I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite some time… time that I can finally declare worth waiting.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is, although many people are always afraid of saying it, a perfect game. And by perfect I don’t mean it has no bug, glitches or problems whatsoever, what I really mean is that the whole experience is so rich, so overwhelmingly beautiful and so intense that you just don’t care about problems that in any other game would be a big deal.

However, this game deserves to be analyzed in two very different ways: first, as someone that never played Uncharted before and, of course, as a fan of this game.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for First-Timers:

Uncharted 2 is not directly connected to the first game. It just shares some characters, some not important spoken references to the first game and, obviously, most of the mechanics. So, new players will find Uncharted 2 very welcoming and easy to catch. If you really want to know what I mean with this, just read my Halo 3 review, and you will understand why a sequel shouldn’t depend directly of its prequel.

The technical evolution is very noticeable, even if the first game already featured beautiful and believable graphics back then. It’s hard to spot an environment which looks bland or boring. Every single location is delightfully enjoyable for the player’s eyes, and this is specially important when we talk about an adventure game where exploration is one of the most important keys.

Also, Uncharted 2 brings possibly the most believable cast of fictional characters ever created in a videogame, thanks to the perfectly acted cutscenes and the best facial animation technology to date.

The wonderful soundtrack is back again, bringing some very well known pieces from the first Uncharted and featuring new orchestrated songs that are going to be remembered for quite some time. All the compositions are remarkably beautiful and very well studied, fitting most of the times with the environment that you are exploring.

My GOD! Is there something wrong with this game? Nope, absolutely not… at least, for first timers.

My veredict: 10/10

But… wait a minute… is that so? Is this game really that perfect?

Well, no. But you shouldn’t care about this stuff unless you’re picky or you just love to analyze the shit out of everything. Let’s take both reasons as a starting point.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for treasure hunters:

I remember Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune as a perfect game in many ways: the level design was clean, interesting and specially, very readable. The balance between action and exploration was superb and the game mechanics were pretty good. This is why I was surprised when I found some problems in its sequel that Uncharted didn’t have in the first place.

I found the biggest problem in the readability of the levels, and this has nothing to do with its design, which is most of the times very well done and fun to navigate. The levels have a clear conflict between design and art. Everything is so beautifully detailed that most of the times is confusing. Half of the times I found myself moving in the opposite direction just because that path lured me more to go that way than the main path, and the other half trying to jump and grab ledges that looked like the obvious path, which turned to be just a nice decoration in the environment, inviting me to meet my maker. Of course, after you beat the game for the first time, you totally forget about this issue, because you already know where you have to go at anytime.

My second concern is about the balance between combat and exploration. Maybe I’m wrong, but I noticed that Uncharted 2 focuses more on the combat than in the exploration factor. This is the way I feel it, but actually I cannot prove nothing.

Third, I noticed some similarities between the plot in this game and the plot in its prequel. Beware of the spoilers!

When I talk about similarities, I talk specially about moments or places that have the same purpose in both games. For instance, in Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune you get into the cathedral looking for the room with the stained glasses, and Nate opens one of them revealing the next clue to El Dorado. In Uncharted 2 happens the same with a window that opens just to show the pathway to Shambala. Another example can be found in the Shambala Guards. Is it really a coincidence finding supernatural creatures in the last stages of both games? I don’t think so. Like that, I found some examples, but who cares about them? The final result is completely different than in the prequel. Nothing to worry about then.

BUT, talking about similarities, I found even more when I compared Uncharted 2 with Tomb Raider 2. Check this out:

• Both games feature a mythical dagger: the Tibetan Phurba and the Xian Dagger
• Both games feature similar locations:
  • Tibetan mountains – Tomb Raider 2 VS Uncharted 2
  • Tibetan Monastery – Tomb Raider 2 VS Uncharted 2
  • Sunk ships (Well, this is a long shot… not quite a good comparison)
  • Ice palace
  • Lost City (In the end, you get into a location completely unknown by civilization)
• In both games, the bad guy is looking for eternal life and more power.
• All this similarities happen in their sequels.

So, does this affect somehow the whole experience that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves brings to your console? Nope, absolutely not. This game is just perfect, in every single way.

I’m tired of looking for its flaws. It’s obvious that I cannot beat this game with arguments… so, I’ll go back to my living room and I will beat it again in Hard mode. It gets better everytime you play it. I don’t know how the hell they did it.

So, whatever…

My veredict: 10/10

I’m speechless. This is the kind of experience that you cannot define as “a game”. ICO is more than a game, it feels like an interactive fairy tale that cannot be despised by including it in the 3D adventure genre, because that is, from my point of view, like an insult to this masterpiece. ICO gets straight to the point: it’s a 3D platformer where you have to solve a countless number of environmental puzzles, most of them to help Yorda, the mysterious girl that you find right after starting the game, to get into areas that she cannot reach by herself (Like opening doors, bridges, blowing up walls or activating hoists). At first, I thought this was a cheap and unnecessary extra challenge, because I really hate games where you have to take care of more than your main character, but soon I realized that you need her more than she needs you.

