Uncharted 2: Among Thieves greeted our store shelves on October 13^th, and since I thought it might be good, it’s the first game in months that I’ve bought without renting.  The story, gameplay, and multiplayer make this game one of the best this year, and a must buy for the PS3.

Two years after the events of the first, Nathan Drake is chilling in some tropical town.  Don’t worry, the story from the first one doesn’t really matter much, so you can jump right in.  An old friend contracts him for a heist job, jump starting the game with a very National-Treasure like feel.  An adventure across most of the world incurs, filled with back-stabs, old faces, and demon yetis.  The whole point of the story is Drake and the gang attempt find Marco Polo’s lost fleet which Polo was said to have sunk in the sea from a storm, but no one has ever found it.  This game mixes the real world with the Uncharted universe so well, movie quality is an understatement.

Along with this excellent story, the gameplay comes top notch.  It feels very Tomb Raider, the shooting is a lot like Gears of War, but the guns feel like they actually do damage.  The platforming aspect of the game is very fluid and intuitive, the only problem I had was in a certain ice cave where everything looked climbable.  Many of the action sequences have you just doing a run-for-cover-then-shoot method.  This was the case in the first game at least.  Now, enemies throw grenades at you like they think it’s a game of catch.  Basically, every now and then, the game just makes you move effectively giving you a less stagnant game.

Another cool thing about the game is its stealth gameplay.  The controls sometimes feel awkward, and some spots feel impossible, but the enemy AI (Artifical Intelligence) is somewhat lacking, making it easier.

The multiplayer gives a few fun options like treasure capturing or the usual deathmatch.  Teamwork plays a large role in the treasure game.  You can throw the treasure to your teammates allowing very cool moments.  The deathmatch feature can be very funny especially since most new players (that can’t play very well) visit.  These players will, at random, jump to their deaths or just run at you blind-firing.  Either way, it gives you laughs.

I can’t explain to you how much I loved playing this game.  It is up there for my game-of-the-year pick, and is definitely in the top three.  The story gets very enticing with many twists and turns, mixed with a great gameplay that keeps you hooked, and even some multiplayer that adds to the replayability.  This is hands down one of the best Playstation 3 games out there.  Critics agree with my view, and the Uncharted 2 scores are out the roof.  If you own a PS3, buy this game, immediately.

First, I must talk about why this book is not well-known. My main theory is that it came out about the same time as the Twilight series hype (in both positive and extremely negative ways.) It was just foul luck that this book came out during this time, but nonetheless it flew under the radar. Much criticism was met when Stephanie Meyer won best Kids’ Choice Author last year; many believe Collins should have won.

The setting of the book is in a post-apocalyptic United States, now called Panem. It is separated into 12 Districts (the 13^th was nuked during the last rebellion and is said to be completely uninhabitable). Each district has its own specific resources.  For example, the 11^th district harvests fruits and grain while the 4^th fishes. The main character is Katniss Everdeen, a 16 year old girl, who lives in District 12 and has to more or less raise her sister Primrose alone because her mother is in a deep depression from her husband’s death. This novel isn’t all ponies, flowers, and other girl stuff; it’s actually pretty dark. The oppressive Capitol is the only place in Panem where the citizens personify the phrase “Ignorance is Bliss.” In the novel, the main plot point is Panem’s Hunger Games, which have taken place every year since the rebellion.

The Hunger Games are inspired from the Greek myth “Theseus,” where the nation of Athens must send young men and women to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur. The Capitol sends a clear message that we won’t just kill you, we’ll kill your children. And kill they will. Every year a boy and girl “tribute” from every district (equaling to 24) are sent to face off in a Gladiatorial Arena. The whole Games are mandatory screening for all the citizens of Panem, and is shown on all the TVs across the country.

The other tribute from District 12 is Peeta Mellark, the son of the local baker. While he is kind-hearted and has had a crush on Katniss for a long time, he appears rather shy at the beginning of the novel. He and Katniss receive a mentor-like figure before the Games so they can learn what to do and how to survive. The last person to win in a District becomes the new tributes’ guide. The 12’s guide is Haymitch Abernathy, an old drunkard who is made a mockery because he often appears wasted on live television. Without giving too much away, Haymitch does prove to be a great sponsor of Katniss and Peeta and helps them in the arena through supply drops the tributes can receive.

The writing style of Suzanne Collins reminds me much of R.A. Salvatore in that she can write a huge, explosive action sequence, and then still remind us that these characters are fully fleshed out and not just killing machines. This book is filled with emotions, ranging from sadness to comedic relief, which is mostly dark humor due to the story being in a dystopian society. So I implore all you readers out there to give The Hunger Games a chance, you will not be disappointed. In fact, a new sequel came out recently called Catching Fire, which I plan on reviewing next week, so get the first from the library (we do have one in our school) and read it.

When the pictures were first shown, they teased us by showing futuristic weapons and a realistic world. In fact, this was pretty much all they gave us, no gameplay videos, just pictures. So when they showed footage and Borderlands’ new look at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) this year, most people who had been following it since day one were astounded. The realistic look had turned into a cartoony, cell-shaded, almost Pixar look. This made me very indecisive. At first sight, it looked like a day-one buy for me, but with the cell-shaded look, I’m a tad skeptical.

The whole RPG aspect of the game has changed as well. It was told that there was a talent system where you could boost health or speed, or even special abilities. The new look has numbers fly off the enemy, designating how much damage you have done, as you shoot them. While this might be effective in judging who has a stronger gun, it just looks like a huge cluster of numbers, and probably a spark for an epileptic seizure. The talent system was revamped into almost a World of Warcraft-looking tree, where you have to put points in one tier to get to the next.

Although Game Informer said in its preview (oh so long ago) Borderlands was really fun and challenging with a diverse system of guns and characters, people from this year’s E3 have had mixed thoughts.  Specifically referring to a group of gamers called Noobtoob, spawning from the podcast in which two of them run, it seemed they had an even number of excited and non-excited people.  Some liked the RPG aspect, while others refused it saying a first person shooter should feel like the bullets made an impact rather than numbers flying off.

Still, I remain hopeful that this will turn out to be a great game.  This change of pace in the game design, conversely, has made me choose to rent it in the future rather than buy it first day.  The main mistake for Borderlands is releasing it close to Modern Warfare 2 release, which is obviously getting much more hype (to be honest I’m more excited about the sequel too.)  Either way, I’m going to give this game a rent for sure.