Uncharted 2 PS3 not original, still a pioneer

Developer Naughty Dog Inc.'s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for Sony Corp.'s Playstation 3 isn't original. The game is wholly inspired by action movies, yet it is a pioneer in its execution of action adventure game elements.

[Relientk77]

Metacritic score of 97

Awesome!

[Isaac]

In the way it delivers everything, just like God of War *is* original, not because it was the first greek mythology game (it was not) but because of the way they deliver.

[WildArmed]

lol love how every1 here is to jump the gun how U2 isnt original.
Even though for most game that never matters. I wonder why they keep pointing it out for U2 as if they have something to prove? Gotta love the media.

[deadreckoning666]

"It IS original
In the way it delivers everything, just like God of War *is* original, not because it was the first greek mythology game (it was not) but because of the way they deliver."

What? I thk I know what ur trying to say but I don't understand ur wording. BTW: I thk Uncharted 2 IS original due to its platforming elements being fully integrated into MP.

All in all, originality is SUBJECTIVE. Lots of people call Halo "generic". Yet, it was the first console FPS to have a save and replay feature,a complex map editor(forge), and the best stat online tracking system out there. Many say Modern Warfare is "generic" yet, the perk system and killstreaks is revolutionary for shooters IMO.

[Maddens Raiders]

We need more of these kind of games.

[dreamcast]

"Yet, it was the first console FPS to have a save and replay feature,a complex map editor(forge)"

Farcry had a map editor, just fyi

[Unicron]

Timesplitters PS2 had a map editor...

[SupaPlaya]

"Even though for most game that never matters."

You forgot, it also doesn't redefine the genre.

[Cenobia]

I don't think that is true. Timesplitters had a map editor and I'm pretty sure there were other games with editors before that. As for save and replay (I assume you mean recording a replay and saving it), I'm not sure that is accurate either. That didn't come out until Halo 2 or 3 right? There were other games with replay features (like Driv3r, which would actually possess your replays on occasion and play out its own scenario). It may have been the first FPS with it, but that's not really 'original.'

Not trying to say anything bad about Halo, but I think credit should be given where its due. Halo had original weapons and great multiplayer, but I wouldn't say it's entirely original. It takes the best parts from a lot of other games and makes an even better game. The same thing goes for Uncharted. It borrows from movies and games in the genre and makes something even better (haven't played U2 yet though).

[kws1065]

Sailing a ship has been done many times but sailing to an uncharted water requires a lot of skills and adventures. Does anybody know the story of Columbus who is told by others "Only Sailing West, nothing new" (OMG today is the day haha).

Just like the title UNCHARTED.

[SnuggleBandit]

original story. original animations. original graphics. original art style. original cinema mode. original platforming. What else can people complain about? Footprints in the snow? Oh wait...

[thesummerofgeorge]

It's everything within the game that makes it original or unoriginal. What other game does the media judged this way, and specifically point out the one flaw they can come up with in an otherwise stellar (to say the least) game? Even a wildly original game like LBP has Familiar plots and themes if you break it down to the core, but that's just the skeleton of the game, the meat of it is the way all the elements come together to form an experience. They act like they're reviewing a movie... At very least, it's original BECAUSE it plays like a seamless interactive action flick. They can't say it's unoriginal because it's like *insert action movie title here* because it's a game, you can't judge a game based on how good a movie it is, or how original a movie it is, because it's not a fvckin movie!

[morganfell]

Let's add up the "Uncharted isn't original" articles and stack them against the "HALO ODST isn't original articles."

Not even close in the number of attacks.

"...when you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."

Admit it or not the heavy bias in the press against Sony and the PS3 is showing...again.

[Lifendz]

nothing is original. I'd say it's original and may even establish sort of a new level of quality in game cinema. Seriously, the story in this game, the acting, the cinematography, effects, sound, etc are better than a good number of movies I've seen.

The critics have spoken. PS3 owners must now do the same.

[Feral Gamer]

But I thought everyone hates metacritic? Personally, I've always put faith in Metacritic scores. Suddenly a PS3 game averages a good score and Metacritic is a reputable site? Talk about double standards. Every time the competition's game averages higher, Metacritic is put into focus as a biased website which only shows scores from select sources...

[uie4rhig]

we seen too many *insert good PS3 title* bashing articles!

