Uncharted 2 the "pinnacle of its genre"

By Robert Purchese Published 20 July, 2010

Ninja Theory "uneasy" about comparisons.

Ninja Theory co-founder Tameem Antoniades has told Eurogamer that Uncharted 2: Among Thieves can already be considered the "pinnacle" of its genre.

The problem being that Antoniades' new game Enslaved - with its motion-captured performances and Hollywood blockbuster approach - treads on very similar boards to Naughty Dog's masterpiece.

"It's never good to be compared with something that's already the pinnacle of its genre," blurted Antoniades at Develop last week. "It makes you slightly uneasy."

"I'm okay with people comparing it to Uncharted [2] because it's in the same genre. But, bloody hell, that's a lot to live up to."

Despite his praise, Antoniades doesn't believe that cinematic games such as Uncharted and Heavy Rain have yet mastered their craft.

"I'm not going to single out Uncharted [2], but the best games out there in storytelling still fall short of the nuances of films," he declared.

"When we're doing Enslaved and the story and the character and everything we're not looking at other games, we're looking at movies and achieving that level of cinematic performance.

"We've got a good shot at delivering a strong story where the talent behind it actually matters," he added.

That talent hasn't come cheap. Ninja Theory has ensnared none other than Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Weeks Later, Sunshine) to co-write the game, and rubber-faced actor Andy Serkis (Gollum, King Kong, Ian Dury) to star in and direct motion-capture.

Those are bigger names than Uncharted 2: Among Thieves'. Will the critics be more severe because of them?

"I've never really thought about that, to be honest," Antoniades responded, nervously.

Enslaved will be released in October on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Enslaved at E3.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • cianchristopher #1 2 years ago

    Ninja Theory keep fucking talking about "films"....

    Just make a good GAME first, then you can waffle on about "films"...

  • Raznilof #2 2 years ago

    Am I the only one who thought Uncharted 2, when compared to Drake's Fortune was a bit of a let down?

    I am not saying it wasn't less impressive. Drake's Fortune, with it's continuous level approach, and the wonderful chemistry just sparkled more. Especially when compared to "set piece driven approach" of uncharted 2. Not saying it was a bad game, it is technically better.

    Looking forward to this one though, comparisons or not : )

    edit: cleared some typo's and bad use of English up (I hope)
    Edited by Raznilof at 20/07/10 @ 12:29

  • bodypopper #3 2 years ago

    Bit of a generalisation.
    They only really compare in that both are third person action adventures. It's fairer to compare Uncharted with Tomb Raider rather than Ensalved surely.

  • CountStiltzkin #4 2 years ago

    @Raznilof

    Yes :D

  • BigJonno #5 2 years ago

    Can we please get over this obsession with being like movies? I'm all for games having nice, shiny presentation (Bioshock, for example, would have been a pretty naff shooter without the glories of Rapture) but games should be concentrating on what they can do differently to cinema, not what they can do the same. Developers who want to make strongly narrative-based games shouldn't be trying to copy movies; they should be looking at games that do narrative particularly well, like Portal, and build on them.

  • Geordiemp #6 2 years ago

    Still play uncharted 2 siege mode and coop to this day.

    Animations, movement, graphics, nothing comes close technically. Nothing.

    All you cna critisise it is for the story if you dont like it, I did, but thats subjective.
    Edited by Geordiemp at 20/07/10 @ 12:34

  • Slipstream #7 2 years ago

    Being compared to a blockbuster game isn't a negative thing, sure it puts the preassure on but whilst your game is climbing the same mountain it should also be setting new ideas in its wake. After all, the genre didn't begin with Uncharted, and it certainly wont end with it either.

  • Mashum #8 2 years ago

    Were the PR drones stuck in traffic or something?

  • I\'mListening #9 2 years ago

    I'm a litlle worried that all we seem to hear from this studio is 'Uncharted 2 this, Uncharted 2 that...'. When are they going to start hyping their own game? I know very little about it.

  • ZuluHero #10 2 years ago

    What IS it that I’m missing with Uncharted 2? It’s the type of game I should love and I do really enjoy it - when I play it - so why am I so apathetic towards it!?!

    I should really try and get back into (for like the umpteenth time) it at some point. I've just gotten to the bit after the huge 3-pronged dagger and light beem puzzle?, but i haven't felt the urge to turn it back on again. The magic has to happen at somepoint, right?

    I quite like the look of Enslaved though. Hopefully it will be great! :)

  • DoctorFraud #11 2 years ago

    Uncharted 2 is the most overrated game this gen.

    Good tech, but an average game. People dont seem to be able to make the distinction between the two.

  • VandelayIndustries #12 2 years ago

    ^ Much like fact and opinion.

  • Jim_Lahey #13 2 years ago

    Really like the look of this game. Shame Ninja Theory wont make a sequel to Heavenly Sword. I guess I am in the minority that really enjoyed that game.

