Sunday, April 25, 2010

Day 12 - The Awe of Uncharted 2

Since we're discussing animation in video games this week, I thought back to what video games I'm familiar with and their respective styles created by different eras of technology. My favorite video games of all time are Super Mario Bros. for the original Nintendo, Mario Kart for N64, and Gauntlet for N64. I love the rough pixelation of these video games in comparison to the more realistic animation of recent games such as the Madden series and the Call of Duty series. I don't play on any gaming system newer than N64, but I still appreciate the art of these newer video games, one in particular.

The captivating Uncharted 2 is an award-winning video game with groundbreaking graphics. A friend of mine bought this Indiana Jones-like adventure game last fall and played it for days straight. The game is more like an interactive film than a video game because of the long cut scenes between the many levels. The lengthy scenes aren't anywhere close to being annoying, in fact they're quite intriguing. Many of my friends would walk into the living room and immediately be drawn into the action. We spent hours sitting around watching our friend play as the main character, Nathan Drake.

Uncharted 2 has won around ten awards including Best Graphics, Best Action/Adventure Game, and Best Graphic Technology. The graphics are realistic with intricate details and beautifully created architecture and landscapes. A level near the end of the game resembles the beauty of Avatar's Pandora. The forest Drake finds himself in while fighting the main bad guy has the same beautiful fluorescent glow of the Na'vis forest at night time, though it glows for different reasons. This is definitely a game I would recommend to Playstation 3 owners; just make sure you have enough time to play it because you will be engulfed!

2 comments:

  1. Speaking of Mario animation, I was in aw when Paper Marion first came out...there was something about the cartoonish animation that made me feel more like I was watching a cartoon than playing a video game.

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  2. I'm not much of gamer and really only played games on older systems but when I see some of the graphics in todays games it amazes me. They are becoming so realistic and beautifully made. I do however have some nostalgia for the old classics and really like that pixelated look as you said.

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