The perfect Dark
Banned
Two hours? How is this possible?
I haven't done any of these yet but IIRC, it doesn't require a continuous playthrough. If I were to do it, I'd approach it as a speedrun, see at how long I land once I'm done with the game, look at individual chapter times and see in which chapters I can shave off the longer times?How hard is the speed run trophy? I've never done a speed run in a game before and I don't want to try to do it any wastes two hours. Is there some tips anyone could give?
How hard is the speed run trophy? I've never done a speed run in a game before and I don't want to try to do it any wastes two hours. Is there some tips anyone could give?
How hard is the speed run trophy? I've never done a speed run in a game before and I don't want to try to do it any wastes two hours. Is there some tips anyone could give?
Playing all three Uncharted games back to back has been really interesting for me. UC1 was the game I remembered the least, yet held up better than I expected. That said, it's mostly just adequate at what it does, but it's nice to return and see how far ND has come since then. While it leverages a bit too heavy in the actual enemy waves/combat and I'm not a big fan of the pretty big tone change in the late game, overall it's still a fun romp to go through.
But 2...man, what a jump. This is a huge showcase of why pacing is so important yet something not often really talked about, good pacing just kinda goes unnoticed with you sitting there thinking "...damn" when it's all over. I do agree with what seems to be the common consensus regarding it not really kicking in until Nepal, though--the opening heist and borneo are fair enough for being character building/tutorialized but once you get here the whole game just has an excellent flow. I could mentally just retrace Drake's adventure as you head to the hotel, run away from the heli, go through the temple, etc. etc. all the way until the credits roll. The game constantly mixes up what you do even in small scenarios such as the billboard shootout which is such a damn clever use of Uncharted's unique integration of verticality. More than just having solid mixed up encounters, it knows when to have rising and falling action. Bombastic moments like the pre-train shootout leading into the train ride itself are followed by the slow paced Tibetian walk leading into the ice cave exploration. This gives a nice breather before you get into the hectic endgame with the village under siege, into the convoy leading to a small breather once again as you stealth your way into the (gorgeous) monastery area which has SO MANY COOL ENCOUNTERS AHHH. You can examine most of UC2 with a damn magnifying glass and just come out even more impressed, its pacing is up there with RE4, which is literally my favorite game of all time, so that's high praise to say the least. ND improved so much from 2 in creating engaging, well crafted setpieces that are as fun to play as they are to watch, so much so that it still gets aped by tons of developers to this day. 2, along with TLoU, are by far the best games ND have ever put out.
But that leaves us with 3. Heading into it, I wasn't actually expecting 2 to get topped, and merely wanted another fun uncharted romp. But 3, just as much as the jump from 1 -> 2, is a very different game from their previous outing. While there are clear moments that look to match(or even one up) uncharted 2 in the setpiece department, the pacing magic is no longer here, and the game feels very cut up and stop-go all over the place. A glacial opener, jumping around areas constantly instead of having a more directed free flow feel to the progression, etc. all crop up. Drake will one minute be in syria on a bus with Cutter and Chloe, then cut to Yemen never to see the previous characters again. Get abducted to an area with zero plot relevance for a huge chunk of the game then magically wash ashore...somewhere(I guess Yemen). The game in general also takes on a much more combat heavy focus in the later stages, with the few puzzles being front ended. That said, though the series always had simplistic puzzles, the ones that you go through in 3 are much better than before so it's a shame they pretty much vanish after chapter 11.
However, pacing isn't all that it takes for 2 to be held as highly as I put it, as those little moments I mentioned such as the billboard shootout are key. This heads more into the combat which is where 3 is seriously heartbreaking. On launch when I originally played 3, the aiming was noticeably fucked up the moment I tried to aim. Funnily enough there's a quote very early on from Sully where he asks if you forgot how to aim, and that was definitely true at the time as Drake was apparently drunk. Thankfully this has been ironed out for the collection here and I can aim like a sober human being, and that really does go a long way to make me like the game more. But at the same time, it also makes the issues with the core design of the combat stick out that much more.
There are three main issues with the very strange combat changes in UC3. To preface this I think I get what ND was trying to do; utilize movement much more to make for active and exciting firefights where you aren't just plopped in cover. Being able to throw back grenades actually has a large impact against this, as it almost promotes camping. Previously, a grenade would be thrown to flush you from your cover, opening the enemy up for a killshot. With that no longer being a flush, it's now up to the enemy itself to do it. This leads into bullrush suicide charges where guys will go without any cover just to run directly where you are, which is...weird. I posted this in here before which is the type of thing that happens, but for an extended test I actually intentionally stayed back here. What happened? Lo and behold, literally every enemy in the entire encounter actually ran right over there to get beat up. You can hear Cutter almost constantly getting into fistfights, and it's particularly apparent around 2:03 as the enemies that were shooting at me just give up and run right in the open. The video got cut off a bit at the end, but you can still catch the final 2 people running towards me. It's ridiculous looking, and actually problematic because of the next combat change.
