Also, how would people feel about an Uncharted mini series? Where every week you get a different chapter, but its paced more like a TV series and less like a movie. Personally, I think it would be cool to play some of Nates smaller adventures.
I want more adventure games. And that genre is slowly dwindling. And the last really awesome adventure experience (Uncharted) is often criticized because of the shooting aspects and that people would rather play a good shooter. It's like, yea I understand where you are coming from! But please keep it quiet, some of us still like this dying genre and it needs all of the support it can get.
I don't really think UC3 has much in common with adventure games historically. There are a few puzzles in the first half the game, that's about it. People might use the same word to describe them, but as far as the actual genre goes, I see practically nothing they have in common at this point.
Outside of the TPS parts of UC3, UC2 is the only game I know of that is at all similar. Maybe some of MGS4 too I guess. Maybe we'll see the fusion separated and solidified over time, the 'Cinematic Shooter' or something. As we did with platformers in the early nineties.
EDIT: Actually, I expect Max Payne 3 to very much be inline with the modern UC style.
Finished! Or err, Charted!, as you people seem to say. Thoughts, spoiler tagged appropriately, will now follow. Disclaimer: I enjoy the series, but I'm not the world's biggest Uncharted fan. They're worth the price of admission for good, blockbuster fun, but I never thought much more of the original two games. Anywho, moving on, with opinions that will no doubt conflict with most.
Graphics / Presentation
At it's best I felt Uncharted 3 was a nice step up over Uncharted 2. I never expected the same leap in visual quality, but there's improvements worth noting. When they work, Drake's expanded animation set looks wonderful, giving him a real human quality to the way he moves around the world. I liked the additional graphical effects missing from Uncharted 2, like godrays. They were used well.
Basically all of the bright chapters set in the Middle East were the best looking in my opinion. Gorgeous texture detail, stunning effects, and huge geometry counts. The various tombs/temples you explore also look incredible. The desert sequences, though very linear and controlled, were among the most beautiful graphical presentations I've ever seen in a video game. Some of the stuff they were rendering in real time was just wow. Great stuff from Naughty Dog.
Sound design was typically good. Great voice acting, good soundtrack, and I thought the weapon sounds were better than Uncharted 2. They sounded less spongy and squishy, now with extra 'bang' and 'snap'. I dig it.
However, I also thought Uncharted 3 was a mixed bag graphically. The night time stages, such as those set in
London
and (if I'm remembering correctly) the
Syrian castle
, looked like shit to me. Of course by 'shit' I don't mean literally terrible, but the chosen locations and art direction were extremely unappealing to me. I also wasn't a fan of the
ship graveyard
until later in the chapter. The early parts were visually dull. These areas really lacked in detail and neat effects that all my favourite areas do. I also noticed an alarming amount of low resolutions textures throughout the first ten chapters, to the point where I thought the game was waiting to stream in the HQ textures like Uncharted (and occasionally Uncharted 2) did. None of it looked bad, but the frequency of far less detailed textures was much, much higher than either of the two previous games.
Also, as mentioned early, Naughty Dog fucked the character models for Chloe and Elena. They goofed 'em up for reasons beyond me and it makes absolutely no sense, so nuts to that.
Story
On paper, I liked the idea. The hook was good, especially
exploring Drake's past
, and more Sully is never, ever a bad thing. The new villain was much more appealing than the villain for the previous games, so in that respect the game had a good thing going for it. Cutter was a great new character too, and I liked how
early footage of the game showed him, but its only now we learn he's on Drake's side
. That made me smile.
The way the game peaked and climaxed I thought was quite good too. The
removal of a up front supernatural element, while still keeping it somewhat relevant in presentation
, was a neat twist on the series' usual themes. I thought the whole idea of
hallucinations
was a good plot device and liked how it was worked into the gameplay and story.
Some parts of the story fell flat though or just didn't hit the same highs as past games. Chloe, as mentioned, was written completely out of character. Very dull and flat. The game also seriously lacked general banter, something very memorable in both Uncharted and Uncharted 2. It had it's moments, but they were too few and far between, and even Drake by himself had fewer one liners and commentary.
