Uncharted 3 looks amazing. The sheer level of detail is immense. I don’t pretend to know the technical details behind game lighting, but even a layman such as myself can see that the lighting in Uncharted 3 is stunning. It looks real, imitating the effect of having to expose a camera for indoors when the sunlight outside is really bright and the slight adjustment when going from one light to another is much like a good camera or your own eyes. The environments also look great, though there is a tendency to colour code climbable ledges that somewhat detracts from the design of a building.
Still, even if the design can’t cover up the fact that environments are exceptionally convenient, few games look this good. This is re-enforced by a staggering attention to detail in the animation of the characters, most notably Nate. Nate has so many contextual animations he almost seems a real person, he touches walls and surfaces he walks past without looking at them, he looks around freely taking in his environment and regardless of his athletic prowess, trips and stumbles when least expected. It’s almost jarring because you don’t feel as in control as you do when controlling a character with a set running animation but the end result really helps to cement your attachment to Nathan Drake.
Liking the characters in Uncharted (or disliking them accordingly) is fundamental to the experience. All the main characters are back as is the light banter and though the incessant quipping is almost too much, the dialogue is often funny or charming enough to forgive its over use. In the opening tutorial section we are treated to some well needed context for Nate and Sully’s relationship and surprisingly it is a real pleasure to find out their origins. I’ve always liked Sully but wondered why Nate has an ageing partner/mentor who seems less smart and less capable. Now the relationship works better and illuminates some nice moments in the previous games, especially concerning Sully’s sordid past. Alongside the character development is a great yarn concerning (no surprises here) Sir Francis Drake’s mysterious hoard that takes Nate and co globe trotting from London (cor blimey governor) to Yemen.
Complimenting the surprisingly good story is an exceptional cast of voice actors headed once again by gaming developer favourite Nolan North. I find Nolan North to be very one note, but for me that note is Nathan Drake. North’s wit is perfect for Drake’s cheeky, lovable rogue character, it is just such a shame that he is used for boring characters like Desmond Miles and the Prince in Prince of Persia. Richard McGonagale and Claudia Black are once again on perfect form as Sully and Chloe respectively but for me Emily Rose shines as Elena, delivering a genuine and emotional relationship with Nate. Accompanying the excellent voice work is a solid sound scape of foley and artillery and an excellent score. The main Uncharted theme is back and as rousing as ever, always making me take a moment to appreciate it before pressing start.
The gameplay is largely unchanged from the first two games, balancing platforming, cover based shooting and hand to hand combat. Fist fighting has been significantly upgraded, utilising counters and throws as well as straight attacks. It still isn’t a great combat system but it works and the game forces you to use it by having much more forward enemy AI. My main criticism of the hand to hand fighting is how crappy Nate’s kung fu is. I don’t expect him to be Tony Jaa but he swings his punches like a child at times. But this is just the niggle of someone who has watched WAY too many kung fu films.
The fundamental fact is that the gameplay is fun and minor tweaks like grenade counters improve on an already polished formula. It is how the gameplay interacts with the level design that is so impressive. Platforming is especially surprising as solid looking hand holds crack, bend or just plain fall away. Perhaps Nathan Drake has put on weight, as this seems to happen a lot more than in the previous games. Still, it adds to a sense of realism and danger to Nate’s monkey like climbing abilities.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has a lot to live up to as Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an incredible and near-perfect game.
I cant even say what the point was its easily the worst story in the series. The online was a whole lot of fun though but overall doesn't come even close to 2
It was a step back for sure. Personally, I thought even the MP was way better in U2. Solid game, glad I played it. I just think they didn't push as hard as they did with U2.
The "young Drake" portion was pretty top notch, story-wise. But yeah, everything outside of that I felt was inferior.
Villains were all over the place in this… one second they wanted Drake dead, the next they needed him, then they want him dead again, then they coulda killed him, but poisoned his friend instead, then coulda shot him again, but had brunch with him, then needed him alive, then coulda mowed him down, but decided to kill him by fire and let him escape… Uncharted 2 was way better. 😅😅
=D Sounds crazy. I don't remember any of that. Played it on ps3 and I remember thinking that why was this game so bashed compared to second one. I liked it.
Another thing that annoyed me about UC3 events was the agent Talbot teleporting around Turkey. It just felt off to me, and made no sense.
