Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Naughty Dog
Platforms: PlayStation 3
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception continues the much loved and acclaimed series that we have all grown to love. You enter the game following Nathan Drake and Victor “Sully” Sullivan as they make their way through a pub in England. Why are they in a pub? To meet a man called Talbot and discuss his very intriguing proposition for Drakes ring.
Throughout the campaign you will find yourself journeying across Europe and the Middle East as you uncover more secrets about Sir Francis and Nathan’s past.
So get ready, because it’s going to be a bumpy ride!
Functionality:
The controls for this game, should be no surprise, are based off the original games. With that said there should be something stated about the use of grab and roll. They are the same button, (o). So don’t be surprised if you are in the middle of a great big brawl and when you try to grab somebody you end up rolling away or vice versa.
But besides that they are just as easy to pick up and go as the previous games were.
One of the huge things to be brought to Uncharted 3 was the new combat system. While it is based off the original method the presentation has taken a slightly different turn.
Fighting is now more of a cinematic experience. You will have a closer shot of Drake as he makes his way around the room, trying to land punches and provide counters. While this is an interesting way to incorporate combat and keep the game from becoming too much like a movie, it doesn’t quite push it to the point that it should be.
Let me explain. During a hand to hand fight you will be able to move around the room and at certain points use objects to hit enemies. Now the big issue is knowing what is actually useable, in the tradition game sense as well as the “Drake will actually grab it like he is supposed to”. There are quite a few moments where you will hope for a nice epic jump kick that will launch a guy into a door, shattering it, but instead he lands a normal punch and counter combo.
Now this may be too much to ask, but please try to go full throttle when you are bringing the “use objects” idea to videogames. Either make it so a lot of the objects can be used, and be used in a variety of animations, or don’t do it. It ends up making a fight scene seem too repetitive, something you should never be thinking.
Along with that, this is the first of the series to have advertising and scenes directly linked to the Indiana Jones franchise. While this is all good, it would have been nice to see more of the traditional Indiana humor thrown in. Like Drake is in a room full of guys and a big guy jumps in to beat him up, but Nathan pulls out his trusty gun and shoots him. Sure this seems a bit too much like Indiana, but I would much rather see that than another long fisty cuff sequence.
Besides the hand to hand combat, Uncharted 3 has upped the ante when it comes to gun play. And by upped the ante I mean they made it so you are shooting or running from bullets about 98% of the game.
This was a bit of a turn off for me. Mainly when Drake is on the cruise ship and it starts sinking. This was a perfect time for the game to turn plat former and just have it about him trying to escape. Instead you stuck clinging to cover as you make your way through the wave after wave of guys. This is just not very believable and to me is the biggest problem with games, if you paint a game to cling to realism you need to understand that during a ships accident you will not be seeing every bad guy on the ship trying to kill the hero. More often than not they will be aiming to escape and along the way lock him in to his doom.
But this is mainly an issue I had with the entire game, there just wasn’t as much substance as Uncharted 2. You see Uncharted 2 had periods where it was more about the story and the treasure. While Uncharted 3 seems to base its focus on the action. It just doesn’t feel like a Nathan Drake experience. It’s a great game, it just doesn’t quite make it.
Now I would normally use this time to explain the overall HUD layout, but seeing as this hasn’t changed I will just say it is the standard clean screen. No health bar, screen just loses color when you are dying, and you can see your guns when you use your direction key pads to select them. So that works as great as ever.
Presentation:
The graphics are great, they are a very nice step from the other games. The entire game can be summoned up as the colors of dark and bright. By this I mean everything feels like it belongs there, places have character and a strong sense of history. As if you are actually there.
What we have come to expect from the Uncharted series has always been there, exceptional graphics a good underlining story. You have great water effects, Drake’s clothing gets wet when it should and the water will react uniquely to the situation.
Along with this they did a good job with the explosions and fire effects. Some of the previous versions of the game went a bit too liquidity with the flames, the effect is done a lot better in this version.
Along with the environment the main characters have been designed extremely well. Each character seems to looks real, or at least real enough to pass. What is extremely impressive is the lines and scars that are present on drakes face, especially since he will gain new ones as the story progresses. Making it really feel like he is going through hell to figure out the secret of Sir Francis Drake.
Atmosphere:
The soundtrack is great. It captures the feel of the game perfectly, you get that strong sense of journey with a backlash of Indiana Jones. I know that is being referenced a lot, but this game really felt like the attempt was to embody that series. Now I don’t think that was the point of the game but it just really seemed to make its move to that.
Along with the soundtrack they really did well with the sound effects. Especially in the airplane scene when everything is tearing apart, that entire area really created a feeling of “oh… crap…” as you try to make your way to the other side. Only to be sucked out a mile above the ground.
Plot:
Now the important thing, plot. I am going to be as brief as possible because I don’t want to give away anything that will ruin you experience with the game.
The story is interesting; it has the same formula that they have used all their previous titles. The whole Drake is looking for treasure, he fights a lot of people, treasure is actually evil, and he needs to escape.
With that said I will admit that I found this game to be the less interesting of the series. It could have been because of the formula, everything is what you expect. Or it could just be that they overdid the action sequences and didn’t allow the story to really sink in.
And the overuse of action and crazy may be the main reason this game falls a bit short. There are too many scenes with Drake jumping out of planes or surviving crazy wrecks. It just become routine and you end up not really finding the next big incident that insane, just kinda stupid that he didn’t book with a different flight agent.
I mean a lot of the time you are hearing Drake and Cutter (a new friend to the gang) spat details back and forth continuously. Now while this adds a different character dynamic it just made the pacing of all the cut scenes with them feel rushed. What made the previous games better was the fact that Drake really only talked with one or maybe two other people. It was a more direct communication, and would typically involve him explaining more about what is going on.
With this game I just felt that there was too much information going out at once, it would have been nicer to just slow it down a bit. Not a lot, just a bit. Or just get rid of Cutter and allow Drake to communicate directly with Sully or Elena.
Now I know I have thrown quite a bit of negativity about this game out there. But I don’t want you to think “well this game is crap I won’t buy it” cause let me be honest with you. “Did I enjoy playing it” YES, “would I play it again” MOST LIKELY, “is it better than the other ones?” NO. And that is the big thing to remember here. Uncharted 3 pushes the graphics and the action but at times the story just doesn’t match what they had in Uncharted 2.
Legacy Rating:
Will this game last through time? This is an interesting concept, because the Uncharted franchise will always be remembered as the perfect blend between games and cinema. But that is just it, the franchise will be remembered. Not one particular game. So I feel that this game will end up becoming a blend of the greatness that is Uncharted.
How does it compare with other games? The only real game to compare it to is its predecessor Uncharted 2. Both games are great for their own merits but I just don’t think Drakes Deception has anything on Uncharted 2. Among Thieves had an amazing story and you went to some incredibly beautiful locations. All of this added up to an unbelievable gaming experience that left you wanting more. Unfortunately Drakes Deception just falls short and maybe that is the “deception” of the game, you are hoping it will blow the previous ones out of the water but it just doesn’t find a way too.
Buy or rent? I would say buy. Especially if you are looking for a fun game or to complete your series!
