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[Dark-Cloudz]

chapter 11 and it is still meh...

I'm with you on this. Every time I buy an uncharted game, I never finish them. The gameplay is so boring.

 

[eso76]

I will say that this is the first Uncharted in which I actually felt the "Drake is a psycho killer" complaints. It struck me during the juxtaposition going from chapter 4

Spoiler

nice calm chapter with Drake the family man at home with Elena

to

Spoiler

chapter five when I'm suddenly snapping a security guard's neck for doing his job.

I was like whoa; I actually feel the disconnect here. I didn't dwell on it long though, and just continued to play the game without giving it much thought.

I agree. Making the story and characters so grounded makes the killing even more jarring.
I also appreciated how you left that "to" out of spoiler marks. That was a nice touch

 

[Fancy Clown]

She's the leader of Shoreline and

Spoiler

basically shows up a few times to kick your ass. If say for example Rafe was leading Shoreline and Nadine wasn't in the story, nothing would change

. She doesn't actually do anything that has any significant bearing on the plot.

If she wasn't in the game you wouldn't have any of the great scenes with Rafe because he'd have no one to bounce off of. They have a great dynamic and she's a fun foil because she's the only totally capable character throughout the entire game. Not sure what the need is for some sort of "arc", contrary to what a lot of people say on here characters really don't need dramatic changes to be satisfying components to the story. But she still did have an arc, considering

Spoiler

she realized the job wasn't worth it at the end since the treasure was turning Rafe into a psycho, which felt true to her character. Her exit was amazing. She was just like "alright you idiots can kill eachother over the treasure, I've got what I want, I'm out of here

. It was a refeshing change of pace from other villains, and she definitely got enough attention and screen time considering she was a tertiary character.

 

[Bold One]

She doesnt do anything besides fail to kill Drake on like 5 occasions. Rafe could have got other mercenaries to do that.

she was basically Lt. Draza form UC2, only slightly more competent

 

[Fancy Clown]

Except she was an actual character...and considering Uncharted's story is based around the interaction of characters, she wasn't a total cypher or head scratching inclusion like that dude was who only existed to be a shitty boss on the train

 

[brandonh83]

If she wasn't in the game you wouldn't have any of the great scenes with Rafe because he'd have no one to bounce off of. They have a great dynamic and she's a fun foil because she's the only totally capable character throughout the entire game. Not sure what the need is for some sort of "arc", contrary to what a lot of people say on here characters really don't need dramatic changes to be satisfying components to the story. But she still did have an arc, considering

Spoiler

she realized the job wasn't worth it at the end since the treasure was turning Rafe into a psycho, which felt true to her character. Her exit was amazing. She was just like "alright you idiots can kill eachother over the treasure, I've got what I want, I'm out of here

. It was a refeshing change of pace from other villains, and she definitely got enough attention and screen time considering she was a tertiary character.

Well if you remove her from the story there is no Shoreline for starters.

Spoiler

Shoreline could have existed and functioned in the same exact way, without Nadine, as simply a merc group for hire. Rather, they introduce Nadine at the auction, her character gets some good setup, and she carries out an antagonistic role to Nathan and co., but nothing she actually does in the story contributes to the plot's development. When you establish a character like that and have an ongoing rivalry with the protagonist, you expect a little more than "bye bitch" at the end. It's just simply not satisfying and again, the story could have played out in the exact same way without her. If you took her out, nothing would change. Rafe would simply be the central antagonist, hiring a merc group, and it would work without Nadine

.

Spoiler bars, whew!

 

[nib95]

Really? Rafe would have achieved nothing without her and the ending would be completely different if not for her... If that holds no importance to the plot I dont know what does. I agree she was underdeveloped in the game but saying removing her from the plot wouldnt make a difference is just wrong.

This is the first Uncharted game that properly goes out of it's way to show Drake is a selfish person, with a broken childhood, personality and closure issues, and someone who has always essentially been a thief. Yes, he has good virtues and a good heart for the people he cares about, but he's also a bad person, a criminal and a liar, and none of the other Uncharted games drive that point forward as much as this game. Drake's younger, reckless and more selfish self is actually reflected through Sam's character, who may be older in terms of age, but is far less mature by nature.

 

[Endo Punk]

I got that,

Spoiler

it still didn't stop her inclusion in the whole thing from being unsatisfactory. A big deal was made of her inclusion in the marketing, I thought she would DO more...I don't think I am alone in this

She was underutilised, and as I said earlier I would have liked more scenes with her and Rafe for that matter but the scenes she was in had presence so Im pretty ok with it.

