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

A few weeks ago, reports surfaced that David O. Russell - director of films such as Three Kings and last year’s The Fighter - had left the Uncharted movie, and that Columbia Pictures is looking for a new treatment. This is just as well; Russell’s treatment of the Uncharted movie as it stood showed a profound lack of understanding as to what makes the franchise popular. Rather than an Indiana Jones-esque hunt for ancient treasure, Russell imagined a family (yes, family) of treasure hunters, emphasising the family dynamic over the adventure elements. Russell also cast Mark Wahlberg as Nathan Drake, but I’m not prepared to hold that against either of them just yet, despite having already seen and walked out of Max Payne.

Russell may be gone, but Columbia and Sony both seem bound and determined to make an Uncharted movie happen, and are currently searching for both a new script and director. The gaming community has largely celebrated the departure of Russell from the project, but many still feel that an Uncharted movie is unnecessary, redundant, and takes away from what is otherwise a very strong franchise. They don’t want a 'good' Uncharted movie; they simply don’t want a movie at all.

The argument goes something like this: the Uncharted series was based on old 1930s adventure serials, where affable explorers searched exotic lands for lost treasure, as well as the properties influenced by them over the years, such as Carl Barks’ Uncle Scrooge comics, and George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg’s Indiana Jones franchise. The Uncharted games themselves have been painstakingly designed as cinematic experiences, giving gamers the feel of a playing through one of these adventure movies. Why would studios want to take a property so steeped in cinema, but so assisted by the interactivity of a game, and turn it back into a movie? It would be like the novelisation of a movie based on a book, or Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.

With the shaky initial treatment and the game-based movie’s reputation for poor quality (according to Rotten Tomatoes, the highest-ranking game movie so far is Final Fantasy: The Spirit Within - take from that what you will), it’s understandable why many Uncharted fans simply want Hollywood to leave the precious franchise alone. Let it simply be a good game, and don’t sully its name by attaching it to a poorly-executed film project. Personally, though, I’m excited that the project continues to move forward, because Uncharted has the potential to make a great film.

First, Uncharted’s narrative structure is more suited to film adaptation than previous games-turned-movies. Naughty Dog went to great lengths to put players in the role of a top-tier Hollywood blockbuster, and crafted the story and narrative to have more in common with Raiders of the Lost Ark than Modern Warfare 2. Rather than challenging the player with repetitive, mechanic-heavy experiences, Uncharted’s story provides both players and spectators with wondrous sights, quickly moving from one area to the next in a flurry of pitch-perfect pacing.

Also, unlike most games (but similarly to most good movies), Uncharted roots itself firmly in well-developed, compelling characters. It’s the characters in Uncharted who drive the action, instead of the level design or the player, allowing the whole experience to unfold naturally, rather than through cutscenes or ham-fisted plot points. Uncharted excels in character portrayal and development — Nathan Drake, Elena, and Sully are three of the strongest characters in gaming, with personalities, histories, and chemistry all of their own, much like memorable movie characters. Even if all gameplay was distilled from Uncharted, the strength of its cast would still be enough to pull the entire experience, and it’s this strength of character that makes Uncharted a perfect choice for film adaptation.

Lastly (and I may be alone in thinking this), the world just needs another awesome adventure movie. Not a bunch of CGI explosions, bullet-time moments, or slow motion running standing in for entertainment; but a good, solid adventure story that takes audiences to new, exotic places and makes them feel like intrepid explorers alongside the main protagonists. Certainly it would be a bit derivative, but the Romancing the Stone or National Treasure series haven’t suffered from feeling slightly familiar. Uncharted is one of gaming’s premier adventure franchises, and I see no reason to keep a fun, exciting property like this out of the hands of movie lovers everywhere.

Who knows whether or not this project will even be active going forward (remember the Halo movie?), but I think it would be a crying shame if a wonderfully cinematic franchise like Uncharted weren’t able to somehow be realised on the big screen. Sony and Columbia: take as much time as you need to build this project into the epic bastion of cinema it deserves. I’ll thank you with my wallet.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Columbia Pictures, Feature, Film tie-in, Sony, Sony Pictures, Uncharted, Uncharted movie

Last year, to celebrate blockbuster movie season, I decided to go through both Uncharted games; partly because I hadn’t played them yet, but mostly because their cinematic merits are well-documented. After finishing the Drake's Fortune, I had a few weeks’ wait before the second, Among Thieves, arrived in the mail, and I became slightly annoyed at the prospect of having to go so long without more Nathan, Elena, and Sully. Fortunately, Naughty Dog had my back: included on the Uncharted disc were a series of 'Making of' featurettes that were perfectly befitting of such a movie-esque gaming experience.

