The first Uncharted game was one of the early exclusives for the PS3. It was solid enough, but it wasn't extremely memorable either. And then along came 2009's sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. To say that Uncharted 2 has set the bar for what all modern games strive to achieve would hardly be an overstatement. Well, two years later, Naughty Dog hopes to continue its success with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Can it surpass the expectations Among Thieves has set for it, or will it disappoint? I've beaten it, and here's my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review. Your opinion may very well differ from mine.
Story
Once again, we join Nathan Drake and best bud Victor 'Sully' Sullivan on their quest to obtain riches. Their destination this time: Iram, the 'Atlantis of the Sands', a city of great wealth and fortune supposedly destroyed by God. Drake's ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, supposedly went on a journey to find this city, but never found it, something Nate plans to correct. However, Drake and Sully are quickly put into a race against Katherine Marlowe, a mysterious woman who leads an old order, who wants nothing more than to make sure Drake fails.
One of the staple features of the Uncharted series is its masterful storytelling, and that is certainly no exception here in Uncharted 3. The story of this game is told amazingly. You feel for every single character you see, and a big thing that helps with that is that all the characters are developed, complex, and above all, likeable. We get to learn more about Nate in this game (cause when you think about it, we really don't know all that much about the guy), and they give insight on some subjects, but leave others open, just enough to leave you satisfied.
I guess because Sully pretty much got shafted in Uncharted 2, the relationship between him and Drake is the main focus of Uncharted 3. We finally get to learn a lot more about one of gaming's greatest bromances, and the two form a likeable duo that are able to carry the game. In addition to one of gaming's greatest bromances, we also have one of gaming's best romances, between Nate and Sully Elena Fisher. They are also a likeable duo, and a believable couple as well. Above all, they feel human, which is what always gets me, with some moments where words simply aren't needed between the two. Any characters that are still alive at this point probably make some form of appearance, so that's always nice.
Gameplay
Of course, what makes a game is NOT its story, but its gameplay. And Uncharted 3 is a finely tweeked version of an award winning formula. You won't find any revolutionary gameplay here, but it sticks with what worked so well for the series, and adds on to it. Gameplay is broken into 3 segments: shooting, platforming, and puzzle solving. Shooting is refined in the aspect that the AI actually does stuff this time around. They won't always sit there and peak out from cover for you to get a headshot. They will try and flank you, and catch you off guard. Thankfully, that's where the second major tweak comes in: melee combat has been heavily refined, given a much larger focus this time around. At times, you will even be forced into melee scenarios. Melee was pretty much useless in the last two games, so the fact that they made it worthwhile testifies to how much they improved it.
The second staple of the Uncharted series is the movie like moments that you actually get to play through. The last game, as amazing as it was, had only one extremely memorable moment like that: the train scene. EVERY movie moment in Uncharted 3 is comparable to how mind blowing the train scene was. It would be a crime for me to spoil them for you, but trust me, if you don't play through those segments and feel like your playing through one of the greatest scenes in an action movie you've ever seen, stop reading this review, slam your head against the wall, and continue reading. Hopefully, that knocked some common sense into you.
Once your done with the 8-10 hour campaign, you can also deal with some multiplayer. In my opinion, the multiplayer in Uncharted 2 was good, but not great. Uncharted 3 has awesome multiplayer. If you do bad in a match in say, COD or Battlefield, it serves as a reminder of how much you suck. If you do badly here, you see what medals you got, how much progress you made with your perks, and you still feel like you accomplished something. That, is great.
Presentation
A lot of reviewers are saying that this is the best looking PS3 game to date, if not the best looking console game of all time. While I say that's debatable, that doesn't mean that Uncharted 3 doesn't boast some very impressive visuals. I believe that it's impossible to not stop for a moment and stare at what's around you in complete awe. If you can't do that, tell me. Then do what I said to do in the second paragraph of my gameplay review. Uncharted 3, while not the best looking game in my opinion, is easily the best looking in the series.
The third staple of the Uncharted series is it's absolutely amazing voice acting, and it's probably at its best right here. Yet again, Nolan North delivers both amazing mo-cap and voiceover work as main protagonist Nathan Drake, with every single supporting character backed by a solid voice as well. This series has some of the best voice acting in modern gaming, easily.
I also believe that the Uncharted series has some of the best music in gaming as well. That's not counting any RPGs, because they automatically rise to the top of the game music chart. Uncharted, however, yet again gives its 'Summer blockbuster' feel with a movie-like soundtrack, that compliments everything happening in the game.
Verdict
You knew it was going to be good. The question is, how good? Well, after everything I've said, I see no reason why I can't give Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception a:
10 / 10
When people ask me about the game, I'm not going to talk about it's amazingly well told story, loveable characters, and complex relationships. I'm not going to talk about the refined combat elements, the jaw dropping movie moments, or the incredibly fun multiplayer. I'm not going to talk about the amazing graphics, fantastic voice work, or movie-like soundtrack. I'm going to say 2 words: Buy it. And that's what I'm saying to you. If you have a PS3, you have no reason to not buy Uncharted 3.
