Maybe I've played too much inFamous 2. Feel free to put my complaints down to that. Zipping around New Marais at a mile a minute, slicing through the dank air with thrusters or punching upwards on a shard of ice... it melts your mind, so that anything other than constant movement feels slow and irritating. That's why it was such an abrupt jolt when I leapt into the Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception beta: everything felt awkward and lazy. Well, I've spent a number of days with Drake and pals now, and I can safely say that the problem persists. In fact, the Uncharted 3 beta seems rife with little concerns, that build up to create a palpable air of disappointment.

You'll load up the beta, and you immediately get to customise your avatar. Great. It's something we've come to expect from all multiplayer games, and while the bits and bobs you can glue onto the gear is kept at a minimum for this beta, with clothes, badges, and guns to turn pink and draw a penis on, Uncharted 3 looks to have an impressive range of variation. There is the certain, unavoidable issue that absolutely everyone will almost always play as Drake, but hey - Naughty Dog are never going to stop that from happening.

There's also the inclusion of kickbacks and medals, Uncharted's answer to killstreaks. Get fourteen medals through killing or finding treasure, for example, and a brand new RPG appears in your hands. With only two rockets, it's overpowered enough to give you a reward but too fleeting to unbalance the flow of the game. You won't find any helicopters tearing down buildings or nukes wiping out humanity; the kickbacks are subtle and suitably weak for Uncharted 3, giving that extra goal to aim for but never giving anyone a major and unbalanced advantage.


You might be wondering why I've started with two quite low-key features. "Why, Chris, dost thou dance around the elephant in the room?" I hear your cry. Truth is, I don't want to talk about it. Because I know what I say won't be popular. Yet there's no denying it.

Uncharted 3's multiplayer isn't very good.

Whilst being able to put Drake in a funny hat or raining fire with an RPG for a few seconds is all nice and well, it does nothing to dampen the sudden realisation that smacks you in the teeth as soon as you attempt to kill an enemy: the game is just lethargic. Movement is excruciatingly slow, whilst two players trying to jump onto the same object or wall results in both bouncing off like dim flies. This might seem a minor grievance, but it'll reduce you to screams and tears on Airstrip. When aiming, Uncharted 3 isn't a 'twitch shooter' - in fact, it's not even a 'deliberate, forceful movement shooter'; swinging your gun around to face an enemy takes half an afternoon, by which time they've buggered off somewhere else.

But the main thing that attracts all my loathing of Uncharted 3's beta is the fact it takes so long to kill anyone. Nine shots with the G-MAL; yeah, I counted, and that's simply preposterous. Whilst other multiplayer games are fast-paced and exciting, with rewarding kills that require a bit of skill and cunning, Uncharted 3 is nothing short of a slog. You see an enemy. You shoot at him. He shoots at you. This will continue for a good number of seconds, as you wrestle with your gun's recoil and desperately hope that your headshots have some effect. Then, one of you will run away. It's just ridiculous. Any time there's a firefight, one player can just roll away, into a building, and no one gets a kill. In fact, this happens so often that it seems ninety per cent of your deaths are from two other players: the one that you're trying to fight, and someone else who's run up behind you and pumped half a clip into your back. Great.


Why not use mêlée, to stop them in their tracks? Well, as you move into position to punch someone, the enemy will be shooting at you. Since it takes two punches to kill a man in Uncharted, after you punch them, they will punch you, and thanks to those fresh new bulletholes he made in your face whilst you were lamping him, he'll very easily be able to merely knock your lights out. I've never seen the instigator of a fist fight in Uncharted 3 emerge the victor. Unless you get lucky, and happen to sneak up on them and crack their neck, don't bother throwing a punch.

I'll accept that this could just be me. Maybe I only like multiplayer games in which it takes one or two bullets to kill someone. If you want to call me names and denounce me as 'weird', or 'different', go ahead. There could be some odd joy in trying to shoot a player for a solid five seconds as he rolls and ducks away that I just don't 'get'. But any game that requires two full-blown sniper shots to end a life? That's not for me.

For all that, Uncharted 3 does hide a few surprises up its damp, dirt-ridden sleeves. The opening airplane battle on Airstrip is inventive and a superb taster with which to have some unique fun with, and dynamic maps - such as Chataeu slowly burning down - are a lovely touch.


The biggest surprise was co-op; it's by far the best part of the beta. The oncoming waves of enemies are easier to kill than human counterparts, it lasts a solid 15 minutes, so you become really involved, and the different game modes forcing teamwork perfectly emphasises how to do co-op well. With a focus on the co-operative.

It looks pretty. It does some new, fresh and exciting things. It's great fun with two friends. But Uncharted 3 has some huge competition in November, not only from the multiplayer components of Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3, but also from single player timehogs like Skyrim. With such weak, dull, apathetic and slow combat, Drake won't hold your attention for long.

Labels: 2011, Beta, Beta Impressions, Chris Hawke, Feature, Multiplayer, Naughty Dog, Uncharted 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

“I think I believe this guy,” says Kieran.

