Lens of Truth: Uncharted Evolution Analysis

Lens of Truth writes, "There's no doubt that Uncharted:Drake's Fortune is one of the best looking and most entertaining adventure games we've ever laid eyes on, but the question remains, was Uncharted a one-hit wonder? Naughty Dog answered that question recently by releasing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves(U2:AT). We seized this opportunity to put both versions of Uncharted under our Lens to see if Naughty Dog could recreate the magic and deliver another masterpiece."

[RudeSole Devil]

IMO Gears of War 2 looks way better. IMO!

[Sunny_D]

Pshh please...
Do we need to show the comparison with Uncharted 1 (yes I'm talking about 1 here)against gears 2?
But, it's your opinion.

http://kineticninja.blogspo...

[darkecho]

Rudesole, your opinion is dumb.

[ShAkKa]

You need to get some better eyeglasses IMO ^_^

[evildeli]

I liked LOT's comparison more.

[Somnipotent]

yep, that would be YOUR opinion and in this case, your opinion sucks.

[Darkeyes]

0% average frame tear... Lol thats ridiculous perfection right there.

[darthv72]

It is not an insult in any way. You just need to know that the improvements in halo 2 over halo 1 were quite substantial. Not only graphical but gameplay/story, multiplayer...everything was improved.

The same holds true for UC2. It is vastly improved over UC1 that it is now the "halo killer" for sony. It is their halo 2.

Now lets hope ND doesnt mess with the chemestry to much otherwise UC3 will end up like halo 3. Good game but not as WOW factor as the 2nd.

Yes...I went there with this comparison.

@below: I'll give you the story part because it was different. Yet H2 really expanded on that story and gave it a nice cliff hanger ending like Empire strikes back. The first sets the pace, it is up to the sequels to carry the torch the rest of the way. I think H2 did a nice job but 3 stumbled across the finish (the fight) line. Just my view of it.

[TheBand1t]

Really? Halo 2 had killer multiplayer....but Halo 1 most definitely had the better story.

[Obama]

If you truly think that way then you must find ugly girls pretty.

[mal_tez92]

"The first time you put U:DF or U2:AT into your system there’s about a 5 min loading screen."

Both of those games had an initial loading screen of less than one minute the first time I played. Every other time it was about 20 seconds. Definitely no where near 5 minutes.

[Ravage27]

wow ZERO frame tearing, is that a new industry standard or what? o.0

[Sarcasm]

"wow ZERO frame tearing, is that a new industry standard or what?"

Nah, that's what happens when it's V-Locked. The amazing part though is that usually a game that's V-Locked sacrifices the frame rate, yet ND was able to still have a solid frame rate throughout the entire game on top of the V-Lock.

Uncharted 2 stands as another technological achievement for the PS3. Let's hope the trend continues.

[sikbeta]

Great joke, you made my day with that lol

oh wait.... you really believe those words, that's the bad thing about this gen, kids are so naive, they play one game and think is like the second coming of god

[mrv321]

Uncharted 2 is truly locked at 30 fps... I had a choice OFP or Uncharted 2. I made the wrong choice.

[jaidek]

Ouch! That sucks. OFP was really disappointing in my book. Maybe do a trade in and put it toward this gem.

[mrv321]

I can see the good in this game but I want to own both, so I'll buy it soon, I probable will get Uncharted 2 this week.

But this has been one of the worst dessicions since...

(This was done on family guy)

[SnuggleBandit]

did you miss all the reviews man?

[mrv321]

I blocked out all hype for Uncharted 2, which ment I missed most of the OFP stuff... I will never do that untill Uncharted 3.

[badz149]

the 1st was already setting standards but they pushed the boundaries further with their 2nd! and in 18 months! I hope more and more devs are as 'generous' as them!

[Sarcasm]

It's not too late to jump onto Uncharted 2.

After playing OFP, you'll understand the contrast between a boring game and an enjoyable one.

:)

[Kiroe]

Naughty Dog has some serious talent on their staff. Uncharted 1 looked amazing and yet they were still able to one up themselves. Sony truly has the best first party developers ever...

[The Creep]

microsoft needs more developers like naughty dog =)

[junk-3d]

I agree. They just don't have a developer that has serious art skills. Bungie's Halo art style is too clean and truthfully looks not much better that the original Xbox's games.

I think Alan Wake and Splinter Cell is exactly what the doctor ordered for the 360's stale exclusives. Especially in pushing the visual element.

[NecrumSlavery]

Yeah the PS3 has a better tech but the issue with Microsoft is greed and marketing.

MS never takes risks. If they don't think 100% the game will make a bijillion dollars, they won't support it. Difference between LBP, Flower, or Heavy Rain to Halo or Gears.
Gears was a huge step up in 3rdPSs, but MS knew it would sell. Yeah Sony games may not sell as much as Halo, but they take chances, and I would rather play something that shows innovation than something that gratifies the now. ie God of War, has blood and gore, but epic bosses and redefined Action Adventure Hack-n-Slash. Or Heavy Rain. It's a mindfúck and redefining game. Indigo Prophecy was cult on 360 but now as a PS3 exclu it's bashed. Uncharted 2 is a great game on a great system.

If 360 had more games with originality, then it would be a better system.

[Baron79]

Great video. I knew the original had some tearing but not to that extent. Either way both games are awesome.

[evildeli]

I never noticed that much tearing when I played 1.

[lokiroo420]

"U2:AT looks to be a great contender for game of the year, but no matter what, Naughty Dog has earned the passage into gaming Hall of Fame."

