Editor’s note: This review was written by Jay Watts, a student at Full Sail University. Jay hails from the great potato state, Idaho. He knew from the earliest age he can remember — when he first powered on his NES to when he first conquered Super Mario — he had a passion for videogames. Jay can very well say that growing up he just had the knack to be a gamer. It had never crossed his mind it would become a dream of his. Of course, at a younger age, what did he know about gaming as a profession? It's phenomenal to him what 10 years of graphical and engineering technology has become. Understanding now his passion for gaming could lead to what at his youngster age would've seemed like just a dream to be able to accomplish, he strives for the opportunity to put ideas he’s had for games into motion, whether it be from simple game testing to being a full-fledged game designer. To this day, Jay serves his country in the construction force of the Navy, the Seabees. It's been five years of his life, and although a career decision is still up in the air, he decided it was time to strive for a career he dreamed of since he knew it was even a career! Jay never looked at himself as a college-going student, which is why Full Sail's Bachelor of Science program in game design was the perfect direction for him to take. This is an accomplishment to him to have sought the perfect field for his passions to get an education.

Avid treasure hunter? Out to crack some skulls, or are you just looking for a remarkable adventure to embark upon? If you have the choice of choosing a first-person action/adventure game, then look no further than Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. This game is chock full of action, intrigue and even a good amount of humor that satisfies players and will captivate you and leave you wanting to keep playing longer just to see how the story will play out.

Not only will you find the continuation of a great compilation of action/adventure and third-person shooter combined, but also the puzzle solving is back and in even more full swing than before. The death-defying Nathan Drake is back to his old treasure-hunter ways yet again and in glorified detail and breathtaking graphical scenery that is enjoyed exclusively on the PlayStation 3.

You begin Nathan’s journey with a sense of immediate peril as he comes to in a wrecked train hanging off a cliffside of the Himalayas. You play briefly for a few minutes before losing consciousness again, leading you to flashbacks of how his travels landed him to where you start. A former associate Harry Flynn and past girlfriend Chloe meet up with Drake and have a job offer to steal an artifact from an Istanbul museum. Of course, Nathan can’t resist the job offer when he learns the artifact may lead to the discovery of a treasure of the lost fleet of Marco Polo.

Upon their break-in and acquisition of the artifact, a map is uncovered within the relic showing the location of Marco Polo’s washed-up fleet on the shore of Borneo after they had been transporting the cintamani stone from Shambhala, a mythical city. Once they acquire this map, however, Drake’s pal Flynn double crosses him, and Drake is then arrested. Of course, it wouldn’t be Uncharted 2 without good ole Victor Sullivan (Sully)! This is where we once come back into contact with our old friend as he secures Nate’s release from prison.

Past the near epic prologue and flashbacks comes the embarkation of your travels. You’ll utilize Nathan’s honed skills and seamless agility to scale the steepest and most treacherous walls and cliffs and perform dreadful leaps. Just as the first installment of the game, Drake can be equipped with a fairly large arsenal of weapons with combinations of one two-handed weapon or two single-handed weapons and, of course, a handful of grenades. Picking up new firearms and ammunition is just as efficient if not slightly improved and again you’ll utilize your surroundings for cover and concealment to fire upon enemies &mdsh; or wait to perform deadly stealth moves, which can also be done by sneaking up from behind your enemy.

If you enjoy hand-to-hand combat as much as range if not more, you’ll find Uncharted 2 much more to your liking with the redone melee system and techniques Drake comes equipped within in his arsenal. This improvement adds much more enjoyment and variety to one’s play style, allowing you to be the gunner, stealth assassin or the in-your-face roughneck looking to beat down your opposition. The player will put good use to Drake’s journal as you attempt to solve every puzzle while the journal provides slight hints to help you along your solution to the task at hand.

The graphics engine in this installment of the series has vastly improved. Levels are beautifully done, and it’s practically impossible to decipher the transitions from gameplay to cutscenes. From the teeming and lush jungles of Borneo to the never-ending majesty of the Himalayas, the scenery of Uncharted 2 is nothing short of breathtaking, and you may spend half of your time just gawking at your environment. Your ears will be stimulated with every crash, punch, bang, click and boom of explosions, gunshots, crashes and punches to the face of everyone who stands in your way; even the slightest subtle sound of Drake’s feet stepping through trickling water and scuffing through snow-capped mountains are enough to amaze you as Naughty Dog has surely gone that extra mile in assuring satisfaction on every level.

There’s even more Uncharted 2 has to offer in a multiplayer aspect for those who can’t get enough co-op and online action. Packed with six competitive modes for the player-versus-player-loving populace, this feature comes jam-packed with hours of notable features to ensure smooth online play. Players will be pleased to learn all of their in-game currency earnings will also be carried over to the multiplayer side should you choose to play, which is quite a pleasing and abstract feature that can possibly give even the meekest player a slight advantage when undertaking competitive action.

Gold Rush is a refreshing mode that requires a team of two to three players and the objective being to obtain a treasure randomly spawned throughout the game map and take it back to their base. AI enemies stand in your way as you try to trek the treasure back for keeps. If one player goes down, this can make it quite challenging, because they must be revived before time runs out, and if failed, they cannot come back until the next round. Needless to say, progressing through each round also makes the AI tougher to defeat. This multiplayer without doubt should receive duly noted success as within the game’s first year launch, more than 125 million matches have been made, and 10,500 man-years were played online.

It’s safe to say that anyone who doesn’t know any better and walks in on Uncharted 2 being played would think they’re watching a pretty intense action movie. In my experience with company in the same room, it’s evident Naughty Dog went to extravagant lengths to be able to pull people’s attention into the game just to catch what’s going to be the next outcome in such an immersive and memorable storyline. Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune fans will find themselves waning for more after the re-introduction to a couple of familiar faces (preventing any spoilers here), and by the end of Among Thieves they will find themselves itching to come back to a third installment of an already award-winning series. PlayStation 3 fans, rejoice! Nay-sayers, here’s your opportunity!