Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Plot synopsis:
A beaten and disoriented Nathan Drake awakes in a tattered train seat. He looks around the car in confusion, then glances down to see a bullet wound in his stomach. His head rolls back as the pain hits him, and he notices that snowflakes drifting outside the window appear to be falling...sideways. Right on cue, his seat jerks and violently detaches from its mounting, hurtling him downwards through the vertical train car to hang above a dizzying drop.After an agonising climb to safety above, Nate lurches through the wreckage, recalling the events that led him to this place.Six months prior to the train crash, Nate is found at a beachfront bar where he encounters Harry Flynn: an old acquaintance and sometime partner in crime in the shadowy world of black market antiquities. The British thief has a client willing to pay a substantial sum for him to procure an item inside the Istanbul Palace Museum. Nate is skeptical: knowing of two others who died at the hands of the museum's extensive and overzealous security force, he himself barely escaped the building during a previous illicit out-of-hours visit.Flynn insists that he requires Nate's assistance to make the theft, and introduces a third conspirator: Chloe Frazer, an Australian he describes as an expert getaway driver. He explains that the commission is a clay oil lamp, a seemingly unremarkable artifact inside the museum's Travel of Marco Polo exhibit. Nate initially dismisses the item as worthless, and Flynn's benefactor a collector with more money than sense, but an oblique revelation in a document written by Marco Polo changes his mind. Polo's fleet left China with 600 passengers aboard 14 ships, loaded with treasure from the great Kublai Khan. It landed in Persia a year and a half later, diminished to one vessel and 18 survivors. Polo documented every detail of the expedition - but never disclosed the fate of the missing ships and travellers.Nate speculates that the lamp contains a hidden message from Polo, revealing the fate of his lost fleet, undoubtedly laden with treasures of incalculable worth. Finding this, the trio believe, is the true purpose of Flynn's unusual assignment.Chloe is the first to articulate what all three are thinking: "So - we're dicking this guy over, right?"Nate is awakened in his hotel room by a knock at the door, and opens it to find Chloe standing outside. The two are, unbeknownst to Flynn, intimately acquainted; though we discover that Nate ended their previous relationship, she bears him no rancor. When Chloe recognised the scope of Flynn's commission, she decided that Nate would want to be involved. She suggests that they complete the heist, find Polo's lost ships, split the treasure three ways - and then abandon Flynn to elope.Nate, Chloe and Flynn enter the sewer system beneath the Istanbul Palace Museum. Chloe departs to deactivate the floodlights illuminating the tower where the Polo exhibit is held, leaving Nate and Flynn to infiltrate the main building.After several close calls with the security personnel, the duo reaches the exhibit. With an apology to its long-dead owner, Nate smashes the ceramic lamp to find a weathered scroll, seemingly lacking any legible details, and pieces of a strange residue. Flynn is distraught, but Nate has a hunch. Identifying the substance as resin, the latter lights a piece - and the room is suffused with an eerie blue glow as it glows.In this light, the previously blank scroll is covered with Latin script and a map. Nate, translating, learns that Polo's fleet was hit by a tsunami, and carried inland to rest beside a mountain somewhere on the west coast of Borneo. As Nate translates, Polo's words attribute this misfortune to an unusual source: "It was as if the ocean itself sought to throw off the terrible cargo we carried from Sham-bah-lah - the curse of the Cintamani."Nate is astonished: "My God, Flynn - Marco Polo found Shambhala. Shangri-La. If they were carrying the Cintamani Stone, it might still be there."As Nate prepares to follow Flynn out from the tower, the former is betrayed. Left stranded in the exhibit, Nate is helpless as Flynn shoots display cases, triggering a cacophony of alarms. Claiming to simply want Nate out of the way for a time, but clearly enjoying the upper hand, Flynn chides his horrified partner: "You think I didn't know about the ships from the beginning? Any schoolboy could've figured that out. Face it, genius. You've been played."Though Nate makes a valiant attempt to escape, he is cornered and arrested by the Turkish police.3 months later we rejoin Nate in a filthy, cramped cell, and find him amusing himself with a shadow puppet recreation of Flynn's betrayal - with a carthartic twist. As the Nate puppet draws a gun and shoots the Flynn puppet in a new fantasy denouement, his show is interrupted by a shadow falling across the wall. He turns to find Victor Sullivan standing outside the bars, the latter having arrived to bail out his old friend at great expense...but is significantly less overjoyed to cast eyes on Chloe.After convincing him of her innocence, the Australian informs Nate that Flynn and his client Lazarovic have found Polo's lost ships in Borneo, though they have yet to find the Cintamani Stone. This "Buddhist holy grail", as Chloe describes it, is a perfect raw sapphire worth hundreds of millions of dollars.Because Chloe possesses insider knowledge and unrestricted access to Lazarevic's camp through her continued association with Flynn, the trio concoct a plan to snatch the treasure for themselves. Lazarevic has paid enormous sums to collect Polo's lesser-known journals, and has pursued the Cintamani Stone for many years. These documents, Chloe