After several hours of playing Uncharted 2's Multiplayer Beta, I can honestly say that I'm pleased about the inclusion of both co-operative and competitive multiplayer in Among Thieves.

Co-operative Play


Story seems to be almost non-existent in the three player Co-op mode. At least in the level shown, Drake says something along the lines of "Okay, the treasure's in the plaza, now all we have to do is go and get it." It's a matter of 'get from point A to point B alive', but it's not supposed to be story that makes the multiplayer engaging. The combat in Uncharted is a blast. From taking cover and blind-firing to grappling an enemy from behind and breaking his neck, the gameplay remains primarily the same as the single player counterpart, except it feels like a warzone when three people are working together.

The mercs will respond to each threat rather strategically, so mixing up the combat is a must. I had fun with hand to hand combat while my cohorts distracted the groups, and Naughty Dog threw in a lot of new moves. You can now slide between enemies' legs and take them down from behind, blind-firing grenades is now mapped to the L2 button at all times, so there's less concern of switching weapons mid fire-fight, and while you're aiming, you can switch guns with triangle. Later in the level, there are enemies with riot shields. Naturally, once these shields are forcibly removed from their cold dead hands, you can utilize them to much the same effect. Your movement and speed are impeded, and you can only fire your sidearm, but it's a worthwhile trade-off especially when surrounded by the enemy.

Actual level design for the trial co-op level was a good mix of combat, platforming, and teamwork. Several spots require you to work as a team and hold triangle to either lift a fallen bookshelf to use as a ramp, boost another player to a hard to reach spot, or push an object out the window. When a player gets downed, you can see an indicator showing that they need assistance as well as a bleed-out timer. Any player can assist by being within range and holding triangle to recharge their health, but usually the threat is still nearby. If all players die at the same time, they get another try, but after three tries, it's game over.

Within the co-op mode, there's a competitive aspect where each player tries to score the most points by finding treasures, getting combo multipliers high, and keep changing up which weapon they use to decimate the enemies. All in all, I can't wait to get to play all the levels they include once this baby hits retail, I have a feeling I'll be playing this mode for a long time after I've finished the main campaign. (On that note, come Fall, look for me playing this online).


Competitive Play


One thing worth mentioning that I've failed to previously, is that your multiplayer profile is tied to a leveling system. Your rank is determined by the amount of 'cash' you've earned in the various multiplayer modes, both co-op and competitive. Usually getting a kill in standard deathmatch nets you about $500 towards your profile, but naturally as the levels get higher, the amount of money needed to unlock the next level increases exponentially. As of right now, I'm unsure as to what might be unlocked by the higher levels, or if it is merely a bragging rights/way of matching games more evenly.

Team Deathmatch plays out much like you would expect: two teams start at opposite sides of a fairly large and diverse enclosed map, and compete for supremacy of the scoreboard. Unlike most FPSes, Uncharted lends itself beautifully to the element of surprise due to the marriage of its third person perspective, cover-system, and ease of platforming/aiming while hanging from a ledge. I've seen brawls break out at close range, people going gung-ho with the M79 grenade launcher, helicopters fly overhead, firing down on the plaza, and my fair share of well-placed grenades dropping from seemingly nowhere. The action is fast-paced, and often people switch up their weapon payloads on the fly mid-game by lifting a shotgun or desert eagle off the body of a slain comrade.

When setting up your profile, you can choose which skin you'd like to be for each team (Heroes or Villains), see the progress you've made toward the next level, and set up which preferences you'd like. These settings, like perks in CoD, allow you to customize your character in a balanced way. You can select to have better accuracy with the side-arm while blind-firing, the long-range guns while blind-firing, the side-arm while aiming, or the long-range guns while aiming. You also get to decide if you want to be able to carry more ammo, have more ammo in a clip, or pick up more ammo when you find it on the ground.

There's also a treasure hunting mode for teams; similar to a game of multi-flag capture the flag. The flag can be tossed (similarly to the propane tanks they added in to Uncharted 2), and the icons appear at all times, so both teams know when someone has the flag and its position. Here the ability to climb a wall, or hang from a sign and fire on unsuspecting flag bearers comes in handy when setting a trap for the other team. In the multiplayer modes, you unlock medals (much like the single-player campaign of Uncharted, although closer in design to the medals that were patched into WipeOut HD) for doing heroic stunts like taking out an enemy with your fists or an explosive, or killing several enemies in quick succession.

Final Verdict

I would buy Among Thieves based purely on the quality of the first game's single player, but having played the multiplayer modes, I can say that they feel just as fleshed out. Naughty Dog is consistent with quality, and I trust they will support the game for months and years after the release this fall.