[HammockGames]

So essentially the translation is that no game, no movie, no music, etc, can be considered original if it draws any inspiration from anything else?

Ridiculous.

I would love to hear the author's suggestions on exactly what they would tweak to make it original. Add space marines (I hear that's never been done before)? Or Care Bears with bazookas that shoot demon manure?

[himdeel]

..."lack of originality". Next lack up "lack of sexual organs". Followed by my PS3 gave me an "STD".

[cyberwaffles]

the game has to be somewhat original to stand above the rest. i can't think of any other platforming TPS out in the market either.

whatever the case is, there better be some strict standards and criteria when reviewing games for now on if games like killzone 2 and uncharted 2 are going to be knocked around for lacking "originality," despite having it.

i better see some criticism for modern warfare 2 because that game really isn't that all different from MW. the reason everyone praise MW is because of it's execution of playability; not because of originality. should be the same issue with uncharted 2.

[thesummerofgeorge]

Nobody has a problem with meta, you made that up. People have a problem with reviewers being unfairly harsh on a game that is a milestone for the industry as a whole, people have a problem with the allegation that it's unoriginal, people have a problem with the many games before it that were nowhere near the caliber of U2 that got a pass on the same things they bash this game for. Meta critic in theory, just adds up the scores to make an average, nobody has a problem with that, hence making your point moot.

[badz149]

not from me though!

PS3 has a lot of outstanding exclusives but to have the "media bashing" and "media nitpicking" exclusive for it too is somewhat...I don't know, FTW? No? these kind of nitpick is becoming pathetic by the days and became too obvious with Uncharted 2! why suddenly question about originality when they didn't and won't do it for other games? and then footprints in snow anyone? that's ridiculous, it's pathetic!

[FACTUAL evidence]

ooh, but gears was original? riiiiiiight.

[Xbox Avatars Shoe]

U2 is getting great scores across the board and it's funny how there haven't been any 360 fanboys commenting in the U2 review articles :)

This is probably why:

[Cliff Bull-Shit-ski]

@ FACTUAL evidence

My game is completely original unlike this poop you call uncharted that is a Gears wanna-be.

@ Xbox avatars shoe

F-you. That GIF was fvckin lame. Say bye bye to those bubbles

[Stationfan]

Oh its not original can someone recomend me a third person game, whose online multiplayer has platforming elements along with its tps roots. Id love to play this overcrowded genre /s

[WildArmed]

but but buttt gametrailers says its not original! So it must not be o_o

(for the record i think GT gave U2 a fair score.. its just the defense he provided in the podcast that im poking fun at =p He started screaming : DONT STONE ME TO DEATH.. I BLAME THE GAME FOR NOT BEING ORIGNAL)

[wildcat]

awesome

[v1c1ous]

<_<

>_>

well you ASKED.

*in b4 500 disagrees*

[jmare]

Tomb raider has online multiplayer?

[bjornbear]

But lara is far hotter than drake...imo ~_~

[SupaPlaya]

lol I would hope so if you are a male...

Second thought, nvm.

[Gamer71]

....but of course, Sony fanboys didn't play that, because they were too busy dissing the game because it came to 360 1 year earlier.

Red Faction Guerrilla does as well, but hardly ANYONE plays THAT. :/

[beardpapa]

^ Lost planet doesn't even really have the normal platforming elements. It was fun, but it played like another typical TPS. UC2 multiplayer on the other hand, feels like a third person platformer with guns.

[frnkyl]

But can you get Lara's shirt wet? XD

[jmare]

Maybe you should stop being a troll and learn reading comprehension. Red Faction: Guerrilla does not have platforming elements in the multiplayer. It has jetpacks. Jetpacks != platforming. I can't say for lost planet because I never played it, but from what I've seen of it, there were no platforming elements anywhere in that game.

[randomwiz]

"But, Sony fanboys ALWAYS put on the blinders, to defend a PS3 exclusive. "

LP is years ahead of Uncharted /sarcasm

Not being original is not a bad thing. Someone does something revolutionary, and people follow, the only difference here is that uncharted follows doing either equal to or better than the developer who did it first.

[Cenobia]

KILL.SWITCH

Suck on that!