I am an absolute sucker for special features, even going so far as to switch to Blu-ray when the movie studios started phasing extras out of DVDs in favour of their hi-def counterparts. I love learning how certain visual effects were accomplished, or what sorts of struggles were overcome during the movie’s production. For me, special features take an already admirable product and puts its efforts into context, helping me appreciate the finished product even more than if I had taken it at face value.

Lately, more games are starting to include special features. Valve has included a developer’s commentary feature in many of its recent titles, including Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, and both Portal games. Mortal Kombat’s 'Krypt' houses everything from character sketches, to music tracks, to concept art. The Uncharted series includes featurettes on various aspects of development, such as design philosophy, the animation and motion capture system used for the cutscenes, and what it’s like to work at Naughty Dog.

This is a great start, but I would love to see even more games include supplementary extras. Whilst common for home video releases, special features in video games are comparably rare, even today, when individual talent in the gaming industry is more celebrated than ever. With many triple-A studio efforts taking as much time and financial commitment as many Hollywood blockbusters, the opportunity seems ripe to share how games like Call of Duty: Black Ops or Gran Turismo 5 came together.

The ultimate boon to including more special features in games is also the most straightforward one: learning more about the way games are developed. Most folks nowadays understand how a movie is made, but there is still an air of mystery to the art of making a game. Supplemental features could help educate gamers on how their favourite titles are made, and could even spark interest in pursuing a career in some facet of game development.

One of my favourite gaming special features, the developer’s commentary in Portal, has even changed the way I thought about game design. In the feature, the developers discuss how playtesting helped shape their design decisions, and how the game changed according to the feedback they received. For example, in one room, the developers were having difficulty getting players to look up in order advance to the next section of the level. To counter this, they installed an old, decrepit ladder on one of the walls, drawing the players’ eye and allowing them to naturally intuit that they needed to go upward in order to progress. The many small tricks that Valve used to make the player feel smart are absolutely brilliant and well-worth being paid attention to by anyone interested in game development.

Of course, lessons in game development aren’t the only way that supplementary features can be utilised. Several recent, high-profile releases have been period pieces - L.A. Noire, Assassin’s Creed, God of War - leaving an opportunity for developers to illustrate how closely they stuck to their historical source material, or how they diverged for the sake of gameplay. I would love to see a feature comparing L.A. Noire’s depiction of 1940’s Los Angeles to the actual city during the same timeframe, or perhaps examining the novels and films that Team Bondi found most influential to the development of Noire. A look at the real life Templars and Assassins would be an excellent feature for an Assassin’s Creed game, and I would especially enjoy a look at some of the real life historical figures met in both Assassin’s Creed II and Brotherhood, be that Machiavelli, Leonardo da Vinci or Caterina Sforza.

One of the more fun features of Uncharted was a series of cast interviews with Nolan North, Emily Rose and Richard McGonagle, all offering their perspectives on acting in a video game as opposed to acting for a movie or TV show. As someone who has a personal 'top five' list of favourite voice actors, I would love to gain further insight into the talent involved in bringing the likes of John Marston and Ezio Auditore da Firenze to life. Like animated films, video games are starting to attract more and bigger stars - Martin Sheen in Mass Effect 2, Aaron Staton in L.A. Noire, Sam Worthington in Call of Duty: Black Ops, for example - and hearing about how trained screen actors approach voicing a game character would be fascinating for those interested in acting and voice over.

The most exciting part about special features is the narratives they inspire. Imagine hearing some of gaming’s modern Cinderella stories on a future release of the game — the struggles and obstacles faced by the development team, and how the game achieved critical success or cult status. For example, I would love to see a feature on Batman: Arkham Asylum, how Rocksteady basically came from out of nowhere and delivered one of gaming’s best superhero titles; or about Rockstar’s journey in turning a small, Japanese-developed franchise into the sprawling, epic adventure we know and love as Red Dead Redemption. Granted, there’s only so much room for these sorts of cheerleading stories, but they’re inspiring tales of how developers took risks and were greatly rewarded for them, and they deserve telling.

