If revenge is a dish best served cold, then Nathan Drake is taking things a tad literally in Unchartered 2: Among Thieves. The story begins with Nathan waking up in a crashed train carriage dangling over the edge of a frozen cliff face in Nepal, covered in blood and freezing to death. As the twisted wreckage slides further down the ledge, your tutorial consists of a desperate climb up the vehicle to safety, using seats, pipes and anything else you can grab on to as it crumbles apart around you. This is the same sense of epic scale and unrelenting action that you would come to expect from the series after the first thrilling instalment and, from the word go, the pace rarely lets up across the lengthy and thrilling campaign. Playstation 3 has finally found its new face and a reason for all the late adopters to check out Sony's juggernaut.

Nathan, an English thief named Harry Flynn and new squeeze Chloe Frazer, get together to snatch an ancient oil lamp from a Turkish museum on behalf of a shadowy client. The object holds the key to the location of Marco Polo's lost fleet of ships that mysteriously disappeared following an expedition, full to the brim with ancient treasures and ripe for the taking. When the museum heist ends up as a double-cross, Nathan embarks on a rollercoaster chase across the globe to get his revenge and reach the prize of Polo's spoils, a supposedly lost artefact known as the Cintamani Stone, before the client does. Unfortunately for Nathan, the client happens to be Zorin Lazarevic, an insane Russian mercenary with his own private army, which means there will be plenty of gunplay and explosions along the way.

Perhaps the first thing that may strike you is how painfully detailed everything appears. Rarely are textures or environmental objects re-used; proof that the team at Naughty Dog have put a great deal of effort into making this game something very special indeed. Everything is grand in scale, from the lush, towering mountains of Borneo to a war-torn Nepalese city; every stage is as memorable as the last. While the aesthetic values are by far some of the generation's finest, the gameplay is perfectly implemented, backed up by an in-game camera that never fails you, no matter how hectic or confined the action becomes.

Surprisingly, the frantic train car stage is quickly followed by a stealth mission that should result in a snap change of pace, but even a task as rote as deactivating an alarm system is a joy here, thanks to superb level design and seamless set-piece integration. In many games, set-pieces are often used as place-holders, signifying a checkpoint or as a signposting device. Here however, these moments are so fluid and carefully implemented that they only serve to compliment the action and intensity of some of the vertigo-inducing climbing sections.

Thankfully, the shooting and cover systems are top notch, allowing you to snap in and out of cover and unleash a military's worth of firepower with ease. Holding down L1 puts Nathan into a combat state, utilising an over-the-shoulder viewpoint that allows you to fire with R2 or aim a grenade with L2. You can also fire from cover or blind-toss a grenade to suppress enemies, but your foes are instinctive, intelligently seeking cover and attempting to flank you, which will most certainly keep you on your toes during each encounter. The inclusion of soldiers with riot shields begs a more tactical approach, forcing you to ditch holding your defensive position and get around them for the kill.

One notable skirmish early on in the game sees you pinned down in a jungle shack by intense gunfire, with your friend Sully providing sniper fire from nearby cliffs. He's a damn good shot, providing real help rather than falling into the over-populated ranks of useless AI partners that have plagued games for years. The objective is to take down a machine gun turret, which is housed in a sniper tower by lobbing a grenade in the window, but between you and the goal is a pack of around 15 heavily-armed soldiers, making of a tense encounter. The superb audio enhances every gunshot and explosion, creating an immersive and engaging experience that holds your attention every step of the way.

When your ammo runs dry or if you prefer a more hands-on approach, panelling goons with your fists is a fun alternative. Melee combat here is executed through a simple two-button mechanic that is surprisingly good fun given the basic execution. Nathan can swing punches with the square button and counter enemy attacks with triangle, which can result in some truly painful-looking takedowns. The reliance on good timing keeps this system away from mindless button-bashing and the opportunity for stealth takedowns opens up your possibilities considerably. For example, if you are hiding behind a wall and a guard passes by, you can quickly grab them from your hiding place, smash their face off the wall, then quietly conceal the body behind the cover, reducing your risk of detection. The same applies for guards standing over a ledge; simply tap square when dangling below them to hurl them off and watch as they plummet to a messy fate.

Even when pulling off the most outrageous takedowns or when fighting multiple enemies hand-to-hand the camera sweeps and zooms to give you the best view of the mayhem, which heightens the tension and pace. These simple but effective touches work together to deliver a tone that is comparable to the Indiana Jones series. Nathan Drake is similar to George Lucas's hero; bullish in nature, cracking wise at the most inappropriate moments and pulling off some truly outrageous stunts. The game has true cinematic quality, thanks to expertly scripted and well-shot cut-scenes, which are backed up by superb voice acting, top of the range facial animation and spot on lip sync.

Once you have blazed your way through the superb campaign, multiplayer offers a wealth of modes that will keep you playing even longer. Deathmatch does what it says on the tin, backed up by a brilliant matchmaking system similar to the one found in Halo 3, ensuring that you are paired with players of relatively equal skill. Depending on how you perform online, you will be awarded experience points and currency that can be used to purchase new perks such as increased blind-fire accuracy, faster reload time, quieter movement and many more. Currency can also be acquired while playing the offline campaign by meeting certain parameters, such as killing 20 enemies by head shot.

Multiplayer plays similarly to Gears of War 2, where constant movement and reliance on cover is king. However, while Marcus Fenix and company were forced to do battle with their feet firmly on the ground, presumably due to the weight of their bulky armour or some sort of chronic laziness. Here you can climb walls, scale surfaces, dangle off ledges and more, which opens up a wealth of tactical options. For example, there is much fun to be had by dangling off a ledge behind a gun respawn point. Simply wait until a member of the opposing team runs by to grab the firearm, leap up and get the drop on them before they knew what hit them. Online players are already lethally efficient in this area, so newcomers will need to be alert and familiar with each of the well designed maps before expecting to emerge victorious.

Other modes include Elimination, which puts two teams head to head in short three-minute skirmishes with no respawns until one player is left standing. Being one of the last two players left in this mode is incredibly tense and makes you appreciate cover a lot more than in the often-hectic Deathmatch, where players tend to be a bit more gung-ho. There are many familiar modes such as capturing zones in Turf War, holding positions in King of the Hill, the capture the flag-based Plunder and even its own version of Gears of War 2's Horde entitled Survival. There is also a clever Machinima mode that lets you record footage of your games and upload them to the internet for all to see.

Such dedication to delivering a wealth of online modes and executing them with the same flawless delivery of the offline campaign is admirable and evidence that Naughty Dog understand that any game with true staying power needs to have an appealing and expansive online element. Uncharted 2 is an exemplary title and one that smacks of a developer at the peak of its game. From every piece of cover and set-piece thrown in fiendishly to catch you unaware, to the expertly crafted multiplayer maps and top quality cut scenes, it is clear that a innumerable amount of dedication and painstaking precision has been squeezed out of the team to help make this the PS3's crowning moment.

Reviewed by Dave Cook for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).