Uncharted 2's Sloppy Fiction

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the highest rated game of the year, winner of more than a few publications' Games of the Year awards. But that doesn't mean it did everything right.

[Nambassa]

It's a fantastic game and it's great fun to play. That's all that matters to me.
These tiny squibbles that the author of the article has defiantely did not ruin the game for me. He's nit-picking.
I can't imagine how he can find a way to enjoy any games if he's complaining about killing someone when your character stated he did not want to kill anyone. Maybe he didn't want to, but he was forced to in that situation. Anyway, the joke Flynn made at that moment cracked me up.

[Elven6]

I don't think he is saying the game is bad, from the last paragraph it seems like he really enjoyed it and even congratulated Naughty Dog on recreating a movie type experience. His problems seem to be with minor plot holes.

No game is ever perfect, a game will always have minor imperfections which may ruin things for you. Be it trying to ride the Pelican in Halo: Combat Evolved back to base only to have your character die in oblivion, or even the scenario this guy is talking about. Not everyone will feel the same way, basically the point I'm trying to get at is its hard for developers to cater to every single scenario without essentially breaking their game.

[Saaking]

The story is better than the large majority of games released. Yes, there's some unrealistic parts, but it's just a game and the story told is a very thrilling one. I wasn't bored for a single second while playing this masterpiece. And I don't really recall there being many plot holes. It was a very coherent story.

[HammockGames]

So I wouldn't be too worried about a few inconsistencies with regards to "sloppy fiction" or reality itself. It's a frickin' game.

Besides, anybody who believes that all the convenient details of the story are truly accurate would probably clock in with an IQ less than Forrest Gump.

[Maddens Raiders]

I'll tell ya what wasn't done right and is real sloppy fiction: HD-DVD add ons - yeah. Lame ass media.

(don't click on site)

[ico92]

im reading this article and im just like wow is this guy freaking serious , no one praised uncharted 2 for have a non linear approach, with open world gameplay they praised it for the exact opposite why? because of its PACING if you played the 1st uncharted like you said you would no that it does the same thing , naughty dog was trying to take a summer action movie blockbuster and translate it to a game like most summer blockbusters they don't out stay there welcome, in action movies its from one point to the next and thats why uncharted 2 has received alot of praise because its one of the 1st games to truly nail a hollywood action movie , from story, to set peices to characters and they nailed it.The writer obviously didn't have the slightest clue of what uncharted 2 was aiming at but the thing that made me LMFAO the most was this...

"....But they’re non-lethal dart guns, so it’s okay, and a bunch of museum guards get tranqed. Then, in the midst of this, Drake is hanging from a roof edge when a guard walks toward it. The game prompts the player to hit the square button — which results in grabbing the guard and throwing him to his apparent death."

if that really botherd you you really shouldnt be playing games i mean wow, the most irrelevant part of the game and it bothers you lol wow.

[Kevin ButIer]

Great effort here to bash Uncharted 2..., anyway is good to know that some areas need improvement cause ND is a BEAST in that department. Just take a look to Uncharted and the amazing acomplish made at Uncharted 2.

Uncharted 3 = EPIC on the power of EPIC

BTW. The guard that you refer in your sloppy text doesnt die, you can clearly see how he swims to a rock. grrr

[mastiffchild]

The question this asks me is:why is this guy annoyed at the plot failings of the game with possibly the best, most cohesive plot and story of the year?

If he wanted to show that5 games do their stories pretty badly he should surely have chosen another game, no? MW2 springs to mind as a game where the plot has more holes than the parts that hang together! It does seewm like there's an element among the gaming media that wants to create a disturbance by knocking a great game for one of the things, compared to other games, that it does best!

[sikbeta]

Sloppy fiction?

Whatever, The Game is Awesome and anything can't change that

Gamers FTW!!!

[mastiffchild]

The question this asks me is:why is this guy annoyed at the plot failings of the game with possibly the best, most cohesive plot and story of the year?

If he wanted to show that5 games do their stories pretty badly he should surely have chosen another game, no? MW2 springs to mind as a game where the plot has more holes than the parts that hang together! It does seewm like there's an element among the gaming media that wants to create a disturbance by knocking a great game for one of the things, compared to other games, that it does best!

