October 13, 2009

Award-Winning UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves Debuts Exclusively on the PlayStation 3

Naughty Dog, Inc.'s Genre Defining Action Shooter Demonstrates Power of PS3  Mixing Story Telling and Gameplay to Provide Consumers with the Adventure of a Lifetime

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced today the North American launch of UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves exclusively for the PlayStation 3  . Developed by Naughty Dog Inc., the acclaimed development team that produced UNCHARTED: Drake's Fortune for PS3 and the Jak & Daxter franchise for PlayStation®2, UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves blends together the art of cinema and gaming to bring players a level of realism never before seen on a game console. With an extensive, story-driven single-player mode and thrilling competitive multiplayer and cooperative modes, UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves demonstrates Hollywood blockbuster moments of roller coaster tension and exhilarating action through environments and characters brought to life by the most advanced graphics currently available on the PS3 system.

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves picks up the story of Nathan Drake, a fortune hunter with a shady reputation and an even shadier past who is lured back into the treacherous world of thieves and mercenary treasure-seekers. In this adventure, Drake embarks on a journey that will push him to his physical, emotional, and intellectual limits as he seeks to discover the truth behind the lost fleet of Marco Polo and the mythical Himalayan valley of Shambhala, and ultimately recover the legendary Cintamani Stone. Along the way Drake encounters a rogue paramilitary leader and fugitive war criminal who's seeking the treasure for his own nefarious purposes. Accompanied on this quest by allies both old and new, Drake is forced to confront crises of loyalty and betrayal within an underworld of smugglers and thieves.

"Since the first game play demonstration shown at E3 2009, UNCHARTED 2 has remained one of the most award winning and anticipated title launches for 2009," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President, Product Marketing, SCEA. "What sets the game apart from anything else on the market is that Naughty Dog has not only been able to deliver on the spectacle, they have infused it with meaning and emotion by telling a story that is so character driven it sets a new bar for the video game industry and is a technical masterpiece that truly demonstrates the capabilities of the PS3."
 

The Naughty Dog 2.0 engine provides UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves with an open design, which allows players to take an aggressive or stealth approach to combat. While in combat Drake can jump across gaps in buildings during a rooftop fight, or drop off of a ledge to use the building as protection, opening up the opportunity for players to use the environment itself as a cover. In addition, free-flowing traversal gunplay adds a unique vertical element to familiar cover-based third-person shooting mechanics, allowing the player to engage in combat from any position in the environment - even while climbing or hanging. The environment also serves to challenge the player to interact with moving set pieces. Players will find themselves fighting through collapsing buildings, or battling enemies on a train taking sharp turns and moving around obstacles.

UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves holds a variety of visually stunning environments from lush, green swamps and dense urban environments, all the way to trains, rooftops and the ice and snow of the Himalayas. In these environments, players will experience dramatic in-game events that make them an active participant in the cinematic experience. With combat at the core, players will experience gunplay and varied combat enhancements, including an expanded melee system, and a variety of enemy types with advanced AI routines. The journey is balanced with the addition of puzzles that include climbing, exploration, and the need for careful observation.
 

"This game just couldn't have been made on any other system; the Blu-ray is maxed and the entire game is played without loading thanks to the Hard Disc Drive," said Christophe Balestra, co-president, Naughty Dog. "Naughty Dog is known for pushing hardware; this is the most ambitious game we have ever made and the game PS3 owners have been waiting for."

The sheer amount of detail in UNCHARTED 2 sets an industry standard and is an achievement that only PS3 can provide. The Naughty Dog 2.0 engine creates a milestone in technology innovation by recreating reality and capturing human emotion and gives the game flawless visuals, life-like environments, seamless cut scenes, and no visible loading - a Naughty Dog hallmark. Complete with studio-scale effects, including 7.1-surround sound audio that rivals Hollywood's biggest blockbuster films, cutting-edge artificial intelligence, voice and motion capture, UNCHARTED 2 delivers the ultimate next generation game play experience.

Competitive Multiplayer and Cooperative Modes

In addition to the addicting single-player action, UNCHARTED 2 offers robust cooperative and online multiplayer modes that bring the graphical quality of single-player with a wide variety of gameplay options. Competitive multiplayer supports up to 10 players, and offers a wide selection of match types from Deathmatch to Gold Rush across 7 different maps. Utilizing a robust party system, groups of players will remain together in ranked and custom matches while earning currency, which used in combination with currency earned in single player missions, will unlock additional content and upgrades. The competitive multiplayer also includes Cinema and Machinima modes that enable gamers to automatically record gameplay data for any match in any map and game type. Players can then head into Cinema to watch the recorded matches and then replays, screenshots and footage that can be made into videos in Machinima mode. Cooperative mode allows gamers 3 distinct scenarios for up 3 players to progress through a variety of environments by working together to accomplish set objectives.

The independent Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rates UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves "T" for "TEEN" (Descriptors: Blood, Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence).

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