4.5/5 ★ – DarkDrawer's review of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Remastered.

This game honestly fixes everything about the first game with exception to some further complexity to the plot causing a few wrinkles along with some noticeable dips in quality. The game opening strong with a later section of the game was a welcome surprise and when it swung back around to it, it did speed up the process. Similar to the first game, the collectibles were not interesting to get as they usually would break the pace of the levels. This game opened with the introduction of the mystery being Marco Polo's lost fleet which turns into a quest for Shambhala for a stone. With this, you're introduced to another 2 adventurers. A guy by the name of Harry and a past ally of Nathan Drake's, Chloe. Both fulfil a much needed niche in the story that makes it much more interesting. Chloe especially steals the show as she is both one of the more interesting characters in the story and she occupies some of the best gameplay moments. Lazarević, the main bad guy of this game, and Harry both serve as a good foil for Nathan Drake. Harry because (after his betrayal), we can see how incompetent he is compared to Nate and Lazarević due to his brutality. Some of this in lost in a game where you take out waves and waves of enemies, but overall it was sent across well. They were both a welcome improvement from the last game passing around the enemies (and then killing them), however, Harry's death to Lazarević (although shows his brutality) takes away from what could've been a cathartic fight and artificially heightens tensions in the end. Harry had no incentive to blow up the main team other than spite. Gameplay wise, the movement is a lot smoother and the climbing makes a lot more sense. There were a few times where it was unclear where to go, but this was a minimal issue in the end and the game takes pity on you and gives hints. Gunplay was noticeably better as there were a lot more variety of weapons and moving from weapons to other weapons was very natural and integral to the main gameplay. Additionally, more enemy types were added which are included with their guns. Improvements all around in this department. The noticeable dips in gameplay existed where the game slows down or has a very long section of waves of enemies. For example, when Nathan goes see Schäfer's failed expedition. This section is long, sets up future events and feels likes a detour from the main objective. Another section that seemed long was the fortress section and the temple section with Elena. Likely the two most difficult section, it wasn't the difficulty that made it annoying, but rather that these sections seemed more like the end section than Shambhala. Both sections also included Elena which took away from fun dialogue possibilities with Chloe. Elena is well liked by this game and is given a lot of respect, but she doesn't offer a lot more than she did in Uncharted 1. She's a plucky hero and that's about it. This contrasts from the more cynical Chloe who is more adept at adventuring and looks out for herself. They are foils for each other and coincidently both love interests for Nathan Drake. The scale of this game feels a lot fuller than Uncharted 1. There's a lot more areas explored, a lot more varying gameplay, etc. Overall a much more satisfying experience. The ending sequence is a bit abrupt. Shambhala is comparatively a shorter experience. While is ensures you don't tire of the area, it is likely some of the most interesting gameplay sequences, so it's a shame overall. Like I said previously, Elena gets injured in Harry's suicide via grenade attempt and so she and Chloe are out of commission, so Nathan can square off against Lazarević. This sequence and Nathan shooting the McGuffin serum after Lazarević drinks from it (gaining some level of immortality), is a bit of a headscratcher. Lorewise, some enemies have evidently drunk from the sap, but its affected them differently. This and the foil for Lazarević and Nathan (being Nathan Drake doesn't have the will to kill and to kill his compassion when Nate has to murder a lot of people) takes away from the ending This game is the best when it involves a partner character, so this is why Chloe's section was so good. I would've liked some sections with Sully, but he exited the game after some of the opening sections. Also, this game does a lot to show Nathan Drake's attraction to Elena and being a hero, but I didn't really find it all too interesting. I was much more interested in the treasure hunting and I thought Chloe facilitated that a lot more. Additionally, I thought their interactions were the most dynamic. All in all a good game, but maybe some decisions weren't what I would've done and some sections dragged on more than they should've. An improvement in everyway than its predecessor.