[zoks310]

Are you serious? This guy must have just woken up from a 50 year nap. Fiction buddy... fiction. How old is this person? because from what he/she wrote he/she is either slow or very young.

[Eamon]

The narrative is goddamn amazing due to it resembling holywood adventure style storytelling.

The voice acting is top notch and brings so much life into the characters.

The dialogue script is very well written with loads of correctly implemented lines in conversations and numerous memorable-worthy quotes.

The actual "story" however is nothing spectacular (It's no MGS4 or Bioshock 2) but it's good enough and a lot better than Uncharted 1 (which the story was horrible)

But what makes Uncharted 2 stand out as king of 2009 is its gameplay and graphics! =D

[andyo13]

i have to actually correct this guy. He says drake doesn't wana kill anyone because they're just museum guards. Which is fine. But the article says theres a character hole where drake pulls one of the guards over a cliff to his apparent death. Only if you actually watch the guard he actually swims to safety and didn't die.

[cliffbo]

this article is utter trash and should be ignored.

the guy writing the article is just trying to rubbish the game for the sake of it there are very few games on any system with as little wrong with them like UNCHARTED 2 or 1 for that matter imo he is an XBOX owner and most likely has not played the game or alternately is in the pay of MS any true gamer would not whine about a few minor flaws in a game.

if everyone stopped reading these pathetic articles then maybe they would write decent articles instead of trying to trash every ps3 only games.

how come you don't see these type of articles about the 360 exclusives ? ill tell you why because MS own nearly all the journalists out there, they either pay them or they pay them in kind ie free stuff.

where as sony do not do this since they think the hardware should be enough to sell itself and not need to bribe people to say nice things about there products.

[Double Toasted]

PS3 fanboys have a lot to brag about...but so does 360 fanboys with the Gears of War franchise...

[MGOelite]

ladies and gentlemen the definition of petty(sp?)

[HammockGames]

Indeed. Or just weak.

[Troll_Police]

Look at how hard the haters have to work to find something wrong(in their minds) with Uncharted 2. The author really had to dig deep for that one. Desperate much?

[BX81]

LoL! Kind of like that article the other day about the wrong writing on a map in MW2. None of these games are real they are made to entertain and I for one most certainly was.

[Pennywise]

OMG A GAME ISNT REAL?

[ActionBastard]

Keyword: FICTION

[mrv321]

Did anyone else notice how A) The said guard falls intro water B) Said guard lands back first(in my game) which increase chance of survival because his rips aren't crushed into his lungs. SECONDLY they could have worked that joke into the MANY stealth bits, they didn't add the guard falling just for some joke.

ALSO so what it's fictional... loads of games are fictional in fact MOST games are fictional. This writter is so petty I'm surprised he didn't bring up the health regen or unkillable friends.

[mrv321]

You bring up an excellent point.

In a non-fiction world as in real life if you where a group of heavily armed soldiers with assault rifles and came accross 2 guys you wouldn't call for back-up now would you? Afterall your a group of ten men and there's two guys one of which is older.

[NotSoSilentBob]

How come these guys haven't done a story
on Saboteur?
Or Assassins Creed?
or inFAMOUS?
or Battlefield Bad Company?
or CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE 2?

[mrv321]

For two reasons.

1. To attract the attention of fanboys
2. Because he is a fanboy

[abc1233]

because uncharted 2 doesn't have many flaws which stare you right in the face.

[morganfell]

Because Uncharted 2 is a PS3 exclusive that crushed everything other consoles had to offer. The idea of the PS3 doing what some thought impossible is killing fanboys o othr consoles.

[Akagi]

Or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

[evil_monk3y]

maybe you should take it as a compliment to Uncharted's superb story and narrative that the author wrote an entire article only to talk about such minor discrepancies. unlike a game like modern warfare where the faults are so glaring and abundant that pointing out is not necessary

[Eamon]

It's a conspiracy.

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

Oxymoron much?

[iceman06]

Doesn't fiction suggest that you are taking liberties with story telling. Therefore, making things up as you go. As for "sloppy"??? There aren't many gaping holes in the story that take huge leaps of logic, or lack thereof, to follow! The author, and I use that very lightly, is reaching HARD!!!