She is the key to solving many of the puzzles, and soon you start to develop some feelings toward her. Yorda is the opposite of a sidekick: she doesn’t help you unless you tell her so, she feels bored and confused most of the time, and looks like she’s escaping with you just because she doesn’t have anything better to do. Also, she doesn’t speak your language (the subtitles are just a bunch of weird symbols) and you never get to know what she’s saying, thinking or feeling at any time. You just presume what’s going on by the way her voice sounds. Don’t you think this is amazing? Yorda is a character that doesn’t speak your language, help you and neither have a background story. It’s so mysterious that is probably one of the best developed characters in videogames that I’ve ever seen.

The action is set in a massive fortress, more like a huge Zelda dungeon. Once you reach the rooftop, you can spot some landmarks that you’re going to recognize for the rest of the adventure. This helps the perception of a single huge environment even more, where you can know at any time what is your position in the fortress with no need of a map (And this is a huge achievement for a game of this kind). The lack of music reinforces the feeling of solitude, with the exception of some stingers used to communicate something, like when the shadows appear, a puzzle is solved or a door is opened.

The game is short, about 4 hours long, but that doesn’t mean it should be longer. Actually, I believe this was the perfect timing for this adventure. More would be unnecessary and less would be disappointing. There is only one thing that I miss: once you finish the game, there are no unlockables, besides the 2 player mode, which is the very same adventure with the ability to control Yorda by a second player.

By the way, it has one of the most beautiful ending themes I’ve ever heard:

My veredict: 9/10

Well, I’m disappointed with this one, not only because I was expecting a better game, but also I kinda feel like this franchise is going in the wrong direction. Of course looked like a good idea replacing tracks and using a huge environment instead, where you can move freely without restrictions… but in my opinion, this was not a good idea, or was not perfectly translated into the Burnout Universe.

First of all, driving is all you do, all the time… you drive to the next challenge, you drive the challenge, you win the challenge, you drive to the next one, you drive again, etc… my point is: when driving becomes something special? Of course is spectacular most of the times, but this feels like a fighting game where all the characters are looking the same, but the fights are insanely spectacular. It has several gamemodes like marked man (chase), stunt race (stunts), race and road rage (the real deal)… and yep, that’s all. Basically 4 gamemodes (I’m not counting Burning Route because is just another plain race) for a HUGE environment. Feels kinda disappointing, indeed. Is like the Assassin’s Creed of the racing games. An optional game mode called ShowTime (previously called Crash Time) can be activated at any time and gives the player the ability to start a massive accident in any of the Paradise City roads. The result is spectacular, but it’s completely unrealistic compared with the rest of the game, and also has nothing to do with the old Crash Time game mode.

I don’t dislike everything in Burnout: Paradise. The environment is highly detailed, watching the cars crashing never gets boring, the music selection is good (I loved the classical selection!) and it is, without any doubt, the fastest racing game I’ve ever played, together with F-Zero GX.

My veredict: 6/10

I’m trying to be up to date with all these games that I always wanted to play, and this week it’s turn for Heart of Darkness and Skate 2:

Yes, we’re talking about the Heart of Darkness for Playstation that we all (suppose to) know. From the creators of Another World, this game tried to be a revolution which only could bring half of what it firstly intended. Which makes this game so special is the outstanding visuals, the beautiful soundtrack (Being the first game with a real orchestrated OST ever) and the story that it delivers. It feels like a movie, with all its advantages and disadvantages: the game is too short (I finished it in 4 hours), the controls feel stiff and it’s just impossible to know when your character is going to jump when he’s running. The combats are mostly unfair for the player and sometimes is not very clear when running or facing the enemies is the required action to advance in the level. Another thing that mystified me is this secondary character called “Amigo”. When the action is set in another different Universe, is just way too weird to find a native tribe from God knows which planet speaking… yes, spanish. Well, something which supposed to be spanish, but spanish after all. This is just anecdotic, not annoying or offensive (Actually, I kinda like it). The final level was totally anticlimatic and hard as hell, and deserves so many insults that I just prefer to forget about it. Overall, not bad, not good. Worth checking if you have the chance.

My veredict: 6/10

I’ve been always a huge Tony Hawk Pro Skate fan… until the third game was released. Then, I just lost track. But THPS2 meant so much for me that I cannot express with words how AWESOME that game was. Since then, I’ve been looking for something similar with no success… until now. Skate 2 delivers what a skating game should be. I missed the first Skate game, but after checking how BIG and complete is the list of features that this game brought compared with its prequel, I don’t think I’m missing much. The whole experience feels right, the tricks are easy to perform, the city is huge and very nicely detailed, with thousands of possibilities and claiming to be explored. The game modes are fun and the story mode gets trickier and challenging. Overall, it’s a very well done game. Some flaws? Yepp: the music is repetitive, landing after a jump is usually your worst enemy in the game, annoying pedestrians/skaters destroying the awesome score that you were about to achieve and unexpected blackouts in your skater when he’s about to land safely. These problems really grind my gears. However, the online modes are fucking sweet and the Hall of Meat mode is just hilarious. Something that I really loved is the Skate Reel thingy (Check some of my media HERE). It offers so many interesting and fun stuff in this game that is just impossible avoid the fact that this game is übergreat.

My veredict: 9/10

Now playing:

• Playstation 2: ICO
• Nintendo DS: Rhythm Heaven
• XBOX 360: Burnout Paradise
• PC: RotorScope – The Secret of the Endless Energy