Usually, seeing one screenshot of an upcoming game with one type of climate represented isn’t reason enough to get excited about. When it’s a screen from Uncharted 2, however, that’s a good enough reason for me. A recently released image from the game shows a cold, mountainous background, which again shows how varied the environments are in this game as compared to the first Uncharted. According to Naughty Dog designer Richard Lemarchand, you can expect to see some awesome visual effects when it comes to the white stuff:

We've spent a lot of time focused on the distinctive look that snow has as it falls and is blown by the wind, and of course on the way in which Drake leaves footprints as he trudges through the snowdrifts in the Himalayan mountains that he ventures to. When he's out in the snow he'll accumulate a layer of snowflakes on his clothes and in his hair, which will slowly thaw when he gets back inside under cover. Ice reflects light in a way that cleverly mimics the sub-surface scattering that goes on inside a chunk of frozen water, and gives it a look of incredible volume and density. We have a few more tricks up our sleeves, too - all in all, we're really happy with the way the weather's shaping up in Uncharted 2.

After seeing the impressive water effects in the first Uncharted, I’m inclined to believe the man. I’m also so excited for this game that Richard probably could have said that “Uncharted 2 will have people and guns” and I would have found a reason to celebrate. At any rate, it looks like the game is coming along nicely, based both on released images and the impressions I got at New York Comic Con last month. Too bad we still have several months to wait.

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