Uncharted 2--further thoughts.

I've previously talked about my initial impressions of Uncharted 2, but now that I've completed the game I figured I would write about my final impressions of the whole game.

The game is solid from beginning to end, there is no denying this.  The dialogue is superb, the story is very intriguing, the game play is perfectly balanced between action, jumping and stealth.  As the story progresses each game play element increases in intensity to end with a frenetic mash of battles over the Cintamani Stone.  It's not unexpected, that the closer you get to the goal or end point in a game that the difficulty would ramp up, but I found myself getting almost hopelessly frustrated with the endgame.  Knowing that I was very close to the end, but fighting off wave after wave of killer zombie/native/beast like mobs was almost a deal breaker.  I played through on Normal but by the end it felt like I was playing on Crushing.  I'm sure that is just my lack of experience with console games or something, but seriously if that was "Normal" hard I don't want to play it on "Crushing" hard.  At what point does playing a game for challenge become an exercise in self control so that you don't throw your controller through your TV?

I enjoy a challenge, but combine that challenge with poor motor skills with a controller, which then translates to really poor aim, which translates to scads of wasted ammo, which translates to relying on the least powerful weapon for taking out said challenge, and you end up with either a shattered TV or a broken controller and a divot on the floor (or both).  Games should be fun.  Games should be challenging.  Games should entertain and enlighten (that is debatable).  But to do all those things should a game lose sight of each for the sake of being a "game"? 

This is a weird loop to ponder.  At what point does a game stop being a game (taking you out of the moment of enjoying the resolution to a great story) and become a series of button mashes, swearing, and unnecessary aggravation?  Does a "good" game constitute great story with little challenge?  Can a challenge overshadow and completely break any story that may have otherwise made a game perfect?  I can think of a few games that I've played recently that fall on both sides.  Killzone 2 has a moderately good story (the game play mechanics worked well), but the end boss kept me from ever finishing the damn game.  Pixel Junk Eden has no story to tell and has a very simple game play mechanic, but add additional challenge as you move through gardens and the game becomes virtually unbeatable.  (With PJ:E, the question begs to be asked what exactly is the ending--and that is something that is up to the individual player and whatever goals you may want to accomplish).  Star Wars Force Unleashed is another game that has a fantastic story and relatively good game play mechanics, but add in wave after wave of bad guys with deadly aim, shields that block lightsabers (WTF?!?) and you break a game in order to make it a "game".

Maybe I'm too old.  I don't think I am though, as my nine year old finds games that are too challenging for the sake of making a game "more game-like" a complete bore.  Challenge is one thing, but excruciating exercise in frustration is another.  Will I continue to play Uncharted 2?  Sure.  There are more treasures to find.  I found 50/100 on my first play through, plus there are additional trophies to get for killing bad guys with different guns.  The multi-player is a blast as well (both co-op and death match).  But will I play Uncharted 2 to get a Platinum?  Not very likely.  Good, fun games shouldn't make you cry yourself to sleep at night. (I kid of course)  That's what real life is for.

Yoda....here's a spoon

In 2003 Genndy Tartakovsky changed the perception of a sinking Star Wars franchise.  Mixing the art style of Samurai Jack with Star Wars and then forcing the story to be compressed into three to four minutes of action showed that a good Star Wars story could be told without bad acting or worse dialogue.  In 2008 Lucas started airing on TV a CG re-imaging of the Tartakovsky stories that tells the official Clone Wars story since the movies only briefly allude the beginning and end of the fabled battles.

Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes is set in the story from the 2008 series between season one and season two.  The concept of the game is a mix between LEGO Star Wars, Little Big Planet, and Star Wars Battlefield.  It takes some of the best aspects for each but some implementations are just not fully realized.

The game switches between playing as two Jedi or two Clones.  As Jedi you have lightsabers and the force, and playing as Clones you have guns and explosives.  Game play is a cross between button mashing when playing as a Jedi and twin-stick shooter when playing as a Clone.  Jedi can also jump on top of droids to either take control of them or (after paying for an upgrade) make the droids dance.  Combat for either type of play is mostly competent and intuitive but the game developers have added a tutorial throughout in the form of Yoda instructing players how to play.  The problem with this tutorial form is that you can't turn it off (but you can skip by pressing O) and the tutorial messages are repetitive and break up the game play.  Annoying are you, yes Yoda.

By the time I played through the first Act of the game I was accepting of the fact that even though I'm a smart gamer and can figure something out on my own, I would inevitably have Yoda pop up to explain what I'd already figured out. 

In the description above I describe the game as a mixture of LEGO Star Wars and Little Big Planet.  Playing through the levels you can collect little blue orbs for points which can be spent to buy combat upgrades, droid-jak upgrades, droid dances, masks and hats, and cheats.  I liken the game to Little Big Planet because there are different depths of field that you can jump from.  This is the one of the problems that makes this game frustrating.  Yoda (in one of his annoying tutorials) says that you can jump and the Force will land the Jedi where he's supposed to go.  But Yoda lies.  There are many times where jumping is critical to move forward in the level, but the Force doesn't seem to correct the path at all.  Fortunately death is meaningless in this game.  You die, but re-spawn very close by from where you died.  There is no penalty for death, no loss of blue orbs or Jedi points, so even if you miss where you're supposed to jump to and die, you can keep trying....again and again and again.

Apparently I'm a bit more critical than my kids.  They really enjoy this game.  They like the ability to make the droids dance (it's cute but breaks the moment of battle), they like the ability to change hats and masks, and they like the ability to replay missions as different Jedi than from the first "story" play through.

Multiplayer in the game is handled by allowing both players to play on the same screen as the partner to the main character (Jedi or Clone).  The kids really enjoy that too.

Overall, the game has some very annoying quirks, but when presented to young Star Wars fans, the game is not bad.

Also, for those who want relatively easy trophies, this is worth playing too.