Drake's back, and this time it's interpersonal. Uncharted saw lovable rogue fortune hunter Nathan Drake romp through levels of Tomb-Raider style action and adventure. Among Thieves sees him do it all again, but this time it features the multiplayer option that was notably absent from the first game. Whereas in the previous game, Drake was looking for the lost fortune of his ancestor Sir Francis Drake, in Among Thieves it is Marco Polo's historical legacy that is the centre of the storyline. Nate is in search of the truth behind the lost fleet of Marco Polo. When Polo left the court of Kublai Kahn and departed China, he had fourteen ships laden with treasure, when the world next saw him eighteen months later, he had only one ship...
Nathan embarks on a quest to find the lost fleet, and discovers that Marco Polo had been on a mission to find the legendary Himalayan valley of Shambhala - Shangri-La! In Shambhala the Bhuddist's Cintamani Stone - a huge ruby worth billions of dollars, is reputed to reside.
The first Uncharted game was renown for it's superb animation and dialogue - one of the first games to truly deliver an interactive cinematic experience, and developers Naughty Dog use their enhanced game engine to deliver more of the same, only better, in Uncharted 2. The Naughty Dog Engine 2 has a range of graphical improvements, from lighting, and animation technology to game physics... and all with no loading.
The climbing action in Uncharted was good, but Among Thieves promises to be better still - offering smoother and more fluid climbing and the ability for Drake to shoot weapons from anywhere in the game environment, even when climbing or hanging. Melee combat and enemy intelligence are all upgraded too.
While Uncharted 2 does not need to greatly improve its single-player game to be a winner, multi-player features will be popular with many players, and Among Thieves delivers in spades. There are both competitive and co-operative modes. Up to 10 players can compete (or co-operate) in Heroes vs Villains and deathmatch modes. Plunder mode encourages co-operation as a team attempt to move a treasure trove through the game environment. The game's party system enables friends to stay together during matchmaking, and custom matches enable users to set up environments as they like them. Currency won in multiplayer can be used in the single player missions to to unlock additional content and upgrades.