Flawed masterpiece it may well be, but Uncharted: Drake's Fortune remains one of the greatest games of this console generation. Even today, its technical prowess effortlessly outstrips the vast majority of games released on any next generation platform, but its superb appeal goes way beyond its expert utilisation of the PS3 architecture. Brilliant graphics, accomplished gameplay, interesting characters, excellent storyline... Naughty Dog's PS3 debut can be picked up for a song these days, and it's a game that deserves a retrospective purchase, if only to set you up for the magnificence to come. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves debuts in just a few weeks' time and already early reviews are hailing it a masterpiece. While the jury's still out on that until final release code is my hands, based on this week's demo release, I can well believe it.
This isn't the first time the Digital Foundry crew has taken a look at Naughty Dog's anticipated sequel. Our first taster of the game can in this single-player reveal, analysed by myself and DF contributor Alex Goh back in May. The generational leap in visuals over the first game was self-apparent but we had some issues in the form of mismatched textures, a couple of odd lighting effects and a "saw-tooth" edging to the shadows that looked pretty unattractive, taking the sheen off what was clearly an astonishing looking game.
The multiplayer demo released this week is truly something special. It's not often we say this, but every issue we had (along with many we didn't) appears to have been resolved. The level of polish in this demo code (presumably a subset of the full game, now that it has gone gold) is exemplary. It's this kind of work ethic and attention to detail that has made Uncharted 2: Among Thieves the most anticipated game of the year for Digital Foundry, so the chance to get our hands on the multiplayer demo opened up a range of opportunities for us in testing just how far Naughty Dog has come.
So what does the demo have to offer? The two competitive multiplayer maps from the original beta have been retained, joined by two more along with a comprehensive range of new playlist opportunities. The same co-op level (in itself based on the initial single-player reveal) is back, but this time even more refined.
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