Uncharted 3 Review
RELEASED in the midst of the great Autumn storm of game, Naughty Dog’s PS3 Exclusive Uncharted 3 stands as one of the best games of 2011.
Following on from the success of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is the final part of fortune hunter Nathan Drake’s story and continues the fantastic traditions set in the previous duo of releases.
Boasting superb graphics, an epic adventure and a number of game changing new features, Uncharted has secured its place as one of the best game series’ of the next generation console, and edged its way towards becoming the PS3s most important franchise.
Exclusive to the console, Uncharted is a polished enough game to convince you to purchase the console, and like Mario for the N64, Sonic for the Genesis and Halo for the Xbox, Uncharted has brought us some important features that games will be judged on their ability to re-create or add to in the future.
- Increased Our Expectations of Polished Graphics
When the original Uncharted game hit Playstation 3’s back in 2007, much was made of the graphical prowess that Naughty Dog’s game demonstrated. As Drake made his way through the foliage and ruined temples searching for El Dorado, players cooed as leaves were brushed aside and water swished realistically around the game’s main protagonist.
Careful physics of the world around Drake, Elena and Sully were part of what sucked us into the world of Uncharted, and in both sequels the bar has continually been raised. Uncharted 2 introduced us to beautifully smooth and crisp snow effects whilst Drake’s Deception brought us perhaps the best environmental effects as desert sand stuck to the main characters clothes and shoes as he wandered through the barren wastelands of Yemen.
- Stellar Voice Work
A key part of drawing you into Nathan Drake’s story is the interaction which the treasure hunter has with the world around him; namely the other characters in the game.
Much of the Uncharted’s story is told through cut scenes, but during many scenes there will be dialogue between the characters on the screen which will help you understand more about their relationship, and occasionally offer you hints about what to do. The conversations between characters flow realistically and with an entertaining and enthralling script it is no surprise that many people have followed Drake’s story enthusiastically through it’s three chapters.
In some other action adventure games, conversations would mainly take place through subtitles, but the Uncharted series has shown us that it is possible for these to take place in game and on the fly.
- Set Pieces with a Huge ‘WOW’ Factor
A major part of Uncharted’s playability is due to its use of scripted moments to leave players in awe of what the on screen characters are going through. Whilst Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune had it’s fair share of great set pieces involving some enthralling gunplay, Among Thieves and Drake’s Deception demonstrate everything that an action game should be.
Honourable mention goes to the unforgettable train sequence of Uncharted 2 when players have to use all of Drake’s skill to dodge obstacles, defeat bad guys and use gravity to their advantage whilst work your way to the front carriage of the train. One of the longest set piece sections of the game easily sucks you in, and like a blockbuster movie you really buy into the emotion and he challenges the characters are facing.
Other sections in the second and third games involve Drake traversing difficult terrain in a race against time for survival, and these scripted moments moulded alongside the shooting and puzzling sections of the game help to bring Drake’s world alive.
Completing an Uncharted game is a good opportunity to settle back on the sofa and relive the exciting moments that led you there there. Boss battles are handled with both real-time action and QuickTime events which help ensure that the action is frantic until the very last moment.
- Intuitive Controls
Playing a cover-based shooter was not an easy concept to get our heads around until Gears of War on the Xbox streamlined the experience.
Uncharted’s controls helped Playstation owners feel at easy with the genre almost immediately as we were able to shoot, cover and propel Drake to do almost anything you could wish. In the original game, there were a number of simple actions the main character could perform including shooting blind out of cover and performing a limited number of hand-to-hang combat actions. By the time Uncharted 3 was released, Drake felt like a regular actionhero. Advancements in the gameplay, aided by the simplicity of the controls means that it is now easy for Drake to grabble an enemy as well as perform a silent takedown to steal a weapon.
Another improving element in the series has been Drake’s ability to throw grenades from cover.
A simple icon on the screen helps to show exactly where a grenade will land, and in reverse help is available when an enemy throws a grenade at a player. An equally useful icon allows you to anticipate opponents’ grenades as well as throw them back with a correctly timed tap of the button.
- Finely Balanced Gameplay
Comparisons are naturally drawn between Uncharted and the long running Tomb Raider series due to the style of gameplay and the subject matter featured in both.
In truth it appears that Naughty Dog used Lara Croft, and her wall scaling antics as a basis for their game, and then attempted to add unique features of their own. Another more recent game, Assassins Creed is commonly believed to be the mark setting standard for modern games featuring third person acrobatic actions, but Uncharted’s method of allowing Drake to scale his surroundings is just as smooth, and deserves credit for the way it almost immediately feels natural.
When Drake isn’t climbing or swinging he’s defending himself from bad guys in some extremely tuned shooting sequences. Each one of the game’s handles this differently with the third including some nice sections which involve riding a horse and attempting to fend off enemies.
The third string to Drake’s bow is puzzle solving. Although there is nothing ground breaking in Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3, the inclusion of puzzle sections was something original in the first game, and helped break up the exploration and gun play sections of the game.