So, do you have Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception? What did you think? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
The first Uncharted game was one of the early exclusives for the PS3. It was solid enough, but it wasn't extremely memorable either. And then along came 2009's sequel, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. To say that Uncharted 2 has set the bar for what all modern games strive to achieve would hardly be an overstatement. Well, two years later, Naughty Dog hopes to continue its success with Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Can it surpass the expectations Among Thieves has set for it, or will it disappoint? I've beaten it, and here's my review.
Keep in mind that this is MY review. Your opinion may very well differ from mine.
Story
Once again, we join Nathan Drake and best bud Victor 'Sully' Sullivan on their quest to obtain riches. Their destination this time: Iram, the 'Atlantis of the Sands', a city of great wealth and fortune supposedly destroyed by God. Drake's ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, supposedly went on a journey to find this city, but never found it, something Nate plans to correct. However, Drake and Sully are quickly put into a race against Katherine Marlowe, a mysterious woman who leads an old order, who wants nothing more than to make sure Drake fails.One of the staple features of the Uncharted series is its masterful storytelling, and that is certainly no exception here in Uncharted 3. The story of this game is told amazingly. You feel for every single character you see, and a big thing that helps with that is that all the characters are developed, complex, and above all, likeable. We get to learn more about Nate in this game (cause when you think about it, we really don't know all that much about the guy), and they give insight on some subjects, but leave others open, just enough to leave you satisfied.
I guess because Sully pretty much got shafted in Uncharted 2, the relationship between him and Drake is the main focus of Uncharted 3. We finally get to learn a lot more about one of gaming's greatest bromances, and the two form a likeable duo that are able to carry the game. In addition to one of gaming's greatest bromances, we also have one of gaming's best romances, between Nate and
SullyElena Fisher. They are also a likeable duo, and a believable couple as well. Above all, they feel human, which is what always gets me, with some moments where words simply aren't needed between the two. Any characters that are still alive at this point probably make some form of appearance, so that's always nice.Gameplay
Of course, what makes a game is NOT its story, but its gameplay. And Uncharted 3 is a finely tweeked version of an award winning formula. You won't find any revolutionary gameplay here, but it sticks with what worked so well for the series, and adds on to it. Gameplay is broken into 3 segments: shooting, platforming, and puzzle solving. Shooting is refined in the aspect that the AI actually does stuff this time around. They won't always sit there and peak out from cover for you to get a headshot. They will try and flank you, and catch you off guard. Thankfully, that's where the second major tweak comes in: melee combat has been heavily refined, given a much larger focus this time around. At times, you will even be forced into melee scenarios. Melee was pretty much useless in the last two games, so the fact that they made it worthwhile testifies to how much they improved it.
The second staple of the Uncharted series is the movie like moments that you actually get to play through. The last game, as amazing as it was, had only one extremely memorable moment like that: the train scene. EVERY movie moment in Uncharted 3 is comparable to how mind blowing the train scene was. It would be a crime for me to spoil them for you, but trust me, if you don't play through those segments and feel like your playing through one of the greatest scenes in an action movie you've ever seen, stop reading this review, slam your head against the wall, and continue reading. Hopefully, that knocked some common sense into you.
Once your done with the 8-10 hour campaign, you can also deal with some multiplayer. In my opinion, the multiplayer in Uncharted 2 was good, but not great. Uncharted 3 has awesome multiplayer. If you do bad in a match in say, COD or Battlefield, it serves as a reminder of how much you suck. If you do badly here, you see what medals you got, how much progress you made with your perks, and you still feel like you accomplished something. That, is great.
Presentation
A lot of reviewers are saying that this is the best looking PS3 game to date, if not the best looking console game of all time. While I say that's debatable, that doesn't mean that Uncharted 3 doesn't boast some very impressive visuals. I believe that it's impossible to not stop for a moment and stare at what's around you in complete awe. If you can't do that, tell me. Then do what I said to do in the second paragraph of my gameplay review. Uncharted 3, while not the best looking game in my opinion, is easily the best looking in the series.
The third staple of the Uncharted series is it's absolutely amazing voice acting, and it's probably at its best right here. Yet again, Nolan North delivers both amazing mo-cap and voiceover work as main protagonist Nathan Drake, with every single supporting character backed by a solid voice as well. This series has some of the best voice acting in modern gaming, easily.
I also believe that the Uncharted series has some of the best music in gaming as well. That's not counting any RPGs, because they automatically rise to the top of the game music chart. Uncharted, however, yet again gives its 'Summer blockbuster' feel with a movie-like soundtrack, that compliments everything happening in the game.
Verdict
You knew it was going to be good. The question is, how good? Well, after everything I've said, I see no reason why I can't give Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception a:
10 / 10
When people ask me about the game, I'm not going to talk about it's amazingly well told story, loveable characters, and complex relationships. I'm not going to talk about the refined combat elements, the jaw dropping movie moments, or the incredibly fun multiplayer. I'm not going to talk about the amazing graphics, fantastic voice work, or movie-like soundtrack. I'm going to say 2 words: Buy it. And that's what I'm saying to you. If you have a PS3, you have no reason to not buy Uncharted 3.
So, do you have Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception? What did you think? Was I too harsh or too leniant? Did I miss anything? Let me know.
baylaust out.