tells Nate, can be found in his command tent at the Borneo excavation site. She will engineer a diversion; the rest is up to Nate and Sully.In a swamp pockmarked with excavation sites, the petrified remains of Polo's fleet protruding from their open graves, Nate and Sully prime explosives laid at the camp's perimeter. Reconnoitering the command tent through binoculars, Chloe's hidden microphone providing an audio feed, they observe Goran Lazarevic - a tall, powerfully built Eastern European in black combat gear - castigate Harry Flynn for his lack of progress, then coldly execute an employee accused of theft.Sully activates the detonator, and a series of explosions rock the jungle to the south of the command tent. Lazarevic and his men pour out to investigate, allowing Nate to slip into the headquarters. While Sully watches over him with a sniper rifle, Nate ransacks the extensive collection of documents. He's impressed by what he finds: "Man, this Lazarevic guy isn't screwing around, Sully," he enthuses. "You should see all this stuff. He's got files on every expedition to find Shambhala - all the way back to the 1600s."Reading a journal written by Marco Polo, Nate learns that he truly believed the tsunami to be divine retribution for the "dreadful cargo" carried by his ships, but that he purposely left the Cintamani Stone in Shambhala. He also writes of a "golden passport", a detail that Nate doesn't understand. Lazarevic, Nate decides, is seeking to retrace Polo's journey back to Shambhala.When he learns that Lazarevic's men have failed to find a single body in the shipwrecks, Nate intuits that the missing passengers must have fled to higher ground. Escaping the returning soldiers, Nate and Sully climb the mountain that overlooks the camp.Nate and Sully meet with Chloe at the entrance to a hidden mountain cave. Inside they encounter hundreds of skeletons, with one salient detail leaping from the macabre scene: each corpse has inexplicably blackened teeth.Lighting a piece of resin and placing it in a torch, Nate discovers the shadows of past slaughters: there is blood everywhere. This, the three speculate, was the site of a massacre - and the passengers appear to have killed each other. Following a bloody trail, they reach a room in which a single skeleton clutches a lacquered box in its arms. Inside, they find a Phurba: a Tibetan ceremonial dagger. The cloth it is wrapped in is a crude map, accompanied by a short message."Between Greater India and the province of Tibet," Nate translates, "lies a field of exquisitely finished temples, hundreds of gilded spires stretching as far as the eye can see. In all these many temples, only one conceals the secret path to Shambhala - and that path shall only be revealed to the pilgrim who bears the golden passport."At the last line, Chloe raises the Phurba in acknowledgement: it must be the "golden passport". The field of temples, Sully comments, is now a city in Nepal. With their next destination settled, the group departs...but encounters Flynn accompanied by Lazarevic's soldiers. Chloe holds the protagonists at gunpoint and hurries to present Flynn with the map to conceal her subterfuge, but artfully leaves the dagger in Nate's possession. After helping her friends to escape as they are escorted back to the camp, Chloe tells Nate to meet her in Nepal.Nate arrives in a war-torn Nepalese city, and is astonished by the devastation that awaits him. Chloe comments that the region has teetered on the brink of civil war for some time; Lazarevic simply needed to fan the flames. In the ensuing chaos, he and his army are tearing the city apart with near impunity as they seek the temple documented on the map found on Borneo.After surviving fraught encounters with Lazarevic's mercenaries, Nate is reunited with Chloe. He speculates that the emblem on the ceremonial dagger will correspond to another on the temple they seek - they just need a high vantage point to scan the city. Chloe suggests a nearby hotel. After a perilous ascent to the roof of the ruined building, Nate scours the urban sprawl and finds a temple marked with the symbol of the Cintamani Stone.After a protracted battle with a helicopter gunship, Nate is briefly separated from Chloe. As he walks through the side streets he is astonished to encounter Elena Fisher, accompanied by her cameraman, Jeff. She is in the region to obtain footage of Lazarevic, who she describes as a fugitive war criminal who NATO erroneously believes to have perished in a bombing raid. She intuitively suspects that Nate is somehow caught up in these events, despite his attempts to be evasive - and then Chloe arrives, confirming her suspicions.Nate insists that they must escort Elena and Jeff to safety. Though amused by his discomfort at the meeting of the two women, Chloe is extremely reluctant. "You don't always have to play the bloody hero, you know," she remarks, a little bitterly. "Just...dance with the one who brought you, all right?"Nate is intractable: "Yeah, I get it," he says with sincerity. Then firmly: "But they're still coming with us."As Lazarevic's forces attack once again, the four fight their way across the ravaged city to arrive at the temple.In the temple courtyard, Elena questions Nate about his motives, and he offers an honest account - much to Chloe's annoyance. Elena is nonplussed: "So let me get this straight - you're competing with a pyschopathic war criminal for a mythological gemstone?"In turns amused, incredulous and resigned as she listens to Nate's explanations, Elena offers an insight into the brutal warlord's intentions: "This just doesn't add up, Nate... Lazarevic can't be after the money. He doesn't need it. You're missing something."Leaving the newcomers just inside