Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Snakeblood · 30-12-2011 10:53pm

Deleted User wrote: »

I traded it for a good price as soon as I finished it too. I found it entertaining, but it was frustrating in parts, and had a slew of design flaws and cheap AI and spawning, particularly in a lot of the sections mentioned here like the ballroom, sandstorm, etc. I honestly couldn't wait to be done with it, which was a disappointment, having enjoyed the other 2 so much.

You run the risk of getting a lot of criticism for expressing negative opinions about a game with as hardcore a following as uncharted, but as a neutral observer it was clear that number 2 was the pinnacle of the series. That one didnt feel like its flaws were getting in the way of enjoying the game. Rushed and/or lazy development and an ok but not fantastic story held this one back a little.

Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. I loved Uncharted 2, but I didn't find this as compelling (although still good). Sitting here watching the credits roll, and my immediate impressions are that there are a few combat situations I thought were unfairly stacked from the start, 2 or 3 laser sights + rocket launcher trained on you from the opening of the scene, so if you stand still for a second at the beginnning you're whacked. I also agree with the rocket launchers being too accurate, although I had the problem with the blooper things more, as they tended to bounce unexpectedly, one would over shoot me while I was in cover and bounce back to me with little time to react. Couple that with incredibly accurate shooting later, and I was getting blown out of cover and shot as soon as I landed. I also thought the plot was a bit weak compared to the previous ones. Maybe I"m spoiled.

Oh well. Will still play the next one, if there is one.

Zero-Cool · 30-12-2011 11:29pm

Jaysus, Gametrailers named Uncharted 3 GOTY. Didn't see that coming, they usually know better.

Helix · 31-12-2011 12:27am

i think in any other year it might have been a goty contender for me, as it is it was 6th in my top 10

Shifty Shellshock · 31-12-2011 1:02am

I don't have the game but have UC2. I always use to play the multi-player on it. Seems people here only wanna play the single player and return it.

Azza · 31-12-2011 1:07am

Think it won best graphics as well which is pretty lol.

Decent game but far from my game of the year.

Helix · 31-12-2011 1:29am

Azza wrote: »

Think it won best graphics as well which is pretty lol.

Decent game but far from my game of the year.

why is that lol? that graphics were incredible

31-12-2011 2:40am

Helix wrote: »

why is that lol? that graphics were incredible

I don't know about that. I'm finding it harder to be impressed by console graphics lately, maybe because all the current gen platforms and engines have been pushed close to their limits as they are getting older. I mean U3 had some good graphics, and nice facial textures in particular, but they weren't leaps and bounds ahead of the last one in the series, or better enough than anything else on the market to justify a graphics GOTY, at least in my opinion. I thought batman arkham city and gears 3 were contenders for best graphics this year because they had a lot of extra detail and it was obvious that a lot of care and attention had gone into them, but even at that I didn't feel like there had been a huge jump from the previous installment in either series, and so many of the other games out there like COD, battlefield etc were just more of the same graphically.

I havent played everything, but It's hard to think of a game this year that really pushed the envelope in terms of graphics. Maybe they just wanted to give something to U3?

tok9 · 31-12-2011 4:42am

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know about that. I'm finding it harder to be impressed by console graphics lately, maybe because all the current gen platforms and engines have been pushed close to their limits as they are getting older. I mean U3 had some good graphics, and nice facial textures in particular, but they weren't leaps and bounds ahead of the last one in the series, or better enough than anything else on the market to justify a graphics GOTY, at least in my opinion. I thought batman arkham city and gears 3 were contenders for best graphics this year because they had a lot of extra detail and it was obvious that a lot of care and attention had gone into them, but even at that I didn't feel like there had been a huge jump from the previous installment in either series, and so many of the other games out there like COD, battlefield etc were just more of the same graphically.

I havent played everything, but It's hard to think of a game this year that really pushed the envelope in terms of graphics. Maybe they just wanted to give something to U3?

I don't know much about PC gaming and the graphics but console wise UC3 has got fantastic graphics. I'm surprised you have mentioned Batman and Gears 3 possibly being better considering they are both using an old Unreal engine at this stage and certainly don't have the same level of polish that UC3 has.

Not GOTY but I'd definitely give it best graphics too.

Helix · 31-12-2011 5:46am

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know about that. I'm finding it harder to be impressed by console graphics lately, maybe because all the current gen platforms and engines have been pushed close to their limits as they are getting older. I mean U3 had some good graphics, and nice facial textures in particular, but they weren't leaps and bounds ahead of the last one in the series, or better enough than anything else on the market to justify a graphics GOTY, at least in my opinion. I thought batman arkham city and gears 3 were contenders for best graphics this year because they had a lot of extra detail and it was obvious that a lot of care and attention had gone into them, but even at that I didn't feel like there had been a huge jump from the previous installment in either series, and so many of the other games out there like COD, battlefield etc were just more of the same graphically.

