Uncharted 3 PS3 Review
Review Score: 9 out of 10
Nathan Drake and company are back in search of adventure and treasure in Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception. But can it top Naughty Dog’s masterpiece, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves?
The Good:
Fist Fighting:
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception has a much more improved fighting system than it’s predessor and it’s a lot of fun. It steals from Batman: Arkham Asylum (except the fighting isn’t as tight) where each punch or kick is timed by the square or triangle button on the PS3 controller. Basically, the fighting is button mashing.
Since the beginning of the game starts with a good ol’ fashion bar brawl it’s a perfect way to use the new fist fighting fighting mechanics, and throwing punches is satisflying. During a brawl, you can sometimes grab objects such as a money wrench or even a dead fish to clobber your opponets with. You also have a variety of stealth takedowns which come in handy if you want to get through a level without attracting attention.
During most of the game, I found my myself attacking with punching more than using my handgun to take down enemies. Fist fighting in the market area feels like it’s a nod to the fighting scene in Radiers of the Lost Ark, and Nathan Drake throws a punch just as well as Indiana Jones does.
Drake slugs somebody during a fire
Graphics / Enviroments:
The enviroments in Uncharted 3 surpass Uncharted 2. The environments in the story mode and multiplayer are moving and exciting to play in. The environments are rough seas, deserts, sandstorms, runaway trains and burning buildings. My favorite level was the Ship wreck yard where Nathan has to swim, dive, and go underwater to avoid being spotted or shot at. There also are some great looking eniroments where Drake is in the desert and looking for water just to keep his sanity. The graphics once again are top notch and may make Uncharted 3 could be the best looking PS3 game ever.
Multiplayer and Online Play:
Uncharted 3 has a better mulitplayer than Uncharted 2 and the maps are much more intense. You can fight on moving trucks at the airport, or fight on top of speeding subway cars in London’s underground. There’s more attention and variety put into them where I always felt that Uncharted 2′s muliplayer was a bit of a throwaway. You can also play Co-op with two other players and some of the levels have different enemies than the main game.
Elana looks hotter in Uncharted 3
Characters & Story:
The charcters and story are top notch, and if you’re a fan of the Uncharted series you’ll appreciate the game’s humour with such lines as, “Is that a popcorn machine?”
There also is a great little backstory about how Drake and Sully met. The banter between Drake and Sully during the game is once again highly enjoyable. You are always looking forward to getting to a “new” cut scene because they are so well done.
Puzzles:
The puzzles in Uncharted 3 are more challenging than Uncharted 2, but they are still a little too easy.
The Bad:
Too many characters:
Uncharted 3 seems to go back and forth between the characters a little too much where you sometimes lose track of the story. I enjoyed revisiting the characters from the series, but I thought that the villians in the game weren’t given enough ample story time to become menacing or make an impact. They’re just sort of there.
The biggest fault with Uncharted 3 is it tries to juggle too many characters at once and doesn’t have enough time in the game to do each character justice.
Too much damn climbing:
The climbing hasn’t changed at all since the first Uncharted game, and it gets boring fast. You can only have Drake climb so many walls before you start to lose interest. However you do less climbing in Uncharted 3. I feel there’s a risk with the climbing, Drake never misses those little ledges that he’s jumping to and you find yourself asking, “When will the climbing be over?”
The climbing seems to slow down the other action in the game. I’d rather be shooting or punching somebody then climbing up the side of an castle for the 900th time. To mix things up, there are a few levels where you are able to shoot upwards at your enemies (when you’re climbing) and then you get to see them fall from above you. Fun, but not enough to keep me interested in climbing walls over and over again.
Some bugs and glitches:
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception does have some minor glitches. While playing the ocean level, I got stuck in the middle of the ocean, hovering above the water. I couldn’t move and had to restart the checkpoint.
The Bottom Line:
Although Uncharted 3 may not be as ground breaking as Uncharted 2 was two years ago, it’s still a must buy if you’re a fan of the series.
It has high adventure, spills and kills, along with some fantastic “movie like” quality moments. It takes awhile to get going, but once it does it’s a hell of a ride.
If you look at the PS3 commerials in Japan on Youtube, even Indiana Jones himself (Harrison Ford) had a blast playing Uncharted 3 and that’s a recommendation worth considering.
If Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is considered the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” in the Uncharted series, then Uncharted 3 is the “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and that’s not a bad place to be.