the temple entrance, the protagonists enter the main chamber where they find a massive statue: perhaps the same wrathful deity depicted on the ceremonial dagger. Nate aligns four of its six hands into the correct position, then experiences a brainwave: the Phurba dagger is a key! Sliding its triangular blade into a slot on the statue's chest, they unlock a hidden entrance.As they enter the subterranean tunnels, Nate notices a relief of a tree on a wall, which he finds strangely incongruous. After some further exploration, Nate opens a hidden shaft leading to a domed chamber. Placing the Phurba dagger in a slot, Nate and Chloe gasps as the central floor area is revealed to be composed of thousands of tiny rods. These undulate and rise to form a relief map of a mountain range. A single beam of light from the roof above highlights a precise spot. Nate is excited: "Chloe, I know where that is!"On a map depicting a Himalayan mountain range stolen from Lazarevic's camp, Nate compares the peaks, and marks the correct spot with an X. At that moment, Chloe's radio bursts to life with the chatter of Lazarevic's approaching forces, causing her and Nate to fight their way back to the surface.In the courtyard outside, Nate finds Elena frightened but unharmed - though Jeff is bleeding profusely from a gunshot wound. Chloe stridently insists that they can do nothing for him, and that they make good their escape, but Nate is resolute. With Lazarevic's forces swarming from all directions, Nate half-carries the dying cameraman as they flee from one skirmish to another.The group reaches a dead end: an apartment where the only exit is a 15-foot drop to the alley below that Jeff could not possibly survive. Nate gently props the cameraman against an overturned table. A panicked Chloe pleads with Nate to leave him behind, to escape before it is too late... and then they hear the sound of footsteps pounding up the stairs outside.Chloe desperately levels her gun at Nate and Elena as Flynn bursts in, flanked by mercenaries. A flicker of recognition registers on Flynn's face; he finally understands Chloe's deception, but nonetheless pulls her towards him. Nate and Elena, outgunned, drop their weapons. Flynn orders that Chloe be taken away to safety. As she leaves, Lazarevic strides into the room.The villian takes the Phurba dagger from Nate's belt, regards it briefly, then hands it to his burly lieutenant. His gaze alights on Jeff. "Did you carry him all the way from the temple?" he enquires. Nate remains silent. "Shame," intones Lazarevic flatly, drawing a handgun to execute the cameraman with a single shot.Nate attempts to bargain for Elena's life: without him, he tells Lazarevic, the Serbian cannot find the entrance to Shambhala. A cursory search, however, reveals the map that Nate is carrying...with his hastily scrawled X making a mockery of his attempted negotiation. Lazarevic strides from the room with both map and Phurba dagger in his possession, leaving Flynn to kill the prisoners. As he gloats, Elena seizes an opportunity and staggers him with a full-blooded punch to the face. With Nate, she leaps from the room into the alley below, and both run for their lives...After escaping their pursuers, Nate and Elena take a moment to catch their breath. Nate reflects on Flynn's orders when Chloe was escorted away - "Take her to the train" - and surmises that Lazarevic's personal army must be heading for a nearby rail yard.On arrival, they observe Lazarevic's men loading gear into the cars of a waiting train, and Flynn hustling a reluctant Chloe on board. The sheer numbers ranged against Nate, and the sudden departure of the train, forces abrupt improvisation. Riding in a 4x4 after a timely rescue by Elena, they draw alongside the train, allowing Nate to jump on board.Steadily fighting his way over and through the speeding train, Nate overcomes incredible odds to reach Chloe's car. There, he encounters Lazarevic's right-hand man, and the two engage in a savage fistfight. After seemingly besting this brute of a man, Nate retrieves the Phurba dagger from his belt, then incautiously turns his back. The antagonist, having swifty regained his wits, grabs the exhausted Nate and begins to strangle him. A gunshot rings out - and we see Chloe, pistol raised, as the henchman falls dead to the floor.Nate stumbles towards his saviour, then notes that her gun remains trained on him. "Get off the train, Nate," she says, quietly. "I never asked for any of your bloody heroics."Chloe refuses to leave with Nate, still angry for his earlier insistence on helping Elena and Jeff, risking her life. "Well, good luck with Flynne!" he barks angrily, turning away. "You two deserve each other."Nate's ire dissolves rapidly as he turns, exasperated, to reason with his old friend and sometime flame. As he begins to speak, another shot rings out - and Drake staggers from the impact. Chloe's eyes widen with horror as blood spreads across Nate's abdomen, then Flynn steps forward from behind her, gun raised. As the malign Brit pursues the gravely wounded Nate, Chloe desperately attempts to forestall the killing shot. With soldiers arriving from the opposite direction, Nate lies propped against a seat, desperately scanning his surroundings for a means of escape. His eyes alight on a collection of propane tanks... and with nothing to lose, he fires.The explosion rocks the train, decoupling it from the cars containing Flynn, Chloe and the main body of Lazarevic's forces. The forward section continues along the tracks, while Nate's section derails. As the tumbling wreckage ploughs into a snow bank, he blacks out.Revisiting the opening scenes of the story, Nate escapes the train car and retrieves the Phurba dagger. When Lazarevic's