I havent played everything, but It's hard to think of a game this year that really pushed the envelope in terms of graphics. Maybe they just wanted to give something to U3?

its not really about single textures, or character models, its about the overall art direction of the thing. its phenomenal

krudler · 31-12-2011 11:57am

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know about that. I'm finding it harder to be impressed by console graphics lately, maybe because all the current gen platforms and engines have been pushed close to their limits as they are getting older. I mean U3 had some good graphics, and nice facial textures in particular, but they weren't leaps and bounds ahead of the last one in the series, or better enough than anything else on the market to justify a graphics GOTY, at least in my opinion. I thought batman arkham city and gears 3 were contenders for best graphics this year because they had a lot of extra detail and it was obvious that a lot of care and attention had gone into them, but even at that I didn't feel like there had been a huge jump from the previous installment in either series, and so many of the other games out there like COD, battlefield etc were just more of the same graphically.

I havent played everything, but It's hard to think of a game this year that really pushed the envelope in terms of graphics. Maybe they just wanted to give something to U3?

yeah, just no, UC3 is absolutely stunning looking, its not just the textures its the camera movement, the subtle character interaction with the backgrounds etc. how was battlefield more of the same graphically? its an entire new engine.

Zero-Cool · 31-12-2011 12:00pm

Ya, the graphics were stunning! 1 of the many many examples was on the ship and the camera zoomed out to show the ship on it's side and you, a tiny dot. And then inside, the huge ballroom with the water leaking in through the huge glass window. Still, not close to GOTY.

31-12-2011 12:18pm

tok9 wrote: »

I'm surprised you have mentioned Batman and Gears 3 possibly being better considering they are both using an old Unreal engine at this stage and certainly don't have the same level of polish that UC3 has.

I'd agree in part that unreal engine is certainly starting to show its age, even when it was as heavily customised as it was in batman. I think I just enjoyed the level of detail that was present in those games,

Helix wrote: »

its not really about single textures, or character models, its about the overall art direction of the thing. its phenomenal

I would agree that UC3's art direction was very good, as usual, it was like watching a very well photographed movie. I guess the term "graphics" covers a lot of bases, but to me it means the technical stuff, which I think it's difficult these days to find a standout in. Best art direction to me would be a separate category.

Azza · 31-12-2011 1:18pm

Battlefield 3 on PC would have to take the crown.

Retr0gamer · 31-12-2011 5:38pm

When there's games like Battlefield 3 on the PC that are technically ahead of everything else and Rayman Origins for art there's no way Uncharted 3 should be winning best graphics. As for game of the year, Dark Souls imo, but that's just me

richymcdermott · 01-01-2012 8:22pm

Retr0gamer wrote: »

When there's games like Battlefield 3 on the PC that are technically ahead of everything else and Rayman Origins for art there's no way Uncharted 3 should be winning best graphics. As for game of the year, Dark Souls imo, but that's just me

Would of agreed with ya bout dark souls and probably still do but skyrim is one beast of a game

Retr0gamer · 02-01-2012 1:48am

I know I'll love Skyrim but I feel it won't beat Dark Souls, just found it to be one of those great games that only comes around every few years.

johnny_ultimate · 02-01-2012 11:29am

Although I'm still early in Skyrim, it is not a batch on Dark Souls, and Uncharted 3 would barely scrape the top ten of the year (which goes to show how fantastic a year it was). Child of Eden, Spacechem, DoDonPachi Resurrection, Death Smiles, Jamestown, Skyward Sword, Portal 2 and Catherine are all easily Skyrim and Uncharted beaters out of the ones I've played.

And while Uncharted certainly looks like millions of dollars, Child of Eden remains the most eye-meltingly pretty game of the year by a longshot. Made me fall for HD all over again.

Sad Professor · 02-01-2012 6:41pm

I just finished it there. I ended up knocking the difficulty down to Very Easy. The superhuman guys and the spawning enemies are just too annoying.

Excellent graphics, great story, fantastic cinematics, let down by poor and outdated gameplay with some seriously dodgy controls. I'd rather watch this game than play it. The previous two games had similar problems, but they never overwhelmed the overall experience like they do in this game. I think ND just got a bit complacent. UC2 was so well received that they didn't think there was anything to improve on.

