5/5 ★ – Oliver_Gamer's review of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

This game has the prefect balance of gunplay, puzzles, and platforming. One thing never drags on too long it always switches back when it needs to. The combat is always introducing a new element as well like more enemy types or weapons or set pieces like a helicopter tailing you on a moving train or a convoy section. There’s a lot of different locations so the scenery never feels stale like in Uncharted 1. The gunplay is satisfying is the vertically of the combat areas and quick decision making make it infinitely replayable to me. The puzzles are less than 1 I think but are definitely made better. They aren’t hard but they require a little brain power and help mix things up. The climbing is also a lot better now because there’s a bigger margin for error and they mix the climbing in with the puzzles and shootout making it far more interesting. The pacing side of things the game is a total knockout and perfect in that regard. Hand to hand combat is refined and may seem like a glorified QTE but I always found it satisfying and it’s flashy and well animated enough to look badass. The stealth is now a viable option is combat unlike the first game. It’s a great prelude to combat taking out guys before going guns out and works well for a game that isn’t stealth at all. The story is nothing profound or unique but it’s not trying to be. It’s there to be fun and get you wrapped up in a mystery and take you to many different locales. The characters are all very enjoyable thanks to impressive dialogue and voice acting. Nate, Chloe, Flynn, Sully, Elena are all memorable and have great interactions. It’s funny and witty and overall well written. The villain Lazavich is over the top evil and has a great presecene to him and Flyyn has a Nathan Drake type attitude about him but his goals are more sinister. It’s a simple pulpy action adventure story extremely well told. The cutscenes and story are there but most of your time will be in the gameplay and I think that’s how it should be and it’s an absolute blast to play every time.