 

[brandonh83]

It's possible that the

Spoiler

upcoming story DLC may do something with her, but I'll still be bummed that they didn't do much with her in the game proper

.

 

[gbpackers25]

I'm thinking that the story DLC will be

Spoiler

the adventure that Sully and Sam talk about at the end of the game. To me it seemed like they were really leaning towards that

 

[nib95]

Spoiler

Shoreline could have existed and functioned in the same exact way, without Nadine, as simply a merc group for hire. Rather, they introduce Nadine at the auction, her character gets some good setup, and she carries out an antagonistic role to Nathan and co., but nothing she actually does in the story contributes to the plot's development. When you establish a character like that and have an ongoing rivalry with the protagonist, you expect a little more than "bye bitch" at the end. It's just simply not satisfying and again, the story could have played out in the exact same way without her. If you took her out, nothing would change. Rafe would simply be the central antagonist, hiring a merc group, and it would work without Nadine

.

Spoiler bars, whew!

The story would not have played out the same if you took out her character. In-fact, without her it would just be another dull faceless mercenary organisation you'd be facing off against. Instead Nadine's character gives that group some credibility and purpose. Shoreline not only has a bad ass leader at the helm, but she's also the voice of reason and clarity. Drake, Sam, Rafe etc, they're all blinded by their lust for this treasure and the finding, whereas Nadine is in it for very different reasons. Not for power, glory, or the joy of discovery itself, but simply the financial incentive, and through her we see the madness of the others. She is not willing to sacrifice everything for it, she's only willing to sacrifice as much as it is still lucrative for her, and that is a massive differentiate, and a point that adds to the narrative and to all the characters, not just her own.

 

[Spring-Loaded]

At least we can all agree that saying Nadine could be taken out of the game wothout making a difference is complete bull.

 

[valkyre]

Spoiler

Shoreline could have existed and functioned in the same exact way, without Nadine, as simply a merc group for hire. Rather, they introduce Nadine at the auction, her character gets some good setup, and she carries out an antagonistic role to Nathan and co., but nothing she actually does in the story contributes to the plot's development. When you establish a character like that and have an ongoing rivalry with the protagonist, you expect a little more than "bye bitch" at the end. It's just simply not satisfying and again, the story could have played out in the exact same way without her. If you took her out, nothing would change. Rafe would simply be the central antagonist, hiring a merc group, and it would work without Nadine

.

Spoiler bars, whew!

You keep removing reasons for her existence though. There are valid reasons why she exists and now you are just trying to transfer these reasons towards another character... which imo is wrong cause you can honestly do the same for many characters not only in Uncharted but almost every form of entertainment. You can remove Sully even Elena if you want to. Thing is the game would become worse it would lose some of its flavor.

She was a cool character there are reasons why she is there and she offers a different perspective on treasure hunting While being the most logical thinking character in the game. She was the most successful UC4 character based on objectives.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Spoiler

Shoreline could have existed and functioned in the same exact way, without Nadine, as simply a merc group for hire. Rather, they introduce Nadine at the auction, her character gets some good setup, and she carries out an antagonistic role to Nathan and co., but nothing she actually does in the story contributes to the plot's development. When you establish a character like that and have an ongoing rivalry with the protagonist, you expect a little more than "bye bitch" at the end. It's just simply not satisfying and again, the story could have played out in the exact same way without her. If you took her out, nothing would change. Rafe would simply be the central antagonist, hiring a merc group, and it would work without Nadine

.

But then Rafe would be so absolutely nothing except bark order at people in his scenes and be a crappy antagonist. He needed an equal. She's his foil, and thus their personalities are drawn out through their great interactions. Again I don't see why every character needs to be a plot pusher in a character based story, although she trchnically does

Spoiler

since besides running shoreline (sometimes in a way that Rafe doesn't like, thus creating conflict, she's the one who trapped Nate and Rafe in the room at the end, prompting the death match

. I also thought it was really cool that

Spoiler

the character who is the biggest physical threat to you and kicks your ass repeatedly actually DOESNT have a rivalry with you, and in fact doesn't give a shit about you at all, which is great because that further develops her character.