I still enjoyed it, but more as an interactive movie than as a game.

sofireland · 02-01-2012 6:57pm

Anyone else have a problem with this game not loading up?
All my other games are working fine, but when i put this in, i just get the spinning ring in the corner and it doesn't do anything then

richymcdermott · 02-01-2012 7:55pm

weird everyone having gameplay issues with swarms of enemies and heavy armored elites since i bet the game in crushing under 4 hours
i must be the best gamer on boards :pac::pac:

Helix · 02-01-2012 8:58pm

theres no bloody way that game is beatable in under 4 hours

Josey Wales · 02-01-2012 9:29pm

I finished it myself yesterday and I really enjoyed it. I played it on normal difficulty and there was a couple of occasions that I was tempted to drop the difficulty level. The sequence in the ballroom on the ship was quite frustrating. As was the moment in the sandstorm when you need to find the RPG to take out the heavy guns. Had to restart those checkpoints so many times.

I tend to agree with those saying that it is not quite as good as Uncharted 2. I don't think there was a sequence in this game as good as the train level in Uncharted 2. The graphics are very, very impressive and the cinematics are terrific yet again. Also it still has the best voice acting of any game.

I don't believe it is possible to beat this game in under 4 hours though.

krudler · 02-01-2012 10:15pm

richymcdermott wrote: »

weird everyone having gameplay issues with swarms of enemies and heavy armored elites since i bet the game in crushing under 4 hours
i must be the best gamer on boards :pac::pac:

pic or gtfo.

richymcdermott · 02-01-2012 10:19pm

Helix wrote: »

theres no bloody way that game is beatable in under 4 hours

Tis when ya skip all cutscenes :pac:

Helix · 02-01-2012 10:57pm

nah, still not buying it

ive played through it twice and its my job to play through games as quickly as i possibly can (which im not a fan of) and there's no way it can be done in 4

noodler · 03-01-2012 4:41pm

Completely agree with points that I would rather watch this game than play it.

The gameplay actually felt like something you wanted to fly through to get to the cinematices sadly.

By the way,

I think they really chickened out at the end. I really thought Sully was dead and the sequences after that with Drake's rage, the hallucinations etc were some of the best moments in the game that were slightly spoiled by the revelation he didn't actually die.

noodler · 03-01-2012 4:44pm

BTW the developers said they could complete the game in 3 hours.

Hard to believe you did it in crushing though.

richymcdermott · 03-01-2012 4:51pm

Believe what you will but it was bout 4 hours i completed it ..

cloud493 · 03-01-2012 7:53pm

You guys don't appreciate it

Bloody fantastic games, don't understand hardly any of these complaints.

johnny_ultimate · 03-01-2012 8:21pm

cloud493 wrote: »

You guys don't appreciate it Bloody fantastic games, don't understand hardly any of these complaints.

It's merely sensible criticism. If there's one thing the gaming community is guilty of, it's an embarassing inability to allow for an open and varied discourse. I think with Uncharted 3 there were enough flaws with the design - from silly enemy design to the game's supposed-to-be-hidden inner gears revealing themselves one too many times - to irk very many passionate Uncharted fans. I think there's a lot of people that think Uncharted 3 is a disappointing step-back - or not enough of a step-forward - compared to the last game.

It's certainly a good game - few would have much fault with the script, setpieces or presentation - but it's far from perfect, and the flaws demand discussion as much as the strengths. Healthy, varied debate is often distressingly absent on gaming forums, so always nice to see some thoughtful criticism.

funky penguin · 03-01-2012 8:34pm

Exactly. Far from a flawless game, and it currently stands quite a bit below the bar Uncharted 2 set.

Really love this franchise, especially it's voice acting. However, I think Uncharted 4 needs really careful attention to it's AI and combat set pieces.

Too many times I found enemies running around my position, acting the idiot. I thought the 'tanks' in Uncharted 2 were not terribly unbalanced, but jesus the bullet sponges in this one take it too far.

Anyways! Great game, but far from perfect. Very similar to my opinions on Assassin's Creed.

krudler · 03-01-2012 8:40pm

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

It's merely sensible criticism. If there's one thing the gaming community is guilty of, it's an embarassing inability to allow for an open and varied discourse. I think with Uncharted 3 there were enough flaws with the design - from silly enemy design to the game's supposed-to-be-hidden inner gears revealing themselves one too many times - to irk very many passionate Uncharted fans. I think there's a lot of people that think Uncharted 3 is a disappointing step-back - or not enough of a step-forward - compared to the last game.