“Eh? I think he looks kinda shaky,” replies Regi, sceptically.

“Yeah, he’s totally avoiding eye contact,” I chime in. “What do you think, Renee?”

“Hmmm. Yeah. He’s probably holding out,” says Renee, with finality.

My friends and I aren’t watching some whodunnit movie on Showtime, or reading the latest John Grisham legal thriller — in fact, we’re all watching me play L.A. Noire. Together.

And we’re all enjoying the hell out of it.

If L.A. Noire goes on to echo the breakout success of Red Dead Redemption, the industry press will be filled with dumbfounded stories of its detractors who, in hindsight, were too blind to see the mass appeal that Noire provides. Before I picked up Noire on Tuesday, I was a member of this group. Even now, I’m still not convinced that Rockstar will find true mainstream success with L.A. Noire. Film noir has fallen out of the public eye, at least in the United States, and is hardly a popular genre in entertainment, though conventional wisdom says I might be wrong. I’m also not sure how many gamers will be ready for the slow, deliberate pace at which L.A. Noire moves; in today’s Call of Duty-dominated marketplace, any game that doesn’t involve some sort of firefight or explosion in any five minute span seems downright boring. Last is the 1940’s detective setting, which, in the U.S., has always held only niche appeal, though I’ve always had affection for it. All told, at face value, L.A. Noire does not provide undeniable proof that it will be another massive, Rockstar-sized hit.

What L.A. Noire does provide, though, is a rarity in gaming: an experience that’s just as much fun to watch as it is to play. Noire’s top-notch story, writing, and acting (both vocal and facial) give it the feel of an interactive movie, making the experience more akin to an episode of Mad Men than a Grand Theft Auto-esque story arc, and appreciable to anyone with a hunger for well-told, mature narratives. Though the game could be described as mechanical and repetitive (you’ll look at a lot of matchbooks before the ending credits roll), L.A. Noire’s pleasures are far more inviting than the mechanical gratification of a perfectly-timed headshot or finishing move.


Because L.A. Noire is so inviting, its gameplay lends itself to group participation gaming in a way I’ve never experienced outside the likes of Rock Band and Smash Bros. The game encourages players to be slow, thorough, taking in every scrap of evidence in the hope of catching a suspect in a lie. This turns any casual observer of the game into a first-rate gumshoe, right alongside the person actually holding the controls. “Check the bathroom,” Renee tells me as I peruse a suspect’s house, and - surely enough - after some snooping around, we’re three clues closer to putting the case together.

The group participation lends itself even further to the game’s interrogation scenes. After scouring a crime scene for evidence, players are asked to lead other characters through a line of questioning, and must decide if the witness is lying or telling the truth. This effectively turns the game into Twelve Angry Men Noire, and my friends and I had a blast trying to determine if a suspect was being truthful, or feeding us a triple-decker bullshit sandwich instead. “Oh, hell no!” shouts Kieran after one particular testimony, and flips through our notebook to find a piece of evidence that flatly contradicts the poor schmuck’s story entirely.

Smashing a case wide open with a few well-placed questions is pretty satisfying alone, but with a few buddies in tow, it becomes downright epic. I had no idea how much I would enjoy the game, and even less of an idea how much more I would enjoy it with a group, turning this faux-multiplayer into one of my most-surprising and favourite gaming moments of 2011. I can clean up the grimy streets of Los Angeles all by myself in any number of other games, but only L.A. Noire gives me and my best mates a chance to work at it together.

And believe me, after we’ve had our say, this town won’t know what hit it.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Feature, L.A. Noire, Multiplayer, Rockstar, Social Gaming, Team Bondi

This past week, Naughty Dog revealed the multiplayer component of their much-anticipated Uncharted 3, and it appears to be a massive expansion of the multiplayer in Uncharted 2. While the second Uncharted's multiplayer was surprisingly robust and lasting (around 40,000 players still play daily, a year on from release), it mostly conformed to our expectations for what a multiplayer game should be.

Based on Naughty Dog's reveal of Uncharted 3's multiplayer, it looks as if they're aiming to really add some new ideas to the conventional multiplayer experience. This is still a cops-and-robbers shooter, but with some new ideas that may prove to preserve onward in multiplayer experiences to come.

Before perusing the nuances of Uncharted 3's multiplayer, make sure you watch Naughty Dog's reveal video to get a good snapshot of all the additions.

1: Three Team Deathmatch and the 'buddy system'

Along with the tried-and-true Team Deathmatch, Uncharted 3 puts an emphasis on tight-knit team play with Three Team Deathmatch, a game mode which pits three teams of two against each one another. By constraining the size of the teams, players are forced to cooperate with one another, resulting in a 'buddy system' style of play, which is further encouraged by the ability to spawn on your teammate so long as they're not in the middle of combat. Team play has always been the quickest route to winning in multiplayer games, but in most games it's hard to communicate with a large team, even using voice chat. The 'buddy system' could do wonders for keeping players coordinated, partied or not.