Die-hard fans would eat these sort of supplemental features up, developers would be able to further take credit for all of their hard work, and players looking to take their game further may find inspiration for a new career path. Not every game would benefit from having bonus features - explain to me how supplemental features would enhance my enjoyment of Lumines, for example - but their absence is a missed opportunity.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Testerman, Extras, Feature, Uncharted

Everything in life is harder when you’re dating someone. Having a girlfriend or a boyfriend tethers you to another human being in some way, but never the same way twice. Every relationship I’ve had has been different. I’ve had relationships where I was scared and in need of attention and validation, and I’ve had relationships where the need to reaffirm my love felt obnoxious. I’ve cared for girls who didn’t care back, and I’ve cared for girls who didn’t need much attention at all. Each relationship changed the fundamentals of my life, restructuring my habits and routines to include a foundation that integrated another person, one I cared about in some way.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a game that could take the genre of linear action adventure, established by games like Uncharted, and reorient the paradigm around the relationship between two people, but it never achieves that experience in any meaningful way. It follows a man and a woman, Monkey and Trip, as they escape a slaver airship in post-apocalyptic New York city and make their way to destroy the slaver headquarters.

I find a large portion of Enslaved to be similar to the Uncharted series. Enslaved maintains its pace by mixing platforming, puzzles, and combat so that one element never overstays its welcome, analogous to Uncharted, linear to the point where every bit of gameplay is a step to the bait of a new cutscene. The best part of Uncharted’s most recent outing, Uncharted 2, was watching the progression of the relationship between Nathan Drake and his lady friends, Chloe and Elena. Disappointingly, the conceit of Uncharted 2 was that action was paramount; that players would play no actual part in the development of the conflict between Drake and Chloe, or in how Elena and Drake would grow more attached, but instead would spend their time shooting militant Russians, climbing crusty walls and discovering buried treasure while the character interaction took place tangentially around them.


The growing relationship between Monkey and Trip is more evident in Enslaved than the relationships in Uncharted, but the surrounding mechanics are less enjoyable. The result is that the relationship stands as the most interesting thing in Enslaved. Monkey and Trip show quiet signs of budding intimacy and love, and while these become the most rewarding parts of the game, they are often obfuscated by video game tropes and repetitive mechanics.

Mechanically, Enslaved is uninteresting. For combat, there are two attack buttons; one for quicker, lighter hits and one for slower, more painful hits. The only difference in varying between either type of attack is time, so the result is that you may kill someone only slightly more quickly if you’re putting in the effort to pay attention. There are also buttons to block and dodge, and sometimes you’ll be asked to hit both buttons together for a wide attack that gives you more space to fight, though none of those options are ever necessary.

The most fun is in mashing the attack buttons and watching as Monkey whirls his staff, clanking against the metallic enemies. In true video game fashion, you’ll have to repeat this process again and again against faceless mechanised robots, remnants of the apocalypse. It’s fun to bang on them for a while, but without any need for higher-level mastery, the flourish of watching Monkey smack things dies quickly.

The platforming and puzzles in Enslaved are also mostly fuelled by the fun of watching Monkey perform them. Unlike Nathan Drake, Monkey (true to his name) can swing and climb more nimbly and spryly, making gigantic, drawn-out jumps, and the animation is all is wonderfully nuanced. With a little timing, you can jump from handhold to handhold more quickly and fluidly. But, like Uncharted, the platforming in Enslaved is so linear that its only real claim is to show you more pretty parts of the environment. Similarly, the puzzles are less of a puzzle and more of a mathematical problem: the answer to every stumbling point is a matter of the order of operations, figuring out which lever to pull first, which to pull last.


Enslaved is admittedly really pretty to look at - it’s the most lush apocalypse I’ve ever seen - but a game about two people shouldn’t be about its graphics, and it certainly shouldn’t be about the nuances of smashing into robots or the fluidity of scaling a wall. They are mechanical operations that require massive repetition. In Uncharted, these mechanics are also repetitious, but they're mostly kept fresh by the changing context of the environment and the story cutscenes that bookend the snippets of action; in Enslaved, this isn’t enough. Uncharted has the money behind it to make the repetition fun - Enslaved doesn’t, but pretends it does.

Where the mechanics of Enslaved prove most entertaining is when they’re put in the context of Monkey and Trip’s relationship. One of the longest combat sequences is in the chapter where Trip finds her mountain home abandoned and rushes off ahead of Monkey, leaving him to fight waves and waves of mechs. It’s arguably one of the most repetitious parts of the game but also one of the most intense and memorable.