[nogolis]

Oh, FU*KING please!!!!!!! This is the most absurd write up yet. "Uncharted's sloppy fiction" It's a game! What the hell did they expect? What, do they think Halo's fiction is better? Please. Uncharted is the best game I've played this side of Ico & Shadow of the colossus this generation and that's not fiction. It's non fiction. Write that one up. Damn dip $#it's!

[altimako02]

the parts he is talking about, and they do seem a bit out of context with the game but the guard joke was funny. on that note to me uncharted 2 is the best looking console game so far this gen , but I just couldn't get in to it , I did not even get the game. what I mean is , the game is very childish but it has mature suggestive themes . the mechanics make for a game that is appealing to a child but the story is appealing to adults , and combining these two characteristics just didn't work for me

[nogolis]

You just described Halo and Gears of War. 1 to 3 on the Halo front and 1 to 2 on the Gears of War Front. But thanks for your input.

[altimako02]

plz explain

[nogolis]

Well, in Halo you have really mature, complext over tons, right? I mean, generic aliens fighting off a resistance to better the universe. I mean, it's all so original. It's all so new. Well, new if it had come out before 1954.

And Gears of War, what with it's super ultra cool mature dialogue. characters, however generic they looked, talking like grown ups. Saying things like "P*SSY & F*CK! That's super dupper cool, yo.

Fact is, a first person shooter is a first person shooter and Gears of War, fundamentally, plays like Uncharted; only Uncharted is more polished. It took the elements of Gears and made them 10 x's better. Oh, and it has a serviceable story with likable characters. Something Gears & Halo fail to do.

[swiftshot93]

Childish gameplay? Its a third person shooter with optional stealth, simple yet fluid and fun platforming, and a couple of puzzles sprinkled in. How is that 'childish'?

[altimako02]

consists of climbing walls jumping to ledges finding the way to get to the next area , which if I would put a description on that it is a platformer which relate to sonic , mario . dont get me wrong people love the game , just because I didn't dosent mean you have to bash other games , which I dont particulary care for either . and this is my opinion there is no need to get all in an uproar and ranting about other games , all that is showing that you are a fanatic about your particular console of choice

[altimako02]

childish gameplay mixed with adult gameplay with a mature theme

[altimako02]

is not childish. But when base gameplay consists of only jumping and climbing to reach the next spot on the map , then you have a platformer which is dedicated to kids. and dont take this the wrong way , many games have jumping and climbing in them and are not for kids, but in uncharted 2 its the base mechanic. the point of my opinion is that naughty dog made a game that gameplay appeals to children but put sugestive senarios in them . its a contradiction in its self. and just because I have my own opinion on it doesent mean that I think everybody should have my opinion, its MY OPINION. In no way am I trying to elevate my opinion above anyones opinion, its just how I feel.

[nogolis]

The only contradiction made here is your own. Jumping and Shooting and Climbing is now kids play, folks. It's all for kids. Halo and Gears of War, however, not for kids. No way. Nope. Please. I'm glad your out of bubbles, though.

[onanie]

You are certainly entitled to your opinion, but don't complain when people find it petty.

[neonlight45]

moving on....

[Anorexorcist]

"...takes pains to explain to his accomplices that he doesn’t want them to bring guns, because they’re just going up against museum guards — and he doesn’t want to kill anyone"

"...Drake is hanging from a roof edge when a guard walks toward it. The game prompts the player to hit the square button — which results in grabbing the guard and throwing him to his apparent death. An accomplice makes a joke of this and Drake makes no mention of this completely out of character action."

Oh you got to be F'n KIDDING ME!!! The rest of the article is the same as this; just complaining about stupid, minor issues such as this associated with the gameplay action and the dialogue structure.

Hair-splitting at its best.

"Arguably this is a sign that the Naughty Dog developers are right on target. It wouldn’t have occurred to me as a goal, but it might be a sign of perfection to have emulated not only the globe-hopping spectacle and history-mashing treasure hunts of well-loved action films, but also their sloppiness in integrating action and fiction. Let’s hope, however, that Uncharted 3 can reconsider this aspect of devotion to its inspirations."

Well I don't see anyone not having anything against the PS3 or Sony complaining about Uncharted 2, so maybe Naughty Dog can do the right thing for Uncharted 3; make it multi-platform so all the stupid jealous haters left out in the cold can be appeased as well, right?

Naw, not in their pathetic life times!

