Just took a small break. Have played roughly 4 hours of UC2 and I'm loving every second so far. It's wonderful to see a developer that listens to all the criticisms (the small amount that existed), and polishes all the parts that weren't up to snuff.
UC2 includes everything from the first game and much, much more. The firefights are tighter, better, and less flimsy. The weapons feel heavier, much more solid and the enemies are much smarter. The levels are better in design, the variation is better and the graphics are... absolutely breathtaking. I'm majorly impressed by the looks. UC2 is the world's best looking console game. Yes.
Naughty Dog have bettered themselves. While the first game definitely had its share of problems, UC2 feels like an insanely polished product. The cutscenes are incredibly well-directed and exciting, the dialogue is fantastic and the tempo shifts are genius.
Sometimes certain moments tend to feel forced, and now and then enemies pop up that you have already killed (from nowhere). But other than that, 4 hours in the game there's not much else to complain about.
Another 4 hours have passed. I think I'm getting closer to the end soon. UC2 to me is a complete surprise. I know that the hype has been enormous and that certain people have been expecting a masterpiece, but I still think the first game is a tad overrated and I was expecting the second part to just be more of the same. The exact same.
I've been puzzling in environments bigger than Lara ever could have dreamed of, climbed and hanged around in places where Indiana Jones himself would soil himself, and killed more henchmen than Sam Fisher have seen in his entire lifetime. Tomorrow (later today) I'll finish Nauthy Dog's sequel and then sit down and capture a boatload of screenshots.