There are all sorts of charaters heavily influencing plot points, and she's a tertiary character with a well developed personality who also develops the other characters around her, so she's pretty perfect in the story. It sounds like you're mostly disappointed there wasn't some sort of

Spoiler

grudge match with her at the end to cap off the fight sequences with her

, but I like how that was subverted, because that makes her character a lot more interesting.

 

[brandonh83]

But then Rafe would be so absolutely nothing except bark order at people in his scenes and be a crappy antagonist. He needed an equal.

I don't really see why, and creative writing dictates whether or not he'd have been a crappy antagonist.

Spoiler

All I'm saying is that I wanted her to do more than she ended up doing, which for me was practically nothing

.

The story would not have played out the same if you took out her character. In-fact, without her it would just be another dull faceless mercenary organisation you'd be facing off against. Instead Nadine's character gives that group some credibility and purpose.

This is why I felt the execution of her character overall was underwhelming.

Spoiler

She was a cool character and I simply found her inclusion and payoff unsatisfactory

. Clearly some agree and disagree, I'm okay with leaving it at that.

 

[Bold One]

At least we can all agree that saying Nadine could be taken out of the game wothout making a difference is complete bull.

speak for yourself

 

[Fancy Clown]

speak for yourself

That's a fact though. The game and story would be fundamentally different with her exclusion. For one Rafe would be a total 1-dimensional cypher if he was only surrounded by subordinates because there would be no one to give him conflict or talk to as an equal (ie as a real human) when he is not antagonizing Nate and Sam

 

[Endo Punk]

The story would not have played out the same if you took out her character. In-fact, without her it would just be another dull faceless mercenary organisation you'd be facing off against. Instead Nadine's character gives that group some credibility and purpose. Shoreline not only has a bad ass leader at the helm, but she's also the voice of reason and clarity. Drake, Sam, Rafe etc, they're all blinded by their lust for this treasure and the finding, whereas Nadine is in it for very different reasons. Not for power, glory, or the joy of discovery itself, but simply the financial incentive, and through her we see the madness of the others. She is not willing to sacrifice everything for it, she's only willing to sacrifice as much as it is still lucrative for her, and that is a massive differentiate, and a point that adds to the narrative and to all the characters, not just her own.

Completely agree. Yes that's exactly why Nadine was an important and great character to the story.

 

[nib95]

This is why I felt the execution of her character overall was underwhelming.

Spoiler

She was a cool character and I simply found her inclusion and payoff unsatisfactory

. Clearly some agree and disagree, I'm okay with leaving it at that.

I do feel she was slightly underutilised, but then I also think that's likely why her character was more bad ass in a way. If she was in the game more, the more it would have highlighted her failings in actually capturing Sam and Drake, and shown her to be a less capable villain. As is, even in the very limited time she was in the game, she basically kicked ass, and that leaves the gamer with the impression that were she personally given more charge and purpose to actually capturing Drake and Sam, instead of finding this treasure, she would have absolutely succeeded. In other words, I think her having less screen time inadvertently gave her the perception of being a more revered and capable villain.

 

[brandonh83]

That's a fact though. The game and story would be fundamentally different with her exclusion. For one Rafe would be a total 1-dimensional cypher if he was only surrounded by subordinates because there would be no one to give him conflict or talk to as an equal (is a real human) when he is not antagonizing Nate and Sam

I'm not arguing against this logic,

Spoiler

I do agree that having Nadine there is good for that. Again all I'm saying is that I didn't personally feel that she did much, and I was disappointed by that after finding the character intriguing based on the trailers and her scenes through the game, what little she had anyway

.

I think her having less screen time inadvertently gave her the perception of being a more revered and capable villain.

That's fine, it just didn't work for me. I found it severely undercooked but it's really my only complaint with the story.

 

[Keihart]

For all the complain about climbing, for me at least, it was the most fun i've had climbing in Uncharted. I really enjoyed that now you don't need to push x constantly and how they mixed up the rope, slide and pithon, it could have been better? definitly. Was it bad? not for a long shot.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Re: Realism, isn't this the only entry

Spoiler

without supernatural beings in it?

Re: Nadine, I liked the character, but really she and Rafe were 1D characters that complimented each other to create a single enemy. I liked how they wrapped her up, but really both of them were underutilized and conveniently only appeared when it would be most dramatic. I mean, this is still ok for a pulpy serial type story, but it sure didn't feel organic.

