Uncharted 2 is crazy brilliant amazing [insert gush]

[Aragorn]

Where are you located? Because that would be BigFoot's Friday night and I'm pretty sure he doesn't want to be at home playing video games. That's why the 2 p.m. Eastern Time midweek is the only time that works (other than maybe 3 a.m. Eastern) because BigFoot is on the other side of the planet from me.

 

[firehawk12]

Peh, Friday night is overrated (that and there's shit to do where I live. ).

I'm in EST, so I'd be in class or prepping for class during the afternoon unfortunately.

 

[BigFoot]

It really depends on which Friday day we're talking about. Next one should should be good for me.

 

[Skywalker]

Aragorn has tried inviting me to join him and BigFoot in their Uncharted 2 games, but unfortunately I'm also in EST, so the timeslot isn't usually great for me, either. I'd love to join you guys one of these days, but my work situation has become kind of chaotic over the last couple of weeks and I'm not really sure how flexible my schedule is going to be for the time being.

 

[PKerr]

Looks like lots of folks in the EST, I am as well if someone needs an extra.
I just pretty much started the SP and never touched the MP but I'm a fairly decent gamer.

 

[Aragorn]

Well BigFoot is usually good to play at 8 p.m. his time, which is 11 a.m. Pacific, 2 p.m. Eastern and 7 p.m. Greenwich Mean.

 

[firehawk12]

You guys have MSN? If I'm around this Friday, that'd be the best place to hit me up if you guys are around then.

 

[Trubinator]

I've been reading some glowing remarks about this game. Is it true that its average length is 10 hours though? That seems awfully short.

 

[Aragorn]

I think it took me under 12 hours the second time around on hard (but knowing where everything was), but I don't know if that's total time to run through everything once or if it counts all the times you die and have to do things over. Watching cutscenes also doesn't count toward playing time.

 

[firehawk12]

If you're just blowing through the game on normal, I think you could get through it fairly quickly. I was collecting the hidden junk and switched to Hard in the middle of my playthrough, so I don't have a solid number.

 

[BigFoot]

My first playthrough on Normal was about 11.5 hours. I then completed the game on Hard and Crushing and both took between 10 and 11 hours. But then you also have both competitive and co-op multiplayer. So I personally think you get a lot of bang for your buck.

 

[PKerr]

Beat it last night on the hard setting, I will gladly go back and play it on crushing, it's that fun.

 

[Kail]

I am playing Uncharted 1 right now. I'm enjoying it, but finding the targeting for gunplay rather frustrating.

 

[dragunzng]

Yup, it really shows there was a lot of improvement between 1 and 2, not just in the targeting, but also in the movement of the characters, which is a lot more fluid in U2.

 

[Aragorn]

Here's hoping U3 has co-op campaign instead of just special co-op levels.

 

[dragunzng]

^ I don't know that that's necessary really. The Co-op levels fulfill my need for co-op, I'd be happy if they were able to offer more (I understand it's a heftier undertaking than creating new MP maps).

That said, I'm happy with just about anything Naughty Dog decides to do.

 

[Aragorn]

Co-op campaign would be something different, instead of doing what most sequels do in putting on a new coat of paint. In U2 there was a computer-aided helper in a lot of levels. Imagine if that was ramped up and a second player got to play that part. And a lot of multiplayer games don't have the characters attached at the hip anymore, so you could each be doing your own thing to further the storyline.

 

[dragunzng]

^ I see what you're saying about the computer aided helper, but at the same time there were a lot of levels where he/she wasn't present and would have interfered with the pacing and feel of the game (consider the section set in the Tibetan mountains where the train's just crashed and an injured Drake has to make his way through). How would sections like this be affected with the inclusion of a second player?

I'm not against it per se, I just feel Naughty Dog should do what will serve their story and gameplay needs first, if c0-op servers their design for Uncharted 3, then go for it, if not, I'd rather not try to make it fit.

 

[Aragorn]

Why would U3 co-op affect U2 levels?

And like I said, a lot of co-op games these days don't have players attached at the hip.

 

[dragunzng]

Why would U3 co-op affect U2 levels?

I don't believe it would, however I was giving an example of the type of game design pacing that made U2 work, and how co-op might be detrimental to that kind of design.

And like I said, a lot of co-op games these days don't have players attached at the hip.

True, but just because your buddy isn't in that same phyisical location as you doesn't mean it won't affect the flow of the game. Consider a quiet moment in U2 such as when Drake wakes up in the Tibetan village, and you just kind of take the time to saunter about and explore a bit. What would your co-op buddy be doing at this point? Milling around? Would he be off somewhere doing his own thing? If he is, does that negatively impact the serenity of this nice quiet punctuation in gameplay for Drake?

These sorts of questions need to be answered before campaign co-op is introduced.

I like the more personal feel of Drake's single player story, and would rather have more elaborately designed Co-op challenges strung together (perhaps a bit like Resistance 2) in the sequel.