@Gamer71

I think your definition of 'platformer' is a little mixed up. Ladders don't make games platformers and neither do grapple guns. They give the players ways to get to high ground, but that doesn't make them a platformer, per se. Traversing complicated terrain that requires jumping, grabbing, climbing, etc. makes a game a platformer.

[Knghtz]

but those are all things that have been done in some fashion I'd say.

From what I've seen this game seems like an amalgamation of many elements executed correctly. I personally don't see much innovation/originality in this game, however originality is not the core of which a game is judged. I don't know for sure though I haven't played it. How the people here are saying it IS original without playing it is beyond me.

Anyway, looks like a great game. Wish I had a PS3. Someone send me one, quick!

[WildArmed]

@2.5
but is she hotter then Elena and Chloe? o_o
I dont think so mister =p

btw only Tomb Raider is in the same genre as Uncharted.
If you believe Lost Planet and Red Faction are in the same genre, then you clearly havent played LP/Red Faction or Uncharted/Tomb raider.
coz a grapple hook doesnt make the game a platformer... otherwise Just Cause, and Mercs 2 would be too.

Red Faction is a sand box.. dont confuse yourself.

[solidjun5]

or Gam71 (that's his other account). He's not really a gamer but a troll trying beating his chest.

[JonnyBigBoss]

What about online platforming? Did another game have such platforming elements in multi-player?

[bjornbear]

Gears of War!!!...oh no wait..

You're right =)

EDIT_ @below

No but no one expected more than a DLC for ODST...and it got high grades because it was "different" compared to OTHER HALOS...

And here is where my problem with Halo is born:

They always compare Halo games...to other Halo games.

Uncharted, well, its being compared from Gear to Crysis! =P come on! And its STILL holding up =)

[Anorexorcist]

But you have to always keep this in mind; As long as its a PS3 exclusive, Hair-splitting and cherry-picking on the merits of the game will always be the rule, rather than the exception for a certain segment of the gaming media.

This actually places the PS3 on higher ground than the Xbox 360 and the Wii, don't you think? Because articles like this almost go to show how titles for the PS3 are judged on a whole higher level compared to the software of the other platforms. Or it could be just pathetic attempts for hits, either way!

[SupaPlaya]

being a space marine is exceptionally original.

[Gamer71]

...as I mentioned above, LOST PLANET and RF:G do.

And, to be fair...even that REALLY SHlTTY 'Damnation' game had online platforming.

So yeah...this review was 100% correct in his statement...but Sony fanboys don't want ANYTHING negative written about their exclusives.

[Anorexorcist]

Also to Halo's Defense: Pawning off an expansion pack for $60 had never been done before.

[Knghtz]

It's hard to find something truly original if you are splitting hairs and trying to come up with names like "Online platforming".

It will undoubtedly be an amazing game, I don't think we need to go searching for original concepts here to make a basis for it.

[WildArmed]

@Gamer71
Clearly everyone here is a Fanboy but you.. i mean that would explain your oh-so unbiased comment history and the number of bubbles you have -.-

[bjornbear]

"Its SO damn perfect...it CAN'T be original...if it were original it would be GOD!!!"

Thats what i hear =P

Its interesting how lack of originality resonates from the echoes of praises...

[Thoreau]

the 360 does not get this silly azz articles...

[MetalGearRising]

Lets see the SALES how that plays out........is it gonna be a hit or a miss only time will tell.

[-x.Red.x-]

about 300K pre-orders on vgchartz for bots
so about 400k IRL

looks like its going to pull off MGS4 sales
and if it doesn't who cares?

oh wait that all bots have left to say...

[randomwiz]

The first game didn't even have multiplayer and it managed to sell over 2.5 million copies, the second game has multiplayer... it WILL sell

[ZombieAutopsy]

so MGR i have a question, Do you only buy games that sell 5 million +?? If so your gaming collection must be really small this gen, what do you own Gears 1+2 and Halo 3.

[ArcticWolfUK]

if it dont sell 50 million wii sports is better than it! =/
sales>gameplay

[Unicron]

Anyone up for placing bets on the next review that either -

a) ignores the "originality" factor entirely
b) claims something or some small feature is original, when it isn't
c) says it doesn't need to be original because it's so "refined"

I'm betting Modern Warfare 2 will be the next to get a free pass.

Ah game "journalism," how sad you've become.

