Don't go into Uncharted 2: Honor Among Thieves expecting to play the game of the year; no title deserves that level of expectation. Go into it quietly, and try to dial down the noise about how great the game is. Invite some friends over if they're interested; I played the first five chapters with one of the my best friends and his wife watching, and at different times we all remarked that the game was better scripted and acted than most action films we've seen in recent years. This is also one of the few games where the dialog is laugh-out-loud funny.

In other words, get ready to enjoy something rare and worthy of respect: a game that moves its entire genre forward. Looking at it through the lens of other games or as a weapon in a console war is just going to diminish your enjoyment of the game.

Also, if you're new to the PlayStation 3 and want to play the first game, do so now. It's a great title that still stands up now, almost two years later, but if you try to play it after you pick up this game you're going to feel like you took a step back instead of a wonderful jump up. Because no matter how good you thought Uncharted was—and we thought it was pretty damn wonderful—Uncharted 2 is much, much better.

The less said, the better

It's going to be hard to do the full review of the game without giving away plot elements or talking about the characters; this is an experience that you'll enjoy much more if you go into it as blind as possible. We'll go deeper in-depth with the game as we get closer to launch, but for now it's worth the time to talk about how Uncharted 2 begins so strongly and keeps the pacing going through the first five chapters. The vocal talent is way above average, but even better, the writing, pacing, and flow of the story and the gameplay is maintained to perfection.

The game opens with a short scene explaining the controls, and even this is breathtaking, and takes place in a life or death struggle. The game doesn't require any knowledge of its predecessor; all you need to know is that Nathan Drake is a man who has bad things happen to him. To be fair, he puts himself in these situations, but that's beside the point. The character of Nathan Drake is one you've seen before: he's Indiana Jones, he's Han Solo, he's whoever Nicholas Cage plays in those National Treasure films. A lovable rogue with just enough charm and luck to get out of the last scrape and into the next one.

What's interesting is that so far there isn't much new here. You've seen gunfights like this before, you've thrown grenades like this before, and the climbing and jumping mechanics almost feel like Prince of Persia in places. What elevates Uncharted 2 above its peers is how well everything works together to create a whole. While the levels are linear, many areas offer multiple ways to pass through them. It's not all wine and roses, however; one early section where you have to sneak past a set of guards is way more trial and error than skill—does anyone enjoy forced stealth sections in games?—but after that the action picks up dramatically and never settles back down.

What works?

The controls are smoother, the animations are more polished, and the graphics are simply... well, better. I'll remind you of what I asked in the first paragraph; for a game with such high expectations I was a little disappointed in the graphics for the first few moments, but the level of detail and beauty spread throughout the game is hard to describe. There are so many little moments that make you realize just how bland and poor most other games look in comparison.

The mark of a truly great game is the ability to make you wonder why other games aren't better, and this is something Uncharted 2, so far, has accomplished. The mixture of story scenes, action set pieces, and exploration is blended in such a way that there hasn't been a down portion of the game, and it was incredibly hard to put the controller down and walk away.

It's hard to block out the deafening amount of noise and chatter about this game on the forums and the blogs and the gaming sites, but once you're able to sit down and experience it for yourself you'll see something amazing: a game that truly loves both its characters and the gameplay elements used to tell their story. If things are this good after the first five chapters, I can't imagine what the next 21 are going to be like.

We'll be running our feature-length review of the game closer to launch, so keep your eyes peeled. Uncharted 2 comes out exclusively for the PlayStation 3 on October 13.