It seemed like the game wanted to take a more serious and personal tone. As said, I like the idea on paper. But in execution I felt the overall story was a bit too dreary, like nobody want to be cheerful for even a second. The characters seemed...tired and worn out or something, lessoning their playful banter and charismatics personas. Maybe this was intentional, and I can see why, but I don't think it worked to the strengths of the series and characters.
Gameplay
Okay, so, at it's best, Uncharted 3 is probably my favourite of the three games, because it was clear Naughty Dog were trying to inject the game with more variety and player driven action. The stronger emphasis on puzzles was very, very welcome, and even though most of the puzzles were basic "match the icons" stuff I enjoyed solving them, and there were some neat ideas there, particularly with perspectives. The way they had longer stretches of puzzles was really appealing to me, as I felt a strong hybrid between puzzle solving, exploration and action is where the series is at it's best. I also really liked how many of the environments at least felt bigger, with a bit more wandering and sight seeing.
I liked the addition to the combat mechanics. Tossing back grenades is a necessary but welcome addition, the guns were cool, and the enemy mix, though a direct copy from Uncharted 2, still mostly works. The new fight system is okay. It looks really good and it has potential, but it's mostly one big depthless QTE which, in the middle of an intense gunfight, especially late in the game, is more trouble than it's worth. I liked the idea of enemies being more aggressive, trying to draw you from cover and flank, to prevent the turtling that made Uncharted 2 pretty easy.
Where I think Uncharted 3 seriously faltered though is in the combat encounter design, which honestly I think is considerably worse than Uncharted 2. The environments were uninteresting to fight in, and seemed clumsily designed, as on multiple occasions I had problems with fiddly cover. Unlike Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3's mix of stealth vs combat was sloppy. It felt less controlled and polished than Uncharted 2, and instead like a haphazard litter of enemy placements and patrols. Spawning new enemies for failing stealth is an unbelievably stupid design decision in my opinion, and goes in the face of the whole point of stealth planning and what worked well in the last game. Enemies seemed to have less of a response to bullet impacts than Uncharted 2, reminding me a lot of the first game. And, as has been beaten to death, Naughty Dog fucked the aiming and I don't know why.
Final Thoughts
As said, at it's best Uncharted 3 is my favourite in the trilogy. However, at it's worst, it's probably my least favourite. There was something seriously off about almost the entire game that I find difficult to put my finger on. I was going to say it felt like Naughty Dog phoned it in, but that isn't true and I don't feel that way. Instead, I guess, it feels like Naughty Dog somewhat ran out of steam with the series. Yes, there's good stuff, but there's a whole lot of meandering about and design that feels rushed and uninspired.
At it's worst it highlighted my feelings that as a third person shooter, Uncharted can be total arse, and is a million miles away from better, more polished shooters on the market. Yes, I often felt this way about Uncharted 2, but Uncharted in some ways made me grow a stronger appreciation for Uncharted 2. Uncharted 3's encounter deigns feels half arsed to me, like not a lot of thought was gone into creating engaging combat environments and varied enemy encounters. It seemed rushed, I guess is what I'm saying.
And that's how I feel about the game as a whole. For me the game was a bipolar mess of awesome moments and great set pieces, and then really drab, boring and uninteresting stretches of game. Even though it had moments I felt were the best in the trilogy, as a whole I'd probably rate it the worst. Yeah, I'm not the biggest fan, but even Uncharted and Uncharted 2 had an enduring quality, and after finishing both there was a desire to go back and play, or see some of the set pieces. I don't have that at all with Uncharted 3. It was an empty experience for me, seriously lacking in polish and memorable design.
Oh also, if Naughty Dog is reading this, there's a bug with Drake's animations and that heavy machine gun. You know, the one you cant swap for a weapon, and must put down if you want to use your pistol or whatever.
I noticed it during the last few chapters. When using the gun, Drake's feet don't make any sound when stepping on the sand, as if the audio from his walking has been cut. When he walks up an incline, he doesn't adjust his feet as he normally does, and instead continues the standard, normal walk animation as you scale. It looks funky.