It's certainly a good game - few would have much fault with the script, setpieces or presentation - but it's far from perfect, and the flaws demand discussion as much as the strengths. Healthy, varied debate is often distressingly absent on gaming forums, so always nice to see some thoughtful criticism.

its the price you pay for trying to surpass one of the best games of this generation of consoles, change too much and you lose what makes the series fun to play, dont change it enough and you're just rehashing it.

johnny_ultimate · 03-01-2012 8:48pm

Perhaps asking too much, but an Uncharted game where they just completely removed gunplay and replaced it with more 'appropriate' content would be the step forward I'd like to see. I don't mean simply more setpieces - even Naughty Dog have limited resources - but somehow make an adventure game that doesn't break the tone with rooms upon rooms of enemy footsoldiers.

How do they do this? Haven't a clue: I'm not a game designer. But looking at something like ICO - which has very minimal combat elements - would be a step in the right direction. Provide some sort of 'overworld', perhaps, but keep the scripted sections. Have treasure that the player has to discover for themselves - not just by walking forward. Keep what makes Uncharted special, and build upon it. Variety is always going to be a problem, but where's the ambition to achieve something really special?

krudler · 03-01-2012 8:49pm

funky penguin wrote: »

Exactly. Far from a flawless game, and it currently stands quite a bit below the bar Uncharted 2 set.

Really love this franchise, especially it's voice acting. However, I think Uncharted 4 needs really careful attention to it's AI and combat set pieces.

Too many times I found enemies running around my position, acting the idiot. I thought the 'tanks' in Uncharted 2 were not terribly unbalanced, but jesus the bullet sponges in this one take it too far.

Anyways! Great game, but far from perfect. Very similar to my opinions on Assassin's Creed.

there were WAY too many bullet absorbing shotgun wielding assbags in UC3, every gunfight almost. and guys throwing grenades with pinpoint accuracy to land at your feet not matter where they were, got annoying.

i'm on my second playthrough and a lot of it honestly feels like padding where the gunfights are concerned, take the tank sequence in UC2, it served a story purpose, it kept the action moving, it was a running battle through the Tibetan village where you were ducking in and out of alleys and houses to take cover, it was superb.
Then take the ship graveyard sequence in UC3, its annoying (beautiful looking though) its a throwaway side villain and littered with ridiculous snipers, bullet sponges and grenades raining on you no matter where you are, theres no flow to it I spent most of it hanging off the side of a ship taking cover and trying to take out the harder enemies first, just wanted it to be over in the end, and I never once felt that playing through the action sequences in UC2. It reminding me of that horrid bunker level in UC1, which was an absolute chore to play through.

richymcdermott · 03-01-2012 8:50pm

Anyone else feel the

stranded on the desert walking was to make the game feel longer

the part of the game dragged on for ages i think they ran out of ideas .. Also fighting those brutes on more than one ocassion felt tiresome and was soooo boring , u3 felt like an expansion pack than a true sequel , felt like sony came in naughty dog studios and said ya you guy we need more money you make uncharted 3 nowwww or you are fired !!!!!! :pac:

johnny_ultimate · 03-01-2012 8:57pm

The

desert

sequence is the kind of thing there should have been more of. It improved the pacing of the game significantly by scaling back for ten minutes. I'm under no illusion that there's anything more involved than pressing forward while the camera pans dramatically around you, but as a spectacle it was a highlight of the game, and got across Drake's desperation in the situation hella effectively. If anything, more of it would have been nicer. It's the rare game that makes the player suffer in order to make an artistic point. I guess in a medium obsessed with achievements, that's no surprise

Retr0gamer · 03-01-2012 9:03pm

Interesting, didn't think Naughty Dog would have done a scene like that but when I saw previews of that section of the game I thought it would be good if Naughty Dog did something like that since it worked really well during a similar scene in Illusion of Time yonks ago.

richymcdermott · 03-01-2012 9:26pm

Not saying the scene was bad but i feel like these days vg want to be like movies . I want more gameplay than watching a cutscene or they trying to create an artistic seneory

Helix · 03-01-2012 10:04pm

theres absolutely nothing wrong with telling a story though, particularly if its a good one that's well acted

krudler · 03-01-2012 10:17pm

Helix wrote: »

theres absolutely nothing wrong with telling a story though, particularly if its a good one that's well acted

this, and UC3 has some superb voice acting from all the cast. this scene in particular spoilers ahoy mateys

from 1.30 on, I think this is Nolan Norths best acting ever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDLKospH0r0

you're watching pixels act, and its better than a lot of movies these days.

