I just finished my replay of Uncharted 2. I played the game on the lowest difficulty this time because I just wanted to blow through it. After playing TLoU, there were plenty of moments in this game that made me wish I could throw a bottle or a brick to distract a sentry.
I had forgotten just how impressive this game was from almost all technical aspects. Visuals are stunning, audio and superb, and the narrative is just another example of how far ahead of the competition Naughty Dog can be. There are obvious flaws with some of the gameplay decisions, but most of those end up being minor quibbles. For instance, at times, despite some superb level design that does a really good job of indicating where you need to go, I never really have a good grasp on just what the limits of Nate's jumping abilities are. Instead, it seems like there are some jumps that you are allowed to make, and some you aren't, regardless of whether the physics of it work. In some cases, a jump looks like it will fall short, but Nate gets some magical extension of the jump and he reaches the ledge. Some of the puzzles would have been much easier to solve if that wasn't such a guessing game.
I think someone here mentioned that they wished there were more contextual animations for things like running into walls. I am inclined to agree with this, as going through the game again, those animations are far too limited in their triggers. There also happens to be a lot of sliding when you need to activate a lever or a switch and Nate's character model isn't in exactly the right location to begin the animation. Obviously, there are limits to what the PS3 can do, so hopefully a PS4 iteration can increase that level of immersion.
Combat is the area that I can imagine being the most divisive. It works well enough, but, and this might have to do with the controller, I never fell in love with it. Melee is fun enough, but the gunplay never felt quite as empowering as it should. Enemies are bullet-sponges, and it is really pronounced in the last 30ish minutes of gameplay when you have to fight the blue smurf-guardians. There are far too many encounters that start with 4 or 5 enemies, and then grow every time you dispatch the first wave. After playing Tomb Raider on PC, and experimenting with mouse + keyboard, I really miss the precision aiming afforded by that setup.
The standout of the series is presentation and narrative, and this game really nails it. I really enjoy the interactions between the characters. Voice acting(performance capture?) is top notch, really solidifying the cinematic experience of the game. I like that characters continue to converse during lulls in combat, something that I think BioWare got away from in Mass Effect 2 and 3. The personalities of all the characters have been meticulously crafted, and everybody feels fairly consistent.
After finishing Uncharted 2, it's really neat to see just how much they improved on the first game. Still having TLoU relatively fresh in my mind, it's incredible to see just how much they've managed to build on their formula. I look forward to whatever it is Naughty Dog brings to the PS4(Uncharted 4 by all estimations) and seeing just what steps they take to improve on an already great formula.