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Uncharted 2: Among Thieves begins in medias res, with protagonist Nathan Drake bloody, beaten, and seated in a wrecked train car situated precariously over a snowy mountain cliff.

So what's the first task that the game gives you? Climb up a vertical train wreck (inside and out) while the thing dangles like dew off a blade of grass.

And so begins your adventures in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, a rousing adventure that seamlessly blends exhilarating platforming, solid cover-based shooting, and phenomenal scripting.

The marketing approach to the game has been brilliant by far - the subtle yet hilarious TV spot where a gamers' girlfriend believes that she's actually watching a movie and not Naughty Dog's latest offering.

Once you experience the game, the ad truly hits home - Uncharted 2 is sublimely produced, with superb voice acting and characterizations. The inflections, the tone, the attitudes, and the non-stop witty banter makes the characters, especially Nathan, relatable, loveable, and above all else, entertaining.

The game truly reminds you of a summer blockbuster movie with its insane and wildly creative set pieces (the aforementioned train, engaging in a firefight on a collapsing floor, or jumping from jeep to jeep as they literally explode under your feet).

Each scenario is more dazzling than the next and leaves you wondering "how are they really going to top this?"

The locations are drop dead gorgeous. Every environment is lush and deeply colored. The characters themselves look fantastic. They're expressive and their facial expressions convey a ton of emotion. There are a ton of fantastic little details that occur when Drake interacts with his environment. Snow will clump to his pant legs and his clothing will be become dark if he goes for a swim. It looks great and definitely adds to the realism.

The gameplay is an excellent blend and balance of cover based shooting and exploration. The cover mechanic works fine but can be a little clunky at times. You can get behind cover easy enough but there is no real way to smoothly transition from cover if it is directly ahead of you.

Drake does fine if it's from side to side as you get a canned sequence but you're on your own if you need to push forward. This can be a little startling as it deviates from the norm of most cover based mechanics.

Also, the cover button is also the same as the cancel button (for climbing). They are unrelated actions but sometimes it can be a bit confusing to switch between the two. It's a small detail but I was frustrated on one occasion where, trying to get behind cover, I rolled instead grabbed onto a ledge and promptly dropped to my demised. Enemies also have a tendency to sneak up behind you, which adds to the tension but can also feel cheap at times.

The gun fights are fun and can be punishing "" the AI is great at flanking and flushing you out with grenades. A little more variety from mercenary soldiers would have been preferable and most of the guns operate the same but the action is so intense that those sins are quickly forgivable.

However, a major gripe I have is having to push Triangle to pick up ammo. This system is clunky, a waste of time, and can cost you dearly in a fight. The detection and prompt for the pick-up is spotty and given the fact that picking up different weapons requires the same button, there will often be times where you'll switch guns without wanting to.

Put this madness in the context of a firefight and you'll be begging for an automatic ammo pick-up feature in Uncharted 3.

There is also a simple yet fun melee combat system. Basely loosely on the now popular rhythm combat system, you can pound on the enemy in a canned sequence until you see him attempt a counter attack. You then press counter and continue on with the beating. It's a fine system that spices up what could have been simple button mashing but can also be a pain during a chaotic firefight as the long animations offer no kind of invincibility.

Drake can also sneak around and perform stealth kills, which is easy to do and fits well in the context of the game.

Climbing and exploration in the game is an absolute highlight. Drake scales, climbs and leaps with great realism and authority. Controls for it are pretty responsive and the interaction points blend nicely into the environment.

They can sometimes blend in too much or are in a position that makes you beg for a fully 3D camera. Thankfully, those situations arise on rare occasions.

The scenarios are simply breathtaking, as you climb on ancient archaeological constructions, hidden temples, and giant statues. Height is used dramatically and effectively in the game "" you are usually miles and miles up in the air and every leap of faith is literally that.

There are also some puzzle sequences but they are few and far between. They're very easy to solve and shouldn't hinder anyone. It offers a nice break from the pounding pace and in the context of a game staring a treasure hunter, it's a welcome addition.

Some players may want more puzzles to crack but it's obvious that the developers really wanted to focus on the exploration and action.

Uncharted 2 also comes with a bevy of multiplayer options. It's all typical fare but it's still fun given the mechanics of the Uncharted 2 game.

You have Team Deathmatch (complete with Call of Duty style "perks"), Capture the Flag which is cleverly renamed Plunder , Chain Reaction which is like Plunder but you need to capture treasure in a certain order, and Elimination, which is like Team Deathmatch but without the respawns.

There is also a fantastic online 3 player co-op that really emphasizes team work. However, it's unfortunate that you can't go through the campaign online or offline. Drake is usually with a companion during the game and it's unfortunate that the Naughty Dog left out such a fundamental and fun feature. However, the co-op they do give you is a nice peace offering.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the quintessential action blockbuster of video games. The intense gun battles, dazzling exploration, and excellent voice acting all add up to a phenomenal gaming experience.

Uncharted 2 is a wildly entertaining game that just seeps with confidence. From moment to moment, whether it be dangling from a ledge in snowy mountain top village or escaping the gun turrent of an enemy helicopter while on top of a speeding train, the developers knew that they were going to give you an absolute thrill. And boy, they did deliver.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is out now for the PS3.

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