Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2009)
Nathan Drake is back…
But he hasn’t gotten any wiser. Granted, had he learned anything from events in his adventure with the treasure of Sir Francis Drake and realised once and for all that plans for a quick and easy treasure hunt almost never turn out the way they are supposed to, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves would certainly be a lot more boring. The Naughty Dog team took their task and demands from the gaming public seriously, and responded in the best way possible – by making an excellent game which improves upon the original formula and makes for an even better ‘movie’.
This time, Nathan is after the Cintamani stone, a mythical jewel which shows the way to the even more mythical kingdom of Shambhala. Unfortunately for him, modern-day counterpart to Indiana Jones’s Nazis, a maniacal war criminal named Zoran Lazarević, wants the same thing. I’m sure you can work out the rest of the story, just add some vandalism of historical monuments, unlawful entry, illegal taking of property, strange creatures and a love triangle. Strangely enough, this will get you a story which is much better than the sum of its parts.
Technically, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is carefully polished to perfection. The graphics are stunning, the camera works flawlessly and makes the game very cinematic. Water is so 2007, snow and wavy flags are the new water.
There are some real changes in the game compared to the first instalment, and one of the niftiest new additions is a targeting reticule which appears when Nate fires from the hip, shoots from cover or runs and guns. There are also a few new powerful weapons and a worrying number of explosive gas tanks strewn around the environment. Nate’s notebook is still here, but now we get a peek into the whole thing, not just one single page that should help us solve a puzzle. It’s full of memorabilia, scribblings and funny drawings, and it gets updated as you play the game.
Mr Drake himself is even hotter and more (photo)realistic than before, and other character models are rendered in much more detail. As for the acting, it is superb, and all the cut-scenes are well directed, played and faithfully reproduced in-game. The method in which they recorded their motion capture is not the golden standard in video game production, but it should certainly become and its benefits are more than evident. Character interaction is much more natural and believable than in cases where voice actors just sit in the recording booth with a script and deliver lines according to the director’s instructions. This was often mentioned in the press kits, but with a good reason. The best quips and one-liners are often spontaneous and improvised. There are buckets-full of chemistry between the protagonists, but you can’t expect any less if you put together Claudia Black, who could have chemistry with a piece of driftwood, and the genius that is Nolan North, whose recent lead roles seem to be the recipe for a game’s success. North’s Drake seems natural while trading verbal blows with Harry Flynn or climbing Tibetan temples with Tenzin who doesn’t speak a word of English.
In my previous article on Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, I said I’d love to see this character exploited in the demeaning manner in which Lara Croft usually gets exploited, but Among Thieves just gave me Drake in a winter jacket and occasionally wet and squishy jeans, which remain a major selling point since the first game. For the third instalment of the series, I will look forward to a game at least as good as this or better. If Shirtless Nate somehow worms his way into the story, I won’t mind.
To sum up, here’s a series of random screenshots of Nathan Drake for your perusal.
Vratio nam se Nathan Drake…
Opametio se nije. Naravno, da je izvukao kakvu pouku iz svega što je preživio u pustolovini oko blaga Sir Francisa Drakea i jednom za svagda naučio da svi planovi za siguran i lak dolazak do blaga neumitno završe katastrofom, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves bila bi iznimno dosadna igra. Ekipa Naughty Doga ozbiljno je shvatila svoj zadatak i zahtjeve koju će pred njih postaviti igrači prve igre i odgovorila na najbolji mogući način – izvrsnom igrom koja je uspjela unaprijediti izvornu formulu, napravivši još bolji ‘film’.
Nathan ovoga puta ide u potragu za draguljem Cintamani, koji ga treba dovesti do mitskog budističkog kraljevstva, Shambhale. Istu namjeru ima i ovovjeki pandan nacistima Indiane Jonesa, manijak i ratni zločinac Zoran Lazarević, a ostatak priče uglavnom možete rekonstruirati i sami na temelju tih nekoliko detalja. U slikovnicu još samo umetnite napucavanja sa zlikovcima, podosta vandaliziranja spomenika kulture, malo društveno opasnih radnji, povremeno protupravno pribavljanje koristi, nadnaravne stvorove, te ljubavni trokut, i dobit ćete priču koja je odlična unatoč svojim sastavnim dijelovima.
S tehničke strane, Uncharted 2 je pažljivo ispoliran i doveden do savršenstva. Grafika je prekrasna, kamera funkcionira besprijekorno i ima snažan filmski štih. Voda je out, snijeg i lepršave zastavice su in. Od konkretnih promjena u odnosu na jedinicu, korisna je novost ciljnik na ekranu koji se pojavljuje kada Nate puca iz zaklona ili u pokretu koji znatno olakšava pucanje, a tu su par novih komada vrlo razornog oružja i zabrinjavajuća količina eksplozivnih plinskih spremnika na ulicama. Nateova famozna bilježnica koja je u prvome dijelu služila tek par puta za rješavanje zagonetki sada ima znatno više stranica korisnih i beskorisnih črčkarija i memorabilija, a tijekom igre dobivate i nove stranice.
Nate je, ako je to ikako moguće, još zgodniji i (foto)realističniji nego u prvoj igri, a i modeli drugih likova znatno su detaljnije renderirani. Što se tiče glume, to doista ne može biti prigovora, igrane scene filmski su kvalitetno režirane i odglumljene, te vjerno preslikane u igru. Način na koji je motion capture izveden nije standardna praksa u razvoju video igara, ali u ovome slučaju predstavlja ogromnu prednost i čini interakcije glumaca puno prirodnijima i uvjerljivijima nego slučaju kada glumci koji sinkroniziraju likove sjede u kabini sa scenarijem i samo čitaju svoje rečenice uz upute redatelja. Developeri su stavili značajan naglasak na to u press materijalima, no posve opravdano. Najbolja zajebancija uvijek se postiže spontano. Kemije ima na vjedra, ali kada spojite Claudiu Black koja bi mogla imati kemiju s trulim komadom drveta i genijalnog Nolana Northa za kojeg je lakše prebrojati hit igre u kojima ne igra, drugo se ne može ni očekivati. Northov Drake djeluje prirodno i kada razmjenjuje doskočice s Harryjem Flynnom i kada se vere po tibetanskim hramovima s Tenzinom, koji ne govori ni riječ engleskoga.
U članku o Unchartedu: Drake’s Fortune izrazio sam želju vidjeti da i ovaj lik počnu eksploatirati na ponižavajući način na koji to čine Lari Croft, ali odgovor u Among Thieves došao je u obliku još deblje zimske jakne i povremenih vlažnih traperica koje su ionako bile prisutne u prvome dijelu. Za treći dio u serijalu, stoga, očekujem samo da bude dobar kao ovaj, ili bolji. Ako se Nate bez majice na neki način uklopi u radnju, neće mi smetati.
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