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Uncharted |OT|

E

Eric_S

Member
So I've had a chance of having a go at this game today for a couple of hours, and it's a blast! And not to mention good looking, a few oversights aside.

For example, it seems like they do soft shadows by "dotting" the edges of the shadowmap. This + a far away enough camera ==> fako soft shadow that looks decent enough, a really neat trick. Unfortunately somebody forgot the camera distace aspect during the map scene in the nazi sub. And to continue, before entering the sub, you can spot some "texture trees", nothing wrong with that, except that theese shouldn't be so close due to nonexistant detail.

Just goes to show what an metric ass-ton of work that goes into a game, and just imagine all of the "cheats" that they did right, that you don't notice.

All in all, hats off to Naughty dog. Buy this game.
 
Nizz

Nizz

Member
I'm at the level called Sanctuary I believe. It's been too long since I've played an action/adventure game, and this is good fun! I'm not sure how far along in the game I am exactly, but it's been pretty good so far. This is one of the very few games that can pull me away from COD 4. Good stuff :D
 
L

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Eric said:
For example, it seems like they do soft shadows by "dotting" the edges of the shadowmap. This + a far away enough camera ==> fako soft shadow that looks decent enough, a really neat trick.
Click to expand...
I noticed this as well, and noticed it at another place too. Now that you mentioned it, I went back and studied shadows a bit more. It looks like softness from shadows cast by dynamic lights are done this way, using dithering. The only thing is, such lights are mostly used in dark areas, such as lights that Sully and Drake carry around, and the shadows are projected on the walls which are very detailed, so the dithering just kinda blends in and you can't really tell it's there. You can see it if you really look for it, especially if the soft area becomes very big, like it's in that cutscene you mentioned. Moving camera away back and forth doesn't make any difference - the dithering is always the same, as it needs to be to prevent moire.

However, Shadows generated by regular daylight, such as that of canopy above you and such don't use this dithering, but instead, the normal blurry softness is there. It's good because it would be very aggravating to see that dithering in shadows on Drake every time you pull the gun up to shoot.

dark_preacher said:
finally got around to finishing this.

it has the fahrenheit syndrome pretty bad. awesome game till the end then it goes all wonky and retarded.
Click to expand...
The things that happen at the end of the game were foreshadowed far ahead and it's a standard and expected resolution in the realm of pulp stories, Indana Jones movies etc.

That cannot be compared to Fahrenheit, which smacked you over the head with stuff that was completely nonsensical, came out of nowhere, and lasted for a good third of the game, leading from one nonsense to another, each bigger than the next. Having said that, I absolutely loved first 2/3 of Fahrenheit :p
 
J

jepjepjep

Member
Wow, the first 85% of the game was awesome. After that, the wind kink of blew out of my sails. I thought the game was really well done until then. Oh well, I guess the devs can't please everyone.

Quick noob question: how do I add spoiler tags??
 
G

GasMan

Member
Absolutely loved this. Completed it at the weekend there and loved every single minute of it. Few head scratching moments with some plot ideas in the last quarter but overall an enjoyable adventure and one of the first games I've completed in a long time.
 
T

TylerPwnsYou1986

Banned
jepjepjep said:
Wow, the first 85% of the game was awesome. After that, the wind kink of blew out of my sails. I thought the game was really well done until then. Oh well, I guess the devs can't please everyone.

Quick noob question: how do I add spoiler tags??
Click to expand...


Read the FAQ you damn Junior Member...
 
D

deepbrown

Member
jett said:
Looking at that bullshit US number I can already guess where these "sales numbers" are from.
Click to expand...
Why bull? In comparison to Euro? It's really taken off in Euro...it has legs!

BTW if the numbers are true - Uncharted has sold better than both Mass Effect and Bioshock for their comparative install bases. PS3 am not failed?
 
C

Ceb

Member
Ignoring the bogus numbers, I still think it's interesting that Uncharted has most likely performed better in Europe than it has done in the US (so far). I expected the opposite to happen.
 
D

deepbrown

Member
Ceb said:
Ignoring the bogus numbers, I still think it's interesting that Uncharted has most likely performed better in Europe than it has done in the US (so far). I expected the opposite to happen.
Click to expand...
Nah, no bald space marines.
 
D

deepbrown

Member
jett said:
Because we got the NPD total which puts the game at around 300k :p
Click to expand...
Ah ok. Well Vg Catz always update with NPD info....soooo I don't know why they'd keep it at an inaccurate number. ANYWAY, moving on!!!
 
D

deepbrown

Member
deepbrown said:
Well there was always talk about PS3 exclusives not selling compared to 360 exclusive. Can we now see that's untrue??? If we compare Uncharted, Mass Effect and Bioshock...
Click to expand...
ME - 9% install base
Bioshock - 9% install base
Uncharted - 12% install base.
 
mr stroke

mr stroke

Member
Finnally got a chance to play this today and WOW, I am almost ashamed of myself for not picking this game up on launch. I am not really a Tomb raider fan so I stayed away from this thinking it would be a TR clone, and even though the story is about as run of the mill as you could get, I loved it. Started the game this afternoon and played all the way through till the end(which was a little let down for such an amazing game)...
Uncharted 2 please, but take it out of the island and into a huge city please.
 
