Out of all the games this holiday season none other than Uncharted 3 was at the top of the list. Each title seems to immerse you in almost what feels like a roller coaster action movie, with a touch of puzzle solving, and a great cast of characters. This title is no different in the series delivering on all fronts. The game puts you in a wide variety of locations from the streets of England, to the jungles of France, or across a vast desert with each new location visually astounding. In the visual department this game has no console equal putting every detail possible into not just the way things look but how you interact with objects or with the terrain you walk upon. The soundtrack and voice acting is spot on adding the right emotions for danger, combat, casual, and voice acting. The story sucked me in from start to finish and I couldn’t tell what was going to happen next. This game will keep you guessing until the credits roll. The gameplay has not changed too much from the mechanics, and button lay out of the previous title. The AI got a vast improvement seeming to know when to attack and rush me when I was close to death, low on ammo, or reloading. I was able to get 3 full playthroughs of the game, and a full night of multiplayer and co-op before putting this title down. I had a lot of fun playing the multiplayer experience, and coming from the UC2 they packed in a lot more extras, upgrades, and perks to keep players involved for months to come. Never once did I experience that the connection may be off or that someone else had an unfair advantage over me. I had no trouble being able to hold my own and enjoy my matches win or lose. I did not experience all the match type and co-op types the game had to offer, but should I find myself getting an invite to play with friends I will gladly load up my copy to enjoy more this game has to offer. During my playthroughs I did experience where my body got stuck inside of a cardboard box, times when the game lost all of the graphics and I was peering into walls another other objects alike, and times when Drake just didn’t do what he was supposed to do or that I wanted him to do. These times made the multiple campaign playthroughs a bit frustrating and took away some of the flow and experience of the game. However that aside this is the must play title of 2011 and a great contender for game of the year.
97/100
This was purchased at the full $60 price tag, it was completed on Hard, Crushing, and Easy campaign difficulties. I was able to achieve 100% trophy score over a span of one and a half weeks. I played the multiplayer for a total of about 3hrs so far and made it to level 7.
The yearly glut of big Fall releases is nearly over, and this one was murder, with a staggering number of both stellar and lower tier, but still highly anticipated, games. Any gamer on earth that didn’t buy a game between September and now is still waiting for their title of choice; I know two people who bought games and don’t even have a console to play them on. THAT’S how big this season was.
One thing that particularly caught my attention this year were the preorder bonuses. These have been around for years but they’ve really stepped up the quality lately (ex. The Borderlands bonus download two years ago was just bad but every one I’ve seen this year has been pretty awesome in one way or another.) Most stores welcome preorders as it’s a guaranteed sale for them, but no one that I know of does them like GameStop and it’s siblings. Some places will occasionally offer you a bonus like store credit, a multiplayer add-on, etc, if that. But I’ve noticed that even those places have been offering more lately, whereas in previous years if there was anything to be had from anyone other than GameStop I was oblivious to it. More retailers offered a store credit this year for preorders (Amazon gave a $25 credit for one game) and a few even had competing bonus offers (Batman skins in Arkham City at GameStop, Robin skins from Best Buy,) which I don’t know has been done before, and which has certainly never been covered in magazines before (Game Pro actually had an article comparing the offers from different outlets.) The only reason I can think of for that is falling sales. I believe GameStop has more or less always boasted the most sales per game (makes sense, seeing as that’s kind of their whole catalog) and with the economy being what it is places like Amazon, Best Buy, and Wal Mart are looking to snatch a little bit more revenue.
What up with Fatman??
No Speedos or elf shoes, thank GOD.
There’s a snafu there though: customers are significantly more broke than the companies, so the bonuses have to be worth our time. I’m personally of the mindset that unless there’s a time limit on something I need or my anticipation is high enough (a rare occurrence these days) I’ll wait. Recent example: Uncharted 3 is, without question, a must-have. But even if my PS3 was working right now I would still wait for a price drop or used copy. Blasphemy, I know, but I simply don’t have the money to get everything I want and U3 wasn’t offering any extras I care about. The poster was kind of cool, but I would never use any of the download bonuses (the Creepy Crawler thing just sounds cheap to me,) and the special edition was all collectible stuff I won’t use, so I’m personally not about to drop an extra $40 on that. Skyrim is even worse: an extra $90(!) gets you some neat looking things but not a lick of in-game content. I understand the need for sales, and part of me feels guilty for depriving these publishers and developers I love of revenue but it needs to be worth my extra money, and if I CAN wait I will.
