*DISCLAIMER: Much like my review of the first game, GameSpot lists this as being about the PlayStation 3 version of the game. However, my opinions will be based on the PlayStation 4 version, played through "The Nathan Drake Collection." Once again, it may not make a major difference in the long run, but I thought I'd bring that up just in case.*
If "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" was a big moment for Sony, "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" was an explosive moment for them. The first game already had plenty of critical acclaim, sure, but with the sequel, we were looking at one of the best-reviewed games of all time. The first game helped convince people to buy a PlayStation 3, but with "Uncharted 2," it felt like buying in on PlayStation's machine was going to become a necessity. It was so big, in fact, that a French PlayStation magazine even gave the game a whopping 21/20 score. And even if that could've been biased, you know we're going wild here when reviewers are going rogue and breaking rating scales in the name of praising a game. Don't worry, though, I won't be doing such a thing; I'm too modest...okay, maybe not, but I try. Anyway, with how much I enjoyed the first "Uncharted," combined with the rave reviews I heard about this game, I was ready to have my mind blown. As it turned out, it didn't break my rating scale, but I can't pretend I didn't have a great time with it.
"Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" essentially takes what worked about the first game and either A. makes it bigger, B. makes it better, or C. a little of both. Despite only releasing two years after its predecessor, the visual jump is pretty noticeable, and the overall design and depth of the production values are fantastic. The storytelling remains tight, with both returning and new characters that are really the heart of what makes the writing in "Uncharted" tick. And of course, if you like big action setpieces, fear not: this game has them aplenty. From a gameplay perspective, "Uncharted 2" doesn't feature a ton of wholesale changes, as it largely focuses on polishing issues that the first game had. This is most noticeable in the gunplay, which I honestly didn't find too bad in the first game, but the aiming feels even better here. The mix of gameplay styles is still great, and I do think the addition of stealth elements helped create even more tension in the action sequences while giving players an extra option if they found the copious gunfights in "Drake's Fortune" were frustrating to deal with.
However, while the game does a nice job improving some things, I did find that some elements weren't as polished as I hoped they'd be. I still felt like the platforming sections were awkward, which was probably the biggest thing that hadn't been improved on, and the cover system felt kinda rough at points. It wasn't the worst thing ever, but I do think these areas could've been handled better.
Overall, "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" is a strong improvement on a predecessor that was already pretty great to begin with. It might fall just a touch below my all-time favorite games (if this is your first time reading one of my reviews, you'll be surprised at how many 10s I've given), but it's a great sequel that takes the original game and makes some very nice improvements to it. Chances are, you've already played this game (probably multiple times, in fact), but if you haven't, I highly recommend giving it a spin.
Final rating: 9 out of 10 "Awesome"