Without the context of needing to reunite with Trip, the scene would be like most other parts of the game, where the most interesting bit is watching the fight play out through the pretty graphics (which, in this case, are a backdrop of sunrise high in the mountains). It’s admittedly nice to look at, but if it’s beautiful to beat through hordes of robots set against the cream-coloured twilight of morning, isn’t it more beautiful to do it all in the name of someone you love?

As the game begins, the conceit is that Monkey is physically tethered to Trip by a slave headband; straying too far from her will kill Monkey, and additionally, if Trip dies, Monkey dies - it’s fodder to establish the sort of relationship two people grow out of forced physical contact, but the mechanic is never really developed in any interesting way. The combat and platforming that take place at the beginning of the game are as complex and difficult as the combat and platforming at the end of the game. There is no restructuring of basic concepts to include the safety of another person, no acknowledgement for the presence of a loved one. If there’s a relationship growing in Enslaved, there’s certainly no evidence of it in the gameplay.


And so, the best parts remain the unplayable. At the end of the game Monkey and Trip discover (via cutscene) that, the entire time, the slaves they had been trying to free were trapped in an alternate reality, living lifelessly in the real world but thriving in the memories of a single man, the slaver, who had lived before the apocalyptic war and wasn’t actually responsible for the death of Trip’s family. His world is ours, a place where people still get married and where children go to school, where we drive cars and ride horses and see plays and listen to music and pay taxes. Monkey looks into the old world before deciding to destroy it, and finds it overwhelmingly beautiful. Seeing Monkey become engrossed by the alternate reality, Trip destroys the machine powering it, destroying the world and cutting the power, freeing the slaves. As the lights of the complex flicker off, Trip buries herself in Monkey’s arms, looks up at him and quietly asks whether she has done the right thing.

It’s a beautiful note to end on, one more dissolute and licentious than you’re typically fed in a video game. There is almost always a firm end to a video game story; whatever you’ve spent the last ten hours doing is coloured in triumph, validation that all your time spent was worthwhile. In Modern Warfare 2, this came as a dagger to the forehead; in Uncharted 2 it was the evil Russian’s demise; in Pac-Man it’s the flicker of your high score on the leaderboard.

In contrast, the only steps forward in Enslaved come through the relationship between Monkey and Trip as the rest of the world falls apart. Extrinsically, nothing good happens, from Monkey killing hundreds of mechs, to finding Trip’s family dead, to the disintegration of Trip’s relationship with the amatory character Pigsy. The only thing remaining as the curtain falls on Enslaved is Trip and Monkey, holding onto one another in the dark, wondering if it were all even worthwhile.

The image is a strong one, but not one you’ll participate in. The most frustrating thing in video games is the tendency to take control away from the player the moment things start to get heavy with emotion. When it’s time to get emotional, it’s time to put down the controller and watch a cutscene. I don’t want to watch Monkey and Trip hold each other, I want to be the one to recognize that someone I care about is scared and initiate the moment of embrace. When I’m playing Enslaved, I’m whacking robots with sticks. When I’m watching Enslaved, I’m finding two people develop feelings for each other.

In its emphasis on relationships, Enslaved depicts the blossoming of quiet affection that transcends shared hardship. Otherwise, it’s a mechanical and repetitive action brawler and platformer. The latter experience will inevitably wither in relevance while the former may stick in our minds forever. Only when the line blurs between the two does Enslaved stand a chance of becoming something that you might not be ashamed to show to someone you care about.

6/10 [?]

Labels: 2011, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Parker Scott Mortensen, Review, Uncharted, Uncharted 2

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

If you look around the industry, you’ll notice that regenerative health remains a favourite mechanic amongst developers, and why shouldn’t it? Continuing your onslaught of chainsawing, bullet-hosing manliness after absorbing sustained amounts of firepower to your sternum is always a win. But haven’t you wondered how our favorite protagonists come out of these predicaments alive? Perhaps you’ve questioned exactly what is preventing those bullets from perpetually penetrating their adventures? The answers lie within.

Many think that Halo was the pioneer of regenerative health. And, in a way, they're right; Bungie did bring the critically-acclaimed mechanic to the forefront of mainstream gaming. The birthing of it, though, is located in another castle completely. Nonetheless, regaining lost health after avoiding damage for a period of time is a smooth, insanely popular feature in contemporary games. It provides players with a reason to utilise cover while still being able to bounce back from mistakes in the midst of battle. How else were you supposed to recover from the prismatic dragon-ninja’s shuriken of dark lightning? It makes sense gameplay-wise, but as far as the games that utilise it - that’s a whole different ball game.