Plus, good lord do I hate spiders.
And not an in-game sword to speak of. Also, are they trying to sell the game as part of the special edition?
I don’t claim to have my finger on the pulse of the industry but to me this is obviously just a way to drive sales. It always has been. But with falling sales (due to falling money. Thanks a lot, government) the companies need to boost their own revenue any way they can. It’s no secret that used copies are the bane 0f any industry since only the retailer gets that money. Preorders are a clever way of guaranteeing those sales since stores can’t duplicate them. There is another way of offering new products to customers that has been growing in use and, impressively, in quality of execution: digital distribution. No store on earth can offer you a used downloaded game, and few if any hackers can host a pirated game the way they can with music and movies. And it’s only going to get more prevalent. I personally don’t like the idea of an all digital market and I hope that in one way or another physical media is here to stay. But as profits shrink and digital storage grows in size and efficiency it seems somewhat forgone. It makes me sad but I’ll hold out hope. In the meantime though I’ll keep buying used until every distributor makes a new game worth the full amount.
I have played many games over the years, but none like Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. Even Uncharted 3’s predecessors must bow before how much of a masterpiece the third entry in the franchise is. This game is absolutely stunning on all fronts and kept me engaged from the opening cinematic until the credits began to roll. There are many reasons to own a Playstation 3, but Uncharted 3 hurdles over them and becomes THE definitive Playstation 3 title. Everything about UC3 has been overhauled with some mechanics seeing minor leaps and some seeing major.
Game Play
The game play in Uncharted 3 is a shining example of a studios ability to fix and refine issues from a previous game. Naughty Dog has addressed most of the issues that held UC2 from being even better than it was. Mainly the stealth portions of UC2 were wonky and didn’t perform as Naughty Dog had probably envisioned. They are still not perfect in UC3, but they have seen some serious work and they are much more fluid and alerting your enemy by error has been reduced, but not eliminated. The hand-to-hand combat system has seen the most refinements and is very similar to that of the Batman and Assassin’s Creed titles. Drake will take on multiple opponents at once and dispatch them through counter maneuvers, straight brawling, or well calculated throws. It can be faulty at times, but only when you are engaged by an inordinate amount of combatants; when it’s just Drake a few enemies it works almost flawlessly.
The shooting mechanics have seen a few tweaks but nothing revolutionary or unfamiliar to people who have played the other Uncharted titles. Aiming and shooting seems to be a little tighter than UC2, but it still takes a ridiculous amount of ammunition to defeat enemy patrols. This problem can lead to some somewhat overwhelming shoot outs, but nothing that is insurmountable without a few tries. Also moving into and out of cover can and will result in an unnecessary amount of deaths. The cover system is one that still needs some polish and will be very apparent when you play the game.
The platforming elements were far and away the highlights of this game for me. Yeah scaling walls and climbing from one side of the room to another still exist during some moments of the game, but it’s the giant set pieces that put this game so far beyond anything else it doesn’t even have to bare humor. They are just that incredible. [Slight Spoiler Alert] For instance when Drake needs to navigate the sinking cruise ship and his sense of confusion is reaching almost unbearable levels because everything in the ship has been contorted to the utmost extreme; you feel that too. Or when Nathan is trying to climb back onto a cargo plane and random pieces of cargo are being hurled at him; you feel that desperation too. [Spoiler Alert Over] It is the level of immersion combined with the platforming that really makes this game stand out. Trust me more than a few sequences will have you on the edge of your seat.