forces arrive to search for him Nate summons every last screed of willpower to defeat them, then slumps into the snow. As his vision fades once again, he sees the silhouette of a mysterious figure striding towards him...Nate awakes on a bed in a cozy Tibetan house. Groaning as he attempts to sit upright, he instinctively reaches for the wound on his stomach - but finds it healed.Though neither Nate nor his saviour Tenzin understand each other's language, they infer meaning through gestures and tonality. The latter escorts the former through his village, framed against the spectacular backdrop of the Himalayas. Inside another house he is reunited with Elena, who throws her arms around him in relief. They are taken to meet Karl Schafer: a German in his nineties, but with the bearing of a much younger man, clothed in traditional Tibetan attire. He greets Nate warmly."It appears you and I have much in common, Mr. Drake," says Schafer. "Seventy years ago, I came here just like you - carried into the village, near death, the last survivor of my company. I was hired to lead an expedition into Tibet, to find the entrance to Shambhala. What they really wanted was the Cintamani Stone."Though Nate insists that he has no desire to continue his pursuit, Schafer is powerfully persuasive: Lazarevic must be stopped. "Some of the most fearsome rulers through history have possessed only a fraction of the Cintamani Stone," warns Schafer, "men like Tamerlane, Genghis Khan. If a mere sliver could bestow such power, what would a man become if he possessed the Stone itself?"Nate is doubtful, but Schafer insists that he accompanies Tenzin to the cave where the remains of his expedition can be found.After a perilous climb through an ice cave high in the mountains, Nate and Tenzin begin to find evidence of Schafer's expedition, but fail to discover the "proof" that the German spoke of. Nevertheless, deep inside the cave, a hideous monster - its apelike body covered in coarse hair, a skeletal visage crowned by massive curled horns - bowls Tenzin from its feet and roars, revealing a mouth full of jagged teeth. Nate fires on the creature with a Luger pistol found on the corpse of a mummified, long-dead German. Though shot several times and stabbed by Tenzin, the duo cannot kill the creature, and succeed only in driving it away.Further into the cavern, they ascend a stone staircase to reach arcane ruins presumable belonging to a long-lost civilisation. Tenzin and Nate activate massive ancient mechanisms as they travel through the imposing caverns, eventually opening a secret chamber. Inside, Nate finds several frozen bodies, with a cursory examination revealing that each one died from a gunshot wound. They are all dressed in 1930s mountaineering garb. This, Nate concludes, is the final group from Schafer's expedition.Tenzin finds a book. Its cover, warped and stained with age, depicts a tree in the shape of a T. Tenzin taps it quizzically, and Nate identifies it as the Tree of Life. Nate regards the chamber more closely, and sees the Cintamani Stone everywhere, each time held by a seemingly demonic figure somehow anointed and transformed by its power. Inside the book, images depict powerful characters holding it aloft, bathed in its aura, as they lay waste to those who oppose them.Realisation dawns: "Tenzin - Schafer did this," says Nate, urgently. "Schafer killed them. It was the only way to stop them."Bestial howls fill the cavern. Nate and Tenzin rush to escape to the surface as the unearthly creatures hunt them. As they look down to the valley below, they see Tenzin's village in flames...Back in the village, Nate meets briefly with a panicked Elena, then rushes to find Schafer and Tenzin's daughter. Aiding the villagers in their defense against Lazarevic's mercenaries as they search, Nate and Tenzin work together to first evade, then destroy a tank as it devastates the settlement. With the attack apparently repelled, an overjoyed Tenzin is reunited with his daughter. However, the reason for Lazarevic's sudden departure soon becomes clear: he has claimed the Phurba dagger and taken Schafer hostage.Nate and Elena leap into a truck to give chase; they barely escape with their lives when an explosion sends their vehicle careening over a cliff edge. Viewing the road ahead through binoculars, Nate sees Lazarevic with Schafer outside a long-abandoned cliff-side monastery.Nate and Elena continue their pursuit, tracking Lazarevic's company through the ancient monastery, while eliminating or evading those left behind to stop them. They eventually find Schafer near death, having been brutalised and abandoned by Lazarevic. "Did you find my expedition?" he rasps, struggling to breathe. "You understand what I had to do? If they had found the stone, it would have changed the course of history."Schafer tells Nate that the monastery hides the secret path to Shambhala and, with his final words, pleads with him to stop Lazarevic, then destroy the Cintamani Stone. Nate remains cynical, but is swayed by the sheer force of the German's conviction. "He believed it - that's enough for me."Nate and Elena separate, with the former pursuing the Phurba dagger, and the latter seeks the hidden entrance. On his way to the dilapidated tower where Lazarevic, Flynn and Chloe are located, he observes scenes of slaughter as the horned beasts he encountered earlier massacre Lazarevic's men.Entering the tower via a hole in the wall, he eavesdrops as Lazarevic lambasts Flynn for failing to find the entrance. Fortuitously, Flynn leaves to speak to Lazarevic as he stalks from the room, leaving Chloe with the Phurba. As soon as the coast is clear, Nate drops down to confront the Australian. Though reluctant - "How am I supposed to explain