Back on Dec 19th, my friend Reeba got me Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (on recommendation by my dear wife) for a Secret Santa gift exchange. Since Dec 20th, I’ve been playing maybe an hour or so of Uncharted 2 on the Playstation 3, give or take. Some days, I play two or more hours, while some days I don’t play at all. 

Am I in college with free time to play hours a day? No. Do I have an HDTV to enjoy the fine graphic detail? No. In spite of it, I have to say that every game review is right on the money. This game is friggin’ amazing. It has to be one of best games I’ve ever played. The storyline is straight out of an action movie, the protagonist (Nathan Drake) is supremely identifiable, the acting is top-notch, the visuals are stunning, the story is entertaining, and the music is enjoyable. I love this game , because I am having so much fun with it.

Yes, you can get slightly frustrated at times, but not due to deficiencies in the game itself. There are some events and scenes where the goals can feel slighly impossible as you die over and over again. When you get past it, and you eventually will, you feel great. Furthermore, as you play, even though you are struggling, you are awestruck by what you’re trying to do — trying to outsmart the tank chasing you through a village, a firefight through the aforementioned village, fighting and maneuvering a moving train, or jumping from truck to truck in a convoy while battling soldiers shooting at you from other moving jeeps. The ancient puzzles to solve, as well as treasure hunting, and feats & trophies to accomplish and win make it all the better.

I gotta mention the train. In two consecutive chapters of the story, you jump onto a moving train, and must slowly make your way to the front of the train, in order to rescue a friend. You will fight soldiers within and on top of the train, using stealth, hand-to-hand combat, or a myriad of weapons you pick up from the foes you kill. Meanwhile, this train is travelling at full speed through absolutely stunning landscape that looks so realistic, you wish you could just sit on the train and watch the scenery. I’ve embedded a portion of the train chapter below (a rather harrowing portion of the story, let me tell you) from Youtube. Watch it full screen, and hit the HD button. It’s sweet.

I’ve now posted video and pictures here, but if you want to see more, check out the website above for the trailer with actual gameplay. You can click any of the photos here to see larger screenshots of the game in all it’s glory. It’s a phenomenal series, and Uncharted 2 is a great addition to any collection. There are just so many times while I’m playing that I just say to myself, “I can’t believe what I’m doing now.” When you play, you just feel like Indiana Jones.

Nums & Reeba, thank you so much!

I got two new PS3 games for Christmas this year. Both highly rated. Both cool.

The first is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the 2009 sequel to Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. I loved the first Uncharted and the character of Nathan Drake. This sequel has great gameplay, a great story, and is just fun to play.  It’s truly like being in an action movie. At the time of this posting, I’m about halfway through, and it’s absolutely phenomenal.

The second is Batman: Arkham Asylum. The game was written by Paul Dini, and features the voices of Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill.  Dini, Conroy, and Hamill were all involved in the original (and beloved) 1990′s Batman: The Animated Series, of which I’m also a huge fan. I haven’t gotten too far in this game yet, but it’s interesting.

New games - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Batman: Arkham Asylum

Heavenly Sword (2007)

Cue the headline news music. This week, I beat Heavenly Sword, a game for the PS3. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming.

The game came out about two years ago, and my brother-in-law Robbie borrowed it from a friend, and then lent it to me about two weeks ago.  I’d seen the title a few months ago, but I didn’t pay much attention to it.  I saw the large sword, and dismissed as one of those myriad Japanese and their large sword fetish games. However, free game to borrow? Why not.

The game is a martial arts game with a hack and slash quality to it — you know, “button mashing.” Wonderfully rendered, good story, and nice music. I did like the game a lot, and I thought it had some unique elements. The story starts out with about to begin a 1 vs a 100,000-man army final battle.  You are Nariko, a tough-as-nails woman in feudal Japan. However, one minute into it, your sacred sword that will slowly drain your life finally kills you.  As your out-of-body experience shows you going up to the sky, you end up in some strange purgatory. 

You begin talking about the legend of the Heavenly Sword, and how the major recent events began five days ago.  The game then truly begins at five days ago. The rest of the chapters in the game continue chronologically (four day ago, three, etc) until you reach the final battle you were in the beginning, in a chapter aptly named “Full Circle.”  The story continues, but I won’t spoil it. It was certainly unique.

I did like it, but the game was awfully short.  I thought the game was good, but….. I’d probably be annoyed if I spent $60 on a six hour game.  Also, while I like all the numerous martial arts moves, you have to be pretty good at hitting all the buttons (square, triangle, square, square) in the right sequence and timing to get the combos. Doable, but at some point, you just regress into just mashing all the buttons, and hoping for the best. Good voice acting too.  Anna Torv [Fringe] voiced Nariko, and Andy Serkis [LoTR, King Kong] voiced the evil King Bohan, as well as Dramatic Director.

