I recently picked up Uncharted 2 again to give it another playthrough. Usually, when I play a game for the second time, I do it in bursts. A little bit of this one here, then I’ll play this one a bit, it all depends on my mood and what kind of game I feel like playing. I was pleasantly surprised this time when I blazed through it again in a week without so much as touching any other titles. It’s been a little less than a year since I charted for the first time, and I got to say, it was just as much fun this go around.

What I was especially paying attention to were the aspects of the game I loved the most and how they could be expanded on in Deception. First off, I hope they stick with the story formula. I usually don’t say this, but it works so well. We all are familiar with it at this point: compete for treasure with fascist splinter group, realize success would carry significant consequences for human kind, and make a sacrifice to eliminate the very desire for that success. It motivates the player for personal reasons at first, and then hooks them by turning them into a purely altruistic hero. Who wouldn’t enjoy that again?

The second is keeping you in control while the action evolves. This is by and large my favorite part of the Uncharted series. You do get hints of this in the Deception demo videos, but I’m just waiting for that Among Thieves epicness. Mainly, and I’ll use an obvious example here, fighting dudes on collapsing buildings and bridges. This is what I mean by playing through the action instead of being able to separate it into distinct sections: i.e. kill wave, move forward, etc. Your ability to react to what’s happening in the environment, and not just pitting your skill against AI enemies is what helps tie players to level design itself, instead of seeing it as just backdrop. Not only that, but it can help to immerse you in the greater story of the game. I was watching the cut scenes again after about the fifth chapter, which is rare for me, but I really wanted that whole experience. No shame. So I’m hoping for a further integration of this kind of reactionary gameplay interspersed more continuously throughout. The part of the demo video for Deception where Drake gets his foot stuck is kind of what I’m talking about here.

Anyway, maybe this is all too obvious for fans of the game. That’s ok. The rest for me is obvious too: improve the cover system (rolling into walls is a favorite pastime for my Drake), keep and expand the excellent stealth system, and find more ways to dispatch enemies with objects in the environment. The last two there were what hooked me in my replay experience. The satisfaction when you pull off an impressive takedown or kill in a way that you previously thought impossible is not deceiving at all.