Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Y'know how I said I normally reserve my picks for game of the year till the last Sunday of a year? Well, seems I should have followed my rule this year, as Uncharted 3 shows us it's never to late in the year to deliver an action packed, but also emotionally stirring story to our consoles. So, this week, no proclaimations of GotY, just a review of a truly amazing game, made by a group of talented people.

STORY
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception puts players in the shoes of proffessional explorer/treasure hunter/thief, Nathan Drake, as he and his mentor, Victor Sullivan, follow the clues left by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and Sir Francis Drake, to find Iram of the pillars; a legendary lost city, also known as the Atlantis of the Sands.

Also searching for this lost civilisation, is Katherine Marlowe, an older woman who had a hand in Sully and Drake's initial partnership, who's search for Iram of the Pillars is much more sinister than anyone knows.

The story is well written, with very human characters who are very easy to like. Victor Sullivan in particular feels like that hilarious, rough around the edges uncle that everyone loves. Conversely, the villains are all suitably dispicable, and you'll find yourselves rooting for the heroes til the very end.

Uncharted 3 seems to focus more on the relationships between these loveable characters, and it just makes them even more memorable. The actual adventure at hand benefits greatly from the new knowledge that we get regarding Drake and Sully's relationship.

PRESENTATION
Uncharted 3 is without a doubt the best looking game I've seen this year. Character animations are all very lifelike; Nathan runs his hand along the temple walls as he walks near them, or stumbles wearily down the sand dunes of the Rub' al Khali desert. Little touches like these make the game feel very cinematic.

The lighting effects and other environmental effects, such as water and sand, all look very cool. As Drake walks across sand, his foot leaves a realistic imprint, and the sand falls down slopes in the dunes as you might expect it to in real life. The water effects from the previous titles remain, and it's cool to see Drake's clothing get wet only where it touched water.

The voice acting is top notch, with Nolan North, Richard McGonagle and Emily Rose reprising thier roles as Nathan Drake, Sully and Elena Fisher respectively. Rosalind Ayres and Robin Atkin Downes (Capelli- Resistance 3) do brilliantly as the bad guys, Katherine Marlowe and Talbot as well.

GAMEPLAY
The gameplay of Uncharted remains mostly unchanged, but you know what they say, why change a good thing? And let's face it, Uncharted 2 is one of the best games to hit this current console generation. What Uncharted 3 brings to the table are the same solid mechanics, just fine tuned a little.

The biggest improvement in the gameplay department concern the melee combat of Uncharted. In U2, the melee combat, while good, was often neglected do to it's near uselessness in armed combat. In Uncharted 3, however, I found myself ignoring the guns in favour of fisticuffs when things got a little too close for comfort. This may be due to the more intuitive reversal/strike system, or the new special moves available. Pulling a grenade pin from an enemy's grenade strap and kicking them away while they panic and fumble for the active explosive is really satisfying, as is using a wrench on a nearby table to whack a guy over the skull.

The gunplay is still very solid, with a more vertical feeling in some sections; with Drake literally fighting up walls while climbing them. The variety of guns available is interesting, and they all feel pretty different to each other, making your choice of firearm somewhat more meaningful.

The platforming is also as solid as ever, but I often found myself looking at the beautiful scenery instead of moving, which would occasionally lead to a death. No matter, however, as the checkpoints are often very reasonably spaced together.

The only real complaint I have about Uncharted 3's gameplay is the return of the stealth sections. While it's entirely possible to just open fire on a pack of goons and bypass the whole annoying thing, I personally like to play games the way the're meant to be played. So if I see a stealth section, I expect it to be reasonable to do it without being spotted. Uncharted 3's foes, however, possess some kind of foresight and super hearing, so that when one of them so much as catches a glance of Drake's dirty jeans, everyone in the area is alerted to his presence. This is just a small complaint however, and as I said, the gunning down approach is just as viable as the stealthy approach.

REPLAYABILITY
Uncharted 3 has a fantastic single player campaign that I plan on going through again and again, if only to re-live the epic moments in Drake's globe trotting adventure. However, on top of the near-perfect single player, theres a vastly improved multiplayer feature to partake in as well.

With a vast amount of class customization available, and I can see myself playing for a while.

OVERVIEW
Uncharted 3 is the reason why I love gaming. It's the whole package; great visuals, solid gameplay, well written and delivered story. The story delivers so many epic moments, with such amazing visuals, that you could be excused for thinking that it was a high budget hollywood blockbuster. Except with better writing.

So here we have a game that's nearly perfect, following up from one of the best games of this generation. I personally believe that Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception nailed it, and surpassed U2: Among Thieves. If you thought differently, let me know, I'm always looking for some intriguing feedback from these things.


So next week, I'll hopefully be reviewing Modern Warfare 3. I say hopefully, because my PS3 is going in for much needed repairs, and thats the system I pre ordered for. Might get it on 360 too. We'll see. See you next time!