Chaos Raiden
Avid Gamer & Reviewer
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is one of the most anticipated PS3 exclusive games this year. Uncharted games are well known for their great graphics, good storyline, great voice acting, and etc. The latest Uncharted game have awesome graphics, great voice acting, gameplay, and etc that makes it one of the best games ever.
Story
Nate and his mentor/friend Sully went to a meeting with a man by the name of Talbot, and negotiated in trading off Sir Francis Drake's ring with large amount of money. However, Sully discovered that the money was fake, and the negotiation went awry. Both of them fought a number of thugs while escaping, and was trapped by Cutter while escaping from the back of a pub. A woman by the name of Marlowe came, and took the ring for her own purposes. Cutter shot both Nate and Sully, and Marlowe left them. Little did Marlowe and Talbot knew that this was part of a scheme made by Nate, Sully, and Cutter to get close to Marlowe.
The storyline is epic, awesomely made, and have rather some emotional moments. I just love how Naughty Dog make their games' story epicly told and awesome. The characters interaction and speeches what makes the story very believable and addicting to watch. Each characters in the game have rather distinct personalities, and as always, I like Nate's interaction with other characters, especially his relationship with Sully. Cutter's introduction in this game is rather well-told, and I like his character a lot. It did surprise me that the one who voiced Cutter is also the one who voiced Zoran Lazarevic in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. He did a great job in voicing characters in different accents. Katherine Marlowe is a rather interesting villain in the game, as well as her right hand man Talbot.
My actual gripe with the storyline is minor unexplained stuffs in the game, which can be detrimental to explain some of the game's mysteries. I do not consider them as plot holes since those unexplained stuffs does not impede the story in negative way, but some may consider them as plot holes depending on their own perspective.
The game mostly plays the same as the previous Uncharted games, with rather few improvements that makes some of the gameplay features slightly better. Like the first two games, this is a third person shooter game with lots of platforming elements. Gunfights and melee combat are rather integrated well into the game's progression, with a balance of stealth sections, platforming sections, puzzle sections, escaping sections, and fighting sections.
One of the brand new feature in this game is the ability to throw back grenades thrown by enemies. When there is a grenade close to you, a wheel timer appears on the grenade and if you managed to press the Triangle button correctly at the perfect time, you can throw back the grenade to the enemies. This is a useful move to defeat enemies quickly when you are overwhelmed by many enemies or playing harder difficulties.
In many sections in the game, you will be often thrust into gunfights. In some cases, you may be accompanied by a one or two AI partners to help you in the gunfights. In most cases, you should rely on yourself to take down all enemies in a gunfight. Taking cover is important to avoid damage to Nathan. If you are heavily injured, you should take cover to allow your health being restored. If you die, you will restart at the most recent checkpoint in the game.
The melee combat in this game is significantly improved to make it more accessible. You can now attack two or more enemies at the same time. If you are close to a table or something, Nathan will grab an object and beat him the enemy to finish him. Counterattacks can be easily done, and you can counterattack when you are grabbed by an enemy and attack the other enemy at the same time. In most times, melee combat is preferable to save ammo or to get new weapons. If you defeat an armed enemy while you are unarmed, you will automatically obtain that enemy's weapon.
In certain Chapters in the game, you may encounter larger enemies called Brutes. Brutes are potentially more dangerous than regular enemies in the game in melee combat. If you do not counter his attacks, his attacks can greatly damage you, and can kill you outright in harder difficulties. Brutes require more fist attacks by Nathan to take them down, since they have a lot of health.
Story
Nate is back, along with his old and new friends, to find the lost city of Ubar.
Nate and his mentor/friend Sully went to a meeting with a man by the name of Talbot, and negotiated in trading off Sir Francis Drake's ring with large amount of money. However, Sully discovered that the money was fake, and the negotiation went awry. Both of them fought a number of thugs while escaping, and was trapped by Cutter while escaping from the back of a pub. A woman by the name of Marlowe came, and took the ring for her own purposes. Cutter shot both Nate and Sully, and Marlowe left them. Little did Marlowe and Talbot knew that this was part of a scheme made by Nate, Sully, and Cutter to get close to Marlowe.