[SupaPlaya]

they forgot to purchase "TEH Free Pass" :P

[OldParr]

why do people care so much about the meta critic? u guys sound desperate for this game to do good...i dnt have any doubt for this game when it comes to SP; however the MP is weak.it sucks compare to other games in the market!!! its not deep!! it wont keep u attracted to it for long. too bad u guys cant admit that. OH MY GOD THE DISAGREES,IM GONNA CRY!!

psn:Old_Parr

[Transporter47]

hell i have been playing it and it is really fun, and i loved Gears of War multiplayer when it was first released until it got stupid... but uncharted multiplayer is really fun and no it is not weak, it has everything needed to keep you coming for more, but if you don't like it that is fine but don't say it is weak because it is not, also bungie and infinity war helped with the multiplayer i guess they also have weak multiplayer games...

[ZombieAutopsy]

I think ur wrong about the MP being weak, everyone i know that has played it pretty much said the same thing "this is the best TPS ive ever played online". The only problem i have with it is the smaller type scale of the maps but it does make sense since the teams are pretty small.

[deadreckoning666]

Old Parr- Ur right, compared to a Halo or Modern Warfare, Uncharted 2's MP is "weak", but thats expected. Its NOT meant for multiplayer. Once November comes around, PSN will crash with the amount of people playing Modern Warfare 2 at once. I AGREE Uncharted 2 is the best online TPS ever, but for some reason that doesn't say much in this day in age where MORE people care about FPS's than TPS's.

A BIG reason is because FPS's TEND to be more accessible.

Add me: psn-deadreckoning666

@Transporter- Correct, there is not game out there that is original.
However, u can have a game that has more original ideas than another.

[Thoreau]

really i don't care about sales. if the game is good i'll buy it, if it isn't, i won't.

i guess if you posted less and worked more you could be a duel console owner and wouldn't post nonsense.

[Transporter47]

seriously, i mean unless you go back to where first games were being created you will find original ideas, but now these days you can't really have originality to the extent that it is not like any other game, seriously tell me what game out there is not like a game that was previously released? a good game makes what you liked about all those old games and makes it even better then it was and delivers it in an experience never before seen, well that is the way i see it

@disagrees can you tell me why you disagree? i would like to know

[Knghtz]

I would agree that no game is entirely original anymore, however you will still find original concepts that can give a game a fully original feel to it.

I thought Super Mario Galaxy's execution of physics was quite original, however I can't say physics to this degree are original as it's been done by games before much earlier.

It's all in the execution. Some games get their merit because they feel fresh in new, like Super Mario Galaxy. Some games just execute everything so well and deliver an extremely satisfying experience, which is what most might argue U2 will be. I can't say for sure because I've never played it.

[Transporter47]

not because it uses others ideas but because of the way a game delivers the experience in a way never before seen, just like mario galaxy did, but ratchet and clank had done stuff like before walking upsides down and around planets but hey as long as they deliver the experience in a way that has never been experience before that is what makes such great games

[LANC3R]

Unoriginal games are out there like
Gears of War 1&2, that has some elements from other games like KillSwitch (cover system), EvilDead (chainsaws & smart ass attitude), And Resident Evil4 (Behind camera view). The games that had those elements before Gears.

Same with Dead Space, the monsters looks like the monsters from The Suffering. As to your point, 'most' games are not original. But are still fun to play ^_^.

[ZoranLazarevic]

Its always teh sales with you bots?

Amirite????

[MetalGearBear]

u just jealous on Uncharted 2 and review.
please buy a new PS3 and u will be understand.

[ultimolu]

...Lol.

-_-

[mrv321]

If it was on the 360 it'd be original because it isn't an FPS

[Blaster_Master]

I cannot wait for this game!

[Anorexorcist]

Good thing I called in my holiday day off for tomorrow 2 weeks ago. I claimed it was a cultural obligation: Saint Nathan Drake Polo's Birthday!!!

[CryWolf]

Uncharted 2 is more original then halo or Gear of war for the xbots how mandy xbot fanboys does it take to make a fanboy web site just one.

[BonhamZ0S0]

Halo wasn't original, nor did it innovate. At least we can say ND is at least doing something different, and it paid off big time!

[chrisulloa]

Halo redefined the FPS genre on consoles and introduced a whole new view on multiplayer. So yes, it did innovate.