Also, how would people feel about an Uncharted mini series? Where every week you get a different chapter, but its paced more like a TV series and less like a movie. Personally, I think it would be cool to play some of Nates smaller adventures.
In some interview ND talked the possibility of DLC I believe. They said they would rather just make it a level for their next game because they would keep envisioning things for that level.
In some interview ND talked the possibility of DLC I believe. They said they would rather just make it a level for their next game because they would keep envisioning things for that level.
Why not try playing it on crushing and find out? Worst case scenario is that you decide halfway through that it's too hard and it's the aiming's fault. Then you've wasted like 4 hours, tops. Or you can wait an indeterminate amount of time for a patch.
My perspective is that crushing will be a not-so-much-fun slog either way and I doubt the subtle difference in controls (once you've mostly adapted to the new feel) will have a huge impact on that.
Marlowe was a really exciting villain at first, but ultimately, she's under utilized and there was never an interesting conversation with her like when she was talking to Drake in the plaza, for the entire rest of the game
.
In fact the whole plot angle about
her trying to convince Nate that Sully was betraying him
was a really weak idea to chase because
she never gives any reason for any of us to doubt that Nate has Sully's full loyalty. There were no situations in the plot where Sully did something that could have scared us into thinking he was betraying us, unlike in U2 where Chloe was constantly leaving us in paranoia
.
As you can tell, most of my gripes with U3 is story related.
her trying to convince Nate that Sully was betraying him
was a really weak idea to chase because
she never gives any reason for any of us to doubt that Nate has Sully's full loyalty. There were no situations in the plot where Sully did something that could have scared us into thinking he was betraying us, unlike in U2 where Chloe was constantly leaving us in paranoia
Just beat it. Damn, pretty good stuff. It got better after chapter 8, definitely, even though some chapters were fucking frustratingly bad. I cried when
Sully got shot and I first landed on the sand...
The graphics are the best I've seen on consoles, without a doubt. But the game lacked the amount of "WOW" from UC2.
Excellent game, will replay after patch because the controls ruined a lot for me.
Oh also, if Naughty Dog is reading this, there's a bug with Drake's animations and that heavy machine gun. You know, the one you cant swap for a weapon, and must put down if you want to use your pistol or whatever.
I noticed it during the last few chapters. When using the gun, Drake's feet don't make any sound when stepping on the sand, as if the audio from his walking has been cut. When he walks up an incline, he doesn't adjust his feet as he normally does, and instead continues the standard, normal walk animation as you scale. It looks funky.
Happened to me too. He doesn't make a sound with it, really odd.
I also agree completetly with your post above giving it a 7/10. I have 2 more chapters, but unless they're AMAZING I don't see much changing, and I'm more negative on a few things.
Imagine dino digs and museums and the possibility of a mysterious organization trying to bring back dinos... and we face them at the end. Sure, may be too much of a rip off but doesn't mean I don't want it.
Also, how would people feel about an Uncharted mini series? Where every week you get a different chapter, but its paced more like a TV series and less like a movie. Personally, I think it would be cool to play some of Nates smaller adventures.
Amy actually talked about doing this back when the original Uncharted was about to come out. I think that they backed off the idea when they realized how time consuming it would be due to the way that they create cutscenes.
I don't really think UC3 has much in common with adventure games historically. There are a few puzzles in the first half the game, that's about it. People might use the same word to describe them, but as far as the actual genre goes, I see practically nothing they have in common at this point.
Outside of the TPS parts of UC3, UC2 is the only game I know of that is at all similar. Maybe some of MGS4 too I guess. Maybe we'll see the fusion separated and solidified over time, the 'Cinematic Shooter' or something. As we did with platformers in the early nineties.
EDIT: Actually, I expect Max Payne 3 to very much be inline with the modern UC style.
After replaying in crushing, i dont see much issues honestly as major issues which many are raising here apart from the story and aiming. Melee fight seems better actually lol.
