9.5

Few (if any) games have frustrated me as much as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune gave it a run for its money with its hoards of endless enemies with often sloppy cover mechanics, unclear platforming paths, and a final boss encounter that tested the boundaries of my penchant for pain. But Uncharted 2 featured even more ruthless enemies capable of one-shot kills, painfully few checkpoints, and even more unclear platforming paths that sometimes resulted in a painful game of trial-and-error. Even worse, it often combines all of them to create some of the most stressful gaming situations I’ve ever experienced. But despite all of this, it’s one of the greatest games I’ve ever played.

Drake’s Fortune was a gorgeous game the likes of which had never been seen upon its release date an entire decade ago (feel old?). But other than the three main protagonists and gorgeous graphics, it didn’t have much to offer in terms of narrative scope. In that department, Among 
Thieves does a complete 180. Traversing across what seems like the entire world, Nathan Drake must navigate challenges so great they make his first outing seem like a cakewalk. The character count is more than doubled, the set-pieces may be the grandest I’ve ever seen, and the incredible storytelling featuring tons of double-crosses, twists, turns, and one hell of a villain is simply fantastic. Sure, there were a number of moments that frustrated me so much I had to turn off the game to avoid raging around my entire room, but the characters and the perfect pace of the story kept me coming back for more until I completed this challenging adventure. Like Nathan Drake himself, the game made me earn the satisfaction that came along with it.