The storyline is epic, awesomely made, and have rather some emotional moments. I just love how Naughty Dog make their games' story epicly told and awesome. The characters interaction and speeches what makes the story very believable and addicting to watch. Each characters in the game have rather distinct personalities, and as always, I like Nate's interaction with other characters, especially his relationship with Sully. Cutter's introduction in this game is rather well-told, and I like his character a lot. It did surprise me that the one who voiced Cutter is also the one who voiced Zoran Lazarevic in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. He did a great job in voicing characters in different accents. Katherine Marlowe is a rather interesting villain in the game, as well as her right hand man Talbot.
My actual gripe with the storyline is minor unexplained stuffs in the game, which can be detrimental to explain some of the game's mysteries. I do not consider them as plot holes since those unexplained stuffs does not impede the story in negative way, but some may consider them as plot holes depending on their own perspective.
Gameplay
Expect a lot of gunfights, fistfights, and platforming in the game.
The game mostly plays the same as the previous Uncharted games, with rather few improvements that makes some of the gameplay features slightly better. Like the first two games, this is a third person shooter game with lots of platforming elements. Gunfights and melee combat are rather integrated well into the game's progression, with a balance of stealth sections, platforming sections, puzzle sections, escaping sections, and fighting sections.
One of the brand new feature in this game is the ability to throw back grenades thrown by enemies. When there is a grenade close to you, a wheel timer appears on the grenade and if you managed to press the Triangle button correctly at the perfect time, you can throw back the grenade to the enemies. This is a useful move to defeat enemies quickly when you are overwhelmed by many enemies or playing harder difficulties.
In many sections in the game, you will be often thrust into gunfights. In some cases, you may be accompanied by a one or two AI partners to help you in the gunfights. In most cases, you should rely on yourself to take down all enemies in a gunfight. Taking cover is important to avoid damage to Nathan. If you are heavily injured, you should take cover to allow your health being restored. If you die, you will restart at the most recent checkpoint in the game.
Bust up your enemies in melee fights with lots of new moves.
The melee combat in this game is significantly improved to make it more accessible. You can now attack two or more enemies at the same time. If you are close to a table or something, Nathan will grab an object and beat him the enemy to finish him. Counterattacks can be easily done, and you can counterattack when you are grabbed by an enemy and attack the other enemy at the same time. In most times, melee combat is preferable to save ammo or to get new weapons. If you defeat an armed enemy while you are unarmed, you will automatically obtain that enemy's weapon.
In certain Chapters in the game, you may encounter larger enemies called Brutes. Brutes are potentially more dangerous than regular enemies in the game in melee combat. If you do not counter his attacks, his attacks can greatly damage you, and can kill you outright in harder difficulties. Brutes require more fist attacks by Nathan to take them down, since they have a lot of health.
Platforming sections are a bit more varied than previous Uncharted games.
Platforming sections in the game is largely similar to previous Uncharted games, and you need to climb certain walls, obstacles, etc, or jump towards to a platform to progress in the game. The platforming sections is a bit varied in this game, and many places require you to climb dangerous places. Of course, if you accidentally fall from a high place or something, you will die and need to start over from a checkpoint. If you are stuck somewhere, the game will give you a hint to where you need to go next.
Puzzles also play a huge part in the game. Most of the puzzles in the game are simple to solve, and some can be quite challenging. In some cases, you need to refer to Nathan's journal to find hints here and there to solve the puzzle. If you are stuck too long, hints will be given to solve it.
There are some Quick Time Events in the game, such as when fighting Brutes, during escaping sections, etc. Failure to press the button correctly will result Nathan to die, and you need to restart from a checkpoint.
All Chapters in the game have different level designs, provides a variety of progression in the game. For example, one Chapter in the game requires you to defeat enemies while riding a horse.