K

keyrat

Member
I really enjoyed the game, but I really thought the plot could have been better, especially where it goes at the end.

They could have at least given some kind of theory as to WHY the thing was cursed. It's almost like Drake finds out there's zombies going around and he doesn't even bat an eyelid.

The game as a whole was great fun, though.
 
H

hukasmokincaterpillar

Member
keyrat said:
I really enjoyed the game, but I really thought the plot could have been better, especially where it goes at the end.

They could have at least given some kind of theory as to WHY the thing was cursed. It's almost like Drake finds out there's zombies going around and he doesn't even bat an eyelid.

The game as a whole was great fun, though.
Click to expand...

Huh, I actually rather liked the ambiguity there. They seemed to be alluding to more of a
biological/viral origin than a mystical one, which is pretty grounded as far as pulp adventure curses go (or zombies). I also appreciated Navarro intending to sell it as a weaponized agent, instead of some "taking over the world with my magical statue of doom" riff.

It wasn't groundbreaking storytelling or anything, but I thought it was tightly executed all the way through.
 
S

Spoit

Member
Salazar said:
Finally playing the game. I still wish GAF would shut up about it, but it is quite good.
Click to expand...
Yes, I'll admit that I'm usually the first one to right the anti-UDF flag, but I do have to admit it's the best PS3 game I've played, and is defiantly a solid 9. The graphics are definately not bad, if not as unbelievable as everyone on GAF keeps trying to insist it is, though I've only gotten to the jetski part, but the water effects really isn't all that and a piece of cake (except for maybe that clothes stuff).
 
E

Elbrain

Suckin' dicks since '66
keyrat said:
I really enjoyed the game, but I really thought the plot could have been better, especially where it goes at the end.

They could have at least given some kind of theory as to WHY the thing was cursed. It's almost like Drake finds out there's zombies going around and he doesn't even bat an eyelid.

The game as a whole was great fun, though.
Click to expand...

Dude same thing as Raiders of the Lost Ark just leave it be man can't go investigating shit like that! It can piss
Gods of man.
 
Xenon

Xenon

Member
hukasmokincaterpillar said:
Huh, I actually rather liked the ambiguity there. They seemed to be alluding to more of a
biological/viral origin than a mystical one, which is pretty grounded as far as pulp adventure curses go (or zombies). I also appreciated Navarro intending to sell it as a weaponized agent, instead of some "taking over the world with my magical statue of doom" riff.

It wasn't groundbreaking storytelling or anything, but I thought it was tightly executed all the way through.
Click to expand...


Couldn't agree more, some things are better left unexplained*

I really loved the game by the time I finished it. I had almost zero interest in it other than figuring out what all the fuss was about when I downloaded the demo. I even almost wrote it off after playing the demo due to the controls. Then they clicked but I still wasn't feeling the characters. After playing the demo 4-5 times and considering I had zero games for my new PS3, I picked it up. They did such a great job of setting up everything in the full version. Its a shame they just didnt include the first couple levels in the demo. I think it would have pulled more people in.

As far as story, consistency, and difficulty scaling go I would say this game is one the best out there. It was cool that the
Morlocks came late and they didn't just try to lengthen the game with them.

I still have a few issues with it. The platforming was pretty easy, still fun though. The puzzles were at a pre-K level. I hated the "little shiny light" hidden treasures. Most of them were just sitting on the ground, slightly out of the way. This is next gen, render that shit.

I hope this game has legs because I MUST have a sequel!






*
see Highlander II
 
X

xS1TH L0RDx

Banned
dark_preacher said:
finally got around to finishing this.

it has the fahrenheit syndrome pretty bad. awesome game till the end then it goes all wonky and retarded.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I just finished the game on monday night and I would've given it a 10, but once I came across
those stupid cursed spaniards that turned into monsters
I was really let down. I really think they could've left that whole thing out of the game and it still would've been a great title.

I died so much at the end too. The game isn't hard at all, but towards the end the AI just becomes incredibly cheap. Throughout most of the firefights in the game, you die if you suck. At the end, you die if you don't memorize patters and enemy locations. It was really lame.

Still, despite my feelings of being letdown towards the end of the game, I can't ignore how much fun the first 3/4's of the game is. Definitely my favorite single player experience on ps3 so far.

Edit:
deepbrown said:
ME - 9% install base
Bioshock - 9% install base
Uncharted - 12% install base.
Click to expand...

it's a shame about bioshock, but mass effect sucks.
 
L

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
jett said:
Oh, nice! I did say around though. :p
Click to expand...
I think the game was at 370-something K at the end of january in the US. Should be 400K by now. According to ND's Lemarchand the game is indeed selling better in Europe.