That's been debunked a million times & I'd rather not do that again.
Up to Chapter 25 on UC2 on brutal. I seem to have run into an endless enemy wave...
It won't stop spawning them until you go up the left-side of the staircase opposite from where you start (and only if you've killed The Guardians and the GAU guy). And then it will spawn two-three Guardians on that side.
I can't believe people are arguing over Druckmann directing skills.
I honestly liked U3 style a bit more then 2's
I wouldn't say it's anything to do with Druckmann and more to do with the style ND was/is going for now and U4 will be the same.
Well if its not true then I've no way to explain the dramatic drop in quality between 2 and 3. At a bare minimum I'd suggest balancing two games and favoring one hurt the other.
I also never said anything against having a more personal story and actually noted the desert parts as my favorite aspects, I think you might have confused me with another poster.
If I remember correctly Amy Hennig talks about UC3 development in one of the bonus videos included with the original release and she mentions they approached the development from more of a what kind of set pieces can challenge the team perspective more so that what makes sense for a coherent narrative. I thinks it's the same video where they gush about making the realistic ocean simulation for the ship/pirate levels that don't even fit with the game. That what I've always blamed for the quality drop.
I assumed that's how they approached U2 as well, so I wasn't sure if thats to blame.
That video also has a hilarious moment where they talk about the Drake-Talbot chase scene, saying that when they made it they hadn't even figured out who was chasing whom. Which is painfully obvious since in game it has no logically set up, conclusion, or purpose. Its entirely pointless and jarringly plotless.
I'm excited that Straley is back in the director seat though. He's such an underrated part of ND's team even though he's contributed so much. Everything I know that Justin Richmond directly contributed is stuff that I haven't liked.
It's going to be interesting to see how things change with 4 and whether Naughty Dog can raise the bar again like they did with 2. I'm one of the people that thinks Straley is the man who made U2 and TLoU great gameplay experiences, while Hennig and Druckman respectively controlled the narrative. After seeing how the gameplay in U2 holds up, I have no concerns about that in 4. As fun as the Uncharted stories are, though, The Last of Us was a huge step up in writing in terms of the characters and the subtlety of the moment to moment dialogue. I'm looking forward to seeing how this translates to Uncharted.It will tell us if Druckman just got lucky (which I don't think he did) or if he is a great writer.
Truth be told I thought this thread would be a lot more popular seeing how many UC fans we have in GAF.
Druckmann hasn't been a director on this series. 4 is the first time he's been at the head of the creative side of Uncharted. Personally, that's no real change for me as Amy and Druckmann are both two of the best writers in the industry and I love their work so I know that side is in good hands.
I'm excited that Straley is back in the director seat though. He's such an underrated part of ND's team even though he's contributed so much. Everything I know that Justin Richmond directly contributed is stuff that I haven't liked.
https://youtu.be/KUGL1w2_L4w?t=1038 @17:18 Bruce just laying it out.
Awesome
Every time Bruce talks the design philosophy for 4, I feel like he's listing off so many of the things I have said I wanted to see the series do.
Bruce Straley is easily top 5 of devs that I can just listen to all day. Extremely insightful with a great sense of humour.
ok that's three games in a row how the hell do the bad guys keep finding the shit that you're in that's supposed to be super secret. I understand it's so you can have fire fights but still.
At the Uncharted 2 boss fight. Now I remember why I never finished it when it came out. I probably won't finish this time either.
Run and gun.
At the Uncharted 2 boss fight. Now I remember why I never finished it when it came out. I probably won't finish this time either.
I think it can be explained. UC 1 the bad guy was Navarro, UC2 had Flynn and 3 had Marlowe, Talbot and the entire secret society.
All those guys are smart, they sure are not as smart as Nate though. Plus they have lots of resources and man power to make things easier for them.
Yeah I was just being dramatic. I did it on the 3rd try lol.
Don't stop moving. Keep running in a circle and periodically look behind you and shoot the sap when he's next to it.
Wow Uncharted 3 Elena looks worse from what I remember. Naughty Dog really messed up her face in that game. It's good then that Uncharted 4 looks to have fixed and improved it.
Yeah he isn't even hard on brutal either.
Yeah, she's always been a looker, but I'm Team Chloe for life!I think she looks by far the hottest in UC3. Pretty sure they plumped up her derrier a bit too.
ok that's three games in a row how the hell do the bad guys keep finding the shit that you're in that's supposed to be super secret. I understand it's so you can have fire fights but still.
Here's the thing. They ALL just basically followed drake there. He did all the work. If he just went home and banged elana instead, the world would still be safe.
But that would be a different game entirely.
Here's the thing. They ALL just basically followed drake there. He did all the work. If he just went home and banged elana instead, the world would still be safe.
But that would be a different game entirely.