11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Guide, October 18, 2009
This review is from: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Guides) (Paperback)
With the release of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, you would probably guess that a guide would also be launched around the same time. The guide is big, exhaustive and tells you every little thing you need to know about Uncharted 2. In short, it's a fantastic guide. The only real problem with it is giving you a little too much information, and we'll get to that later.
The guide begins by telling us the story so far. For those who played through Drake's Fortune, this is a nice touch because it means you'll get a friendly reminder as to what happened in the first game. You don't actually need to play the first game to understand any of the story in the second one (though you might want to play it to familiarize yourself with some of the characters) but it's a nice reminder. It then goes into giving you things such as character bios before jumping into all the basics of the game. Again, for those new to Uncharted most of this stuff is worth checking out. If you mastered the first game, you probably won't find anything within the game basics that will help you out. After all this we get into the weapons section where the guide gives you a run down of all the weapons.
It's the walkthrough where the guide really shines because this is the part of the guide you'll probably find yourself flipping through the most. Uncharted 2 is actually a fairly straight forward game. As a result you may or may not actually need a guide to help you through. There's not much of anything you can do off the beaten path. On the other hand, there are many ways to go about specific areas and that's where the guide's walkthrough comes into play. Each area has its own illustrated map which will point out guns and treasures for you. The walkthrough is also detailed enough to tell you where and how to get to the treasures. You'll definitely find all of them using the guide, and there are more than enough detailed screenshots to help you out.
On the other hand, getting through specific areas is also pretty handy. The guide is always willing to suggest weapon combinations that work in a crisis and keep you one step ahead of your opponents. Often times its suggestions are helpful. When it comes to areas that you can go through and remain undetected you've got that as well. But the guide will also give you tips if you decide you don't want to do that. Along those lines it also gives you all the puzzle solutions, helps you figure out where you're to go on the platform jumping areas and will give you hints as to when you can get a trophy or a medal. It's a pretty thick guide but the walkthrough is rather in depth about what it does.
As I said, however, there's a bit too much detail in the walkthrough. If you're the type who doesn't like spoilers, this guide is full of them. Each time a plot development comes into the play the guide not only has a multitude of screenshots but also a lot of text describing exactly what's going on. That doesn't make the guide any less helpful, but it does mean that for the one who wants to get a great thrill out of Uncharted 2, you're probably better off using it your second time through rather than the first. It would be a shame to ruin some of the surprises Uncharted 2 has in store. This doesn't suddenly make the guide any less helpful as a result or even mediocre, it just means that those who want to avoid spoilers for their first run might want to pass on it.
There's also a lot of coverage on multiplayer. And when I say a lot I mean there's a lot. It's quite amusing, but mostly it's that they give you a ton of tips for all the different modes, maps and even ways to help you earn extra cash and build your skill level. Lastly there's a lot of neat things covered in the secrets section. Primarily the medals and how to get them as well as all the stuff you can buy. There aren't a ton of hidden secrets in Uncharted 2, but there a multitude of unlockables and the guide is willing to help you find them. It pretty much covers everything it needs to.
There are also bonus snippets that will tell you about some of the artifacts that you'll find on your quest. Throughout the guide as you uncover things about Marco Polo, or the special Dagger you carry around, the guide will give you a bit of background on it all. It's just interesting to read about these things.
The first Uncharted guide came with a two-sided foldout and also included interviews with some of the creators of the game. Unfortunately the Uncharted 2 guide doesn't really have any of that. There are no interviews, there's no poster and there's no art gallery. But at least the guide is put together rather well by giving you a lot of artwork to look at throughout and by making sure the guide just looks good to the eyes. From to time looking at each page can feel like looking at a mess, but you'll be happy to know it's all well organized and isn't hard to navigate. It's just really big.
If you want extra help with Uncharted 2 or you just want to cover your tracks to pick up anything you might've missed, the Uncharted 2 guide is helpful to anyone. It won't do much for those already mastered in the art of playing the game, but it does wonders for those hoping to find everything.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
got treasure?, October 24, 2009
This review is from: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Guides) (Paperback)
If you want to get the most out of Uncharted 2, you got to get this book! I completed the game without it and was at 41%, I've started again with the book, 20 pages in and I'm up to 57% and have earned 6 more trophys. lol
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome!, January 12, 2010
This review is from: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Signature Series Strategy Guide (Bradygames Signature Guides) (Paperback)
It's just great! Really detailed, well finished and have a lot of images showing the exact location of what to do and where to go. Congrats Bradygames for another well done product. By the way, I live in Brazil, and I recivied this item with no delay or damage!
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