[Ron_Burgundy]

counter-strike would like a word with you

[achira]

you halo bots are such idiots. halo did nothing new and nothing innovative. it was done everything before halo you moron. ut, quake and half life come to my mind. stop with this bs about halo. it did nothing new!

[cereal_killa]

Really!!! GoldenEye 007 says hi but since your like what 10 yrs old you probably have never heard of anything out side of the 360.

[chrisulloa]

Lol, you droids are so stupid. CONSOLES, not computers and Goldeneye did some stuff but didn't have nearly the same impact that Halo did on the gaming industry. Did Goldeneye have the same quality multiplayer that Halo did? Plus you do realize that there are a ton of PS3 games called "Halo killer", you think Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 would be the same without Halo?

[harrisk954]

Not according to GameTrailers! UC2 is just not original enough to merit more than a 9.3... Counting the hours until I can play! :)

As an aside, I'm sure that GT will not find that fault with MW2, which they will hail as the second coming.

[Ninjamonkey]

I dont care too much about origionality. I play games for fun, nothing else.

[asdr3wsfas]

Few fps games are original, and you guys are right in that it's selectively enforced as criticism.

I own a ps3 slim and wii. If you guys listen to any reviewer's scores instead of amazon reviews and a personal knowledge of preference you deserve the boring and unoriginal games you play.

The Conduit was slammed for not being original. Pretty much every hd gamer faulted the game for it in reviews or comments. Difference is they didn't take off points for that reason in uncharted. And most of us who bought and played it appreciated the game for the throwback to old school fps!

You guys think you have it bad? I can't check metacritic for wii games. And I now own 28 of them that are all excellent yet required in depth searching and amazon hunting to find. I was a math major, and you all seem to forget that a number doesn't make an opinion objective, or even an average of them.

Most game reviewers hated lair and most casual gamers love it (from a factor 5 interview, I think the game is genius and easy to control and so do all my friends). Most people here hate wii sports resort yet I constantly meet hardcore fps players that love playing it with me or their friends. What does that say?

It takes a special type of person to want to play video games all day and review them. Most of us aren't that obsessive or are easily bored with the formulaic offerings of most new releases. If you forget this you'll get burned.

[silvacrest]

why does uncharted 2 have to be original? (how can a sequal ever be original anyway?)

[NicCageMYHero]

Some people LOVE action movies and want to play a game that resembles them. Anyways, what is original in this context? Halo - a well respected game - is a game about space marines that travel to space and meet aliens...Super Mario is a game about a lizard-fighting plumber who ...wait that one is original.

[tiamat5]

Once again Uncharted's originality is questioned. But strange enough when they are handing out the scores for games they forget to minus points from games like Lost Planet, Left 4 Dead, Halo, Gears of War and Mass Effect for originalty. These games are practically rip-offs of every Sci-fi movie and TV show from Star Trek to Star Ship Troopers to Star Wars. But everyone jumps to say "Drake is just like Indiana Jones and the plot is so unoriginal". If this is so then we need to go back and minus scores from these other so called perfect games for their unoriginal stories, characters and premises. But no one does that. Just watch, Ratchet and Clank ACIT will get lowered scores for being to close to Tools of Destruction.

[ph3ng]

Original:

1 archaic : the source or cause from which something arises; specifically : originator
2 a : that from which a copy, reproduction, or translation is made b : a work composed firsthand
3 a : a person of fresh initiative or inventive capacity b : a unique or eccentric person

innovate:
1 : to introduce as or as if new
2 : to make changes : do something in a new way

With these definitions as an example, there are a lot of games that will fall into the innovative category as oppose to being original I think.

There was an example given for Halo being "the first console FPS to have a save and replay feature," (I am just using this as an example). But I think it's really an innovation.

All the talk about a game being original or not, is like saying a bmw is a copy of a merc because it has four wheels. A unique delivery of the same thing is really innovation, I think.

Allow me to use movies as an example. All movies should therefore be rated as unoriginal. This is simply because most if not all movies have a good guy, bad guy and similar reoccurring themes - save the world, my love, my family, get the gold, get the treasure, find myself etc. But there are some really unique movies perhaps because of the way they deliver their content.

[CaptainPunch]

You can say this about any video game, all games are inspired by something.

[ph3ng]

i guess that's precisely my point and really there shouldn't be an issue about it either :). Just my input to the 'it's original' 'it's not original' debate.