Each puzzle Drake is required to solve is assisted by the use of Sir Francis Drake’s diary, and usually these sections are relatively simply solved by using clues in the surrounding environment.
Following on from the success of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is the final part of fortune hunter Nathan Drake’s story and continues the fantastic traditions set in the previous duo of releases.
Boasting superb graphics, an epic adventure and a number of game changing new features, Uncharted has secured its place as one of the best game series’ of the next generation console, and edged its way towards becoming the PS3s most important franchise.
Exclusive to the console, Uncharted is a polished enough game to convince you to purchase the console, and like Mario for the N64, Sonic for the Genesis and Halo for the Xbox, Uncharted has brought us some important features that games will be judged on their ability to re-create or add to in the future.
- Increased Our Expectations of Polished Graphics
When the original Uncharted game hit Playstation 3’s back in 2007, much was made of the graphical prowess that Naughty Dog’s game demonstrated. As Drake made his way through the foliage and ruined temples searching for El Dorado, players cooed as leaves were brushed aside and water swished realistically around the game’s main protagonist.
Careful physics of the world around Drake, Elena and Sully were part of what sucked us into the world of Uncharted, and in both sequels the bar has continually been raised. Uncharted 2 introduced us to beautifully smooth and crisp snow effects whilst Drake’s Deception brought us perhaps the best environmental effects as desert sand stuck to the main characters clothes and shoes as he wandered through the barren wastelands of Yemen.
- Stellar Voice Work
A key part of drawing you into Nathan Drake’s story is the interaction which the treasure hunter has with the world around him; namely the other characters in the game.
Much of the Uncharted’s story is told through cut scenes, but during many scenes there will be dialogue between the characters on the screen which will help you understand more about their relationship, and occasionally offer you hints about what to do. The conversations between characters flow realistically and with an entertaining and enthralling script it is no surprise that many people have followed Drake’s story enthusiastically through it’s three chapters.
In some other action adventure games, conversations would mainly take place through subtitles, but the Uncharted series has shown us that it is possible for these to take place in game and on the fly.
- Set Pieces with a Huge ‘WOW’ Factor
A major part of Uncharted’s playability is due to its use of scripted moments to leave players in awe of what the on screen characters are going through. Whilst Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune had it’s fair share of great set pieces involving some enthralling gunplay, Among Thieves and Drake’s Deception demonstrate everything that an action game should be.
Honourable mention goes to the unforgettable train sequence of Uncharted 2 when players have to use all of Drake’s skill to dodge obstacles, defeat bad guys and use gravity to their advantage whilst work your way to the front carriage of the train. One of the longest set piece sections of the game easily sucks you in, and like a blockbuster movie you really buy into the emotion and he challenges the characters are facing.
Other sections in the second and third games involve Drake traversing difficult terrain in a race against time for survival, and these scripted moments moulded alongside the shooting and puzzling sections of the game help to bring Drake’s world alive.
Completing an Uncharted game is a good opportunity to settle back on the sofa and relive the exciting moments that led you there there. Boss battles are handled with both real-time action and QuickTime events which help ensure that the action is frantic until the very last moment.
- Intuitive Controls
Playing a cover-based shooter was not an easy concept to get our heads around until Gears of War on the Xbox streamlined the experience.
Uncharted’s controls helped Playstation owners feel at easy with the genre almost immediately as we were able to shoot, cover and propel Drake to do almost anything you could wish. In the original game, there were a number of simple actions the main character could perform including shooting blind out of cover and performing a limited number of hand-to-hang combat actions. By the time Uncharted 3 was released, Drake felt like a regular actionhero. Advancements in the gameplay, aided by the simplicity of the controls means that it is now easy for Drake to grabble an enemy as well as perform a silent takedown to steal a weapon.
Another improving element in the series has been Drake’s ability to throw grenades from cover.
A simple icon on the screen helps to show exactly where a grenade will land, and in reverse help is available when an enemy throws a grenade at a player. An equally useful icon allows you to anticipate opponents’ grenades as well as throw them back with a correctly timed tap of the button.
- Finely Balanced Gameplay
Comparisons are naturally drawn between Uncharted and the long running Tomb Raider series due to the style of gameplay and the subject matter featured in both.
In truth it appears that Naughty Dog used Lara Croft, and her wall scaling antics as a basis for their game, and then attempted to add unique features of their own. Another more recent game, Assassins Creed is commonly believed to be the mark setting standard for modern games featuring third person acrobatic actions, but Uncharted’s method of allowing Drake to scale his surroundings is just as smooth, and deserves credit for the way it almost immediately feels natural.
When Drake isn’t climbing or swinging he’s defending himself from bad guys in some extremely tuned shooting sequences. Each one of the game’s handles this differently with the third including some nice sections which involve riding a horse and attempting to fend off enemies.
The third string to Drake’s bow is puzzle solving. Although there is nothing ground breaking in Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3, the inclusion of puzzle sections was something original in the first game, and helped break up the exploration and gun play sections of the game.
Each puzzle Drake is required to solve is assisted by the use of Sir Francis Drake’s diary, and usually these sections are relatively simply solved by using clues in the surrounding environment.