Spoit said:
though I've only gotten to the jetski part, but the water effects really isn't all that and a piece of cake (except for maybe that clothes stuff).
Click to expand...
Swimming and running through the water feels and looks really great. Very few games get the swimming to look and feel right, or even just running through the water (so that it doesn't feel like you're just running on the ground with a transparent plane clipping through your characters legs). Just compare it with swimming in God of War for example... Water splashes on the other hand don't look very good. They look better during the swimming, but they use the same splashes for the Jetski and it just doesn't look like it's enough or particularity realistic.
 
S

Spoit

Member
Marconelly said:
Swimming and running through the water feels and looks really great. Very few games get the swimming to look and feel right, or even just running through the water (so that it doesn't feel like you're just running on the ground with a transparent plane clipping through your characters legs). Just compare it with swimming in God of War for example... Water splashes on the other hand don't look very good. They look better during the swimming, but they use the same splashes for the Jetski and it just doesn't look like it's enough or particularity realistic.
Click to expand...
Wait there's swiming? the only water areas I rember were just shallow water he walked through, or the insta-death kind. Is that later in the game? The shaders are admitedly not bad, but it really just looks like a texturing trick, with no real interaction other than the clothes getting wet or some other geometry getting shiney
 
M

Madman

Member
Spoit said:
Wait there's swiming? the only water areas I rember were just shallow water he walked through, or the insta-death kind. Is that later in the game? The shaders are admitedly not bad, but it really just looks like a texturing trick, with no real interaction other than the clothes getting wet or some other geometry getting shiney
Click to expand...
You must have only played it for a very short while if you never swam. The
submarine section
had swimming.
 
T

TTP

Have a fun! Enjoy!
Spoit said:
Wait there's swiming? the only water areas I rember were just shallow water he walked through, or the insta-death kind. Is that later in the game? The shaders are admitedly not bad, but it really just looks like a texturing trick, with no real interaction other than the clothes getting wet or some other geometry getting shiney
Click to expand...

You missed the ripples as well.
 
S

Spoit

Member
Madman said:
You must have only played it for a very short while if you never swam. The
submarine section
had swimming.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, I forgot about that, it must have been overshadowed by the fustration of dieing as soon as touching the water in the waterfall section right before that.
 
B

BeeDog

Member
Spoit said:
Oh yeah, I forgot about that, it must have been overshadowed by the fustration of dieing as soon as touching the water in the waterfall section right before that.
Click to expand...

Wait, are you serious?
 
L

Lord Error

Insane For Sony
Spoit said:
Wait there's swiming? the only water areas I rember were just shallow water he walked through, or the insta-death kind. Is that later in the game? The shaders are admitedly not bad, but it really just looks like a texturing trick, with no real interaction other than the clothes getting wet or some other geometry getting shiney
Click to expand...
Yeah... there's swimming. You can swim in a small underground lake prior to the level with waterfalls, and you can swim on the level with the submarine, and then inside the submarine. I wasn't talking about just how things look, but how it feels and animates while swimming. Very few games do that well. Try swimming and then changing directions around while in water in Uncharted, then pop GoW2 in for instance, and try the same, it's like a night and day. Same with running through the water - it's about nuances, but when you walk through water in games it rarely feels any different than walking on the plan ground.
 
K

Kittonwy

Banned
brandonh83 said:
God the bunker fight music is so awesome.
Click to expand...

Probably my favorite OST at the moment.
Indifferent2.gif
 
M

Mau ®

Member
Interesting how it has performed quite well in Europe, as opposed to its not-as-high-as-expected performance in the US.

I dunno if its the marketing or what but SCEE appears to be better at introducing new IPs like Singstar or Eye Toy software than SCEA. Both titles made no impact on the US yet they are mega-franchises in Europe.
 
Everdred

Everdred

Member
Just beat it this weekend. Game is awesome, but definitely a rental. Fairly short and no real reason to replay it. It's one of those games that will be fun to play again a year later, but not good for immediate replays.
 
K

Kittonwy

Banned
strange_booj said:
Just beat it this weekend. Game is awesome, but definitely a rental. Fairly short and no real reason to replay it. It's one of those games that will be fun to play again a year later, but not good for immediate replays.
Click to expand...

I found going after the medals was a lot of fun, probably why I replayed the game multiple times right away, if you haven't played the game on crushing you really should, it's alot more challenging, I found it's the kind of the game that one can replay right away and not feel burned out at all.
Indifferent2.gif
 
S

Spoit

Member
inthezone said:
Interesting how it has performed quite well in Europe, as opposed to its not-as-high-as-expected performance in the US.

I dunno if its the marketing or what but SCEE appears to be better at introducing new IPs like Singstar or Eye Toy software than SCEA. Both titles made no impact on the US yet they are mega-franchises in Europe.
Click to expand...

Which is kinda disapointing, since it's really the only PS3 title I can remember being extensively advertised on TV (in the US)
 
G

Grayman

Member
Spoit said:
Which is kinda disapointing, since it's really the only PS3 title I can remember being extensively advertised on TV (in the US)
Click to expand...
In Canada it was advertised about the same as heavenly sword, more than warhawk and less than multiplat like cod4 and assassin's creed.
 
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