I just thought I'd add to the list of Gamespot bloggers talking about how great Uncharted 2 is. I really enjoyed the first game and part 2 is more of the same, but with better designed levels. That doesn't sound like much, but giving you the option to use the stealth kill and hand to hand combat abilities that were all but useless in the first game really does a good job of varying the combat and keeping it from getting stale.
There are plenty of action set piece moments in the game, and they stayed with me long after I finished them. Things like fighting your way through a moving train, trying to survive an attack from a helicopter with nothing but pistol, or escaping from a collapsing building were so much fun I wanted to play through them again as soon as I finished the game. Thankfully, you have the option to play through any chapter again after you've completed it.
All the talk in the bonus features about putting you in an "interactive action movie" got me thinking….. when was the last time I enjoyed a non-interactive action movie? The Die Hard and Lethal Weapon series fizzled out years ago. Attempted action movie revivals like Live Free or Die Hard and Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull were travesties. Even the Matrix is past its tenth birthday. With crap like Transformers and G.I. Joe dominating the box office it's easy to see why I hardly ever go to the movies anymore. Video games really have become my go to medium to see stuff blow up real good.
Though it's not quite in Uncharted 2s league, I've also been enjoying Call of Juarez: Bound In Blood lately. It's a first person shooter set in the old west. With all the FPS games out there, the setting of BiB really helps it to stand out. The barren deserts, lush forests, and seedy border towns all look great and help to distinguish the game from the drab, grey war-torn setting we're used to in most modern FPS games. The selection of pistols and rifles is also a nice change of pace from the norm.You can select from one of two playable characters in most of the levels, the agile Thomas, who can use silent weapons like knives and arrows and climb up to high ledges and walkways, or the tough Ray, who has more health and can break through locked doors, duel wield pisols, and has dynamite that he can throw like a grenade. They play so differently from each other that it was fun going through the campaign a second time with the other character.
I'm sure Bound In Blood won't turn out to be as polished or intense as Modern Warfare 2, but if you're looking for something a little different from the submachine guns and sniper rifles in most FPS games, I'd give the game a shot, especially now that the price has dropped.
So now I've got a tough choice to make. I got Dragon Age in the mail yesterday, but I've also taken advantage of amazon.com's $20 gift card deal and pre-ordered Modern Warfare 2. Do I start on Dragon Age now, knowing that it will take me weeks if not months to finish? Or do I wait for MW2 to ship next week?
It's tough being a gamer in fall….