I thought about writing a review for this game, but I figured that there will be so many to be posted that it would just get lost in the shuffle, so I'm going to do a blog entry instead with a few thoughts.
I might be wrong, but I feel as if while this generation of games has had a whole bunch of very good games, I've kind of felt as if none have really reached that rare status of all-timer. You know what I mean -- games that have a lasting impact, are influential, are still talked about ten years from now, make appearances in the top half of all-time top 100 lists... things like that. Last generation had its share of those -- Grand Theft Auto III, Star Wars KOTOR, Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft (hate if you must, but you can't deny its impact), Resident Evil 4, probably Halo, off the top of my head.
I kind of feel like we haven't seen that too much this generation, at least prior to last Tuesday. I think Call of Duty 4 probably came the closest, given its quality, impact, sales, etc., and you could probably make an argument for a couple other titles. But IMHO we've been waiting for the really special games to come out, and now with the release of Uncharted 2, I think they're starting to hit.
Uncharted 2 did have at least a couple of blemishes for me... mine started to get glitchy over the last 25 percent of the game, and even though a lot of the people won't be bothered by this, I really began to wish as the game went along that there weren't so many moments where I said to myself, "Oh, they borrowed this from Movie X or Game Y." Plus I've noticed some stability problems with the multiplayer connections.
But let's not dwell on that stuff because really that's piddly poop compared to what the game accomplishes. I came away feeling like Uncharted 2 quite simply raises the bar for action/adventure games, setting a new standard of quality that future entries in the genre are going to be compared to. It might be the closest thing you can get to feeling like you're on an adventure in your own living room. It also is one of the foremost examples of a game successfully integrating film and video game. It strikes a perfect combination of storytelling, action, and cutscenes and weaves all three together seamlessly. The pacing is terrific and doesn't let one of those overwhelm the other two.
It has to be said though that the action might be what shines the most. The game's shootouts and action sequences are second-to-none; they make you feel at times like you are actually on this adventure yourself. It's this aspect where I think the game succeeds the most and what players are going to be demanding from games in the future -- can this game make me feel like Uncharted 2 did?
The characters are terrific as well. It's very obvious that the Uncharted games have been influenced in part by the Indiana Jones movies, and you can see that on the surface with certain scenes and sequences in this game. But one other thing that those movies do well that you can see happening in this game too is making the hero seem vulnerable and human. Drake's just a guy. Other than the fact that he can seemingly climb walls, swing from ropes and hang off cliffs almost as well as Spider-Man (admit it, it does get just a tad bit far-fetched at times, but that's okay 
, Drake just seems like a normal person, unlike a lot of video game heroes. That's what Indiana Jones was too, and why he is such a likable hero. And it's not just Drake -- the other heroes in the game are lovable as well, while the villains are guys you can't wait to see get their comeuppance.
The game also sweats the details. The voice acting is spot-on. The game's jokes are often genuinely funny. The scenery and artwork are great. The soundtrack is not only terrific, but you'll notice that it seems like the right music always seems to kick in at the right moments.
And that's just the single-player. I think that if the game was just a single-player experience that it would be an instant classic, but the multiplayer is fantastic as well -- a flawless transition of the single-player combat into multiplayer form. It is most reminiscent of Gears of War, but does not play second-fiddle to that game.
It's going to be very difficult for any game from this point out to knock off Uncharted 2 as the game of the year. I'd have to think that its only competition at this point might be Modern Warfare 2, although we will see. This game is more than just a game of the year though -- it's quite possibly the best game of this generation so far, and it is one that people will be talking about for quite a while. Hopefully you will get a chance to play it.