 

[MaybeBurger]

Re: Realism,

Spoiler

isn't this the only entry without supernatural beings

in it?

spoilers. buddy

so MP: I find it really odd from a UI thing, buy things with circle or X in the store, then you have to tap the big touchscreen to open your unlock/chest. I mean, you're thumb is already on circle, so why do you make the user, tap something else? quite annoying especially if you're doing a lot of unlocks.

For all the complain about climbing, for me at least, it was the most fun i've had climbing in Uncharted. I really enjoyed that now you don't need to push x constantly and how they mixed up the rope, slide and pithon, it could have been better? definitly. Was it bad? not for a long shot.

climbing was good, but it does go a bit long in some areas.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Shit, yeah, youre right. Sorry.

 

[RespectThySole]

My only real problem with the game is Nadine.

Spoiler

I was really interested in that character, but she only appeared a few times to beat the shit out of you, just kinda left at the end and had no arc. I know some have defended it saying that she was actually smart enough to get away but for me this does not make up for the lack of character development or closure. I'm not saying she needed to die, but she felt entirely wasted. She's a character very much in the vein of Indiana Jones/James Bond villains and the leader of Shoreline, so yeah I'm pretty bummed that she was basically utterly pointless. If you totally removed her and just had Rafe the leader of Shoreline, it wouldn't change anything at all aside from a few fight scenes and bickering with Adler

.

Agree her being undercooked. I liked what she did at the end, but

Spoiler

she was a wasted character. She was pretty much just a tool for the two short QTE-ish fights that you couldn't change. Kind of baffling that she didn't deliver anything else in such a long game. Yes, she has that one moment of greatness, but so what?

I was definitely expecting more from her. Plus, how much impact did her being the only

Spoiler

sane one

really have anyway when the game just

Spoiler

ends with a straightforward perfect ending for everyone aside from Rafe.

 

[Dragon1893]

Chapter 17, finally

Spoiler

Elena!

End of chapter 15 was insane!

Spoiler

Nadine

is a badass, holy shit!
Chapter 16 killed the momentum but I get why they felt the need to put it there considering what happens just before.
Can't wait to get back to it.

 

[CrichtonKicks]

Re: Realism, isn't this the only entry

Spoiler

without supernatural beings in it?

That's always going to be up for some debate:

Spoiler

The creatures in UC3 were hallucinations. They weren't real. The blue men from Shamballa were presumably just normal men who had taken to eating the resin and had their bodies mutated and evolved over the years. The same is basically true of the Descendants in UC1- they were were the descendents of the Spanish who had found El Dorado and got some form of virus that turned them into feral zombie things.

It's always been more, say, Michael Crichton on the supernatural scale than Indiana Jones.

 

[valkyre]

Plus, how much impact did her being the only

Spoiler

sane one

really have anyway when the game just

Spoiler

ends with a straightforward perfect ending for everyone aside from Rafe.

That she

Spoiler

got away with a shitload of treasure compared to the others.

 

[Wollan]

One joke delivery at the end that I found great:

Spoiler

For God and Liberty asshole... that sounded better in my head.

lol

 

[FantasticMrSnake]

I just finished it. It's a great uncharted overall, nothing new really. It has really impressive landscapes, same gameplay as usual, the controls in the shooting parts are not good, but it has his very good action scenes.

Spoiler

First, I really really hate playing with teen drake, totally boring and unnecessary.

Spoiler

I got disappointed that it doesn't have anything "supernatural", I know the preivous one where "evolution/mutation" but anyway, there isn't anything like that in this one.

And about the story's end:

Spoiler

I also got disappointed that they didn't escape with any treasure more than those random coins that somehow Sam put in her coat. Too much cliché

And as other says, for me the dlc will be

Spoiler

sam and sully's adventure

 

[Fancy Clown]

So what were everyone's favorite shootouts out of the (shamefully few) encounters in the game.

Not including the glorious set piece, my top 3 all come from the final act of the game

Spoiler

The elevator encounter in 17 (it's like the sign post shootout from 2 but times 10, the first encounter in New Devon in 18 where you can dive in the water, and then the absolutely bonkers shootout in the ship graveyard in chapter 20

.

I also really really liked the little string of encounters in chapter 14. The environment for that was great.

 

[Jawbreaker]

I just finished it. It's a great uncharted overall, nothing new really. It has really impressive landscapes, same gameplay as usual, the controls in the shooting parts are not good, but it has his very good action scenes.

