Uncharted 2

You're not the only one who noticed the acting. And I'm glad to see I wasn't, either :)

I was impressed early on when I saw the way Chloe chuckled at Flynn's goofy joke. I know it sounds stupid to be impressed by "chuckling" but it was the most natural/convincing laughter I've ever heard — and seen — in a game. Which is odd, considering the characters still look like dolls with creepy glass eyes.

I think Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 "looked" better, but a ton of effort clearly went into the behaviors on this one.

//Zig

Yeah! There's just a degree of natural fluidity to all the movements. Even more impressive, it carries this over to multiplayer, making it feel just as dynamic (if, on occasion, not more so, since it's fellow humans).

If single player is like a well written action movie where you direct the action, then multiplayer is like a group improvisation with amazing props.

I think that's a great summary of multi-player, but I have to disagree on the single-player. It doesn't feel to me like you're directing the action... more like you're an actor. The game is actually very linear; it just does a nice job of using elaborate scripted events to not feel linear.

That's not a knock against the game, by the way. "Linear" is one of those words that people have likened to mean "bad" in this modern era, but it's not a bad thing. It's just the difference between being an actor (linear) versus director (sandbox) versus one insignificant drone out of millions (sandworld).

//Zig

So answer me this: Is it better than the first game (which I thought was good but not amazing)? And is it worth looking into if I have access to a PS3 but don't actually own the system?

If you don't have to pay for it, then absolutely check it out.

If you would have to pay money, then you may as well just wait a few months for the price to drop. The only part of the experience that might suffer by waiting is multiplayer, but I know you have other stuff you could play for that.

//Zig

Ha. Only if I can talk my roommate into buying it, and he still needs to beat the first one. And it's his copy I played!

Single player is frankly all I'm concerned about, so I'll wait then.

Let me put it this way. I played Uncharted 1 but had no interest in adding it to my collection. Uncharted 2 is a game I will come back to time and time again and that's JUST the single player. Multiplayer just ruins any chance I have of passing grad school.

@ linear: yeah, I actually dislike non linear games more and more because the term is becoming synonimous with boring.