2: Two-part maps

Dynamic maps are not a new idea, and Uncharted 2 even had its own few map fluctuations, such as aeroplanes swooping down and knocking off large strips of cover from the map, or helicopters coming in to attack both teams. But Uncharted 3 takes this idea and jumps ten steps ahead; in the above video, players are shown fighting on an airstrip between accelerating convoys and an aeroplane, pre-take off, and then later at a more traditional, cover-based airbase-hangar arena. These two maps are actually connected. After the plane sequence (lasting presumably about half the match), all players are transported to the hangar and the match continues.

This two-part map system really spices up the traditional multiplayer formula, making it something more cinematic and more exciting, hopefully whilst still retaining the balance between team advantage. If the timing between the shift in gameplay environments is reasonably predictable, perhaps players can use the switch strategically, giving dynamic gameplay environments much more bearing on gameplay than we've previously seen.

3: Emblems

If there's one thing video games have proven in this era of multiplayer, it's that players love validation. They want to know when they're doing well, and they want everyone else to know it, too. Emblem editors can be found in games like Call of Duty and Halo: Reach, where you can design your own insignia to be shown on your character, or to pop up alongside other players when you've killed them. The new take on emblems in Uncharted 3 is to display the top player's emblem in the playable, natural environment, smacking the map with personality.

You can see this in action at about 45 seconds into the mutliplayer trailer, where a custom emblem is embellished onto the hangar map. Presumably, these emblems can change as the map goes on, meaning the top player will dominate the map aesthetically, as well as putting bullets into your skull.

4: Medal Kickbacks

At first glance, Medal Kickbacks seem like the equivalent of killstreaks, the ubiquitous multiplayer mechanic pioneered by Call of Duty that rewards a string of successive kills with more killing power. In reality, Uncharted 3's Medal Kickbacks are a more refined version of this killstreak mechanic. Instead of rewarding players for racking up as many kills as they can, Medal Kickbacks reward players for specific types of kills, such as kills on opponents who are currently attacking one of your teammates, perhaps kills with an unconventional firearm, or maybe headshot kills.

In the above video, you can see Drake activating a Medal Kickback to use an RPG at the most opportune moment. Fine-tuning the criteria for killstreaks discourages the 'kill as many as possible as quickly as possible' mentality, and instead rewards more finesse with a bigger payoff. Hopefully, the mechanic will discourage techniques that focus on getting the most kills with the least effort, such as camping near spawn points or 'spamming' quick-kill weapons.

5) Power Plays and Overtime

Power Plays kick into gear when one team is grossly dominating the other. What they are exactly isn't yet defined, but we do know that they give the losing team a chance to close the gap and the winning team a chance to close the game. If you've ever played multiplayer of any kind, you'll know the experience isn't all that enjoyable when there's a big disparity between the teams, no matter if you're on the winning or the losing side. It may feel good for the winners to steamroll another team, but after a while, domination gets stale. Power Plays work to prevent this snooze-fest from occurring.

Similarly, it's pretty frustrating when both teams are neck and neck but the match suddenly ends due to something that's happening on the other side of the map, irrelevant to you. Kicking things into overtime for ridiculously close matches helps ascertain the true victors.

6: YouTube and Facebook Integration

Facebook is integrated with nearly every service available in 2011, but it's rarely been done successfully in a video game. Both PSN and Xbox Live allow social networking in some form (be that Twitter or Facebook), but neither are particularly quick or presented in an interesting way. In Uncharted 2, Naughty Dog included the ability to tweet whenever players levelled up or completed a campaign chapter, and the result was pretty annoying.

This time around, Naughty Dog has really gone the extra mile to make sure Facebook integration with Uncharted 3 is done in a compelling and tasteful way. From the Uncharted 3 multiplayer menu, you can see which of your Facebook friends are online, what they're playing, and what media they've uploaded, all of which is viewable from your console.

Similarly, YouTube integration lets users edit and upload videos seamlessly from their console. It's a small step, but the effect is a much smoother, more encouraged experience.

7: Uncharted TV

Possibly the most interesting addition to multiplayer is Uncharted TV. The best clips and images will be selected by Naughty Dog and broadcasted over Uncharted TV, a small reel of clips playing the corner of the screen between matches in multiplayer. It seems innocuous, but the logic behind it is actually pretty ingenious.

"If you watch a football game, you talk about it the next day because everyone watched the same game," says Christophe Balestra, co-president of Naughty Dog. "This is (to) get people who play to have a better experience."

Simply by creating a common feed of content, Naughty Dog is looking to tie the community together in a more meaningful way than a common set of mechanics. This way, players can commentate outside the game to their friends about what they've seen online, which pushes the Uncharted multiplayer experience out of the living room and into conversation.

8: Crotch Kicking

The benefit of this addition is self-evident.


Are you one of the many eagerly anticipating Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception's release? Have you lost sleep due to sitting up until unholy hours, looking at screenshots and videos? Do you simply love the way Drake can climb a building? Give us all your thoughts in the comments section below.

Labels: 2011, Feature, List, Multiplayer, Naughty Dog, Parker Scott Mortensen, Trailer, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, Video