Last week, the addition of multiplayer to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves was still a surprise to much of the video game press attending Sonyâs PlayStation Gamersâ Day. Naughty Dogâs reveal was almost perfect.
After inviting us downstairs to the mezzanine of the Andaz Hotel, Naughty Dog president Evan Wells told the crowd that theyâd prepared a new trailer for Uncharted 2âall the introduction really needed at that point. The trailer began with a third-person view of Unchartedâs Nathan Drake, sprinting toward a dilapidated building, assault rifle in hand.
Finding footholds and jutting bricks, Drake showed off his refined terrain traversal, climbing the half-decimated wall, then pulling himself up to the buildingâs second floor. In the distance, nine players with their PlayStation Network IDs floating above their heads. Cut to a montage of five versus five deathmatch and everyone in attendance gets a little more excited about what theyâre about to go hands on with.
Last week, it was a secret well-kept. And you could see it in the grins on the faces of the Naughty Dog team.
Drinks and attempts at appearing polite were dropped as quickly as Naughty Dog said it was time to play. So we speed-walked as nonchalantly as possible toward an open machine and we played. First upâDeathmatch.
Deathmatch
Uncharted 2: Among Thievesâ take on deathmatch, which is capped at five players per side, doesnât appear to break new ground in team-based multiplayer. Itâs rather standard stuff, with weapons scattered about each arena, maps customized from single-player levels to fit a multiplayer play style, and a goal to shoot them before they shoot you. Youâll play as one of five Heroes, including Drake, Chloe, and Sully, or one of the black-suited mercenaries, the Villains.
But the deathmatch rule set, when applied to Unchartedâs mechanics, works beautifully. Gunplay worked well enough in the original Uncharted: Drakeâs Fortune, and it works better than that here.
Players need to take advantage of cover, hiding behind brick walls, firing blindly when itâs needed. Youâll have a tactical advantage hiding out of sightârecovering health while youâre doing soâor traversing the environment to get to higher ground. Platforming works to your advantage. But that top-down perspective on the deathmatch arena has a risk tied to itâyouâve got to climb, exposing yourself to enemy fire.
The arsenal is pretty standard stuff too. There are assault rifles, pistols, sniper rifles and a very deadly, easy to dominate with chain gun. Rocket launchers and grenades will add some explosive fun to the mix, as will the gameâs melee kills. If youâre a little too close for comfort, two butts from your AK will do the trick. But if you manage to grab your opponent from behind, one quick, neck-snapping melee attack will do the job faster.
Deathmatch (and other multiplayer modes) add a bit more depth with a skills system that will quickly remind one of Call of Duty 4âs âperks.â In Uncharted 2, unlockable abilities will let players have better accuracy with rifles while running, for example, or perform better while blind firing. Two skill slots are available, but no single bonus attribute that we saw looked to hint at unbalance.
Thereâs also a currency system that Naughty Dog wasnât quite yet ready to speak on, but we do know that it permeates both single and multiplayer mode, and smells a heck of a lot like an experience/skill-buying system.
Yes, Uncharted 2âs deathmatch appears to be very meat and potatoes, based on the two arenas we played through in multiple games, but meat and potatoes are popular for a reason.
Plunder
Uncharted 2âs Plunder mode is a nicely-named Capture The Flag mode, one that takes its treasure hunting theme into consideration. Plunder carries over much of what makes the gameâs deathmatch mode enjoyable, adding extra teamwork into the mix.
The goal is straightforward: find the hidden treasure, typically a large gold idol, then carry it back to base. Yep, thatâs Capture The Flag, alright.
The rub in Plunder is that while oneâs holding the treasure, your character will walk slowerâgold is heavy, by the wayâand be unable to shoot anything other than a pistol. But if things get hairy, you can throw the treasure. In fact, you can pass it to another player, speeding up the process. In fact, Naughty Dog reps say, in some playtests theyâve set up âfire bucket brigadeâ lines, grabbing the gold, then heaving it from team member to team member, avoiding that whole walking thing.
Plunder, as we played it, was a best of three affair. Iâd expect other game options will be open to you when the game ships.
Co-op
Uncharted 2 does coop one-better, belying its â2â with three-person cooperative online play. Coop doesnât necessarily follow the single-player storyline, offering an alternative way to play the game, something that feels even more action intensive than what solo play has to offer.
Enemies will come at your three person teamâwhich consisted of Drake, Chloe and Sully in the level we playedâfrom all sides. Progression may be forward (and upward), but heavily armed mercs will spawn from any available opening, flanking you, shooting you from behind. They just donât stop coming.
That makes some of your goals extremely challenging. Youâll need to cooperatively traverse and alter the environment, giving other players a boost to street signs they canât reach without your help, lending a hand when all three need to lift a heavy bureau.
Teammates will be able to revive their downed partners as well as rescue them from the clutches of bad guys, so the three-way buddy system looks to be fully explored.
While cooperative platforming and terrain traversal may not sound like the online thrill youâve been looking for, the intensity of the gunplay should more than make up for it. Thatâs particularly true when mid-level bosses show up, guys decked out in full body armor, armed with those massive chain guns we mentioned earlier. While Uncharted 2 looks like it wonât be slouching in the âshoot guys in the face (and often)â department, the run and gun action in coop play looks like it will be a serious challenge, one that will require everyone on your team is sporting a Bluetooth headset. I say that because during those co-op missions, I died. A lot.
The addition of multiplayer and coop to the Uncharted series may have given fans of the original gameâs single-player mode pause (or cause to whine on the video game forum of their choice), we have to mention that this addition is already a welcome one. At least from a multiplayer perspective, Naughty Dog looks to have nailed it, based on our hands-on time with the game.
Comparisons to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves online components will likely draw comparisons to another multiplayer hit: Epic Games Gears of War 2. And thatâs not such a bad thing, considering how popular that game continues to be online, many months after its release. The feel and visual aesthetic are clearly Uncharted, however, and we think that Naughty Dog might have a multiplayer hit on its hands.