And Yeah i agree with others people have been harsh with uncharted 3 then most of the games released this year.
The fighting itself is better, but as part of the combat toolset I don't like it because it serves the same purpose but takes twice as long. I think they could still have the fisticuffs scenes without changing how it works in normal combat, that'd be best of both worlds I think. Although even then I think they do those scenes too often personally.
I prefer the melee system in crushing more so than other mode. The lack of button prompts sells the system. ND please give us the option of removing button prompts from standard modes when it comes to melee. Also it would be nice to make enemies take fewer melee attacks in a future patch.
Despite my numerous issues with the combat scenarios in singleplayer, this game is still massively entertaining in multiplayer. There's really nothing else like it.
Despite my numerous issues with the combat scenarios in singleplayer, this game is still massively entertaining in multiplayer. There's really nothing else like it.
I love the dynamics that the traversal mechanics add... climbing and jumping around and stuff, scaling the sides of buildings to grain the high ground, making dramatic leaps to safety... definitely one of a kind.
It had the most dynamic firefight in the whole game, and the amount of running , jumping, blindfiring, throwing grenade, quick gun fights and mixing so many stuff one after the another was breathtaking.
Of course you feel that way, because you don't agree with the criticism.
I think people are judging UC3 harsher than many games, but I think that's fair. People's reactions are what they are, if they expected a game better than UC2, and it's not for them, they're going to be disappointed, where as something like Alice: Madness Returns, you might have expected to be pretty weak and loved.
Although saying that, while I think UC2 is much better, I think Portal 1 and LBP1 are much better than their sequels this year but I'd put them both above UC3.
I don't think I've ever had so many codes emailed to me for a single game. Between participating in the beta and having ordered from Amazon, I must have gotten about half a dozen items between unlocks, PSN Avatar, the $100K in item cash, and now a PlayStation Home avatar (even though I didn't order through the kiosk in Home).
The "Ramses" portion of the game is my favorite so far. Totally unlike anything from UC2, and pretty damn amazing.
Using RPG's to time shots at the enemy ship while bobbing in the waves almost had a GTA vibe to it
. Need to take a break from co-op and MP and finish this tonight.
I'm still glad they took a measured approach with the start of the game because things don't feel tiresome once you get into mass murder mode. The trophies are starting to pop up like crazy now too.
I'm not being overly harsh when the game is downright frustrating to play in many cases for me. The graphics are amazing, the soundtrack has been fantastic, but the pacing is completely off. I liked the slow start, I don't like the nonstop combat in the second half when the combat design is completely off the rocker. It's not being "overly harsh" when pretty much all the posts raising issues are all legitimate. May not matter as much to some people, but the game has been pretty uneven all around for me. The patch fixing the aiming and adding motion blur back in will be much appreciated, but that won't elevate the game much in the end.
Don't you expect more from the developers of Uncharted than you do the developers of Dead Island, for example? Same reason people here act like Resident Evil 5 and MGS4 are terrible games.
I can see why you think the 3/10 people are being overly harsh but the criticisms seem fair to me.
Oh also, in regards to my thoughts about the game feeling rushed, little things like the missing cheats/tweaks/bonuses (except for art), and what seemed like far easier to find treasure, these all add to that. They're little things that don't really matter on an individual basis and don't seriously hamper my enjoyment of the game, but are interesting to reflect on in how they're yet another element that seems weaker than the last two games.
The fighting itself is better, but as part of the combat toolset I don't like it because it serves the same purpose but takes twice as long. I think they could still have the fisticuffs scenes without changing how it works in normal combat, that'd be best of both worlds I think. Although even then I think they do those scenes too often personally.
I do agree with this. I actually enjoyed the fisticuffs on their own, but when you've got a bunch of guys also shooting at you taking twice as long as previous games to achieve the same result is annoying. They should have made more use of the weapon based melee animations (swinging a long gun like a bat, throwing the gun at the enemy as a distraction before sucker punching them, pulling the grenade pin) if they wanted to maintain believability, but still deliver quicker, sharper fights in the mixed combat.