  • ParanoidZombie #14 2 years ago

    "The pinnacle of its genre": Ok, but what genre, exactly? It's a bit like god of war or COD's campaign: those games basically play themselves. Compared to action/ adventure / shooters / platformers / beat'em all of old, there's almost no gameplay left!

  • Geordiemp #15 2 years ago

    Zuluhero.

    Select multiplayer, then select matchmaking, then select coop modes Seige and survival, 10 rouns on large maps with 3 players.

    Come back and comment after that and you have played all the game has to offer.

    The single player is a bit of exploration, bit of puzzle, bit of climbing etc and is fine to play once or twice for the story, the action is in the online coop.

    The online multipler coop is for people who like shooters. Its great.
    Edited by Geordiemp at 20/07/10 @ 13:11

  • m0thr4 #16 2 years ago

    @ZuluHero
    Same here... I loved Drake's Fortune, but Among Thieves left me cold.

    Certainly, there was no "magic" point at which the game had me grabbed... just a bunch of tedious gun battles (with dodgy controls), tedious Tomb Raider-style platform jumping and even more tedious cinematic cut sequences.

    Plenty of better games around on PS3 in my opinion.
    Edited by m0thr4 at 20/07/10 @ 13:10

  • m0thr4 #17 2 years ago

    @DoctorFraud
    Good tech, but an average game.
    Sums it up nicely, I think. The tech is good, but not exactly mind-blowing. Or maybe the game just left me apathetic about the graphics. Difficult to say. I did play through twice, and a couple of times in multiplayer, but only out of a sense of duty.

  • BritishBlue1 #18 2 years ago

    @DoctorFraud

    You must be blind, deaf and terminally stupid. Uncharted 2 is easily one of the best games this generation.

  • menage #19 2 years ago

    Well, hating on an incredible game is fashionable as always here on EG

    I enjoyed UC2 immensely, can't gte why anyone can't see the brillaince of it, even my mum was impressed. I'd actually be hard pressed to find a better game on the system. Maybe in other genre's but in the action adventure category, not a chance.

    Enslaved looks rather good, hope the gameplay lives up. Western studios don't do melee combat very well most of the time.
    Edited by menage at 20/07/10 @ 13:20

  • Doctor_What #20 2 years ago

    I also side with U1 giving a better story - the smaller cast and more restricted location felt more coherent than U2. U2 is technically the most amazing game I've played this generation, but I still think that U1 is probably the most fulfilling game I've played on PS3 or 360 and that's probably because the characters and story are so appealing.

  • CaptainQuint #21 2 years ago

    Apart from Halo 3, Uncharted 2 was the only other game I took seriously online, this generation. It's has brilliant mutiplayer. In fact I still consider it to be the best game overall of the last two years.

  • ZuluHero #22 2 years ago

    @menage

    It made my mum sick actually. But that's not exclusive to Uncharted! :D

  • BigJonno #23 2 years ago

    Uncharted 2 is a great game, it does what it does almost perfectly. However when I hear stuff like "game of the year" and "best game on the system" thrown at a completely linear action-adventure game that brings nothing new to the table aside from a "cinematic" feel and a lot of polish, I get a little disheartened. Is the same old runny-jumpy-shooty stuff the best we can muster? Are we going to judge the worthiness of games more on dialogue and voice acting and other stuff cribbed from Hollywood than anything actually game related?

  • menage #24 2 years ago

    @Zulu

    Hehe, yeah, I didn't expect that form my mum either.

    @Designer

    It might help to define your genre. I mean, horror is a genre as well:p

  • Andreas2402 #25 2 years ago

    "I'm not going to single out Uncharted [2], but the best games out there in storytelling still fall short of the nuances of films," he declared.

    Comparing storytelling of games and films is a very bad comparison. You can only watch films, of course they need deep storytelling, what else is there to a film?

    If a game relies only on its storytelling its very likely to flop - a film doesn't. However, some have both and that's why I like them more than films. Besides the fact that some games have as good storytelling as films, like GTA, Metal Gear Solid, Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, need more examples?

    @bigjonno no and that's exactly the reason why games offer more than films
    @jahb bedides that, are animations and graphics the most important things in games? Not at all. They should make films if they feel this is so important that they need an extra mention. Seriously I'm tired of people saying "its like a film" "we need good grappics cuz it haz to like eh film!1!" "movie-wortty zstoery!!11" If I want a film-worthy story I watch a film, end of story.
    Edited by Andreas2402 at 20/07/10 @ 14:06

  • JahB #26 2 years ago

    Animations, movement, graphics, nothing comes close technically. Nothing.

    God Of War 3 would like to have a word.

