Siege gameplay has you and one or two friends against the AI, with the objective being to survive the siege of AI adversaries coming at you! (Hey, that’s the name of the mode.) It’s a constant battle to keep the AI players from taking the territory. Each round consists of one territory, and it’s a different one every round.

The multiplayer maps ate The Highrise and The Museum. The former is the Nepalese series of dilapidated and under-construction buildings that you previously ran through with Chloe. The Museum is the site of Drake and Flynn’s heist from the very beginning of the game. The circular map provides multiple flank routes, and there are twisting corridors, close quarters fighting, and rooftops to run across.

6 Skins

• Wetsuit Drake
• Baseball Shirt Drake
• Prakoso
• Platzor
• Glowzor
• Dead Explorer (Or, you know, a zombie)

11 Trophies – 180 Trophy Points
Bronze

• You Can’t Break Me – Complete all 3 co-op objective maps on Crushing
• Under Siege – Finish Wave 10 in 1 Siege game
• Speedy – Get 10 First! Medals
• I’ll Cover You – Get 50 Defender Medals
• Fallen Angel – Get 50 Afterlife Medals
• Not So Fast – Get 20 “Shut’em Down” Medals
• Jack of All Trades – Get 15 Triple Threat Medals
• You Run, I’ll Shoot – Get 10 Protectorate Medals
• Back At Ya – Get 50 Retaliation Medals
• Kneel Before Z… – Get 5 Put-em Down Medals

Silver

• Rock a Rhyme – Get 100 Tricky Medals

Pictures of the new items are in the gallery below.

Several of the nominations are no-brainers. Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2: Among Thieves leads the pack with seven nominations (if there was a “Movie of the Year” category, it would have eight nominations and one sure win), while one surprising title follows it with five: downloadable PSN title Flower. Assassin’s Creed II had four nominations.

Even iPhone games like Flight Control got recognition. Looks like the nominees are very inclusive this year – while some of them are quite obvious, everyone seems to have gotten a fair shake. A full list of nominees follows.

ESRB:

BUY

When a sequel is released, it travels through one of three roads. One: it can fall far below its predecessor into a void of abysmal proportions. Two: the sequel can play it safe and remain in the realm of decent mediocrity. Or three: hopefully, it can surpass the firstborn to become a gem in its own right. Suffice it to say, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, falls in the third category. Yes, I’ve jumped on the bandwagon with scores of other reviewers and gamers to give Naughty Dog a huge pat on the back.

To give some perspective, I played through Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and enjoyed it well enough. It certainly wasn’t my game of the year, but it was fun while the game play lasted. Fast forward to 2009 with the return of Nathan Drake and a slew of new features, leaving me intrigued about what improvements Naughty Dog has made to the growing franchise. While I was genuinely excited about the single player campaign, I was unsure about the multiplayer aspect of the game. I’ll admit it, I was one of many rolling her eyes, wondering why Uncharted 2 was joining a long list of single-player focused games slapping on a multiplayer feature. However, after investing significant hours into both the single and multiplayer modes, I was pleasantly surprised. Enthralled even!

Before I wax on some sweet poetry, let me get critical aspects out of the way. Just like its predecessor, Uncharted 2 suffers from similar weaknesses. If puzzles aren’t your thing, it’s a minor factor. But for gamers who do enjoy solving difficult puzzles, it can be somewhat frustrating to realize that there’s some major hand holding going on. Throughout the game, I never put down the controller in frustration that I couldn’t figure out a particular problem, so there was never that sense of satisfaction at having solved one. Predictable AI movement is another factor; hide behind a crate long enough and it becomes easy to figure out attack patterns. But…

Done with the bitter pill? Let’s move on to a lighter, sweeter note. Naughty Dog kept the Hollywood-esque plotlines, awesome voice acting and funny dialogues. Add in improved shooting mechanics, none of the gimmicky six-axis controls and smoother cover positioning. Now you have yourselves Uncharted 2! And the game definitely holds no punches; from the very beginning, you’re thrown into the adventure. Naughty Dog adds a different dynamic, though, humanizing Nathan instead of smothering us with his snarky comments. From beginning to end, the transition between game play and cut scene is smooth; instead of breaking up the flow of the action, it left me feeling engaged with the story. By the time I finally beat Zoran Lazarević, I was thoroughly amused by the story, clichés and all. Actually, scratch that. I was tickled by the sixth chapter! When the action finally came to a close, I was… satisfied – a content gamer, happy with the polished single campaign.

It doesn’t end there, though. I was a skeptic at first, wondering if the additional modes were going to be any good. Cue dramatic music because my mind was blown away. The co-op campaigns were especially fun. My friends and I strapped Bluetooth headsets and chatted away while strategizing how to take down enemies. We died multiple times and enjoyed it, bless our masochistic hearts! Whether I was pleading for someone to help me as enemies flanked me into a corner, or shot down the opponent daring to hold my buddy in a chokehold, I was having fun. Key word: FUN. I would have loved it to be a four-player co-op, though.

