Uncharted 2 Beta

[Zipp]

We have Uncharted 2: Online Beta. Um... two words. FUCK. YEAH. I wasn't expecting this to be good. I groaned when I saw it was a third person online shooter. Then I noticed the controls were awesome, it employs a cover system that works, and it looks great.

Let me go over this in a bit more detail.

1) controls

Usually when I play online games, I feel that a good quarter of the deaths are due to stupid things, like not being able to tell who my team mates are, or poor aiming controls, or graphical issues. In Uncharted 2, the game is so willing to work with you that if you die, it's your own damn fault. No question about it. The game controls so well it's like telepathy between the gamer and the game. I just think what I want to do and my fingers make it happen through simple intuitive button control.

2) Cover system

Finally a cover system that actually provides cover. That everything can be used as cover encourages action play, where you rush and dodge, hide and heal, and blind fire to keep guys pinned. But it also is a boon for the sniping crowd because FINALLY you can actually hold down a sniping position without guys killing you by shooting at your hat. When you're behind cover, you're BEHIND cover. Cover actually forces people to use tactical movement to improve their firing position. That's what it should do.

3) graphics

Not so much the graphics as the animation. Uncharted 2 is the first game I've played which uses multiple animations for each action. So every time you duck behind cover, it's going to look a little different. Every time you get up and run, you run a little different. It gives the game a real movie quality, where you feel like you're watching actors taking your direction. One cool example is I was playing co-op mode (yeah, it's got a great co-op system, too) as a rugged adventurer type, and the female on my team ran past me. As she did so, she reached over and patted my ass. This wasn't done by the player, it was just a randomly activated animation. Makes the whole thing feel alive and immersive.

Anyways, it's good, I highly reccomend getting in on Beta if you can.