where it's gone?" - she surrenders the ceremonial blade to Nate.Nate and Elena reconvene to open a secret entrance beneath a tree in the courtyard, before entering the subterranean tunnels beneath the monastery. They arrive in a circular chamber,but, poised to open the entrance to Shambhala, find themselves helpless to resist as Lazarevic and his men pour in. Though the villian attempts to toy with Nate, engaging him to choose between rescuing Elena or Chloe, Nate boldly strides forward to open the entrance, adeptly defusing the situation.In the caverns beyond, the path lies open - and then a mechanism activates, rotating the stone bridge to prevent further passage. Nate is sent with Flynn to restore it to its previous position. The two trade barbed comments as they negotiate the hazardous tunnel, hostility dripping from every insult and riposte. After realigning the bridge, though, they are forced to fight side by side as the horned monsters attack. Armed with just pistols, they can only briefly deter the creatures from their relentless assaults... but then Lazarevic enters, and calmly kills them with powerful incendiary blasts from his shotgun.Lazarevic strides over to a horned creature and grabs its jaw, pulling its head back. All present are astonished as he rips a mask aside to reveal a human face: it is a man clad in a costume, his teeth stained black in the same manner as the skeletons encountered in Borneo. "Scarecrows," Lazarevic laughs to himself. "Guardians to frighten trespassers."As Lazarevic's men open the gates to Shambhala, they are greeted by an incredible vista. The valley is framed by snow-capped peaks, but the ancient city that lies in the basin is awash with verdant greenery.The villian is satisfied, but unmoved by the beauty he beholds. Though Flynn risks his life to rescue Chloe, threatening to withdraw his support should she die, the warlod rounds on Nate and Elena. But as Lazarevic brings his weapon to bear, his murderous focus is disturbed by a sudden rain of arrows. Shouting and whooping in an indecipherable tongue, a band of giant, heavily muscled Guardians - the men who, outside, occupied the horned suits - pepper the crowd with their primitive weapons. In the unfolding chaos, Chloe savagely elbows Flynn aside with a sharp blow to the nose, then escapes with Nate and Elena to the city below.The three push further into the ruins, where Nate discovers pockets of the blue resin encountered throughout the journey. He identifies it as sap deposited by the tree roots; when shot, it creates a blinding flash, causing nearby roots to retract.After pinpointing their destination, they fight their way to a distinct pyramidal temple in the distance.Inside the temple, they find the enormous Cintamani Stone set in a stone pillar resembling a tree. Nate immediately senses that something is wrong, and then experiences a tumbling sequence of revelations. The Stone is not sapphire, as Marco Polo believed, but amber: fossilised resin, once tree sap.Nate rushes outside, his companions trailing behind in confusion. "How could I have missed it?" he berates himself. "There's not actually a Stone - it's the resin. The sap - from the Tree of Life."And then, they see it: the tree in the courtyard below. Looking around it, they realise that it has grown rampant with age, its roots penetrating every part of the crumbling city.They observe Lazarevic approaching the Tree of Life. Nate lowers his binoculars in shock as he intuits the warlord's intention. "Oh my God - the black teeth," he exclaims. "The black teeth, on those Guardian things...and the bodies in Borneo. They ate resin, and it changed them somehow."A voice behind them causes them to spin, as Flynn emerges from concealment. He is wounded, bleeding profusely. He slides his back against a pillar to slump to a sitting position, his strength waning. Elena rushes to his aid, and attempts to reason with him... but Flynn produces a grenade, its pin removed. With a final parting quip, he allows it to drop to the ground. Nate and Chloe are merely bowled over by the blast, but Elena is badly injured.Nate fights Lazarevic's men to clear a path for Chloe to carry Elena, and the three reach a bridge leading to the exit. There, Nate insists that Chloe escape with Elena... and returns to confront Lazarevic.Nate descends into the chamber beneath the Tree of Life, the tree's roots descending as columns from above. At the center of the chamber, below the main trunk, is a pool of luminous azure sap.Beside the pool stand Lazarevic and his remaining men. The warlod cups his hands into the liquid and drinks deeply. He becomes rigid as the elixir enters his body... then relaxes. His eyes flash with a luminescent glow as Nate, astonished, watches the scars covering his face and arm spontaneously heal. Lazarevic looks thoughtful, then calls out: "Drake!"Sensing that the opportunity for a surprise attack is passing, Nate pops out from cover and fires three rounds into Lazarevic's chest, the latter flinching momentarily - then shrugging off the inconsequential injuries. Desperation is followed by a flash of inspiration, and Nate fires into the azure pool. It explodes in an eruption of blue-white flames, consuming Lazarevic and his men.Spared the force of the blast, Drake exhales in relief as he looks down at the broken corpses, but Lazarevic's limbs begin to inexplicably twist and straighten. He rises unbowed - and seemingly immortal.With Lazarevic impervious to bullets Nate survives by shooting pockets of resin, repeatedly engulfing his crazed adversary in blue flames as he is stalked through the chamber. In this protracted and vicious encounter, the warlord appears more determined to brutalise and humiliate his opponent than kill him