Ok ok, so here's my question: everyone says it's not as good as UC2. I tried to dislike, but eventually really enjoyed 2. Is it worth my time for 3? Also, goty or non?
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Review
Game Emblems
The Good
Uncharted 3 is a bar-raising triumph for action gaming, with amazing visuals, subtle innovations and superb multiplayer.
Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception continues where its predecessor left off, delivering a memorable adventure that pleases on all fronts.
The Good
- Lots of exciting tactics in combat
- Expertly designed levels reward experimentation
- Great pacing
- Excellent presentation including visuals, voice acting, and music
- Exciting competitive and cooperative play.
The Bad
- Slight AI flaws
- Stiff platforming limits creativity.
Is it possible to have your expectations raised too high? Uncharted 2: Among Thieves delivered a monumental leap over the first game in the series, and it might be easy to fall into the trap of assuming the same advancements would take place in every subsequent release. If that's your state of mind going into Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, you might walk away slightly disappointed. But that's not a fair response. Though the third entry in this treasure-hunting franchise offers a similar experience to its revered predecessor, it's no less magical. Just about every element showcases the care and craftsmanship you would expect from the series. Combat is even more versatile than in previous entries, combining incredible shooting encounters with advanced hand-to-hand takedowns set in lavishly designed areas. When you need a break from the taxing physical endeavors, thoughtful puzzles allow you to explore your more contemplative side. And these two elements are punctuated by exhilarating set-piece events that leave you gasping. Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is another superb entry in Nathan Drake's ongoing quest to find the world's many lost treasures.
Once again, Nathan Drake is in search of lost treasure in a mysterious land. The story encompasses many of the same tropes from previous games--deception, twists, camaraderie--though the nuts and bolts of the plot have never been one of Uncharted's strong points. Rather, it's the realistic portrayal of characters--their lively back-and-forth discussions and snide jokes--that give you a reason to care about the tale. Drake, Sully, and the supporting cast sport detailed animation that makes them almost look real, and their playful dialogue further cements this image. Tempers flare, threats are made, and you can feel the tension during heated moments. But these lifelong friends always make up, and it's their believable relationships that make it so easy to become invested in their struggles.
When you picture Uncharted, you may think of plundering ancient tombs or throwing as many grenades as you can manage in bombastic sequences. But the opening of Drake's Deception eschews the larger-than-life action the series is known for in favor of an old-fashioned bar brawl. This is where the new animations that have been incorporated into fisticuffs are apparent as you wrestle with a platoon of aggressive men in a confined place. Shoving a burly dude into the bar while you pummel his face or grabbing a stray bottle to crash over someone's head conjures images of Patrick Swayze handling business in Road House, and the controls are precise enough to make it possible to manage an approaching group without getting your face beaten. Ultimately, these instances where you're forced to take matters into your own hands are the weakest aspect of the game because your freedom is so limited, but that's not to say they're boring. There's a satisfying rhythm to throwing fists while avoiding counters, and you have enough flexibility to move around that you don't feel like you're just performing mindless quick-time events.
As much fun as it may be to bash in a man's head with a wooden chair, it can't match the thrill of beating a man with your fists when he's sporting an assault rifle. There are segments where you have to fistfight in Drake's Deception, but there are other times when you're in a battle for your life and you can use any weapon you want to stay alive. Thanks to the incredibly impactful animations of a hand-to-hand assault, it's fun to put aside the bullets and explosives to focus on getting your hands dirty instead. Being sneaky certainly helps. Snapping a man's neck before he can turn around or just shoving someone clear off a building is immensely rewarding. But there are other times when stealth doesn't work, and you find yourself grappling, feinting, and punching below the belt, while bullets fly and enemies scream death threats at you. Particular animations make these encounters a special treat. You may grasp the barrel of your gun and swing at someone's head with a metal uppercut or elbow a foe in the neck like a wrestler suffering from roid rage, and it's hard to contain your joyous laugh. There are times when you run out of bullets and fighting with your fists is the only way to go. Once you finish off your foe, a slow motion moment in which Drake snatches your enemy's discarded gun in midair adds a fitting end to the fight.
Of course, you don't have to go toe-to-toe if you'd rather not. The beauty of Uncharted's combat is that you can dispatch foes in a variety of ways, and all of them feel incredibly empowering. The key is the expertly designed levels. Drake's Deception is a cover-based, third-person shooter; thus, chest-high walls populate many of your encounters. But those familiar structures aren't used as a crutch here. Verticality gives you the option to climb around like a gun-toting monkey if you prefer, getting the drop on lackadaisical foes. If a man with a rocket launcher is forcing you to hunker behind a piece of debris, fear not; you can smoothly leap from cover, shimmy up a nearby wall, and sprint pell-mell across a rooftop. Grab a sniper rifle on the way if you want to handle him from afar or a shotgun if you'd like to pop him right in the head. Toss grenades at the group of enemies hiding by that well, man the turret once you finish off its previous operator, or sprint past everyone until you make it to the door that marks your safety. Versatile level design lets you choose how to go about killing your pesky foes in Drake's Deception, and rock-solid controls ensure every action you want to perform can be pulled off without any hesitation.