Spoiler

First, I really really hate playing with teen drake, totally boring and unnecessary.

Spoiler

I got disappointed that it doesn't have anything "supernatural", I know the preivous one where "evolution/mutation" but anyway, there isn't anything like that in this one.

And about the story's end:

Spoiler

I also got disappointed that they didn't escape with any treasure more than those random coins that somehow Sam put in her coat. Too much cliché

And as other says, for me the dlc will be

Spoiler

sam and sully's adventure

What did you dislike about the controls?

 

[RespectThySole]

That she

Spoiler

got away with a shitload of treasure compared to the others.

Well, she

Spoiler

needed it the most after her entire army was destroyed. So she was the sane one at the end yet she was basically hit the hardest by this whole affair?(everyone else came away scott-free)

Then the game makes the impact kinda negligible by giving her a lot of treasure to rebuild it.(since they were just mercs for hire as we saw in Chapter 22 when she wanted to leave before getting to the ship)

I guess it's reasonable that the "sane" one gets the treasure because she knew when to quit and I know that she was basically forced into the shoreline thing, but it seems strange that everyone gets the treasure(including Sam) when it's supposed to be a tale of greed.

 

[msdstc]

That's always going to be up for some debate:

Spoiler

The creatures in UC3 were hallucinations. They weren't real. The blue men from Shamballa were presumably just normal men who had taken to eating the resin and had their bodies mutated and evolved over the years. The same is basically true of the Descendants in UC1- they were were the descendents of the Spanish who had found El Dorado and got some form of virus that turned them into feral zombie things.

It's always been more, say, Michael Crichton on the supernatural scale than Indiana Jones.

Spoiler

Lol wait the 3rd one sure, but the other 2 are straight up supernatural.

 

[cackhyena]

What did you dislike about the controls?

Yeah, I'm not sure what people mean by that. They are more than competent, and the guns have great pop to them unlike previous Uncharteds. The openness of this game only makes these encounters more fun than they ever were before.

 

[Jennipeg]

So what were everyone's favorite shootouts out of the (shamefully few) encounters in the game.

Not including the glorious set piece, my top 3 all come from the final act of the game

Spoiler

The elevator encounter in 17 (it's like the sign post shootout from 2 but times 10, the first encounter in New Devon in 18 where you can dive in the water, and then the absolutely bonkers shootout in the ship graveyard in chapter 20

.

I also really really liked the little string of encounters in chapter 14. The environment for that was great.

I really liked

Spoiler

Chapter 13, jungle shootout. You don't get to play as Nate without a companion much in this game and I really liked going solo on this one. Hanging off edges and rotating around the platforms to stealth kill people was a lot of fun.

Next one would have to be the ship graveyard.

 

[Kevin Shields]

So what were everyone's favorite shootouts out of the (shamefully few) encounters in the game.

Not including the glorious set piece, my top 3 all come from the final act of the game

Spoiler

The elevator encounter in 17 (it's like the sign post shootout from 2 but times 10, the first encounter in New Devon in 18 where you can dive in the water, and then the absolutely bonkers shootout in the ship graveyard in chapter 20

.

I also really really liked the little string of encounters in chapter 14. The environment for that was great.

- The chapter 10 encounter that has been giffed like 100 times with the drawbridge. Loved the feel of it.

- Chapter 13 I think (the one that was shown before the game came out). Ugh again, so good that I just wanted more and more.

- The one you mention in chapter 18. Sublime. Right after I played it I posted on Gaf about how pissed it made me because it was so good and I needed more...



First playing through chapter 20

Spoiler

I felt it went back to old uncharted combat instead of the new open arenas and I was dissapointed

. Maybe I'll have to replay again because I was rushing to see the end.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The combat design and how it feels and controls is literally one of the greatest things I've experienced in an action game.

 

[DeepEnigma]

The combat design and how it feels and controls is literally one of the greatest things I've experienced in an action game.

Agreed. Finally (in this series) you actually feel like you earned the headshot, and know when you miss, it is because you legit missed. The KZ stumbles make it even sweeter.

 

[RDreamer]

First playing through chapter 20

Spoiler

I felt it went back to old uncharted combat instead of the new open arenas and I was dissapointed

. Maybe I'll have to replay again because I was rushing to see the end.

Chapter 20 was far and away my favorite combat piece in the entire game.

 

[MegaSackman]

So what were everyone's favorite shootouts out of the (shamefully few) encounters in the game.

