Overview
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a PlayStation exclusive action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. Released on October 13, 2009, it follows treasure hunter Nathan Drake as he chases the mythical Cintamani Stone across Istanbul, Borneo, Nepal, and Tibet, all while being pursued by Serbian war criminal Zoran Lazarević. The game builds on the foundation of Drake's Fortune with tighter combat, more ambitious platforming sequences, and a script that treats its characters like actual people.
The story kicks off with a museum heist in Istanbul, where Drake teams up with former associate Harry Flynn and the sharp-tongued Chloe Frazer to steal a Mongolian oil lamp connected to Marco Polo's lost 1292 fleet. Flynn double-crosses Drake almost immediately, setting up a globe-trotting chase that eventually leads to the gates of Shambhala itself. The plot moves fast, the dialogue crackles, and the voice cast, led by Nolan North as Drake alongside Claudia Black and Graham McTavish, sells every beat.
Gameplay and mechanics
The core loop combines cover-based shooting with traversal and light puzzle-solving. Drake can vault over cover, blind-fire around corners, perform stealth takedowns, and swing across gaps on ropes, all within the same encounter. Combat arenas are designed to reward movement rather than camping, and the game regularly introduces new enemy types and weapon varieties to keep things from going stale.
Key mechanics at a glance:
- Cover-based third-person shooting
- Rope swinging and wall-climbing traversal
- Melee and stealth takedowns
- Environmental puzzles tied to the story
- Multiplayer modes including co-op and competitive play
What makes Uncharted 2 stand out?
The set pieces are the answer. Uncharted 2 opens with Drake dangling from a train car on a Himalayan cliff face, and the game barely lets up from there. A Nepalese city under tank assault, a collapsing building in real time, a helicopter chase through snow-covered mountains, these sequences were genuinely unlike anything else on consoles in 2009. The remastered version, available on PS4, runs the game at a sharper resolution and frame rate, making those moments hit even harder.
Naughty Dog also built a multiplayer suite into the package, which was a surprise addition that held an active player base for years. The competitive modes supported up to 10 players across various match types, while co-op missions let three players tackle standalone scenarios set in locations from the campaign.
Impact and legacy
Uncharted 2 swept the 2009 awards season, taking Game of the Year from multiple outlets and landing a Metacritic score of 96. It is regularly cited as one of the best PlayStation 3 games ever made and one of the strongest arguments for cinematic action-adventure as a genre worth taking seriously. The remastered edition, released as part of the Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection on PS4, carries a 4.61 out of 5 star rating from over 1,100 verified player reviews on the PlayStation Store.
The game's influence is visible across a decade of action-adventure releases that followed, from the structure of its linear-but-spectacular level design to the way it handles character banter during gameplay. For anyone who wants to understand how PlayStation exclusives became what they are today, Uncharted 2 is the starting point.