An early heist sequence has Nate take security guards out non-lethally with knocks to the head, chokes and trank darts, but from there, you'll solely be fighting (and killing) the armed and hostile enemy mercs. The combat system itself is chaotic and intense (furthered by semi-destructable environments), and consists of using the above listed arsenal (or in several spots, turrets) to shoot away at the enemy and their cover (like wooden walls and crates, which splinter and break away under heavy fire); grenades, explosive objects, M32 Hammer, RPG 7 and propane tanks (that you can carry, throw, and then detonate in mid-air) to kill multiple enemies at once (as they, clouds of dust and random objects fly); Nate's melee moves to attack them in close quarters (hooks, kicks to the crotch, headbutts, etc); and sneak attacks to pull the enemy from ledges, from behind cover (as he kicks their crotch, pulls them down and snaps their neck, or pulls them on their backs, and then uses a press of his elbow to crush their windpipe) or a simple break of the neck from behind with an audible *snap.*

When shot, enemies stumble, stagger and flail to the floor as they lightly grunt/moan, and while combat can be tense, gunfights still retain a staged, theatrical feel—they're more subdued than most in its genre. The enemy attacks and frequently spawns from nowhere and from every side, as they take cover, surround, and then overwhelm you in the wide-open areas, making it easier for them to flank you and difficult for you to gauge where each of them are. It just steps up further in, as they become armed with more powerful, one-hit kill laser-pointed snipers, M32s, RPG 7s (at a few points, they man turrets, or pull up in turret-mounted trucks), and riot shields that block all direct fire. The more heavily armored enemies mix with the others, as they slowly advance on your position with little worry of your fire, along with the later creatures that leap from wall-to-wall (making it hard to get a lock), continuously charge and swipe at you (killing you in a couple of hits), and then either pin you down (forcing you to perform a button QTE to get unpinned) or grab you by the throat and lift you in the air (forcing you to repeatedly shoot them until you're released)...

And on the very last stretch, the nearly impervious, hulking-suited mercs armed with deadly gatling-guns make an appearance, as well as the equally resilient Shambhalan warriors that behave like the above creatures, but fire deadly arrows from crossbows (that kill in less than three hits) and fling bolo grenades; the odds are always stacked against you. Even environments are your enemy, and right from the start, you'll have to scale a hanging train—injured—as rocks tumble down, break your holds and objects crumble from under you—platforming continues this precarious trend, with holds that fall away, or timed platforms that abruptly retract when time's up. Nate is in constant peril, from escaping a truck (that tries to run you down in a narrow ally); disabling a spiked-ceiling trap before being crushed; slowly dragging an injured ally while fending off mercs and evading turrets; advancing to the front of a moving train while dodging overhead objects, fighting mercs and evading a helicopter as it destroys each car you jump from; fleeing a tank as it breaks through whole walls and blows you from cover, all the while on-foot mercs fire with RPGs—and it just goes on...

Nate can only take a few hits, and if you don't take adequate cover, the edges of the screen will smear red and sap of color, as his heartbeat increases and ears ring from explosions—there is no room for error. The cutscenes contain many large explosions; huge train and helicopter crashes; (all the below is bloodless) Lazarevic stabs his own man for stealing a trinket, and later shoots an injured man dead; Tenzin rescues Nate by leaping on a creature's back and stabbing at it; and the Shambhala warriors shoot a merc in the back and another in the forehead with arrows. As for age, like the first, although overall violence (in terms of realism) is relatively subdued, this time around, blood effects are negligible, and the main casts' nonchalant take on their plight keeps things light; with the introduction of a very flirtatious Chloe, the suggestive, low brow humor, along with now frequent language (there is fifty-two uses of sh*t alone) have been considerably amped up, not to mention the cold, merciless anagonist's presence, the appearance of the freakish, hostile creatures, and the fact that Nate is in intense, near-death peril at a constant rate—it's just more suited to mid-teens.

Content review posted: 10/27/09

Content review

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