From the days of Crash Bandicoot on the PS1 through the years of Jak & Daxter on the PS2, Naughty Dog had proven itself as a quality developer for PlayStation. The studio was shown to be ambitious and had the capacity to innovate with Crash, helping pioneer 3D platforming mechanics and spawning one of gaming's great icons, and with Jak & Daxter, it demonstrated the capacity to tell captivating stories, especially in the later games. When Uncharted: Drake's Fortune launched on the PS3, though, while certainly a solid title, it lacked the same overwhelming spectacle and critical reception of Naughty's Dog's previous games. This was not the case with Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
On October 13, 2009, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves released on the PS3 to universal acclaim, going on to win several Game of the Year awards and forever changing the gaming industry. One can go back to visit the reviews from that time, and they will find a common trend amongst reviewers: Uncharted 2's narrative, and its level design. With a well-acted, tight story that moves the player from place to place, and a level design that is still revered to this day, this is one of the few sequels to improve every aspect of the original game. Not only that, though, Uncharted 2's influence can be found in each Naughty Dog game since, its innovations directing the studio's future creations.
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Uncharted 2's Narrative: Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts
For 2009, Uncharted 2's story was good and it mostly still holds up today, though it's aged. Its characterization of Nathan Drake is a solid continuation of the character as seen in the first game, whose adventure to find Cintamani Stone and the city of Shambhala plays out just like a great action movie, with twists and turns, gunfights and explosions galore. The cast of characters surrounding Drake is well-written, from Sully and Elena to Chloe and Flynn, Drake plays off them all with wit and enthusiasm, and all the performers portraying them believably. And there is Zoran Lazarević, a pretty cliche and forgettable antagonist that still does a decent job at being unlikable and dastardly.
While it may have sounded like backhanded praise or even criticism towards Uncharted 2, these comments are essential for better understanding the game's true impact. Naughty Dog's narrative innovation was not in Uncharted 2's story itself, but in the way it was presented. The majority of the game's cutscenes were filmed with motion-capture, as opposed to being hand-animated, allowing the actors' performances to be realized in-game like never before. Furthermore, in-and-out of gameplay, the characters are interacting with one another, with numerous lines of dialogue being recorded, many of which not being particularly relevant to gameplay, but are all essential in developing the characters and story.
With all of this in mind, Uncharted 2's narrative is remembered so fondly by many because, at the time, no game had committed so strongly to this immersive, cinematic quality of storytelling. Naughty Dog was able to make a decent story feel spectacular through its commitment to realizing the game's characters and narrative. With every game that followed, these qualities would only be further refined, as the collective gaming community started to further emphasize the presentation of narrative in video games. With the conclusion of Nathan Drake's story in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and especially The Last of Us: Part 2, Naughty Dog has reached a point where the narrative quality finally matches the presentation, creating interactive experiences like never before.
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Uncharted 2's Level Design: The Power of Trains
The opening level of Uncharted 2 is one that will live in the gaming zeitgeist forever. A bloody and bruised Nathan Drake awakens in a railroad car, only to realize that it is dangling off the side of a cliff, and will likely drop. As he moves though, the slight movement rocks the car, sending him careening out the bottom with nothing but a lone handrail stopping him from falling to his death. Where other games may continue this sequence in a cutscene, Uncharted 2 gives control over to the player and it is up to them to successfully navigate Drake up, around, and through the car before it falls, the game simultaneously teaching the player how to climb.
Later on in Uncharted 2, players get to actually see how Drake ended up suspended in the train car in the introduction. The great Uncharted set piece sees Drake pushing towards the front of a moving train by taking down enemies both inside and outside—once again, dangling off of—the train. Naughty Dog rigged the train to travel through a 3D space with the surrounding environment changing as the player progresses through the level, creating a deep sense of immersion that was profound in 2009.
Beyond the technical achievement of these levels, what they both have in common is the way they both are designed to serve the gameplay and the narrative of Uncharted 2. Both instances provide for unforgettable moments of gameplay while also having deeply ingrained significance within the game's story, and for this reason, are warmly regarded to this day. This is where Naughty Dog of today first appeared, the studio perfectly balancing narrative and gameplay in its level design. Without Uncharted 2, sequences like Uncharted 4's chase through King's Bay, or escaping the Seraphite village in The Last of Us: Part 2 may not have been possible.
Naughty Dog's level of polish, immersion, and realism is often regarded as the height of the industry. The tale end of the Jak & Daxter franchise and the first Uncharted showed this potential within the studio, but it was not until Uncharted 2 where it was fully actualized. Whether or not fans will get another Uncharted title is unclear, but between the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection and the upcoming Uncharted movie, fans can look forward to revisiting Naughty Dog's impressive environments.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is playable on PS4 and PS5 through Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection.