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UNCHARTED |OT| The Master Thief Collection

hughesta

Banned
The puzzles in Uncharted 3 are such a huge step above the puzzles in the other two that it's almost ridiculous. They were by far my favorite part of the game and I hope 4 has puzzles that are on par.
 
That mural puzzle in UC3 got me something fierce. Had to look up the solution on youtube...

UC3 by far has the most difficult puzzles for my brain.
 

Lrrr

Member
I did a search and am surprised to discover there isn't a 'photo mode' thread for this collection. I thought these three games would've yielded spectacular pictures.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
The puzzles in Uncharted 3 are such a huge step above the puzzles in the other two that it's almost ridiculous. They were by far my favorite part of the game and I hope 4 has puzzles that are on par.

The puzzles need to be better paced throughout the game. Uncharted 3 had many clustered together...then nothing.

I also want MORE puzzles in general. They have a guy on the team that loves Zelda, so hopefully he's still working there and will have a big influence on UC4.
 
The whole 'Sully being too old for this shit' thing is so underutilised in U3. I thought it was going to be great from what I remember from the original trailers, but nothing really comes of it. Really wish
he stayed dead at the end.

just finished drake's fortune for the third time, &, while i never really noticed the other 2 times, the part near the beginning when, after sully
gets shot, nate pretty much seems to just blow it off (& is back being to his charming self with elena in no time)
felt really poorly handled to me. like almost tastelessly so...

so why'd i never notice this the other 2 times? :) ...
 

Schryver

Member
just finished drake's fortune for the third time, &, while i never really noticed the other 2 times, the part near the beginning when, after sully
gets shot, nate pretty much seems to just blow it off (& is back being to his charming self with elena in no time)
felt really poorly handled to me. like almost tastelessly so...

so why'd i never notice this the other 2 times? :) ...
I somewhat agree but the entire game is similar considering you're killing hundreds of people and Nate still acts the same way. The mass murderer joke makes more sense after finally playing the first game myself lol
 
Finally, it's done. Finished Uncharted 3, so I have now played through all three games in this collection. Still mostly good, some iffy parts, some moments that had me gritting my teeth in frustration. At this point I'm not gonna immediately jump into Crushing difficulty for this, not while the worst parts of the game are still fresh in my mind. Maybe in a month or so, because right now I've got other titles I'm itching to get to.

And my rating for the three games still stands as it did four years ago. UC2>3>1. As much as 3's not overall as good as 2 it still has a lot of cool moments that combined I ultimately enjoy more than the first game. I still like the attempt made to expand the melee combat, and some moments that mixed things up significantly like swimming between platforms in a firefight, or vertical cover were well appreciated in keeping scenarios varied. Just the game not having the same level of polish and sloppy story elements really hold it back.

It's been fun revisiting this series, good job ND and Blue Point. I'll be there for Uncharted 4 on day one.
 
Finally, it's done. Finished Uncharted 3, so I have now played through all three games in this collection. Still mostly good, some iffy parts, some moments that had me gritting my teeth in frustration. At this point I'm not gonna immediately jump into Crushing difficulty for this, not while the worst parts of the game are still fresh in my mind. Maybe in a month or so, because right now I've got other titles I'm itching to get to.

And my rating for the three games still stands as it did four years ago. UC2>3>1. As much as 3's not overall as good as 2 it still has a lot of cool moments that combined I ultimately enjoy more than the first game. I still like the attempt made to expand the melee combat, and some moments that mixed things up significantly like swimming between platforms in a firefight, or vertical cover were well appreciated in keeping scenarios varied. Just the game not having the same level of polish and sloppy story elements really hold it back.

It's been fun revisiting this series, good job ND and Blue Point. I'll be there for Uncharted 4 on day one.
Good write up.

I still have a hard time understanding how someone can like Drake's Fortune more than 3. It's so, so bland in comparison.
 

Reebot

Member
Good write up.

I still have a hard time understanding how someone can like Drake's Fortune more than 3. It's so, so bland in comparison.

The first is bland, but the third is actively not fun to play. Portions of it feel like genuine experiments in frustration.
 
Good write up.

I still have a hard time understanding how someone can like Drake's Fortune more than 3. It's so, so bland in comparison.
So far I'm only about seven chapters into 3, but I'm enjoying it less then 1 because it's mostly been platforming, and that's been my least favorite part of the series. Plus my favorite part of the series is the shooting segments and the enemy hit detection has made the gun play the worst of the three games so far.
 
Finished the collection. Played them all on PS3 when they came out and it was great to revisit them again

My ranking is still

1) Uncharted 2 - great great pacing, set pieces, characters, etc. it was my game of the generation and it still is.
2) Uncharted - it's rough but the nostalgia is strong with this one. Loved it when it came out and the PS3 had few hits. I love the focus of just the main 3 and the one setting area
3) Uncharted 3 - Man the pacing on this one is real rough at times. Just big big downs that made me feel not moving onward. And silly plot elements by the enemy. They just did stupid things. But! Things do get much better in the last quarter of the game. Finally things started moving.


The games still look amazing. Loved the touch ups on Uncharted especially. Great package and well worth playing again.
 

Weetrick

Member
I recently bought a PS4 with this bundled in. I never owned a PS3 so this is my first experience with the Uncharted series. I'm about 25% into Uncharted 2 and holy shit - It's MUCH better than the first game. I'm now understanding the hype and praise this series gets. Plenty of time to get caught up before part 4!
 

ZServ

Member
So far I'm only about seven chapters into 3, but I'm enjoying it less then 1 because it's mostly been platforming, and that's been my least favorite part of the series. Plus my favorite part of the series is the shooting segments and the enemy hit detection has made the gun play the worst of the three games so far.
I need to play 3 then. I hate the gun play in Uncharted with a passion, but love the platforming.
 

PrimeTime

Member
I just finished UC1, my first ever UC game. While I thought the environments were really well done and the characters were well acted, it only took the game so far. The gunfights became a regular irritation after awhile. It was just a cover-shoot-roll to next object and repeat kinda game with elements of platforming in it. It got tiring very quickly. Also, how many times did I die just because the cover system wasn't responding to my commands? I would try to break free from coverage when a gunner came after me but for some reason I was superglued to the pillar I was standing behind.

Another complaint was the treasure hunting. Not being able to see the treasure except for a slow blinking light made it so that I spent most of the non-fighting portions having to cover every piece of ground because I wasn't sure if I was anywhere near treasure.

Storywise, I didn't see much here. The plot was a little too formulaic and predictable, esp. the Hollywood-ending. One of the big things that fans of the series seemingly rave about is the story. I'm hoping there's more interesting stuff in 2 and 3.

Also, after playing a lot of hours with TLOU and now this (and I'm sure 2 and 3 will be the same) but Naughty Dog hasn't figured out the best way for NPCs to get the hell out of your way esp. when you're in a tight area. It seems I had to push Elena out of the way quite a bit, though not as much as Ellie in TLOU.

I don't want to completely shit on the game. There were some really neat components of the game - it really did try to emulate a Hollywood movie with top-notch acting, interesting level-design, and fun, though rare, puzzles to solve. I can see how this game garnered a lot of positive press when it first released. It's just that maybe I'm a little too late to this party. Oh well, on to UC2.
 

stryke

Member
I hate Uncharted 1's camera so much. It gives me a headache. I used to think it was the shit framerate and screentearing but getting it again with this remaster shows it's something else.
 

Illucio

Banned
Finished all the games, didn't bother go for platinum in any of them though.

I used 6 hours and something in Uncharted, 8:39 hours in Uncharted 2 and 7 hours and something in Uncharted 3. Played on normal.

My ranking:

1) Uncharted 2
2) Uncharted
3) Uncharted 3

I finished the first 2 and played about half way through Uncharted 3.

BUT HOLY CRAP UNCHARTED 3 IS TERRIBLE. Story and pacing wise that is.
And the only thing Uncharted I ever played before this was the Beta for Uncharted 3 online and that's not even provided in this game. :/ I don't know if I can put myself anymore through the 3rd game, the first part was cool but.. It's less Adventurey movie, and more of a drama.
 

daxter01

8/8/2010 Blackace was here
I completely understand someone liking 2 more than 3 but I can't even fathom how some can say 1 is better.
I like 1 better because i think shooting feels better a lot better actually thanks to proper hit reactions and better enemy placement ,it doesn't make you walk through desert,
flashback, hallucination, following Talbot and Marlow
and puzzle parts are paced better
 

mrqs

Member
I'm a first time on the franchise. I've beated Uncharted 1 on the PS3 many years ago, but just now with the collection that i could beat all of them in a roll.

It's nice. It isn't as good as the internet sold me over the years, but it's nice. I had MANY problems with the game, every single on of them. Neverending enemies with stronger and stronger armor is a really cheap way to increase the length of the game and show how difficult it can be.

The shooting mechanics are not that special too. A bit too loose and the enemies are just big bulletsponges. For the massive number of enemies, would be nice to have more gameplay options... It sure became frustrating after a while.

Those set pieces are just massive and awesome. I want to highlight the car sequence on Uncharted 2 (which i think is better than the train sequence), it's smart and very refreshing. The plane set piece on 3 was amazing, but lacks weight and meaning. The desert scene is one of the highlights of the entire franchise, but soon gets underwhelmed for the lack of emotional appeal when Drake goes to a shootout.