  • Markitron #27 2 years ago

    Im in the 'Uncharted 2 = Best game this generation camp' but I did have 1 big problem when the reviews went up for it. Many places were praising the enviroments, graphics, storyline, characters and set peices. These were ALL fantastic in the original! I just cant get over how overlooked UC 1 was, It was like most ppl reviewing the sequel never played it at all.

  • NotSoSlim #28 2 years ago

    Thing is UC1 came out when everyone was botching about how much of a failure the PS3 was. The game was amazing but UC2 just expanded on that original idea....want true innovation in UC3 :o)

    As for certain people or person stating there opinion as fact...get a grip and grow up!! If it was on 360 you wouldn't be spouting that crap

  • photoboy #29 2 years ago

    What exactly is Uncharted's genre? I'll probably get marked down for saying this because the game is so beloved but it seems to me Uncharted 2 is an amalgam of two types of game- it's a cover based shooter and it's a platform game. As much as I really enjoyed Uncharted 2's setting, characters, story and gameplay, I'm not sure it's the best in class of shooters or platformers.

    In terms of shooters I think Gears does cover based combat best this generation, and when it comes to platforming, I'd say Mirror's Edge, Tomb Raider Anniversary, Assassin's Creed 2 or PoP Forgotten Sands are better platformers.

    So while I do think Uncharted 2 is the best game at what it does, I don't think it's the best shooter or platformer. So Ninja Theory just need either a better shooter mechanic or better platforming and they could have an Uncharted 2 beater. It's a bit like GTA, none of what it does is the best, but it's more than just the sum of its parts.

    Of course you could turn what I said around and say that Assassin's Creed 2 is rubbish because it's not got any cover based shooting, and that opens up all sorts of questions about whether you can criticise a game because it doesn't include a feature. But then that also means Gran Turismo and Forza are crap because I can't jump over buildings or shoot guns...

  • Andreas2402 #30 2 years ago

    Also, its not a sanbox game as far as I know, so as a GTA developer mentioned "the thing is that we can't cheat in sandbox games. Every corner, every rooftop is accessible and must have the same level of detail. However, linear games like shooters have levels. They look great where the action takes places, but move away 10 metres from it and they level of detail is starting to fade."

    Point is, its easier to have great graphics when you have a shooter-like levels. That comparison is often left out of discussions.

  • welshben23 #31 2 years ago

    Oooh, WOO-HOO! :) The day has come! I knew this would happen. One person says Uncharted 2 is crap then people jump on the bandwagon and insanity ensues! It happened with Bioshock, GTA IV and Batman:AA.

    Haters, just go back to bed and shut up. The majority of critics and gaming public can't be wrong, Uncharted 2 is an utterly brilliant, AAA game.

  • menage #32 2 years ago

    @mickey

    Yeah, drag in ME2 which has nothing to do with anything in there will you. Don't fucking play it then.

  • Jim_Lahey #33 2 years ago

    Mickey2010

    Only one of those is open world.

  • schnide #34 2 years ago

    Steven Poole has a good column relevant to this in the latest EDGE.

  • Mercatoria #35 2 years ago

    watched the video. Got bored when I saw the US flag. If it truly set in the future the flag would have been a Chinese one, or Indian.. maybe Brazilian.. :p

  • Geordiemp #36 2 years ago

    The fact of the matter is, there is no game that matches ucharted technically, how your character moves, climbs, gets wet, dries, jumps, falls.

    Most games are lucky to have a single or a couple of animations for charatcters, that is the difference I would like to see in more games.

    Sum it up in one word, polish. It would be nice if every game had that attention, we would not need face offs.

  • drumbaby #37 2 years ago

    EG shouldn't have kept adding the [2], as I rate the first Uncharted quite alot above the 2nd.

  • DoctorFraud #38 2 years ago

    Yep, average game which is hugely overrated as is evident from the hyperbole in this thread.

  • menage #39 2 years ago

    Yeah, opinions suck, get over it.

    It´s too fucking hip to hate.

    Edited by menage at 20/07/10 @ 17:43

  • FuzzyDuck #40 2 years ago

    Fook this so, gonna pick up the first Uncharted during the week. The second game's multiplayer is up there with BF:BC 2 . Blitzed the single player in one weekend - it just sucked me in.

  • Xboxfanuk #41 2 years ago

    notice how PS3 titles are always green-grey and Xbox has some color.

  • man.the.king #42 2 years ago

    @BritishBlue1

    "@DoctorFraud ...must be blind, deaf and terminally stupid. ... "

    He is certainly not the first nor the second - DoctorFraud is a 360 fanboy; just look at his post history.

    I suspect you might be right about the third part though :)

  • man.the.king #43 2 years ago

    @Xboxfanuk

    "notice how PS3 titles are always green-grey and Xbox has some color."

    Ah - you are thinking of the color Red, surely!
    Edited by man.the.king at 22/07/10 @ 06:04