A train has crashed in the middle of nowhere. The environment is a snowy one, cold and desolate, whilst the level of detail is second to none. Precariously hanging over a cliff is one carriage of the train, which contains a wounded Nathan Drake, who must escape before gravity takes his toll and best a group of his fellow survivors, who are armed, dangerous and on the hunt for him. Few scenes in gaming can top the in medias res opening of Uncharted 2, which reintroduced players to Drake and immediately invested them in his survival, as well as giving them a thirst to delve into his second adventure and realise how he came to be there in the first place. Said adventure is a whirlwind from start to finish, eschewing its predecessor's 'one island' setting (which resulted in lots of similar locales) by sending Drake and his cohorts, with whom his banter is always excellent, around the world. Whether it's knocking off a museum in Istanbul with a sleazy Brit or traversing a Nepalese city in the midst of urban warfare, the diversity of Nate's adventure ensures that it is rarely not both captivating and challenging. Online multiplayer felt tacked-on but was by no means poor, allowing players to engage in cooperative missions or competitive game types better suited for a first person shooting equivalent. Regardless of this, however, the game's timeless appeal was in its single player offering, which in the view of this writer has not yet been bettered. I still hate those goddamn yeti-things though.
