1. If you count splinter cell as having a cover system (attaching to walls) and being able to climb and jump ladders, platforms, etc. then the Spy vs. Merc modes in Pandora Tomorrow were the first I can think of to feature something like this in a multiplayer and third person platforming setting.

2. I'm not totally sure but if my memory isn't playing tricks on me you can do this in Crackdown. It's also a third person point of view.

3. Chaos theory. Gotta love that lighthouse in the first level where you can do this.

4. I will agree that watching that vid of U2 where Nathan did this caught me by surprise. It is a neat little move. AC does let you grab enemies and throw them into things but it isn't like this move as Nathan did it from being in cover.

5. I thought tossing the flag was common to capture the flag modes... I think I'm going to go watch some videos of this to see what you mean entirely as I might be missing something.

6. Again I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. Do you mean no loading screens whatsoever? Tales of Vesperia on the 360 when installed on the hard drive has such miniscule load times that you may as well be playing off a cartridge. Other than that I can't think of load times for games off the top of my head. Instead of memorizing which games have load times, I'm too anxious for the load to be over so I can play! A welcome feature for a game I'm as thrilled about as Uncharted 2. Means less time waiting and more time playing :)

Also, I don't want to downplay Uncharted 2. Since SC:C was delayed this is my most awaited game of the fall (tied with Borderlands and Assassin's Creed 2) but I'm hoping people don't start hyping it too much. I think that's what made the first game so special. It came almost out of the blue with little hype and totally blew away most who played it. With all the hype surrounding this one I think it might put some people off and annoy many others - especially when threads like this are made with some pretty outrageous claims.

I think that is what he means.  However, Uncharted was not the first game to transition from gameplay to cutscene with no loading times.  Both Beyond Good and Evil and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time did that four years before Uncharted did.

U2 gets grief for being a wannabe tomb raider/gears copy. While it has similaries, Gears isnt nearly original at all itself.

So I'm listing some things in U2 that I havent seen in any other games before.

1. full Cover system combined with full platforming

2. Being able to pick up gas tanks, throw them at enemies, and shoot the gas tank while it's in mid-air to blow up enemy.

3. Pulling enemies off ledges while climbing (LOL@assassins creed 2 copying this)

4. Ability to melee enemies by grabbing and throwing them into the wall

5. Plunder mode - capture the flag but being able to toss the flag and having to throw it up a story to score it

6. Seamless gameplay to story without loading times (uncharted 1 was the first game with that really)