Not including the glorious set piece, my top 3 all come from the final act of the game

Spoiler

The elevator encounter in 17 (it's like the sign post shootout from 2 but times 10, the first encounter in New Devon in 18 where you can dive in the water, and then the absolutely bonkers shootout in the ship graveyard in chapter 20

.

I also really really liked the little string of encounters in chapter 14. The environment for that was great.

Spoiler

Not a fan of the elevator one so I'll go with the other two and the one at the end of chapter 9 where you have to escape from the cave in Scotland.

 

[Fancy Clown]

First playing through chapter 20

Spoiler

I felt it went back to old uncharted combat instead of the new open arenas and I was dissapointed

. Maybe I'll have to replay again because I was rushing to see the end.

I thought that was a good thing tbh. The open/stealth arenas are amazing, but this needed an adrenaline pumping push since it's the final encounter in the game. Leaping down with the score blasting was so good. The first part is really hard though, maybe a little too much so.

 

[Kevin Shields]

Chapter 20 was far and away my favorite combat piece in the entire game.

Yea I can't wait to get to it again because I've been hearing that a lot

 

[RespectThySole]

So what were everyone's favorite shootouts out of the (shamefully few) encounters in the game.

Not including the glorious set piece, my top 3 all come from the final act of the game

Spoiler

The elevator encounter in 17 (it's like the sign post shootout from 2 but times 10, the first encounter in New Devon in 18 where you can dive in the water, and then the absolutely bonkers shootout in the ship graveyard in chapter 20

.

I also really really liked the little string of encounters in chapter 14. The environment for that was great.

You nailed my top 3. Another one that I really liked was the combat sequence at end of

Spoiler

chapter 9 that ends with you swinging to the plane.

 

[Jennipeg]

Spoiler

Not a fan of the elevator one so I'll go with the other two and the one at the end of chapter 9 where you have to escape from the cave in Scotland.

Yeah that's another really good one, I think the only one I don't really like is

Spoiler

at the end of chapter 18, where Shoreline have been waiting to ambush you in the mansion. I am dreading it on crushing.

 

[RDreamer]

Yea I can't wait to get to it again because I've been hearing that a lot

He is right, though, that combat piece is very much in the vein of Uncharted 1-3 rather than some of the changes they made here, but I prefer that approach.

 

[MR ARCADE FOREVER]

I found the last two chapters a bit disappointing. Before was great though. One thing that I liked about the end was that

Spoiler

there was no sobrenatural crap

 

[Kevin Shields]

The combat design and how it feels and controls is literally one of the greatest things I've experienced in an action game.

I'm playing through all 4 at the same time to get a series perspective and it's a joyous but frustrating thing. Uncharted 4 literally does everything perfect on a gameplay side but then it doesn't let you get in combat encounters enough and Uncharted 2 has perfect pacing but it sometimes goes overboard with enemies. Uncharted 3 so far has he best balance but it has other problems. My list may be changing after these playthroughs

 

[Jennipeg]

I'm playing through all 4 at the same time to get a series perspective and it's a joyous but frustrating thing. Uncharted 4 literally does everything perfect on a gameplay side but then it doesn't let you get in combat encounters enough and Uncharted 2 has perfect pacing but it sometimes goes overboard with enemies. Uncharted 3 so far has he best balance but it has other problems. My list may be changing after these playthroughs

That's interesting because I thought 2 got it just right and 3 went over board. There were little things about 3's combat that made it less fun for me. So maybe it just felt like there were a few too many combat section's. I didn't love the amount of melee you had to do, and those armoured shotgunners can GTFO.

 

[Shin-chan]

I've begun my replay today and I actually find the beginning to be paced fairly well. Better than Uncharted 2 and 3 at least (the museum/Borneo and London are painfully boring sections) and probably better than the last of us (where the first part, after the prologue, is the weakest section).

The intro was still exciting (with great music). That said, I think it's a little "clumsy" that they basically give you two quiet climbing tutorials in Chapter 1 and then again in 2. Slightly awkward game design, but it's made up for with how great the end of 2 is (I love the bit where Drake doesn't make it across the ledge and then Sam just dives straight into the brawl to help him).

I think I'm just going to try and enjoy the game for what it is this time through, rather than what I hoped it was like in my first experience.

I hope they discuss the multiplayer additions and particularly co-op at E3. Would be nice to see what their plans are.