Fundamentally, this game doesn't have much differences or innovations than previous Uncharted games, other than the ability to throwback grenades and the improvement in melee combat. The serious lack of boss fights in this game is a disappointment to me, and I guess that Naughty Dog doesn't implement much boss fights in the game because of several reasons: One, they lack the creativity to make creative boss fights. Two, they want to make the game to progress and feels like a movie. Another problem I had with the game is it's simple Quick Time Events. The QTE's are not exactly challenging and complicated enough to make average gamers to struggle, and most of it can be completed by pressing one or two buttons. Either way, this game is great to play, if you look past some of it's flaws and similarities to previous Uncharted games.
Graphics
One of the best looking 2011 games.
Graphically, this game surpasses previous game's visuals and graphics, making this is the best looking Uncharted game. Well-detailed environments, superb looking characters and awesome looking cinematic scenes. The motion capture in this game is well done, with no major flaws in character actions, etc.
This game also doesn't have any major graphical issues, so any gamers should rest easy in case they are afraid of this game having major technical and graphical issues.
Sound
Superb voice acting, as well as sporting one of the best orchestral scores.
This game have awesome voice acting, and every actors in the game did great job in performing their own character's role. Nolan North did an excellent job as Nathan Drake, as well as many other voice actors in the game such as Graham McTavish (Charlie Cutter), Richard McGonagle (Sully), Rosalind Ayres (Katherine Marlowe), Claudia Black (Chloe Fraser) and others.
The soundtrack in this game is superbly done. Awesome orchestral pieces played in the game, and a number of the songs used in the game have Arabian feeling, and it is nice to listen the soundtrack individually. I would highly recommend any fans of orchestral music to listen to this game's soundtrack.
Replay Value
Moderate replay value. Play the multiplayer mode or play the singleplayer mode in harder difficulties.
This game have rather moderate replay value. You can play the game's multiplayer mode online with other players. There are many type of matches to be played, such as Team Deathmatch, Plunder, Co-Op Arena, etc. Online matches can be played either cooperatively or competitively at different maps. The game features a leveling system, and you can customise your character's appearance as well as weapons. However, you need to purchase them using in-game money. Money can be obtained by killing another player in a match or complete a match's objective.
A noticeable absence in this game is the Cheats system. Unlike the previous two games, you can't use any unlocked Cheats to mod your character's appearance or to unlock any weapon in the game for easy kills. You can still find Treasures in this game, and you can also play the game in harder difficulty modes such as Crushing! mode. Crushing! mode is very hard, and it takes a lot of skill to complete that mode. Persistence and skill are they keys to beat this mode.
Conclusion
A worthy purchase for any Uncharted fans, but beware of the lack of gamplay innovation in this game compared with previous two games.
Gameplay wise, this game doesn't have much improvement from other Uncharted games. However, it succeeds in other areas such as the graphics, music, voice acting, etc. The main problems I find in this game are the serious lack of innovation with the gameplay, lack of boss fights, simplistic QTEs, and the reduced content from previous Uncharted games. If you look past all of these problems, you may enjoy this game's cinematic design in gameplay, storyline, characters, music, and etc easily. Despite those problems, I personally feel that this is one of the best 2011 games.
Score
Story - 9/10
Gameplay - 7/10
Graphics - 10/10
Sound - 10/10
Final Score: 36/40 or 9.0/10.0.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Well-made characters.
- Impressive cinematic design.
- Superb looking graphics.
- Impressive melee combat.
- Improved gameplay from previous Uncharted games, but not major overhaul or improvement.
- Excellent voice cast.
- A variety of multiplayer modes that will keep you busy playing multiplayer.
- Best soundtrack in Uncharted series.
Cons
- Serious lack of boss fights.
- Lack of innovation in overall gameplay to call this game a much better game than Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
- Simplistic Quick Time Events design in the game.
- Some story elements in the game are unexplained.
- Slightly reduced content from previous Uncharted games. (E.G: No Cheats feature)