Also, for about one third of the game, you go on a wild goose chase to rescue Sully, who wasn't even there to be rescued, and you end up back where you started again. There was simply no pay off for all the events you go through, so it fell flat in that regard as if they couldn't figure out how to make the game longer, so they decided to side-track you to do something with no pay off, hoping you wouldn't notice due to all the incredible action set pieces they made.
Overall though, even with its flaws, I still enjoy the game.
This was actually my least favorite in the series. Didn't have that same impact that part 2 set.
Uncharted 2 is the pinnacle of the series (to me).
Granted, 4 had the best story in my opinion, but 2 was the overall best game.
A decade after its release, how does Uncharted 3 fare today? Does its story still work? Was its precursor’s legacy a bedrock or quicksand for its own aspirations?
Replies(2)When arguably the weakest game in the series is still awesome and more fun than most games today, you know you're onto a winner!
I'd extend "arguably" before awesome too. Many technically demanding scenes were jaw-dropping for the time, but it's tough to ignore the sub-par context propelling the action forward.
Tough for you, perhaps, and that's fine. I enjoyed it very much. Perhaps a little less than the others in the series, but then the bar is extremely high.
I remember being blown away by the water and sand tech in U3 for the time too. It certainly was a visual treat!
It is very good, but when I originally played Uncharted 3 it was the most disappointed I'd ever been in a video-game because Uncharted 2 was just that good. I enjoyed 3 much more when I replayed it in the Nathan Drake Collection though. I could just enjoy it for what it is and accept that it's not Uncharted 2 - it's not a roller coaster, and it doesn't balance and rotate between action, puzzles, platforming and set-pieces in the same way.
Uncharted 3's gameplay is a bit more compartmentalized and focused on one thing at a time. I'm not surprised the scrapped version of Uncharted 4 was going to have no gunplay for the first half. It's also paced much differently - it takes a long time to get to the notable set-pieces. Uncharted 2 is insane from Nepal onwards which is about an hour into the game. haha.
I did like the introduction of chase sequences, and I love first hour (bar fight, young Drake) and from the airplane sequence onwards but I just think the rest of it just sort of meanders along without as much purpose as 2.
When it comes to the script, you can feel the absence of Neil Druckmann and Josh Scherr (writer on every other console Uncharted game). Drake gets hit in the face, and the game goes on a random side plot for an hour to give you some boat set-pieces. He then washes up on a beach close to where Elena is staying to get you back to the real plot. Drake just says "How convenient" to try make you laugh off how sloppy the plot got.
In retrospect, I'm not sure if Naughty Dog were ready to work on 2 different games at once. 3 clearly had production issues that 1 and 2 didn't have, and Hennig's version of 4 didn't work out. They had to crunch so hard to get the rebooted version done on time that Bruce Straley gave up making video-games.
I'll give you some props for the extra analysis. I remember Druckmann climbing his way to a writer spot in UC2, but wasn't aware of Josh Scherr. I didn't know that was the reason for Straley's departure either. That's pretty damn rough.
They had to make some weird choices as far as story went because the actor for Cutter had to bail which left a few holes in the story.
Uncharted is one of my favourite series and while the leap from 2 to 3 was not nearly as big as the leap from 1 to 2, I think it was an amazing experience none the less.
Graham McTavish's departure wasn't easy, but I don't think that would fix many holes tbh. Because the main issue to consider is the precarious mindset Naughty Dog was operating on: an increased emphasis in set pieces that HAD to go in and worrying about the context later.
I really liked part 3 ( Among Thieves is still the best in my opinion) My only complaint was the interactions with the villains and how they were a missed opportunity, Linda MacMahon (Marlowe) was an interesting antagonist due to the history with Sully and Nate but it fails basically flat especially with her ending. And I couldn't care about Navaro 2.0.
What I did love and made me care was Cutter, in the short time he was in the game you could feel that the guy was a good treasure hunter for example when he pulled his own notebook with the clues he founds so the team can escape a room.
It was a small touch that add a lot to the character.
I have mixed feelings on the series. I still own all of them on the PS3, and the collection for PS4, but I didn't truly "love" any of the games until 4.
They're good games, but they always stumble on some element.