johnny_ultimate · 03-01-2012 10:21pm

Games wanting to be movies is both a good and a bad thing. When it's at the cost of interactivity - as it often is in Uncharted - it's a negative. When it is to increase the dramatic scope - as it often is in Uncharted - it's more admirable. But developers need to be aware of how they can utilise the fact that the audience is playing can lead to huge emotional payoffs. Argo falling off the cliff? Aeries? The end of HL2: EP2? More effective because you have lost control where once you had it. I'm not putting the Uncharted 3 bit up there with them, but in conjuring up an emotional and atmospheric reaction for the player it was a very effective move. I'd rather a developer briefly creates a crippling sense of lonliness and inadequacy than the shallow 'thrill' of a hundred headshots. And if it homages Laurence of Arabia in the process, more power to Naughty Dog

funky penguin · 03-01-2012 10:34pm

I thought Uncharted 2 nicely mixed the game/movie aspects.

I can still remember playing it by myself for an hour before an after exam party night. Then, suddenly looking around me to see about 7 friends just sitting down watching it, (just after the truck jumping scene before the temple). My initial reaction was to pause it and ask it they wanted to watch the television, but all shouted 'NO!', almost in unison and insisted I kept playing! I ended up completing it with 15 people watching, wanting to see the ending.

Couldn't see that happening with Uncharted 3, which is a pity.

noodler · 03-01-2012 10:56pm

Yeah so in summary (for me anyway)

1) Bad guys had feck all character

2) The story was another Raiders of the Lost Ark rehash

3) The game's idea of gamplay is surrounding you with soliders (kill X number of soldiers to proceed - ballroom on the ship for example, a door just opens once you have killed enough as more baddies come in)

4) No risks taken (nobody died)

5) Probably not enough puzzles

krudler · 03-01-2012 11:10pm

noodler wrote: »

Yeah so in summary (for me anyway)

1) Bad guys had feck all character

2) The story was another Raiders of the Lost Ark rehash

3) The game's idea of gamplay is surrounding you with soliders (kill X number of soldiers to proceed - ballroom on the ship for example, a door just opens once you have killed enough as more baddies come in)

4) No risks taken (nobody died)

5) Probably not enough puzzles

I was looking forward to Marlowe as the villain, I though yay, some progress, a villain thats female, in her 60's and isnt some typical game massive jugged standard female game baddie, go ND for breaking stereotypes. but they didnt really give her much of a motive. her sidekick/henchman looked too much like Flynn from UC2 as well. I did like Cutter though. and yeah I would have prefered if

Sully died, I thought it was brave to kill him when you think they did, it might have even put the Drake character on an interesting arc for the next game, not working for the right people and just out for himself for a change, but they chickened out

mystic86 · 18-01-2012 12:18pm

this is hilarious

a little spoilerish, not really though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKrm112QhrE

mystic86 · 19-02-2012 8:33pm

http://nightmaremode.net/2012/02/being-like-a-teenager-in-uncharted-2-exploring-adulthood-in-uncharted-3-16572/

interesting read.

mystic86 · 07-07-2012 1:44pm

http://www.psu.com/a016021/Hilarious-video--What-its-like-being-a-bad-guy-in-Uncharted

hahaha

PerrinV2 · 11-08-2012 3:07pm

Just got this during the week,thought it was great.
Prefered it to UC2 but I think that was down to before I got UC2 it was built up to be one of the greatest games ever so it was never gonna be able to live up to expectations whereas with UC3 I had heard it wasn't meant to be as good as UC2 so in the end I enjoyed it alot more.

edgecutter · 12-08-2012 12:26am

I enjoyed the game too, but the ending left me flat. Not a great villian nor any risks with the ending.

C14N · 12-08-2012 10:23pm

I finished it recently. It was decent but kind of forgettable imo. I felt really pedantically frustrated so much of the time though. The plot seemed to be far too restricted to cut-scenes where all the rules suddenly changed.

Why does Drake have no problem killing 600+ guys (on my playthrough) throughout the game but hesitates about killing their boss?

How the hell does a fairly average guy (as in not a superhuman or "the best soldier ever" type character) take on a small army by himself?

How does Nate shoot up an entire village of mercenaries moments after spending 3 days in the desert on death's door due to dehydration, sunstroke and malnourishment? There just seemed to be so many times when there was a 99.9% chance of death that he escaped from unharmed. I'm not saying to make the game perfectly realistic or anything but this one just struck me as absurd. Most games will give some kind of reasoning for the lead character to be able to do what they do (you're a god/the chosen hero/superhuman/highly trained government weapon/son of a demon/whatever) but Drake seems to be a normal guy who has a knack for finding treasure.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

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