Game Play Score – 19/20 (there are still issues with the cover system that need to be addressed, still fun as hell though)
Most desperate of times
Presentation
The presentation in UC3 is very top notch. The story of the game is a very touching one [no spoilers I promise]. It immerses you more so into the world of Nathan Drake than the previous two titles. At any point in the game you get a deeper sense of what Nathan’s mission really is and it’s not what you’d expect this time around. It still leaves some questions unanswered, but that is what Uncharted 4 is for right? The camera work or cinematography of this game is absolutely mind blowing. The camera will pan out to make the player understand and appreciate the scale of the environments, but will conversely zoom in to show you how claustrophobic the setting can be (poor Cutter). The characters all stand out and contribute something unique to the narrative and it will always keep you guessing what will happen next. Anytime you think you have a fix on this game it will prove you wrong; trust me it is one hell of a ride. Lastly in regards to presentation the menu system, while not the most important attribute of a game is very clean, sharp, and easy to navigate within UC3.
Presentation Score – 20/20 (great story, great characters, great camera work, great menus)
New and Old characters meet in an alley, how romantic
Graphics
Forget everything you know about what a console game can accomplish graphically, because Uncharted 3 can and will put it to shame (sorry Gears of War fans). UC2 was the pinnacle of graphical excellence for me on the consoles and I was pretty sure that nothing would ever eclipse UC2’s graphical prowess. Boy was I wrong. Everything about UC3 is a work of beauty. Every little detail in this game will wow you. During certain sequences [no spoilers again] I would literally stop what I was doing and see how the environment had augmented Drake’s appearance by circling around him with the camera. It was absolutely astonishing how detailed Naughty Dog got with Drake’s character model at times; truly a sight to behold. UC3 is a work of modern art. The littlest things were given such great detail and those little things amalgamate into one spectacular looking title. I’ll say it one last time; you need to see this game in action because you are in for a real treat.
Graphics Score – 20/20 (nothing is this game’s equal in the graphics department)
Sound
The sound design in this game is like almost everything else in this game, amazing. The voice work really brings the characters of UC3 to life. The sound effects from explosions and gun fire also sound amazing and really amplify the experience (huge pun intended). The game’s score is really emotional as well and complements Drake’s travels throughout the game. The only issue I had with the sound is that it cut out a few times during play. I’m not sure if it was the game or my hardware, but it jumped me out of the experience regardless.
Sound Score – 19/20 (everything sounded amazing, the sound cutting out was not cool)
Future playability
The game has multiple difficulties for the player to tackle and 101 treasures (w/ one of those being a relic) to find. Also not to mention the game has online multiplayer and co-op modes to engage in. I haven’t tried either of those modes yet and I apologize (will post impressions when I get a chance). So I cannot comment on them, but if they are anything like UC2’s additional modes they will be fantastic as well.
Future Playability score – 20/20 (I know I haven’t tried the additional game modes, but this game isn’t something fans will put down for quite a while with so much packed into the single player experience.)
Final Thoughts
Not many games will come along in our time that will engage you like Uncharted 3 manages to do. This title is nothing short of exceptional and is something that I believe all gamers should experience. The people over at Naughty Dog are masters of their craft and it shows in this title. Like I mentioned at the beginning, this is the definitive Playstation 3 title and may well be the definitive title of this generation. Telling you that you need to play this game would not be doing the game justice. You need to experience this game, because at its core it is just that; an amazing experience.
Final Score – 98/100 (not perfect, but damn close, something you must see and experience if you consider yourself a gamer)
This game was purchased by me for $60. I completed the game on the normal difficulty in 9 hours and 44 minutes and attained 40% of the game’s trophies. I must mention that I haven’t played the multiplayer yet, so this review is just about my single player experience. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is a Playstation 3 exclusive.
Amazon has been running a Buy 2 Get 1 free sale this week on select titles. In an effort to be more competitive with other sales running this week they have added Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception and Battlefield 3 to their B2G1 sale. So if you haven’t grabbed either of those titles (both of which are incredible) head on over to Amazon and nab them while they are still available as they will surely go quick. Here is the link to the B2G1 page. Happy Shopping folks and as always follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.
The Gamer's Abstract 