The first is good, but the climbing mechanics weren't exactly fine tuned with the first showing. Not to mention the spongey enemies if you played on anything past normal; but you're then faced with a fairly unchallenging game experience.
The second mostly fixed the climbing, but added in a pretty clumsy stealth mechanic.
Three was just two with a new story.
Four got it right though.
I don't remember once getting annoyed by any mechanic had in the game.
I know that everyone has a soft spot for 2, and 3 is sort of the black sheep of the series; but they did, overall, get progressively better. Which doesn't always happen.
KeenGamer: "Which Uncharted game is the best? Uncharted is widely recognized as one of the most groundbreaking and consistently great franchises in gaming. For both long-time fans and newcomers to this action-adventure classic, here’s a ranking of the franchise’s four main games."
No Golden Abyss -_-, otherwise I agree with the order.
UC2: Best overall
UC4: Best graphics, best gameplay, best locations, best environements
UC3: Best set pieces IMO (the boat and desert fights will always be amazing)
UC1: A rough Draft of what was to come
UCGA: Basically UC1 on Vita
Great list and great article nicely writen and explained. Although for me personaly i would put Drakes Fortune above Drake’s Deception and Uncharted 4 is absolutely my favourite of the franchise and number 1 for me.
U2 is the only game playable on crushing without causing a great amount of frustration. Not to mention just how much influence it had that they redid some of U2s set pieces like the caravan twice, and armored truck chase in U4.
I'd rate it as the following.
1.) Uncharted 2
(Close to perfection of any game I've played in years. Single Player/Multiplayer/Co Op all amazing.)
2.) Uncharted 3
(On par with UC2 multiplayer/co op wise minus the kickbacks [aka killstreaks]. I really liked the Lawrence of Arabia story.)
3.) Uncharted 4
(Single player is amazing. Multiplayer was meh. Co Op had potential. Absolutely hated the health revive system it slowed down the game way too much. Always preferred the fast pace action of UC2/UC3. Made it way more fun that way. Recoil was too ridiculous that most people in lobbies would only do hip firing, using power weapons and using that OP grappling hook to melee people after dropping them. Nobody wanted to revive anyone.)
4.) Uncharted
(It's the first in the series so it's hard to judge. Though I loved the story.)
I agree here but it’s also a series you can play from front to back and truly enjoy. Story-wise, they are all great and flow so well. I wish they threw both Golden Abyss and Lost Legacy on this list. Lost Legacy is the best mechanically in my opinion. You can see it’s stepping stone framework for TLOUS2.
uncharted 2 is one of the few games that actually surpassed its pre-release hype.
I am a single player gamer...I barely ever touch a multiplayer component. The only exceptions over the years have been the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer, TLOU factions, and the Uncharted 2 multiplayer. The Uncharted 2 multiplayer saw me spend more time playing it than all my other multiplayer experiences over the years combined. That game really was a masterpiece all around.
I agree completely, those are all stellar MP experiences, coming from another SP gamer who only occasionally gives MP some time.
Come to think of it, the step between Uncharted 1 and Uncharted 2 is huge. It goes from the weakest in the series to one of the best games ever made.
I think I'm going to play all of them again soon.
is multiplayer still up for the remastered trilogy? or did it never have UC2 mp?
Enjoyable review with some fine details. It's cool to see how well the animations have progressed in the UC series.
I liked that review. I also liked the perfect score you gave ;) Deserving game.
10.0 Gameplay
10.0 Online
this review just lost all credibility
You don't mention the poor shooting mechanics of the game, nor do you mention within your labelling of "10.0" for online and "10.0" for Graphics that the multiplayer features a substantial downgrade from the singleplayer in regards to graphics. It frustrates me that people are so easily blinded by fantastic singleplayer graphics and animations that they cant see the games flaws. The shooting within the Uncharted franchise suffers from being bland, and incredibly so. Sure, it does its job, but does it stand toe to toe with the Combat of Gears of War and such? No, it does not. And before people begin criticising me, take away the graphics and what is Uncharted other than an original rather generic third person shooter?
This game is awesome. Period.
There are some flaws, of course, as EVERY games in the world.
If some people think the shooting mechanics are broker, probably they must stick to more traditional shooting mechanics like Gears (I enjoy that game too). Plain and simple.