Naughty Dog has done it again.
When Uncharted 2: Among Thieves came out it was met with huge amounts of critical acclaim to a point where no one believed Naughty Dog could out do themselves.
But I'm more than happy to say that Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception is a better game than Among Thieves and is a strong contender for game of the year.
If you are familiar with the Uncharted franchise you know that the games have a great reputation when it comes to set piece moments. Opposed to Uncharted 2 whom featured set pieces of destruction due to man made explosions and other vehicular mayhem, Uncharted 3 has a keen sense on the use of the elements. Water, fire, sand all move beautifully and actually affect how the game is played.The story is incredible, but to avoid spoilers I will not delve into it as it is an experience that must be played.
Some people may think that with such a keen sense on story and graphics some may believe the gameplay may suffer, but in fact the gameplay is with out a doubt some of the best I have ever played.
Uncharted 3 is a perfect blend of shooting, puzzles and platforming. It controls wonderfully however it lacks the pick up and play nature of other games. If you are used to games like Call of Duty get ready to be punching the air like a fool for a while, but once you get a hang of the controls you will love it.
My one gripe with the gameplay is the difficulty spike near the end. Drake will have to face multiple foes all at once and will have to compensate for the verticality of the levels and the cinematic moments occuring at the same time. This can be overwhelming and sometimes frustrating as Drake may fall over and over, until you figure out the best way to deal with the enemies and progress.
Uncharted 3 also features a multiplayer suite filled to the bevy with perks and other rewards. IT IS AN ACQUIRED TASTE HOWEVER as some gamers may love it, while others put it down for some other games like Call of Duty.
However, I loved the multiplayer suite as the great gunplay returns in multiplayer has a great emphasis on cinematic. The cinematic multiplayer really makes Uncharted 3 unique.The stand out being the London Underground map as it has both teams jumping from one train to another forcing players to compensate for the trains movements.
Although if you want to play Uncharted for the story, I would hold of until you complete the single player as some maps contain spoilers for the single player campaign.
However some fans from the summer beta may be disappointed that the cut scenes that began and ended Team Deathmatches are no longer present in the final product. For me I found they kind of gave me a reason as to why I'm shooting other people in the face, but it is a small gripe. However the real meat of the multiplayer is the co-op adventure game type. Think of it as a remixed version of both the Uncharted 2 and Uncharted 3 campaigns as both feature remixed levels from both respective games. Uncharted fans are in for a treat as the co op adventure actually feels like a co op campaign as it follows through out as Drake tries to uncover the secrets of a mysterious tablet. Seriously this mode is a real treat for uncharted fans and is a must play.
GRAB SOME FRIENDS AND PLAY IT
In conclusion Uncharted 3: Drakes deception is one of the best games this year if not the best I have played this year. If you own a ps3, you owe it to yourself to pick it up
One of the first reviews of Uncharted 3 : Drake's Deception, by Play3-Live.com.
The comma is giving me a nervous twitch. Decimal point. Decimal point. Decimal point.
Unfortunately there are a couple of 8's out there, that based off every review I've read so far seems out of place, but whatever. It's generally accepted that Uncharted 3 is a 9.5 - 10 game.
While this sequel has many of the same minor issues as its predecessor, as well as one rather unique one, it's also just as big of a thrill ride.
"When a product is raised to the rank of "icon" of a specific console, bringing fame and wealth to those who have developed, the pressure and responsibilities grow dramatically. A single misstep could in fact do away with the confidence and support that the public has shown you so far and, as often happens, win the favor of the mass could be an arduous, if not impossible.
"Everything from the graphics to get to the actual game mechanics, has been studied in detail and perfectionism really rare these days, and what follows is a quintessential experience that any gamer worth his salt should experiment over and over again.
"Do you have a PlayStation 3? Buy it. You do not have a PlayStation 3? Buy it and then bring home a copy of Uncharted 3. You will not regret."
there's 10s all over the place....this is GOTY material for sure although I expect a shocker from IGN
IGN Uncharted 3 : 10
IGN Gears of war 3: 9
IGN GOTY: Gears of war 3
just like MGS4/Fallout 3 in 2008
No they will probably give it to Portal 2 because IGN loves Portal
They did the same thing last year, although Mario Galaxy 2 got a 10, they gave GOTY to Mass Effect 2.
10's are rare on IGN, but rarely are they GOTY from IGN
Also I love Eurogamer Italy, but hate Eurogamer....
Just the fanboy in me venting a bit
Nah, Gears 3 will never get GOTY from anyone... i believe IGN will give GOTY to one of these:
Portal 2
Batman
Uncharted 3
Skyrim
Skyward Sword
MAYBE Forza 4, but it's not the kind of game that gets a GOTY.
They wanna give GOTYs to multiplatform games to not enrage the fanboys.
This shouldn't have been approved. Move it over to the title "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" where all of the reviews are going to be pooled.
I agree with the difficulty spikes in SP. There were about 5-10 sections in the game where I was about to rip my hair out since you are up against 5+ normal enemies, 2 armored shotgun guys, and 1 invincible machine gunner. At points like this the enemies are basically on 100% auto aim on your head unless you drop it down below normal difficulty.
Aside from this the game was great in my opinion. It could have been a tad bit longer since I finished in about 8 hours on normal(and a few sections on easy).
*Spoilers*
*Spoilers*
*Spoilers*
*Spoilers*
It would have been nice to have a scene when they escape the castle in the bus(could have added a few freaked out passengers to add to it). And although I think the ending chapters were nice I was dying to see what was inside of the container they were bringing up.
One final thing... Didn't it seem like the same ending? Uncharted 2 ended in a secret semi underground hidden city. Both had cut-scenes near a fountain where someone got shot, followed by boss fights, and then ending in running out of a collapsing city. Don't get me wrong I though these scenes were great, but it felt like the same ending in a different setting to me.