When I tried out competitive multiplayer matches, I noticed that the mechanics played pretty closely with the Call of Duty series, not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. (Maybe that’s where the Infinity Ward shout out comes from?) With each successive match, I gained major moolah which I could then use to buy certain perks. However, for those stepping into competitive matches for the first time, it could be a little discouraging because opponents would have far better weapons, defense features, etc. As many do in the Call of Duty series, you just have to keep playing until you gain enough money to start buying your way into power. No pain (in this case, lots of dying), no gain folks! Now that’s one way to get players to keep investing their time into Uncharted 2!

Naughty Dog has successfully managed to balance and polish both the single player campaign and multiplayer matches, one of few companies able to do so. What that means for us lucky gamers is that there is some major replay value involved. No game will be perfect, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves comes pretty damn close.

FIFA 10 scores another week in the number one spot of the UK Game Sales chart. I believe that’s three weeks in a row! Uncharted 2: Among Thieves wasn’t even enough to knock it down, entering the countdown in the second spot. Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising falls one to 3. Wii Sports Resort and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games round out 4 and 5.

Brutal Legend enters the countdown at number 7 and Halo 3: ODST falls from 6 to 9. Gran Turismo has the largest fall from 7 to 16 this week.

Nintendo still holds the top publisher spot with 6 titles in the top 20.

Playstation Blog has all the details on how you can win a Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition. They have 30 they’ll be giving away all weekend.

To win, you just have to play Uncharted 2: Among Thieves online this weekend.

Here’s the specifics:
“Entrants may use an existing PlayStation®Network account or create a new account. To create an account go to the PlayStation®Network menu from a PS3™ XMB and choose ‘Sign up for PlayStation®Network.’ Create an account by entering the required information. Once an account has been created, Entrants must log on to the PlayStation®Network and launch the game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves from their PlayStation 3 system. To enter the Promotion and have a chance to win, Entrant must launch the game, go to the online lobby, select the Matchmaking icon and join any open match. By joining a match, Entrant is entered into the Promotion for that day.”

How to save money this week on Games

Wow this week is a battle of heavyweights! The sheer number of titles that many of us have been looking forward to is amazing. This week there is something for every type of gamer and almost too much too decide from! Good thing this article will show you where you can save the most with all the money you’ll be spending this week. Games I can’t wait to try are: Squeeballs Party, A Boy and his Blog, Where the Wild Things are, Brutal Legend, Cake Mania 3, Magna Carta 2, and of course, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

Here are the games out this week:
A Witches Tale (DS)
Shimano Xtreme Fishing (Wii)
Cars Race o Rama (DS,PS3, PS2,Wii,PSP,360)
Squeeballs Party (DS,Wii)
Way of the Samurai 3 (360,PS3)
Afrika (PS3)
Agatha Christie: ABC Murders (DS)
Petz Pony Beauty Pageant (DS)
Ju-On: The Grudge Haunted House Simulator (Wii)
A Boy and his Blob (Wii)
Half Minute Hero (PSP)
Where the Wild Things Are (PS3, 360,DS,Wii)
Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games (DS,Wii)
Brutal Legend (PS3,360)
Magna Carta 2 (360)
Cake Mania 3 (DS)
Hero’s Saga: Laevatein Tactics (DS)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3)

Here’s where you can save money:

GameStop:
Buy 2 and save $5 on DS games (Mini Ninjas, Scooby-Doo, Diss and Make Up The Clique, Scribblenauts, and Where the Wild Things are.
Price drop on the Godfather 2
Free Squeeballs Stylus with purchase DS game

Toys R US
Buy 2 games get a 3rd free – all video games all week long
Buy 2 get the 3rd free of all video game accessories (time to stock up on controllers)
On Saturday, 17 hosting a Bakugan training camp from 12-4pm.

Best Buy
When purchase Brutal Legend get a 3 song Rock Band track pack for free
$10 off of WET
Movie cash included with Where the Wild Things are game

Target
no deals

That’s it for this week! Good luck and let us know what you pick up!

Uncharted 2

Uncharted 2 is so epic, Sony is taking it to the movie theaters to give gamers a chance to play Uncharted 2: Among Thieves on a movie screen.

On October 5 and 6, four theaters in San Francisco, Thousand Oaks, California, Rosemont, Illinois and Bellevue, Washington will be equipped with Sony digital-project technology and ready to play.

Mike Fidler, senior vice president of Sony Electronics’ Digital Camera Solutions and Services Group hopes that events like this could drive revenues.

“This is the first time we’re doing it in a theater. We think it’s a start of something for us, and hope we can build this into a standard element in the movie-going experience,” he said. “Our goal in converting theaters to digital is to go beyond the traditional movie-going experience and focus on helping exhibitors find ways to fill seats.”

“Gaming will be an important part of that equation.”

The first night is a private invitation-only event and the second night will be public. My bet is to watch Playstation blog , the Naughty Dog Twitter and Facebook page for more details.

[source via Reuters]

Uncharted 2

Naughty Dog has announced the Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Fortune Hunter Edition during PAX. The special package includes the game, an exact in-game replica of the Phurba Dagger Artifact and stand, collectible art book and collector case autographed by Naughty Dog and other downloads.

This collection will be for real fans though. According to US Playstation blog the edition will only be available to win. Watch the Playstation blog to see more details coming soon!