If you're feeling sluggish and just want to use your gun for a while, doing so is a perfectly valid alternative to the high-flying adventuring. The mechanics in Drake's Deception have been refined even further from the previous game. No matter which gun you grab, you can target weak points with ease, and enemies recoil when you prick their flesh with searing-hot bullets. Drake's Deception offers so many different ways to take down foes that you might think it falls into the camp of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But that's not true at all. If you take things slowly--crouch behind cover only risking your neck when the opportunity presents itself--you have just as much of a chance to succeed as someone who makes use of Drake's agility. And you can have just as much fun, too. The weapons are a blast to use. Landing a headshot from across the map with a sniper rifle is eminently satisfying, as is taking out a gunner with a sure blast from a shotgun. You can easily keep an enemy off balance with a fast-shooting assault rifle or knock a grenade right out of someone's hand with a steady pistol. Ample ammunition lets you focus on the fun of firing rather than scrounging for extra bullets, so you can stick with your favorite weapon if you want or mix things up after every fight.
By
Tom Mc Shea, Editor
Tom Mc Shea loves platformers and weighty moral decisions. Some call him a T-Rex with bigger arms, some call him a gorilla with smaller arms -- you can just call him the jerk who hates all the things you love and loves all the things you hate.
60 comments
It's not as good as the other Uncharted games, but it's still captivating and worth all 9 points given in this review. Read more on my impressions at: http://gameanight.wordpress.com/2013/01/13/uncharted-3-ps3/
Very solid game, not quite the game that Uncharted 2 was, but a must play for nearly anyone this generation.
This is the genuine next gen game. A lot of memorable moments. Impressive presentation and entertaining plot and characters' personalities. Visual artworks, refinements including great sense of involvement are just to name a few.
Dumping a clip in enemies felt very cheap and weightless in this game. The bullets don't mark up enemies like they should. When a game has this much gun violence, it's imperative to show some realism so people playing this can know that guns are NOT TOYS. if this game had the carnage of Max payne 3 or Red Dead, than I would love this game.
I love the first Uncharted (though not on my initial play through, but so many times after), and when it came to the sequel, I was very disappointed. The reason behind that is because I personally felt the shooting was weightless with the majority of weapons, and the soundtrack, save for one song, didn't do it for me, and yes, that is about it. So while it's hard not to call it a great game, it's definitely not on par (to me at least) with the first or second when it comes to entertainment.
I was thoroughly surprised to see Uncharted 3 was as superb as it was. I played it late, just back in June, and before that, I knew I wanted to play it, but I really only expected to enjoy it from a character level; I just wanted to see where they go next, and how their story ends, and I just hoped that the game would be fun as well, and then to my surprise, it was fantastic, and still is. It's one of the games I just started playing again. I understand why people love two so much, but I don't share the same feelings.
Everyone always says Uncharted 2 is better, but I can't see how; the story in 3 is far superior, and so are the gameplay mechanics. This should be a 9.5 easily.
The second game was a huge leap over the first UC game. UC 3 doesn't do that major jump. On the other hand, UC 3 has an outstanding story, multiplayer and visuals. UC 2 had all those but MORE. The story was more emotional and epic, the soundtrack is among the best in videogaming history and the multiplayer was an addictive experience.
1 Like UNCHARTED 3 é o melhor jogo de sempre. Qem ainda nao tiver, vale a pena comprar, é muito cool pessoal.
A historia está muito boa, os gráficos săo otimos muito mesmo muito realistas... o Modo online também esta muito bom.
awesome it looks like firefly by Joss Whedon/Tim Minear. minus all the scifi technology. the chandelier in the game reminds me of shindig ep 4. i would be swell if they made a game of the series, or an offshoot like it.
hey guys im looking for a good ps3 game, uncharted 3 has got great reviews all round. im just asking if i buy this game i will know whats going on? i have bearly touched the first 2 in the series, is it nescessary to play the first before this one? or is the story easy to pick up on?
@Nerdies It's easy to pick up, but I prefer playing the first and the second before the third. It's great to witness how the game evolved and developed over the years in graphics, gameplay and story of course. Enjoy.
