One of the PlayStation 3’s first killer apps, the Uncharted series has wowed players with its deft blend of platforming, shooting, and some of the most enthralling cinematic moments in gaming.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception shows developer Naughty Dog knocking it out of the park once again, with perhaps the best entry in the series yet. Though it sports a few legacy weaknesses that gave previous entries trouble, Uncharted 3 still delivers an expertly-paced and ultimately satisfying adventure that ranks it amongst the cream of 2011's gaming crop.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception reintroduces players to protagonist Nathan Drake, adventure capitalist (read: treasure hunter) who claims to be the long-lost descendant of Sir Francis Drake, famed British explorer. Drake’s Deception sees Drake chasing after the fabled Atlantis of the Sands, a city of immeasurable wealth hidden somewhere in the Arabian Desert. Joining him are Victor 'Sully' Sullivan, Drake’s long-time partner in crime; Chloe Frazer, an Australian thief who has history with Drake, and newcomer Charlie Cutter, a muscle-man whose bald head and dialect make him powerfully reminiscent of actor Jason Statham. Opposing him is Katherine Marlowe, an elderly woman chasing after the same treasure, and whose cropped, blonde hair and restrained, dignified manner is to Helen Mirren what Charlie’s Cockney-isms are to Statham.

Story has constantly been the best aspect of the Uncharted series, and Drake's Deception is arguably the strongest yet, taking Nathan from Northern France, to merry old England, to the Rub’ al Khali desert, with many other locations waiting in the wings. In addition to following Drake in his pursuit of the lost city, players are also invited to explore Nathan’s history with Sully, detailing their past, and delving slightly into their relationship together. The adventure is impeccably well-voiced and acted, with returning performers Nolan North, Richard McGonagle and Claudia Black sounding comfortable in their established roles, whilst newcomers Graham McTavish and Rosalind Ayres easily keep pace with the veterans. Additionally, the writing is solid, the motion capture work and facial animations in the cutscenes have never looked better, and Naughty Dog has taken every possible step to ensure that Uncharted 3 stands toe-to-toe with the best adventure stories in cinema.

The Uncharted series has always sported great heroes, but lacked a great villain. That is, until Katherine Marlowe.

Previous Uncharted titles have boasted a wealth of memorable set piece moments, from discovering a German U-Boat in the first game to fighting one's way to the front of a moving train in the second. Uncharted 3 has perhaps more and better set pieces than either of the previous entries, including a harrowing escape from a burning manor and a heated pursuit of a convoy travelling through the desert, with the highlight being a combination platforming/shooting trek through a massive ship graveyard. Not only are the explosive, exciting parts well-worth remembering, but the game’s slower, more deliberate moments consistently feel engaging as well, with one scene near the end vying for the standout sequence of the entire game. The puzzles are greatly improved as well, with much greater variety, and are far more deft when it comes to making the player feel smart for solving them.

In terms of presentation, Uncharted 3 is outstanding. Character models look and move in more convincing, realistic ways, and some of the lighting effects need to be seen to be believed. But the game undoubtedly shines brightest in its art direction. Every location feels distinct and immaculately detailed, from the general look of the area to the minute details of each nook and cranny. Uncharted’s musical score is once again provided by Firefly composer Greg Edmondson, who effortlessly combines Middle Eastern themes with the series’ already-established motifs, creating perhaps his finest work to date.

Uncharted 3 is the best-looking game in the series, making it one of the best-looking games on the PlayStation 3.

Of course, at the end of the day, games are meant to be played, and Uncharted 3 retains its jack-of-all-trades approach to gameplay, incorporating many different mechanics that, whilst reasonably satisfying on their own, are rarely better than those found in other, more-focussed titles. Case in point: the shooting. Uncharted 3’s gunplay has been tweaked from the previous two iterations, feeling slightly tighter and more refined, but it still merely feels 'pretty good', and doesn’t crackle like other top-tier third-person shooting games (such as Gears of War 3, for instance). Similarly, its platforming elements, whilst solid and well-executed, still feel slightly autopilot-esque, and don’t measure up to titles like Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time or Batman: Arkham City. Still, rare is a game that allows players to experience such a breadth of different gameplay styles, and Uncharted 3 is still a blast to play, in spite of being no greater than it has to be (which is still pretty good).

Sadly, there are a few flies in this title’s ointment, though they’re far from dealbreakers. Perhaps the biggest quibble is with the game’s platforming; owing to the quality of Uncharted 3’s graphics, it can often be difficult to distinguish a portion of wall that can be gripped from one that can’t, potentially resulting in several unintended deaths. At other times, the game has difficulty recognising which handhold the player wants to grab on to; there will be times when a gripping point will be right there, but Nathan will refuse to jump until the control stick is placed in exactly the correct position. Uncharted 3 also has a bad habit of throwing entirely too many enemies into an area at once; cover-based shooters work best when the player can actually find cover, but more than a few instances find the player surrounded by bad guys, with no adequate way to hide from oncoming gunfire. Lastly, some gamers may find Uncharted 3’s ultra-scripted nature off-putting; the game directs players along a very specific path with little room for deviation, though this is obviously a feature, and not a bug.

Firefights can get a little heated, but can be overcome with a little lateral thinking.