Story is a bit of a mess, only on Uncharted 3 things got a bit more interesting, but just a bit. Bossfights are pretty terrible. Some level designs are amazing, som are just stupid.



I absolutely LOVE The Last of Us. I hope that Uncharted 4 gets the franchise to another level.

My conclusion is: It's a nice game to see, not that great to play.
 

dr_rus

Member
I need to play 3 then. I hate the gun play in Uncharted with a passion, but love the platforming.

UC3's gunplay is worse than UC1 in my opinion. Too many chance encounters, too many waves of enemies, AI is doing some really strange shit sometimes, too many trial and error. I'm closing up UC3 and god I hate it again. The story is rubbish, the gunplay is simply bad, Nate's characterization is questionable at best. Game sure is a looker even on PS4 but that's pretty much the only thing it has going for itself. 2>1>3.
 

wouwie

Member
Almost finished with UC2. Once i got to Nepal, i had a hard time putting the game down (despite playing it so much on PS3 already). From chapter 5 until 24, the game is fantastic. It just flows from scene to scene. I never enjoyed the first few chapters though and i remember not liking the last few chapters either and especially the boss fight (not sure if i'll do that at all tbh) so i'm not looking forward to the rest. But yes, overall a great game and the best in the series.

Edit: nope, not doing the last 2 chapters again. I just watched the ending on youtube.

It's going to be interesting to revisit UC3 next. I don't remember all that much from it and i wasn't impressed at all with it.
 

Ramma2

Member
Playing Uncharted 3, my first time through the series. Why the fuuuck is Drake touching everything like all the time. Oh I am running for my life, balls out, extreme peril, let me just reach out and lovingly caress this wall as I run past.
 

nortonff

Hi, I'm nortonff. I spend my life going into threads to say that I don't care about the topic of the thread. It's a really good use of my time.
Is Uncharted 1 really short? My save is saying like 70% complete and it feels I just started the game. I'm heading for the monastery I think.
 

bosseye

Member
Finished UC1 and UC2, cracking on with UC3 now. Playing them back to back does expose the flaws more I find, although I'm still greatly enjoying them.

One thing I have noticed is 'pointless' puzzles whereby you solve a puzzle, enter a super secret area only to find it just exits somewhere else and the bad guys have all come in the back way - for example, UC1 where you
do the compass puzzle rotating the animals, go into the tomb, through the catacombs/cave system and it just leads up to a gate at the back with nothing really in there
. Or that area in UC3 in the
Chateau where you have to rotate the knights to open the secret passageway in the fireplace - which just leads through a small cave system and comes out in the well
- why the elaborate entrances if there is nothing of worth behind the facade? I've also noticed a lot of times Drake says "I really hope theres another way out!" when trapped behind a one way door. Don't worry Nathan, there always is and the bad guys have all already found it.

I've also (as others have) noticed the lack of hit reactions in UC3, its really quite grating after a while, along with some real bulletsponge tendencies. Its till possible to one shot kill with a headshot, but these guys soak up so much damage with no real reaction and then just drop dead. Its a bizarrre step down from UC2 and even UC1.

I'm also still tired of just how many waves of enemies there are, its especially egregious in UC1 where its a near constant parade of goons coming at you and you think, Christ, just let me enjoy the atmosphere for a few minutes before chucking yet more bad guys my way.

Visually though, they're all great. UC1 holds up remarkably well. UC2 and 3 honestly look astonishingly good at times.

My rating thus far (doubt it will change when I complete UC3): UC2>UC3>UC1
 

Revven

Member
Finished Uncharted 2 on Crushing, now I just gotta go back to UC1 and plat it and then plat UC2 and then I can do my UC3 Crushing run and then plat that.

UC2 on Crushing really isn't as hard as UC1, in fact, it's even easier if you know the consistent strats to completing arenas -- especially towards the end. Stealth is a major part of your success in making combat areas either easier or completing them without worrying about a second or third wave (because you've stealthed through it).

Back on the PS3 I definitely remember it being much harder and I think that's because I didn't try to stealth through some of the harder combat arenas. When you do that, they become pitifully easy especially because you save power weapons because of it.

And despite how little health you have there are still moments where you can go on the offense. Though, of course, it's better to sit behind cover and corner shoot lol (especially in some of the smaller, less open areas).
 
The first is bland, but the third is actively not fun to play. Portions of it feel like genuine experiments in frustration.

I didn't think the first was all that bland, but I sure wouldn't argue about UC3. Still a fan of the game, there are many worse games out there but "genuine experiments in frustration" is a very generous description. I was thinking more like "Ridiculously overdone."
 

Tevious

Member
Currently on Uncharted 2 in my re-playthrough of these games and I've hit a game progression bug on the train.

Here's a video.

Am I missing something or has the game completely fucked up on me? I can't get past that door.
 