outright. As the battle reaches its climax, the chamber ablaze as the Tree of Life enters its death throes, Lazarevic slumps bloodied but defiant to his knees. He taunts his adversary to deliver the coup de grace, but Nate declines... then backs away carefully as the furious Guardians pour into the chamber, tearing the warlord to shreds as they are consumed by the spreading fire.As the Tree of Life dies, the entire valley is convulsed by tremors as its roots retract, pulling the city apart. Nate, though bloodied and bruised, makes a desperate sprint to safety. Reunited with Chloe and Elena, the three survive a last encounter with an enraged Guardian before escaping to the monastery above.Exhausted, Nate lays Elena down gently and kneels beside her. She is pale and unconscious as the distraught Nate holds her close, while Chloe looks on with grim sympathy. The scene fades...Back in the Tibetan village, Tenzin congratulates Nate; his reply in his friend's tongue suggests that time has passed since the escape. Chloe approaches to stand with Nate, and enquires if he truly loves Elena, though it is clear she already knows the answer. Before he can reply, we see the reporter - still recovering from her injuries - walking towards them, supported by Sully.Chloe takes her leave with a word of advice: "Just do yourself a favour, cowboy - tell her," and walks away. She cannot, however, resist a parting shot. "But admit it," she calls playfully over her shoulder, "You're gonna miss this ass."After lamenting the lack of any riches to show for their escapade, Sully sets off in pursuit of Chloe, much to Nate and Elena's amusement. The two stare out over the beautiful Himalayan panorama, and share a kiss. Elena asks, on a scale of ten, how scared Nate was that she would die."Four," Nate replies."Four?" exclaims Elena. "You were at least an eight.""An eight?" queries Nate, doubtfully. "Those Guardian things were an eight."Elena is mock horrified, but curious: "What's a ten?""Clowns," confides Nate with a shrug."Clowns? Over my death?" exclaims Elena in disbelief."I-I don't like clowns," Nate admits, with a trace of shame.The scene fades to black as the two bicker playfully.

Tags: violence, humor, flashback

Review:
Not only because of the mind-blowing presentation Naughty Dog gave the gaming-press during the E3 event, but also because of the games' predecessor with which, despite having it's share of mistakes, they've set a pretty high standard for themselves.Well, Uncharted 2 blows that standard completely to pieces.
The formula used in part 1 has been tweaked & perfected in every aspect of the game-play, characters, plot, visuals, voice-acting, humor and the list just goes on.
(For one, the exploring/platforming/puzzling & gun-play parts are well balanced now.) From the gorgeous, epic graphics & score to the smallest audio & story details, you can just sense the love they've put into making this game..which is not just a game anymore, really.
And just in case you're wondering, you don't necessarily have to play Drake's Fortune before playing Among Thieves, although I highly recommend it.So, the conclusion is pretty simple and straight-forward; If you are a PS3 owner, go and buy this game today!.
All new characters that will make the story even more interesting and also, the music used is amazing.Uncharted has done it again, by far, the best PS3 game released in 2009.
I am sure it will be very difficult to build a better game, that's why I gave this game a 10 as I cannot even find one negative thing about it.Excellent job Naughty Dog, you did it again!.
For those of you who have a PS3 at home---Uncharted II: Among Thieves is the Action/Adventure game of a lifetime.The writing is far superior to any game ever made.
A game that once you are done you feel good about it.Of course it is only on the PS3 and it will be the best Action game of all time---I feel sorry for those who do not have a PS3 to experience it---but if you have a friend who has one, see if he/she will let you come over and experience one of the best console games of this generation.Uncharted II:Among Thieves----10/10 stars---awesome If this is made into a movie, the voice actors look the part and would be the best choices for the roles..
Uncharted 2 Among Thieves may well be the best PS3 game to date, although such a compliment will raise the skepticism of both XBOX fans and some MGS fans in your living room.I have to admit that included me, a MGS fan who considered MGS4 the end of my gaming career.
First off, Uncharted 2 might be the first "Jaw-dropping" visual experience I've had in playing a video game.
It's a proof that graphics alone can make a difference in a game and make a game shine.That's not saying the other parts of Uncharted 2 are not good.
The characters-centered presentation never gets old, just like the distinctive personalities of Nathan Drake, Elena and Chloe.
Critics said based on the trailers that it looked like Lara Croft had a sex change and that it would lack originality.When the game was actually released however the critics were silenced and the title was critically acclaimed.A sequel was inevitable and unsurprisingly was met with positivity once again, but why?Uncharted can be compared to Tomb Raider, they are hugely similiar titles but in this guys opinion Uncharted has far better plots.Uncharted 2 see's Nathan Drake and familiar faces travel the world in search of Marco Polo' lost fleet.
Once again the game is enormous in size, wonderfully written, full of likeable characters, decent puzzles and a wealth of originality.Ontop of this is flawless voice acting led by Nolan North and the husky goddess Claudia Black.Uncharted 2 delivers as successfully as the first game and as a whole is near flawless.
