My impressions and screens
http://boards.ign.com/ps3_general_board/b8267/153775949/p1/?6
Well, after the hoopla about the demo's region lock, and Naughty Dog being a class act enough to sort it within a single day, I finally managed to get the thing downloaded. And have since played through the demo 3 times! So here are some impressions from me in regards to the much awaited demo.
Graphics and technical merit:
Well, need I really say much? Gorgeous. Really takes the bar to a new level in regards to console gaming. Some things are still a bit iffy, like the shape and composition of some of the tree's, some of the grass, the shape of some of the geometry and...well....that's about it lol. I'm sure I'll think of something later tongue The textures, sublime. Even up close and personal things look vivid, rich and detailed. The game is also pretty much jag free so everything looks slick and smooth. Lighting? Fantastic. Some of the best in the biz. Beams of light will filter through between leaves, and dynamically move with the sway of the leaves, effect the surroundings and Drake too. Light refracts and bounces off just about everything, casting what can only be described as again, some of the best shadows in any console game. Shadows are superlative and ultra realistic. With soft edging, great detail and accuracy and are also adaptive to the surroundings and objects. There's self shadowing galore as well. Even on the back pack he loses on the tree! Geometry is just fabulous and really varied. No wall, rock or enclave looks the same. With enough indentations, texture variations, wear, tear, erosions, moss, vegetation growth and geometrical anomalies to make every part of the level look unique and totally believable.
Drake's animations, and those of the enemies are excellent too, if a little exaggerated. Facial expressions are some of the best this gen as well, evoking emotion, believable personality and soul. The way Drake moves, climbs, reloads, runs and jumps, it's all very polished and adds that extra layer of functionality and realism. When Drake lunges for a close combat blow, you really feel the power behind it, when he leaps from different walls, gasps for air, struggles through deep water or thick bushes, grasps on to edges with all his might and so on. The game does an excellent job of giving the user adequate feedback for everything you do.
The physics are a mixed bag depending on how much you value artistic direction and aesthetic. Water physics are great, drudge through water and you'll leave a ripple (the deeper the water the more you'll struggle). Jump in the water, and again you've leave a small ripple, the extent of visibility to which depends on the angle of lighting and amount of opposing resistance from the currents formed by the waterfall. The way Drake gets wet when making contact with water, and depending on how deep he's in the water is a great little touch. The drenched heavy, slippery, added weight of being wet is mimicked very well. Explosions are one area where opinions will differ. Personally, I think they are pretty lacklustre. The plume of smoke they emit is nice, almost volumetric in nature. But the actual explosion is just naff. I realise they went with a comic book like artistry, but imo it should have been more realistic. The physics of the actual enemies in reaction to being shot or blown up are again very good, but quite exaggerated. A grenade WILL launch enemies quite a way, and shoot a guy down and he'll fling away with great force. Overall, the physics are very well implemented and offer a great element of feedback.
Sound:
The sound score, while not especially varied (naturally as it's only a short demo) works well to build suspense and/or intrigue. Suits the game well. Sound effects are really well done. Fire arms all have a gratifying kick to them. The handgun is punchy, the shotgun gives off a terrifying boom and the AK a deadly kick and snap. Reloading sounds are equally gratifying and very well recorded. Voice work is great. Drake is genuinely funny and humane, and all the enemies are believable. Some might find some of his witty remarks rather cheesy, but I like his humorous every man persona.
Gameplay:
First off, the controls are on the whole very successful, making every jump, shot, punch or leap feel satisfying. That's the thing that makes the game for me. Everything feels satisfying and fun. The feedback you get from firing the different weapons draws you in to wanting to engage the enemies. But the clever AI ensures that you don't do so in a frenzied run and gun manner but actually take your time and use some element of strategy. The enemies will duck, dive, hide, crouch, drop to their stomachs, flank you, charge you and more. And what's better is they work in tandem with their team mates. Spend too long in a fire fight with one batch of enemies, the next batch will try and pin you from your side unexpectedly. This for the most part keeps you on your toes, with your wits about you, or behind cover a lot.
The SIXAXIS log control is a bit basic in implementation. Sure it's fine. But it gets such a minimal amount of use that it has little impact. It does work well though. The cover and aim mechanics are very similar to GoW's. If you've played GoW chances are you will feel right at home with uncharted. Simple but effective controls, though they might take a bit of getting used to for those inexperienced with the whole cover and shoot gameplay mechanic. The good thing about Uncharted is that it doesn't have the degree of auto-aim many other similar games have. So it's much harder to land a headshot. On top of that, just skimming an enemies head won't kill them, but will act as only a glancing blow. So you need to have a precise aim to get a proper headshot, which makes getting one all the more rewarding.
One area of gameplay that imo isn't quite as polished is the hand to hand combat. Which is again satisfying, and very nice to watch, but ultimately could do with more work. The main things about the melee combat that I dislike are one being the fact that it's very hard to get in to a melee fight when the enemies hound you will a hail of bullets that can kill you ion next to no time. So just getting to the enemy can be a task, unless you wait for them behind cover. The other part of the close combat that's a little iffy is the randomness of it. I'm not sure if it was my inexperience, but I wasn't entirely sure what combinations constituted what attacks. You randomly chain together attacks in the hopes of pulling of a decent finishing move, every now and again being countered by the enemy. The game needs to do more to teach us what combo's do what and why, and how we can do more successful chains.
The brief moments of traversal and platforming are really convincing. And I hope there's a lot more of these elements in the final game because the demo is too shooting focused. That said, I recently watched and interview where the devs said it was nearly an even split, so I'm confident the final game will give me the decent amount of traversal and puzzle solving that I so want from this game.
All in all, excellent demo. I was pleasantly surprised as the demo played better than I thought it would. There's nothing revolutionary in the actual gameplay mechanics here. It's stuff we've seen before, but with added polish and thrown in with amazing visuals and a crazy amount of technical wizardry along with a truly engrossing atmosphere and style. The game is satisfying, the controls functional, characters believable and ultimately, the game is fun. So it gets my nod of approval and off the merits of the demo alone, seems to be a definite must buy.
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Now for the screens. grin
SEE IGN LINK FOR THESE, THERE'S 27 OF THEM!