The only other criticism I have of the melee is that there's too much of a gap between hitting the triangle button and the counter playing out as they finish up whatever animation they're currently in. I think that lends a fair bit of credence to the glorified QTE complaints. Even if it means the animation is always prefectly smooth, a more instant correlation between pressing the button and the desired action playing out would go a long way to tweaking the feel of the melee.
I think people are judging UC3 harsher than many games, but I think that's fair. People's reactions are what they are, if they expected a game better than UC2, and it's not for them, they're going to be disappointed, where as something like Alice: Madness Returns, you might have expected to be pretty weak and loved.
Although saying that, while I think UC2 is much better, I think Portal 1 and LBP1 are much better than their sequels this year but I'd put them both above UC3.
I'm personally judging the game harshly because the area in which I feel is the biggest issue for the game is something they already remedied in Uncharted 2: The combat. The way they set up the enemies in that game made going about things so much fun. U3, not so much. Still, the highs are higher. If I enjoyed the combat, this would be an easy pick for GOTY for me.
Don't you expect more from the developers of Uncharted than you do the developers of Dead Island, for example? Same reason people here act like Resident Evil 5 and MGS4 are terrible games.
I can see why you think the 3/10 people are being overly harsh but the criticisms seem fair to me.
SP was Fantastic.
Puzzle were better and the melee system added more to the gunfights. I also thought the pacing was good. Visuals and presentation were top notch for me. The story was good though i have few issues with it.
CO OP has been awesome.
And Even though i didnt enjoy the mp that much at the beggining it has been a great experience after playing for a few days.
So Far for me the game has a great sp campaign, a great co op and a really good mp.
But I have noticed that in other games, like say BF3
if someone rate the game and rates it low cause of SP,
People will brag " who play bf3 for sp anyways" and argument ends
If someone criticize ninja gaiden game for its story
People say "who plays ninja gaiden for its story"
The thing with those other franchises you mention are that they are already established. It takes one entry for people to have expectations of sequels of it.
For example, let's say a sequel to Mirror's Edge got announced, and with it will be a full on competitive MP component. Most people who are fans of ME would not be buying the game for the MP portion, but for the enjoyment they found in the SP, and if the MP turns out great, then that's a side bonus. Now, the next sequel would have certain expectations for both SP and MP, but above all the SP would remain the focus, because that's how the franchise started and where the fans were created.
This applies to Uncharted which started off as a SP game focusing on cinematic story telling.
Aaaaand Charted. My god what a weak effort Naughty Dog, shame on you. I'm not even sure they are technical gods anymore. I saw a lot clipping issues, animations not playing or simply akward movements. Also, the edge smoothing around characters is really distracting because it canceled the shadow rendering, in any area with a shadow it looked like characters were "glowing".
That's the part I was talking about earlier. You clear the whole area via stealth just to get to the end and have two guys standing right in front of the exit. Makes the whole thing feel pointless.
I beat the game yesterday....Man, what a fun ass ride!
This easily has the best graphics of any game I've played this generation and that's including some of the tech. The sand is incredible. Not only does Nate sink slightly when he's going up sand dunes but the sand gets in Drake's hair too!
The water is just as impressive too. It's amazing to me that they created what's basically virtual water to do the boat scene so the boat rocking back in forth is done in realtime.
Aside from the tech and graphics, the set pieces were really great.
The airplane scene is going to go down as one of my favorite playable moment in any game ever. Most games would have had you get ripped out of the plane and hang in what is basically zero g gravity trying to get back into the plane as a cutscene but Naughty Dog somehow did it in real time.
The story was pretty good although it takes a very different approach from Uncharted 2.
While Unchartted 2 felt less serious in tone, this one had a few serious scenes like when Nate and Sully first met to interactions with Elena and Nate as well as Marlowe and Nate. Good stuff all around.
What didn't I like? There isn't a whole lot, but I wish the stealth was a better. In Uncharted 2, you could stealth your way through a lot of the enemy encounters and although Uncharted 3 has the same option at times, it seems like it's a lot easier to get spotted and there are certain enemy placements where you cannot stealth your way past. Allowing you to stealth your way through an entire area could have been a great addition to the game and could have rewarded you by not calling second and third waves of enemies to the area.