@digi-demon yeah it breaks PS3 if you consider how much graphics this game churns out. UC3 has some of the best graphics this generation & that is why i love the series & was one of the reasons i bought a ps3.
2 Like Yeah. I put the disc into my PS3 and it blew up. I still haven't found all the pieces of it. :P
4 Like Best game in the series, which is saying a lot, actually.The human factor punctuated by the clever dialog trade-in between characters is what elevates this title above it's predecessor.Melee combat has been much improved too, now making it a useful combat tool.Set-pieces are of an all-time high quality, ozzing cinematic, blockbuster movie-like moments, but with added inmerssiveness due to total interactive qualities.One of the best experiences I've ever had as a gamer.
@ploodie i was thinking exactly the same thing about drake touching the walls, ridiculously over used and very annoying after a while. Its supposed to be realistic but who touches walls every time they pass one in real life? nobody. ND need to up their game big time for the next one.
im a big fan of Uncharted 2 but this is nowhere near a 10, even 9 is overrating it. id give it an 8, good game, good mp but not as good as its predecessor.
i have played on a couple of 3d tvs, one expensive 800hz samsung model and im not all that impressed by it. Wipeout hd is prob the most impressive but even thats not amazing. Its ok but completely unessential, many textures are downgraded and the depth effect isnt that great. For me the 2d gaming experience is still superior at the moment.
I agree, rating should be 9.5 tt has to be up there with the best of all time, it is revolutionary in many ways.
I agree with Bubnux. This game is just mind blowing in 3d. The atmopsheres are amazing in 2d, but in 3D you can see what the game was really designed for. Many items pop out right in the perfect places, not in your face but right "next" to you or above you. Fantastic use of 3D in a game, might be the best so far of all 3D games.
Game is KILLER in 3D, if you've got a 3D rig & don't own it yet you should be ashamed. I can't say "deserves a 10" Cuz I haven't finished yet- but dang what more do you want from a game?
@Shoinko I just finished Uncharted 3 yesterday, I got it late. I agree that the never ending waves of enemies were not enjoyable. At times I thought I had to advance through the level or complete a certain objective because the waves seemed to last forever.
http://www.gamespot.com/uncharted-3-drakes-deception/user-reviews/784634/platform/ps3/ Check out my review for more details. I think that Uncharted 3 is an amazing game. The multiplayer is vastly improved, and the single player campaign had some awesome moments. Yet, I have to give my favorites game in the franchise to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. It changed so much from the original that I honestly didn't think that they were part of the same franchise. Uncharted 3 seemed to build upon the ideas of its predecessor (which is good) but didn't really change the way that I played the game. That being said, the story also felt somewhat lacking in the third entry. Characters were introduced and dropped quickly (Chloe and Cutter) and the story felt disjointed in the end. Elena and Drake get married...then divorced after Uncharted 2? That was a bit much Naughty Dog. There were just so many things that I enjoyed about the first game that made me love it more than this one. Now, is Uncharted 3 a bad game? No. Is it an incredibly good game? Yes! Is it better than its predecessor? In some ways, totally! Is it as revolutionary as its predecessor? I personally don't think so. Great game nonetheless! 9.5
This is great adventure game.. i like it .so is not a FPS loll but the gun control is hard great game in overall BUMP
hello again to answer everybody that gamespot hates sony yes it does it deserves A 10 and THAT MEANS A 10
I played the game agree to some extent with the review BUT the rating should have been 9.5
Heres yet another underwhelming over priced internet ready blu ray player game. Meh. "Xbox 360 is the BEST console EVER made." --John Carmack
1 Like @buying1999 I don't feel like sticking to a futuristic shooters which are all the same. So no. Exclusives do their job.
this is the best game I've ever played it deserves a 10 i finished the game around 4 times and I'm still enjoying it the rate shouldn't be less than gears of war 3 and the same of batman it was better. a lot better
This game is a stepback for the series... the first three chapters are too short compared with the previous games; and chapter 18 is a rip off, Nate doesn´t do any thing alse but walking, lame for a high action series. The game is still good but could have been better.
Such a nice written review but the score is just 9.0 .... gamespot just hates sony man, and I have no idea when they are going to end this.
Good review, Tom. Played some of the game myself and thought it was pretty great, as the bar of "Uncharted" quality is usually at. More involving plot, nearly seamless gameplay, impressive graphics, and a fairly enjoyable multiplayer to boot. 'Tis a shame that it had to come out after its nearly perfect predecessor, though, since it doesn't make as much of a groundbreaking gameplay experience as UC2 did. Still a pretty great game in its own right, though.
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Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Not Following
- Publisher(s): SCEA
- Developer(s): Naughty Dog
- Genre: Action
- Release:
- ESRB: T
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