A Summary:Uncharted 2 is a perfect mix of action, puzzles, funny moments, and multiplayer, You play as Nathan Drake, Who is basically the personality and sense of humour of John mcClane (Die Hard), The Charm of Indiana Jones, The gun-slinging-ness of James Bond, and The Climbing talents of Lara Croft (Tomb Raider), Faith (Mirror's Edge), Ezio Auditiore (Assasin's Creed 2), and Altiar (Assasin's Creed) rolled into one.Characters:This game has LOADS of characters, some old, some new, and all brilliant, the voice acting is spot on, and you will never find friendlies running into your line of fire.Animation/Graphics:An awesome frame rate, excellently smooth 720p graphics, and Bright colours, along with the same wet engine (your clothes get saturated when you decide to take a swim) and with a new snow engine,(you get coated in snow, then it melts, and then your wet)Plus, all environments are colourful and interactive.Handy things/fun gizmos:There is a machinima mode that lets you create films with the characters (check out "Drakes Ps3" on YOUtube for a brilliant example)There is Lip-syncing, meaning what you say moves the character's mouth.26 story-mode levels, (26!!) and loads of maps online.Many varied online modes, Eg: Plunder (C.T.F with a small, heavy golden statue)There are also co-op modes, but, instead of playing the story mode, you play in segments.There is a costume select in the online mode, from Jeff to Skeletons and everything in between!There is even an Uncharted 2 Twitter account built INTO THE GAME that lets you post your progress through the game.Critisisms: Very few, I found that online, many times you can be shooting at an enemy, yet they never seem to die, there is a martyrdom-esquire perk called Revenge, (I think thats what its called) The characters online, and in the single-player costume select, don't get wet.
This happened to me once, I was demoted because I quit an online match early, going from rank 7, back to rank 1, thats quite a harsh punishment, for such a small accident.Overall:I loved this game, and I've gotten over some of the criticisms, and the game has a lot of replay value, so, if you'll excuse me, I'm getting ready for my 5th playthrough of Uncharted 2: AMONG Thieves, on crushing.
Nolan North does a great job voicing the character Nathan Drake and his dialogue is superb; very realistic.
Personally I'd love to see Nolan North play Nathan Drake in the movie.
Eventually Nate has been double crossed and what follows is one of the most amazing,intense, and thrilling story to be told in a video game.Gameplay consists of 4 things duck and cover gun-play, stealth, puzzle solving and parkour style navigation through environments (my personal favorite) I was just amazed on how much variety there was in the game play department and was just unprepared for it so much.
Now keep in mind this is all happening in real time and it's not a cut-scene.The characters in the game are developed pretty well and the voice acting is some of the best i've heard in a video game in a long time and really helps develop the story greatly when it comes to cut-scenes.
This is actually one of the video games that i wouldn't mind to sit back and watch the cut-scenes it feels like you're watching a live action movie almost.
Well the game goes here and there as Nate must maneuver through a war torn city, have a very cool train fight scene, and end up in the mountains in search of treasure.
At times I was thinking "why the heck can't they make movies this good?" Nathan is also a very funny and great video game character and it was nice to see a couple of familiar faces back from the previous game.
It's just a shame that there's not much replay value to the game as it's rather easy to finish.The adventure this time focuses on Marco Polo's mysterious voyages in the 13th century and the Tree of Life.
But beyond this I am sorry to say that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves has little to offer aside from an online multi-player mode, which I am not interested in.I still highly recommend the game and it's an essential purchase for any PS3 owner, whether you liked the first game or not.Graphics A+ Sound A+ Gameplay A Lasting Appeal B.
The original uncharted while a good game in it's own way was flawed in certain places to prevent it from becoming a classic.
It's a lot more epic with it's set pieces, the storyline is more engaging, the characters and voice acting is stronger and the overall gameplay is a lot more fun.
so when i played uncharted 2 i didn't know what to expect and i was blown away by this MASTERPIECE and these are reasons why uncharted 2 is my favorite game GRAPHICS: back in 2009 i have never seen anything like it before it's just gorgeous no more words.
GAMEPLAY: uncharted 2 is a special game because of it's multiple game play styles you have cover based shooting, platforming,hand to hand combat, puzzle solving,stealth and they are all done really well.
STORY: i honestly don't care about stories in video games but uncharted 2 story kept me waiting too see what's gonna happen next and most games don't do that for me and the voice acting is incredible.
SET PIECES: OMFG is what sums uncharted 2 unbelievably epic moments i wont spoil anything but man they blew me away so there you have it uncharted is my favorite game of all time for these reasons..
It looks substantially better than the first game, and it uses this to great use in its unforgettable set-pieces, beginning from the first time you press 'Start', and it also uses tension a whole lot.
The climbing is extremely fluid, the puzzles are good and this is the only game in the Uncharted trilogy to master the precise controls required of a game.
Improved Game Play Makes Uncharted 2 a Worthy Successor.
Besides I don't think people are playing Uncharted for the over arching story but instead the action and the funny lines Nathan Drake has to say.
I haven't played upon it's release back in 2009 and i just picked this up now in 2016 along with "Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection".
It is easy to play and is probably Naughty Dog's best game.Nathan Drake is back and this time he meets up with 2 thieves, Chloe and Finn - they are trying to recover a lost stone that was reputed to have a supernatural power that wiped out most of Marco Polo's ships which apparently is worth a fortune which after getting thrown in jail means that Drake and Elena and sometimes Chloe have to get the stone before Finn's client - a ruthless dictator because it turns out that finding the lost city around the stone would mean turning him invincible.The plot is really stock of a couple of people find and get treasure against every odd given to them.