[dkgshiz]

They just cant handle the fact no 360 games won any awards this year. UC2 mopped the floor with everything this year. I mean look at Gamespots GOTY awards. There all PS3 exclusives.

[chrisulloa]

No actually you guys are the only ones that seem to care lol. GOTY doesn't mean much anymore.

[Anorexorcist]

Yeah GOTY doesn't mean much...TO YOU...when anything Gears of War or Halo doesn't acquire it.

We can all see through you like a wet T-shirt. STFU and try to save some dignity.

[rucky]

That's cause you don't have one this year. Oh I forgot you have MW2 the game everybody already played in 2007.

[Briyen]

if you look down in the water you see him swimming back right?

i always loved that detail, how could he have missed that?

[micro_invader]

Playing on a small television? :^D

[Flipfito]

are we forgetting is just a video game? people are spoil these days, they just want more and more, games like this are Amazing but we all know THERE IS NO!! SUCH THING AS PERFECTION IN VIDEO GAMES!!!

[The_Zeitgeist]

I think half of you didn't even read the article. He is not saying the story is bad. He is saying that sometimes the story or objectives don't fit in context with the game play. The best example he used was the jungle diversion scene. You are supposed to create an explosion to create a diversion. Yet you have to fight a bunch of dudes. Meaning someone would hear. The objective calls for stealth but the game play makes you fire fight.
He made a valid point and I think its sad to see so many gamers turn a blind eye to any criticism of the game. It's not infallible People nitpicking naughty dog in that way will only make the next game better.
To be honest though I never even noticed these things when I first played it.

[Anorexorcist]

But honestly, why write a damn article about it and make such a big, damn deal out of it?

The writer even went as far as to say: "Let’s hope, however, that Uncharted 3 can reconsider this aspect of devotion to its inspirations."

Yes, because Uncharted 2 just didn't have it going on in that aspect and was just nonsensical shooting with some spontaneous acting in between, right? I honestly think that is what the author really wanted to say, yet didn't want to be viewed as a fanboy.

Why doesn't the author just go the extra mile and complain about how impossible it would be for Drake to carry so many gun magazines in that little clip pouch that he has on the right side of his body? In appropriate fiction, Drake would only be able to hold about 60 extra rounds, which would equal about 4 extra magazines.

Sloppy fiction indeed.../s

[raptorjacob]

nit picking

[cyclindk]

Yep, all weird little incongruities, but I had more issues with other parts of the fiction myself; I simply didn't like the implementation of the guardian guys, reminiscent of "Congo."

And I would have preferred more of a twist ending that NONE of the characters saw coming until perhaps <SPOILER> Drake had just made it out of the foundering city.

Great game either way though, played through on all difficulties back to back when I first got it.

[bjornbear]

why does it have to be U2 getting the silly little journalists nit picking.

where was this guy when other games came out? Meh? MEH?

BECAUSE IT WOULDN'T GIVE THEM ANY HITS THATS WHY xD!!!!!! hehe

[LeonSKennedy4Life]

1) Nathan threw a guy into the water. - Not dead.

2) Gunfights were occurring all around them. - Guns wouldn't have distracted anyone. Giant explosions...yeah!

[macalatus]

My fellow Sony gamers, do not worry what the author said. The Uncharted series prove that you can have an enjoyable storyline without making it as deep as MGS4 or Assassin's Creed. In today's world, games can be either a)crappy storyline but with lots of gore, or b)make a storyline really deep in order for a game to be fun. The classy, mature, and intelligent gamers have spoken!

Sony Gamers Lead the Way!

[Awesomeo3000]

seriously someone wrote an article about how in the beginning of uncharted drake didn't want to kill anyone but apparently does in a scene who cares why does every game get criticized for the smallest things how is this even news worthy

[Anorexorcist]

If its hit-worthy or flame-worthy, that is all you need to get it through.

[Meryl]

how come bots always attack everything that is better on PS3 in an attempt to make their precious xbox 360 look better??

[AliTheBrit19]

The author of the article is not a bot...

Why is it, you assume that someone is a bot for saying something which shines any kind of negativity on the PS3 or any of its exclusives?

The PS3 is not perfect, it has a LOT of problems, as does many of its exclusives, just with Xbox 360.

[AliTheBrit19]

It's good to see someone has the guts to say this

Don't get me wrong, I loved the game, but I have to agree with a lot of this article.