Now this list isn’t just about games that use regenerating health; no siree. That list would be far too lengthy and lacks the focus we’re going for here. Instead, this list is fixing its unending gaze on the games that contain unexplained reasons why your character regenerates. If a dinosaur clawed my spleen from the confines of my body, I probably wouldn't recover very well. In videogames, however, they can do so with no real issue. How is this justice?

Each game in the following list will receive a score based on how believable its form of regeneration is. A score of ten marks the most believable regeneration, whilst one indicates ghastliness. Here we go.

Killzone

The Killzone franchise has been through quite a lot during its lifetime. First it was a muddy, messy, overhyped PS2 game; then it transformed into a visually appealing, constantly-delayed PS3 title. And who could forget that glowing PSP game? Regardless of where you stand with the series, Killzone has done one thing consistently from the very beginning: regeneration.

I don’t get it though. You’re the standard space marine who - like the rest of the flock, apparently - is capable of absorbing countless numbers of bullets. Okay, okay: you’re wearing weird space military gear and all that, but I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that it doesn’t come equipped with quantum-regenerative mind-gear.

Verdict: These guys aren’t Warhammer 40,000 genetically-altered Space Marines of doom. Bullets hurt badly, and I’m not convinced you can bounce back from a Helghast shooting a rocket down your throat. Still, they’ve got some pretty fancy technology, so maybe its possible. Just maybe... [5/10]

Assassin’s Creed

Altaïr, Ezio; whoever your assassin of choice is, it doesn’t matter. Both of these badass dudes regenerate anything, from minor cuts to arrows in their ass. I think my biggest issue with Ubisoft’s star child is that when you’re fighting someone, another comes up and wants a piece. That’s cool, but things escalate rather quickly, and before you know it you’ve got armoured guards wanting to shove their six-foot pike in unwieldy places. The combat makes it a bit touchy to counter blows every single time, so it’s inevitable that you’re going to be hit with some form of weapon.

Let's paint a picture: your screen is flashing red, you’re screaming, you're running, and you suddenly heal back to full. How does this even happen? Do assassins in the Crusades or Renaissance Italy possess the ability to mend wounds with a snap of the fingers? Yes, you’re technically controlling a memory brought forth by the Animus, but the machine doesn’t give you Final Fantasy powers.

Verdict: Sorry: these highly trained, highly skilled assassins may be the cream of the crop when it comes to silent murder, but they’re no mutant. They’re wearing cloth and light armour so as to be weightless enough to run from any pursuer. However, if hit by tangible force, fall like tangible assassin. There’s no Curaga in this time period. I'd say that you should at least have to be hidden to regain health. [3/10]

Mirror’s Edge

You can shoot people in this game, but it sucks. It sucks because you can’t run whilst firing, and running is what this game is all about. And the running isn't short of its own problems, either.

Running! How the hell can you run when you’ve just been roundhouse kicked by a rhinoceros? It’s a fair question: you’re usually being chased by beefy officers or kung-fu masters who, against your delicate feminine frame, could cause some noticeable damage.

Sometimes you actually have to stop and initiate combat manoeuvres, which is fine, but you take the risk of getting injured. I guess the risk isn't too large though, because in the future everyone seems to have regenerative implants.

Verdict: I don’t know about you, but after I get shot I can totally do a double wall jump. [1/10]

Red Dead Redemption

Great as Rockstar’s wild west adventure may have been, did they explain their regeneration system? In short: no. You’d think that, in an environment where greats were born and slain, you’d receive a little more realism when it comes to pain.

Don’t get me wrong, you can kill people in a shot or two (which is just like real life, apparently), but some of the punishment you can take is downright ridiculous. With the amount of shootouts you encounter, you’ll be tucking yourself away to regenerate constantly. After the eightieth bullet, that leg of yours should be the most decrepit thing on the planet.

Verdict: How about that deer you shot? Do you see it running over to the nearest form of cover? That’s right, you didn't. It isn't coming back, because it can’t regenerate. Instead, it died, like in real life. Are you even listening or are you just skinning that deer? [4/10]

Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 wasn’t the best game. Questionable AI, dodgy respawning points and horrible stealth mechanics made this gamer cry in dirty corners, but at least the health system was unique.