Some people are complaining about it, but I didn't mind the shooting. Overall, there is a lot less shooting than the previous games and it seems like each encounter had a sure fire way to clear the area easily...it was just a matter of finding that weapon or strategy that turned the tide in your favor. A lot of the complaints come from the fact that there seems to be less aim assist and it seems like it's a bit touchier to make small adjustments as well. Shooting is always Uncharted's weakest point amongst amazing things but even that isn't bad, IMO...it's just not the best.
I see a lot of people mentioning the Shipyard area, but I actually liked that area.
It was way more wide open than any other area, so I used stealth to kill the first 3-4 guys and then used hit and run tactics and alternated between taking out bad guys and diving under the water to avoid getting shot. The only issue I had with that section is that I couldn't figure out where I had to go next after I took everyone out so I got stuck there for a minute. It was me just not looking around enough since there was a nearby ladder.
Oh also, in regards to my thoughts about the game feeling rushed, little things like the missing cheats/tweaks/bonuses (except for art), and what seemed like far easier to find treasure, these all add to that. They're little things that don't really matter on an individual basis and don't seriously hamper my enjoyment of the game, but are interesting to reflect on in how they're yet another element that seems weaker than the last two games.
You don't feel that you're being harsh with your not stop stream of criticism? Srsly, i get that you don't like it, but is the game so bad you need to constantly constantly harp on EVERY SINGLE DETAIL that you PERSONALLY don't like about the game?
And frankly some of your criticism is WAY off, like the chapter 12 battle where you clearly had no idea how to approach it (srsly, theres a trophy for killing people IN THE WATER, did you even bother to try that??) yet this is somehow a design 'flaw' because ND didn't design the game to play like every other shooter where the enemies stay motionless in front of you at all times.
You don't feel that you're being harsh with your not stop stream of criticism? Srsly, i get that you don't like it, but is the game so bad you need to constantly constantly harp on EVERY SINGLE DETAIL that you PERSONALLY don't like about the game?
I'm getting pretty tired of people bitching about negative comments. OTs aren't dedicated to jerking off the games, you can state your opinion, positive or negative, the fact someone did it in great detail is hardly a bad thing.
EDIT: That was a mod he ranted at? wow, I admire the stones.
The gun battles in this game are insane and exhausting. I had to turn the game off since i am tired of dying. It feels like Drake and the game is fighting me. A grenade falls and I try to get Drake out of the way then some bad guy is in my face so now drake wants to QTE fight with a freaking grenade on the floor. That's not even the worse part of the gun battles, snipers and rocket guys on high a ledge firing at me I can barely get cover, everyone advancing to my position, what fun is this game? Who the hell play-tested this crap. Even the excessive gun fights in uncharted 1 were not this bad not by a long shot. And it seems Drake ALWAYS want to QTE fight right in the middle of all the bullets.
Sinthetic said:
Chapter 15 and 16. Amazing. No way in Hell, can this not pick up a few GOTY awards.
I'm past those levels and the level design is good graphics are awesome but the gun battles are ridiculous. Uncharted 2 was my GOTY in 2009, however uncharted 3 is definitely no where near my own GOTY especially after playing Arkham City. Did Naughty Dog have anyone play test the damn game. Was normal cranked up to crushing? Maybe Naughty Dog's ego got too big for them.
You don't feel that you're being harsh with your not stop stream of criticism? Srsly, i get that you don't like it, but is the game so bad you need to constantly constantly harp on EVERY SINGLE DETAIL that you PERSONALLY don't like about the game?
And frankly some of your criticism is WAY off, like the chapter 12 battle where you clearly had no idea how to approach it (srsly, theres a trophy for killing people IN THE WATER, did you even bother to try that??) yet this is somehow a design 'flaw' because ND didn't design the game to play like every other shooter where the enemies stay motionless in front of you at all times.