In all honesty, I've heard they're making an Uncharted movie and if it's anything like this (which being a video game movie I'll highly doubt) then I will see it in a heartbeat..
After playing the first Uncharted and not enjoying it I wasn't looking forward to this game, shame on me.
It is highly overrated, and once again has repetitive game play, just like the original.
I never seen such a great snowy graphics in any other game till now and i hope i can see such a amazing graphics only again on uncharted 3...Whole game is like seeing a Awesome Hollywood movie...I LOVE UNCHARTED 2 !!!Story: 10, Graphics: 10, Sound: 10, Gameplay: 10, Multiplayer:9.5 (It would be more fun if it have more than 10 players battle),Overall: 10..
Through flashbacks and gameplay in those flashbacks, you wonder what on Earth happened to your character (Nathan Drake) to see him near death and abandoned at the start of the game.Graphics: Whilst the first game's graphics were pretty good, Uncharted 2 just looks so much more sumptuous, especially during the cinematic cut scenes.
Brilliant quality.Strengths of the game: * Brilliant character animation and voice acting by the cast...it comes across as a big budget Hollywood movie.* Improved combat mechanics...it's a bit like Metal Gear Solid 3's combat mechanics...not as sophisticated as that, but an improvement over the mechanics of the first game nonetheless.* Variety in game play...driving sections, leaping from moving cars sections etc.Weaknesses of the game: * You get some novel enemies in this game...the first time you fight those blue people you really are left to flounder, clueless, as to how to defeat them.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the best games that I have ever played on any console.You follow Nathan Drake on an even bigger adventure then the last as you follow the trail of Marco Polo to the legendary city of Shambhala(Shangri-La).
Climbing is easier to master, the enemies are somewhat easier to kill, fighting is faster and more fun to use, the graphics look even more beautiful then before and if I really went into everything about what makes this game so great it would take awhile.
This just goes to show that the character is more than a collection of polygons and really makes you believe that he is Nathan Drake, the person, whether you think of him as charming or as annoying is up to your tastes but you will feel these ways about a person.This is a good game, a great one even, but there is just a sense of predictability to the plot that keeps it from being a ten from me but go judge it for yourselves.
This is one of the best video games I have ever played and it is so good that you'll be playing to know what happens next.The game has one of the best intros in any games we begin with Nathan Drake the Uncharted Main Protagonist as he awoke to find himself wounded only to realize that is the least of his troubles as he finds himself hanging over a cliff and he is inside a train.
Uncharted 2 really awards you for playing, sure you'll run into some bumps in the road but never the less the game will reward you.
The game play for the game has a mix of action, third person shooter, stealth, and puzzle solving and it's best to get a guide for this game because the puzzle can be really challenging and will test your gaming skills you have to be a pro to get them rightI just love the game play it really everything you could ask for in a video game like this as you also collect treasures along the way.As soon as you pop in the game you will be blown away by the phenomenal graphics.
The characters who were motion captures by the voice actors themselves really make it feel like you were watching a movie during the cut scenes and watching a play as well.
Just playing the game gives it justice for how well the game looks every thing about the graphics is a winnerThe Voice acting is also top notch as each cast member really brought their characters to life often times you'll forget you're playing a game as the cut scenes are really well done brought the story of the game to full attention, it goes to show how well cut scenes can be done if you take the time to make it feel like a reward to the player and the voice acting is so good that you would play the game just to listen to the work.
It's easy to see why Drake is a enjoyable character along with Elena Sully and Chloe who each brought something special to the game and Lazarevic is one of the most cold hearted, ruthless, pure evil and stone cold villains I have seen ever in a video game The music in the game is excellent as you get the feel the emotion in the work of each piece you hear in the game also the controls take time to get use to but once you master them you'll in for a epic time.Uncharted 2 made me a fan of the series there is so much to be said about the game that you will become one as well.With phenomenal voice acting, Excellent game play, well crafted story and epic game play you will be happy you pick up this game, I know I was this is one of the reasons to own a PlayStation 3I give Uncharted 2: Among Thieves an 9 out of 10.
this game is amazing the story you can't say nothing bad about this story the story is like a what a normal action adventure should be like in a game the best part about this game is the stealth attacks where you sneak behind enemies and kill them you can drag them off cliffs the graphics are excellent spot on can't say nothing bad about it at all the graphics are like what a action adventure setting should be like the puzzles can get dull and frustrating at times but that is OK because that's what action game should be like yes it copies Lara croft sometimes but that doesn't mean it's a bad game the controls are amazing you can get to cover in any way you want like swapping from one wall to the next there were some 1 or 2 minor glitches but other then that can't complain the music suits the game can't complain about that i haven't played online on this game but i'll give it a try the voice acting again can't complain and there is sometimes witty banter between the characters for someone to cheer up when you're depressed overall game score 9.5/10 it would have gotten 10 if they fixed the minor glitches it's not to often don't worry about that i would recommend you buy this game and try it out you won't disappointed!.
Where "Uncharted: Drake's Fortune" was a wholeheartedly engaging (and novel) gaming experience, "Among Thieves" takes everything there is to love about the original and raises the bar to staggering heights.To say this game is an improvement is a serious understatement.