Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Gameplay for PlayStation 3

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the second installment in the Nate Drake series, has more intensive gameplay and better weapons than its predecessor, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Even though the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gameplay itself isn't necessarily better, the graphics, weapon action and plot make it one of the best PlayStation 3 games on the market.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gameplay takes players through the Orient in snowy mountains and underground temples to find the Cintimani Stone, a supposedly fabled treasure in Shangri-La that Marco Polo was never able to take home on his trip. Nate Drake finds himself betrayed, back-stabbed, double-crossed and eventually double-backing on some of his adventures with the tenacious Elena, fickle Chloe, sidekick Sully and the traitor, Flynn.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gameplayfeatures some great new weapons, one of which is the new and improved grenade. Remember how in the first game the grenade made a tiny "poof" and barely killed any enemies? Not so this time. Shock waves rock Nate's world with the landing of each grenade, and if you throw it in the right spot, you can kill one or two heavily armored mercenaries at once.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gameplay has some Guardian characters that look a lot of mountain zombies. Think, the Abominable Snowman meets a really ugly mountain goat. These Guardians are the hardest characters to take down, which is why Nate gets to use a nifty crossbow, which will down the villains in one shot. The M4, FN-FAL and AK-47 don't even touch these guys, so don't bother wasting your ammo. If you don't have a crossbow on you, throw several grenades in their direction, and you'll take care of the problem.

This installment of Uncharted also contains a lot of climbing. And let me tell you, those climbing scenes are l-o-n-g. One especially long scene is located with a Mongolian guide, Tenzin. He'll lead you to an underground fortress where Nate must climb on statues, swing from spinning gears to ropes and bars and eventually fight Guardians on a spinning platform. Note here that your goal is not to kill the Guardians, as that is impossible with the weapons available. Your goal is to stave them off so you and Tenzin can escape up the hatch without getting harmed.

Another particularly tricky area of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves gameplay is where Nate must fight Zoran Lazarevic in the finale. Since Lazarevic has taken a potion that gave him the Guardian's powers, he's especially difficult to kill. Nate must bring Lazarevic to his knees in pain three times in a row without getting himself killed. Be prepared to spend an hour or so on this scene - and get ready for a lot of respawning after Lazarevic deals Nate several death blows.