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Too bad there won’t be a sequel.  The developer Ninja Theory has cancelled the plans for a sequel, as from a “follow the money” point-of-view, they’ll make more money on multi-platform games (XBox, PS3, etc.)  I guess they can’t convert all their PS3 game code to be compatible with both the PS3 and the XBox 360. Ah well.  I really liked the Nariko character.

Cool new Batman game coming out on August 25th.  It’s getting great early reviews, Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are basically reprising their voice roles for Batman and Joke (from Batman: The Animated Series back in the 90′s.)  Looks good, my friends. Who wouldn’t want to be Batman?

New footage released on the official, recently debuted Uncharted 2: Among Thieves website.  I read that Hollywood is working to translate the first game into a movie.  Booyah.  Watch this trailer.  Doesn’t it play out like an action movie already?  I shouldn’t get too excited about a movie version of this game. 

1. I already know the story plays out.
2. Hollywood would just screw it up.

I’m so looking forward to picking up this sequel when it is released this year.  That HIND helicopter looks like it is going to be a pain in the butt. Yes, the game actually looks like this. The original was so much fun.

Killzone 2

My other redeemed-rewards-points PS3 game arrived today: Killzone 2.  I installed it this evening, but I haven’t had an opportunity to play it yet.  Too many other things to do around here than to play videogames.  I have played the downloadable demo, and the game is pretty neat.  Good graphics, good feel to it.  I’m not ready to play it yet, as I have to finish Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune first.

The premise of the game (turns out to be the 3rd in the series) is you take your battle against the alien invaders to their home planet.  Expecting a quick win, it turns into a slugfest.  Not much of a story, I gather, but it’s an opportunity to do cool stuff in a combat zone with your squad. I’ll play it in a couple of weeks, no rush.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

I used some reward points to pick up two new games: Killzone 2 and Uncharted: Drakes Fortune.  Uncharted: Drakes Fortune arrived today in the mail, and I started playing it late this evening.  This game is awesome! This platform game is in the same vein as the Tomb Raider series, but I like it so much more.  Yes, it is a lot like Tomb Raider, but it feels like I’m also watching (and participating) in an Indiana Jones movie.  The gameplay intermixes with cutscenes wonderfully, and there’s just enough tips and hints at these early stages to help me find my way.  Controls are pretty intuitive too.

The premise of the game is you play Explorer Nathan Drake, a descendant of Sir Francis Drake, who begins a search for an ancient relic that is linked to his ancestor. With the help of some sidekicks, you-as-Nathan traverse jungles, waterfalls, caves, and ruins while avoiding scummy modern-day pirates.  I’m having a kick-ass time, and it’s only been 90 mins.  That’s usually the sign of a good game.

This game came out in 2007, and there’s already a sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, coming out in Fall 2009.  Why didn’t I get a PS3 years ago?

See the trailer below.  This is actual gameplay. I know, I know, I bet all you console guys and gals have been doing this for years.  I’m catching up to all the fun now.  Kanishk, you were so right.

The Orange Box

This month, we purchased our first two PS3 games.  We purchased The Orange Box with the PS3, and we recently added LittleBigPlanet to our collection.  Now we have a collection of…..two.

The Orange Box includes a few games – Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 follow-up episodes 1 and 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2.  I already started playing Half Life 2, but slowly.  It’s taking me a bit of time to adjust to using a game controller versus the years of using the keyboard-and-mouse combo.   I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve been running into walls, struggling to walk through a door, and gotten killed by the evil Combine soldiers who raided the house.

Good news!  This past weekend, I started improving.  Maybe the fact that I’m a little out of practice with first-person shooter (FPS) games is playing into that as well.  I’ve struggled to find caches and where to go next, while I’ve got soldiers shooting me.  I’ve found some help during my adjustment period.  I started using visual walkthroughs posted online to help me find out where to go and what to do.  It’s a crutch, but useful. The more I get comfortable, the less I’ll be freaked about getting shot.  The less I’m freaked out, the more I can concentrate on finding my way, enjoying the game better, and less reliance on the walkthroughs.

LittleBigPlanet

Our second game, LittleBigPlanet, arrived today. It’s a platform puzzle game, similar to games like Super Mario Bros, Metroid, etc.  Except it’s nothing like it at all.  The graphics are awesome, the art design is ingenious, and the game is pretty neat.  Your ability to fully customize your character, the ability to move, push, pull, swing, etc, is just fun. There are a number of maps that come with the game, but you can also go online to play other user-created levels, or create your own.

What I’m most looking to is the co-op play.  You can have up to 3 other people playing with you.  I want to play these levels with my wife.  I mean, how fun would that be!?!

These should satiate me for a while, although I do have my covetous eye on Bioshock.  Most people finish their games straight through in a 10 hours or so.  I don’t play as often, and I take my time.  I’ll be ready for a new game in a few months.

Oooh, man, I can’t wait.  I hope my PC can handle it.