And gross.

As this video indicates, you can heal manually if you’re at critical health. This form of manual regeneration entails some of the most grotesque animations I’ve ever witnessed. Pulling glass from your wrist, prising bullets free from your kneecaps, wriggling wire out from between your fingers; Far Cry 2 tries its best to make you vomit.

While this mechanic is unquestionably awesome, it makes no friggin’ sense whatsoever. How the hell does pushing a bullet through your arm give health? I’m no medical expert but I’m pretty sure that after you pull a large piece of shrapnel from your arm, it's going to bleed and you probably aren’t going to be using it for a while.

Verdict: Points for disposing of the junk in your body, but deductions for the nonsensical health giving. Also, since the animations are random you could be shot at, and then all-of-a-sudden be pulling a shard of glass from your wrist. Unless the enemy is armed with wine-bottle launchers, that shouldn't happen. [6/10]

GoldenEye 007 (2010 Wii version)

This re-imagining of the famed N64 shooter was high on many gamers’ lists of unbridled anticipation. Then it came out. All I can say here is that Daniel Cr... - er, I mean, James Bond - now regenerates health rather than having to use med kits. Thanks go to Activision, for shattering my nostalgia into lots of tiny unsalvageable pieces with the most contrived game mechanic possible. Why not add laser cannons and giant mechs next time?

Verdict: James Bond is not a space marine. At least, not yet. As good a spy as he is, he's still only a man, and a well-placed bullet ought to puncture his anatomy like a nail through a slab of soft butter. [2/10]

Gears of War

Only the manliest of men can say that this game doesn’t feature enough gore. Gears of War is responsible for doing a lot right, and a whole lot wrong - see Gears of War 2's multiplayer mode, for instance. Regardless, Marcus Fenix and his COG brethren are fighting a war that they must win. And what equipment do they have in order to ensure this victory against a heavily-armed, ruthless enemy? Chainsaws and standard-issue armour.

Just to remind you, these people are fighting against a horde of mutant angries called the Locust, who have a whole arsenal of hurt just waiting to be unleashed. How does a unit that are struggling for any type of technology fight against beasts the size of small buildings with rockets strapped to their back?

They regenerate, of course.

Verdict: There are no shields, no special infusions to make you a God, nothing. That obviously means that when a colossal space laser descends onto the surface of the world, hitting you square in the forehead, so long as you get out of the blast radius within a few seconds everything's good. Where is the sense? [2/10]

Uncharted

This blows my mind. Nathan Drake and company are wearing what appear to be clearance items from JC Penney, and they have no fear of taking on waves of enemies. What happens when Drake gets shot? The obvious of course: he regenerates. But how?! How can you heal gaping shrapnel and bullet wounds, with your half-tucked shirt as your only form of protection?

Verdict: I guess half-tucked shirts are the new Kevlar. [1/10]

Call of Duty

There is nobody in the entire galaxy that would be able to survive a .50 cal straight to the chest at point-blank range. No manner of Void Armor, magical forces or hostage children used as shields could save you from your dire fate. In Call of Duty, however, apparently they can.

I still remember the day I stopped playing Modern Warfare. I was patiently waiting for some camping hobo to return to the window he’d shot me from several times before. When he appeared, I focused and fired a very accurate shot, dead centre in the middle of the poorly-hidden gentleman's chest. And he didn't die. Even despite the fact that my reticle registered the hit, the bastard lived and shot me again.

Verdict: No. [1/10]

Red Faction Guerrilla

Red Faction is known for its ridiculously enticing destruction. The GeoMod is something that hasn’t been embraced throughout the industry, and it’s ridiculous that it hasn’t been utilised more. However, the very mod I was just praising shows why Guerrilla’s regeneration system makes no sense.

First off, Alex Mason is wearing some kind of industrial rain coat that frightens me. Second, you can be decimating a building and have a two-by-four block of solid concrete fall straight on your face, and yet can still get up after the ragdoll physics have stopped, and be good for another round. Is Mason made of rubber or something? Last time I checked, he was still human, and concrete still really, really hurts when thrown on top of you.

Verdict: Even on Mars, a building collapsing on you is still a building collapsing on you. You’re not coming back out. Ever. [1/10]

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Gears of War, Goldeneye, Killzone, Mirrors Edge, Red Dead Redemption, Red Faction Guerrilla, Uncharted