[Unicron]

The entire article is predicated on the idea that the game doesn't conform to its own fiction. His pretty much only example is that Drake kills a guy near the start by pulling him off the edge. If the author took the time to do a little research, you would see the guy doesn't die, and swims away to the rocks shortly after. Therefore, this entire article is basically moot. So what, exactly, are you "agreeing with?" And I don't mean that in a snide way.

No game is perfect, but this is fallacious nitpicking at its finest.

[evil_monk3y]

guys hes not saying that the game is bad he is just pointing out what he thinks are some of the inconsistencies with the game.even though the first point is moot because he falls into water and and all the others are very minor and dont stop uncharted from being awesome you guys should be more open to criticism instead of mindlessly labeling everyone as fanboy

[devilhunterx]

another pointless rant blog

[MasterOne]

The author of this article only wanted to get hits otherwise if he really liked the game as he claimed, the chosen name for the article would have been different. He needs to go back to the comfort of his parents basement.

[DigitalHorror81]

Flamebait for sure. Oh, and to whoever made the foolish comment, GOTY means nothing, let's see...

Oblivion...
Fallout 3...
Uncharted 2...
Little Big Planet...

I'll stop there.

[CrippleH]

I like how they should have put MW2 as a sloppy fiction instead, the story didn't make sense at all.

[BrianC6234]

You know someone has too much free time when they write about the fiction in Uncharted 2. It's a game. It doesn't have to be perfect all the time.

[Justin_bristoe]

fail

[EvilBlackCat]

12 - Fnck all this stupid console war!!!! HAPPY 20Fncking10!
I wish all of you

Gamers
Fanboys
Droids
xbots
PC fans
wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iii fans
N4G
Microsoft Xbox PR's on this site
Sony PlayStation PR's on this site (especially you morganfell)
Nintendo PR's
Haters
MAC fans

I WISH ALL OF YOU a Fncking awesome 2010 and fnck da console war!!!!!
VIVA LA GAMING IN 2010!!!!!!!!!!

DEATH TO 2009 THE WORST DECADE IN HISTORY! DEATH TO THE N.W.O.!!!

[karan8624]

But... I didnt notice any of it. So I dont care

[shysun]

To much time on his hands!

[Raoh]

A few of my friends want to say hello.....

[stuntman_mike]

the negative side of the freedom of speech all the nutters getting thier own blogs.

[SmokingMonkey]

people find the lamest excuses to hate on PS3 games:

"teh fiction isn't adding up"

he's complaining about pulling a guy off a roof in a mission where your not supposed to kill any1? That bothers him, but the citimani stone injected oafs are ok?

It's like hating on Killzone2 for not being "original" and then saying MW2 is teh bee's knees'

Man, I swear the only thing 'wrong' with the PS3 are the amount of haters.

[ZBlacktt]

Who ever wrote this. Please, just stop gaming. It is clearly something you will never get.

[tiamat5]

Once we talk about Halo,Gears of War,Mass Effect,Fable,Modern Warfare 2, Prototype,Mario, Zelda and Metriod's lack of proper story,plot holes, unbelievable narrative,cliche storyline and shallow charaters,then we can talk about Uncharted 2's story flaws.I mean what is with these people who search for any and every flaw in a Sony game but glide past every glaring fault in other games?. Halo is perfect in everyway.Full stop. Mario is perfect. In comes Ratchet and Clank CIT.Everything wrong with it. Insomniac please move on, your getting boring,while the 50th mario game rolls out of the tedium machine.Just play the game and stop the I like it but don't love it articles just to get attention.

[Another One]

Boy I bet Naughty Dog takes criticism far better than their fans do. Yes it's a small gripe, but a gripe that could make the next Uncharted even closer to perfection. As long as a gripe isn't baseless then it's possible that it could help make the next installment better.

Absolutely love UC2, but some things could be improved on.

[DigitalAnalog]

What game DID?

-End Statement

[Coolmanrico]

and I have to say I loved the game. It has everything I love in a game. It's third person, a enjoyable story, action and more.

[xplosneer]

When I pulled the guard off the tower, he seemed to fall into the water and swim towards the edge. It didn't see him fall into any rocks... I could see the outline clearly moving with arms in a swimming motion. Maybe it's just me...