For players who don’t want to go it alone, Uncharted 3 also includes a fairly robust multiplayer mode. Like many top-tier multiplayer titles, Uncharted 3 features customisable weapon loadouts, perks, and a levelling system that lets players accrue experience points, rank up, and unlock new weapons and appearances. Game modes include standard Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag (called 'Plunder' here), and a grab-bag, best-of-five objective mode similar to Killzone 3’s Warzone. What separates Uncharted 3’s multiplayer from its contemporaries is its verticality; match flow can feel drastically different from something like Gears of War when players are able to scramble over buildings and take cover whilst hanging from ledges. Who knows if the community will continue to be robust in the coming months, but multiplayer is certainly fun enough for those who want to put the time in.

Even with its set of small gaffes, Uncharted 3 is a must-play. Its thrilling set pieces, engaging character moments and epic scope make it the best story in the series, and its gameplay still feels polished. For fans of adventure properties like Indiana Jones or Duck Tales, Uncharted 3 is an experience that can’t be missed.

9/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Naughty Dog, PlayStation 3, Review, Uncharted, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

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

E3 isn't far off. As a matter of fact, we're actually less than a month away from experiencing all the news and delicacies that keep you drooling at the mouth annually. There's quite the lineup this year and, with big-name rumours alongside inevitable surprises, I'll take a chance here and say that this year will be one of the more definitive conferences.

Saying that, it's time we made a wishlist of what we're expecting to see at E3 2011.

One of the most anticipated announcements will come with Nintendo's press conference. Should they unveil the Wii's successor, some sort of cataclysm will surely surround the L.A. Convention Center. With developers already speaking out about it, I'm pretty certain that this rumour will turn out to be true, and we'll get some beefy details on the Super Nintendo Wii, along with its assortment of games. Will it have connection options with the 3DS? Will it play GameCube and Wii titles? How about the stuff we've already bought off the Nintendo Shop? I have no doubt this will all be addressed, and hopefully Nintendo will stick with what they've been saying and will garner more third-party support for their new platform. No crazy ass controllers with LCD screens can make up for the same shoddy lineup we've been receiving with the Wii.


Along the lines of new platforms, Sony has something to reveal in the form of their 'Next Generation Portable', or NGP, the working title of the PSP's new successor. Their press conference will likely delve into the madness that was the PSN outage, but I fully expect Kaz Hirai and his entourage to lighten the mood with some excellent announcements and further information on the NGP. After that, maybe we'll get some definite dates on The Last Guardian, and more Twisted Metal news. Oh, yeah, and you can't forget that Naughty Dog will undoubtedly be present showing off more Uncharted 3 goodness. Epic is almost certainly going to be showing Gears of War 3 at Microsoft's press conference, and with Killzone 3 already out, an Uncharted 3 stage demo is almost certain to happen.

The biggest tease going around at this moment is the Modern Warfare 3 quadra-trailer apocalypse. Regardless of what it looks like, the game is going to sell, but a lot rides on its execution. With the original Infinity Ward all but gone, the new staff have tremendous pressure on them to deliver a stellar, triple-A experience. If not, you'll probably find Call of Duty heading even further towards the waste basket than you previously realised.

Speaking of Infinity Ward...


Respawn, the new studio under EA headed up by major ex-Infinity Ward employees, has been extremely quiet. We know they're working on a new project but the legal troubles they've been tied up in with Activision is more than likely impeding their progress. I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't hear anything at all from them this E3, but then again, EA has invested valuable resources in this project, so maybe something might manifest on the showroom floor.

Since we're on the topic of shooters, Gears of War 3 should have a tremendous presence this year, but I am expecting a reveal of the next Halo game sometime soon as well. Whether it be at Halo Fest later this August in Seattle, or at E3 next month, you know its coming. Plus, since we already know the remake of Halo: Combat Evolved is on the way, the new game could be closer than originally anticipated. Regardless of all this Uncharted, Gears, and Halo talk, my main hope and concern is that we're honoured with some solid info on Half-Life 2: Episode 3. It's been in the works for just about forever, and what with the Portal 2 release version containing more than a few Half-Life easter eggs, I'd be ecstatic to see that their next project is, indeed, this. Also, maybe seeing some Defense of the Ancients 2 footage wouldn't hurt either?


BioWare should, once again, set the show on fire with another tantalising The Old Republic trailer. I'm expecting more news on it, but I'd be taken aback if more people weren't actually playing the game this year than talking about it. Mass Effect 3 should also have its own panel Q&A sessions, and surely we'll be bombarded with information, since its release isn't too far off (beginning of 2012). I'd also like to hear gasps of excitement when Team Ninja shows new gameplay from Ninja Gaiden 3. Will it happen? Who knows, but we haven't had any news on it since the original teaser. Whyever not now?

Batman: Arkham City is going to be a great game, but new gameplay footage wouldn't hurt its cause. Starhawk, too, should be making its first official appearance, so we'll see what the big deal is behind the "spiritual successor" to Warhawk. Other than that, there's quite a bit else I'd like to jump into, but we'll have to wait to see what E3 brings. As long as I get an answer on HL2: Episode 3, see some Duke Nukem gameplay again, and get my questions about the new hardware aligned, I'll be a happy camper.

Oh, and I almost completely forgot. Dark Souls is going to be there. I really would like to see more of that heinous game.

How about all of you? Are there any games that you're wanting to make an appearance? What's your most anticipated of E3 2011? Sound off in the comments section below!

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, E3 2011, Epic Games, Gears of War 3, Microsoft, Naughty Dog, Nintendo, Sony, Uncharted 3

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