Revven

Member
Currently on Uncharted 2 in my re-playthrough of these games and I've hit a game progression bug on the train.

Here's a video.

Am I missing something or has the game completely fucked up on me? I can't get past that door.

Yeah that's... a bug alright. Not sure what you can do if it keeps happening even after reloading the save.

Edit: Alright, new videos uploaded. All these can be helpful to anyone on Crushing/Brutal playthroughs of Uncharted 2:

Chapter 12 Stealth (after you've run from Flynn and his goons) Strategy (I forgot to show pulling down the guy on the roof but you can just pull him down).

Chapter 13 Strategies

Chapter 14 Strategies

Chapter 15 Stealth Strategy

Chapter 25 Stealth Strategy (Area where you use Drake as a counterweight)

Hope you all enjoy and employ them in your playthroughs!
 
Got stuck on the jumping section in chapter 15 last night of uncharted one. Not looking toward to trying it again. My best attempt was dying on the last jump.

Earlier in the game there's a few jumping sections that save your progress. Ugh.
 

DontBlink

Member
First time beating Drake's Fortune and I must say I'm a little disappointed. Granted, going in I though this would be an adventure game with puzzles and treasure hunting but what I got is 70% shooter and I wouldn't call collecting tiny, randomly placed blinking lights any type of hunting.

Also, extremely disappointed with the
monsters
, I was hoping for an actually realistic(within reason) story.

Overall, solid game but just not what I expected.
 
First time beating Drake's Fortune and I must say I'm a little disappointed. Granted, going in I though this would be an adventure game with puzzles and treasure hunting but what I got is 70% shooter and I wouldn't call collecting tiny, randomly placed blinking lights any type of hunting.

Also, extremely disappointed with the
monsters
, I was hoping for an actually realistic(within reason) story.

Overall, solid game but just not what I expected.

Sorry to tell you but these are action-adventure shooters. The puzzles are the best in the 3rd game, but they still aren't a huge focus, and since the pacing in UC3 is kinda effed, there's a large section of the game where it feels like they forgot about puzzles outright.

This ain't Tomb Raider. Hell, Tomb Raider is barely Tomb Raider. :(
 

xrnzaaas

Member
Finished Uncharted 2 yesterday. Daaamn, talk about a quality increase. :) The final boss battle truly sucked and some of the environmental puzzles were lame, but the rest was just superb.
 
The final boss battle truly sucked

tumblr_inline_nwyctw0r8K1scrnsa_500.gif


forever alone on this issue
 
forever alone on this issue

For good reason. Lazaravic isn't a satisfying boss battle.


It's not an issue specific to Uncharted though. Most of these story driven action-adventure games end poorly, most shooter campaigns in general. Unless the game has action game overtones like RE4 + Vanquish or goes for a more smartly built emotional ending like TLOU where the traditional boss encounter is subverted, the game usually doesn't stick the landing. Uncharted 3 had the right idea, but again I don't think the execution was all the way there.

"Suddenly, bullet sponge" is a really cheap and unfulfilling way to finish these kinds of games. The whole Lazaravic encounter should've probably been worked into
Shambhala collapsing and the escape sequence.
Just make one big cathartic final set piece and skip the mandatory final boss challenge. If the game prides itself on adventure movie scenarios and pacing, don't get bogged down in "Hit the thing three times to save the princess in another castle" syndrome.
 
For good reason. Lazaravic isn't a good boss battle.

It's not an issue specific to Uncharted though. Most of these story driven action-adventure games end poorly, most shooter campaigns in general. Unless the game has action game overtones like RE4 + Vanquish or goes for a more smartly built emotional ending like TLOU where the traditional boss encounter is subverted, the game usually doesn't stick the landing.

Uncharted 3 had the right idea, but again I don't think the execution was all the way there. "Suddenly, bullet sponge" is a really cheap and unfulfilling way to finish these kinds of games. The whole Lazaravic encounter should've probably been worked into Shambhala collapsing and the escape sequence. Just make one big cathartic final set piece and skip the mandatory final boss challenge. If the game prides itself on adventure movie scenarios and pacing, don't get bogged down in "Hit the thing three times to save the princess in another castle" syndrome.

UC3's final boss is QTE melee garbage. At least Lavaravic is dynamic, leverages the core mechanics, has a progression of elements (grenades, reduced resin), demands a unique skill set with those mechanics (quickly stringing together nonstop climbing and shooting according to accurate spacial awareness), and contains no real "cheap" elements (this fight has adds written all over it and I honestly don't know how they held themselves back from using them).

Totally not saying it's amazing or anything, but for an Uncharted boss I think it's inoffensive, fair, and not too frustrating. On a scale of Bed of Chaos to Senator Armstrong, I'd say it's about a King Dodongo.
 
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