Indeed.

[Shogun Master]

Nice analysis. I love both games!

[PotNoodle]

Kind of makes Uncharted: Drakes fortune look bad :o

[evildeli]

They could have saved some money and reused models. Kudos to them for updating all the characters.

[CrippleH]

Indeed, Drake went from 30k Polygon to 80k that's insane increase for a console game when most game models are around 10k to 20k.

[Bob Dole]

Wow that is impressive!

[Sir Ken_Kutaragi]

.____........___...____
.____||......||.......____||
||.........___||.......____|| 'Triple'A'Station 3' ;-P

[THE DUKE]

I really feel for you "ken", your mind has been poisoned, you spend everyday on n4g doing childish one line comments supporting your silly little console and bashing the 360 on every article. Seriously grow up dude.

[redsquad]

Yeah, 'cos 360 zealots don't do that.
Oh wait, is that Foreverflame I see below me?

[Obama]

Drakes fortune already looks better than gears 2, and UC 2 put every single 360 game to shame.

[Snatcher]

Resident Evil 5 looks as good as that game if not better.

[TheTeam06]

Knowing is better. RE5 looks good, U2 looks better.

[Obama]

I have both games and I can tell you that UC 2 looks much better, esp in the animation and color department.

[foreverflame]

Id dont see any diffrence the game still looks like crap

[electricshadow]

I missed your retarded comments! If you think either Uncharted games look bad, you're an inbred idiot.

[kenpachi]

i don't see any difference in your comments there all retarded

[Feral Gamer]

In an earlier story on here, they said that the original Uncharted used 30% of the Cell processor but Uncharted 2 uses 100%? I don't see a 70% increase in graphics. Yes, there's a difference, but not 70% better.

Plus there's the polygon discrepancy. First the number was 30,000 polygons per character. This article was from the Official Playstation Mag about a month ago

http://www.n4g.com/gaming/N...

Then it suddenly got upped to 80,000?

http://www.psxextreme.com/p...

It's definitely my GOTY, but something's wrong with these numbers they keep giving out, both cell usage and polygons.

[saint_john_paul_ii]

its not 80,000 per character, its 30,000 per character. and when they Say they are using %100 of the Processor, they mean they are using all of the SPEs. not max out the PS3.

[shadow2797]

I believe the 80000 figure refers to the prerendered cutscenes, particularly the close-ups, but that's just a theory.

I see a 70% increase, but maybe that's just me.

[CrippleH]

That's false because ND stated they use the same exact model for cutscene and gameplay. It's the difference in lighting and the textures in the cutscenes, it's higher quality.

[Sarcasm]

"I don't see a 70% increase in graphics. Yes, there's a difference, but not 70% better. "

Umm... That's like saying 1080p has 200% the amount of pixels as 720p but you don't see a 200% difference. Of course not, when something reaches such a high plateau to begin with, a 70% increase doesn't necessarily mean it will look that much better, but I'm pretty sure Uncharted 2's performance is clearly superior to Uncharted DF.

[duplissi]

actually naughty dog themselves say that the character models in u2:at are at 80000 in the featurettes in uncharted 2.

[xg-ei8ht]

I just finished uncharted 2. Could be a spolier here.

Easily one of the best games ever made.

Smooth as hell.
Great ride all the way along.

But i have a couple of things that i found strange.

1)They used Havok, instead of their own tech, i know havok is sweet and all, but rememeber the rocks you could hide behind, in the first one, if you shot or grenade etc, they would break apart piece by piece. They do not in the second, although they have more going on everywhere else physics wise.

2)I loved the sections on the trains,trucks,etc.

You know the first one had the jetski part, i wish they had done a snowmobile section where you drive the thing and blow sh^t up etc. Maybe in the next one:)

These are not knocks, just things i noticed and might have liked.

I checked my stats at the end, i stood still for 2hrs 20mins,lol now i know why everyone loves the graphics.

I will be playing through on hard, crushing etc.

But if you haven't played this game, GET IT NOW!!.

If you only have a 360, try playing this game on a friends PS3, or invest in one, it's worth it.

10/10 for me.

[Unicron]

In part two they used breakable crates and wooden slats, but I too miss the rocks.

[mal_tez92]

But if you remember towards the end of Uncharted 1 (CAUTION SPOILERS) in the Nazi bunker there were chairs and carts all over the place, that moved pretty terribly when touched. This inconsistency in physics is not an issue in Uncharted 2.

But I really do miss the rock walls.

[Sarcasm]

They didn't use just Havok but implemented it with their proprietary engine. Keep in mind that ND created UC2 in only 14-18months. So what we're seeing is truly some of the most talented individuals in gaming development.

[xg-ei8ht]

Unicron

True m8, all of it worked well, it was just when a grenade went off near the rocks and they didn't fall apart, i was like wtf. I suppose i just expected it being as it was in the first one.

I don't want to say to much about the game, there are too many AAA sections to talk about.

I heard some moaning about the ending, i thought it was excellent.

Feral Gamer

The 30,000 was from the first game, the second is 80,000.

The throughput is 1.2million triangles per frame in different sections i'm guessing.

Looking at pics, does not do this game justice and seems to degrade it alittle.

I just finished on normal and for me, it looks head and shoulders better then the first.

I watched the tech footage from the disc and they went from 150 objects per scene, to 500. That's a big difference.

I thought the first game looked amazing, but this is miles better.

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Must watch in HD. Look at the textures, lighting, skin, everything.

AMAZING.