Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

10 Hours or Less

The Bottom Line:

"Immersive"

Attaining a balance between film-like quality in game and fantastic gameplay can often only be achieved by having a lot of money to produce such a game and a mastery over the combination of excellent gameplay and exciting cinematic quality. Uncharted is a series that has managed to, somehow, perfect this formula. When first introduced, the series seemed like nothing but a Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones ripoff, a lackluster game with a ho-hum story and unpolished gameplay. Then Uncharted 2 came out. It was a massive improvement over the original game and proved to be GOTY material, nearly perfecting the mix of blockbuster film quality and exciting gameplay.

Uncharted 3 continues what Uncharted 2 set as the standard. The game does more than just play well with a bunch of pretty cinematics in between. The cinematics go hand in hand with the game, while the script has obviously been very carefully written. The dialogue is witty, engaging, and realistic, as good as any film and especially well voiced. The game follows pretty much the same formula as the second game, but this is far from a bad thing. Instead, it's welcome, as the familiar ground here is something we can feel safe and good about returning too.

This threequel focuses on Drake's attempt to find an ancient, lost city in the Middle East in a race against a villain that has hounded him for 20 years. The villain this time around is Elaine Marlowe, a far more enjoyable antagonist than the previous games. Marlowe is a non-traditional elderly woman seemingly intertwined into the lives of Sully and Drake, and it creates a very interesting relationship between, not only Marlowe and Drake, but Drake and his allies as well. The usual tropes are there, but they seem more interesting this time around, with all the characters being somewhat endearing. The fact that they are portrayed more down to earth and in a more human way makes it all the more entertaining. It is with quite a bit of weight that the game is one of the definitive single-player gaming experiences.

The gameplay is equally as enjoyable. There are plenty of set pieces to be had, including escaping a burning building and a foot chase across a middle eastern city. Gameplay is easy and plentiful, from responsive hand to hand to varied gunplay. Still, the formula is beginning to show it's age, and this is probably the games biggest fault. For the fourth game (of which there will inevitably be), Naughty Dog would do best to come up with a new gameplay system, as the gameplay here is all too familiar and last generation. Still, the game is a blast to play and the controls are responsive enough to overlook the faults.

No, Uncharted 3 doesn't go into any....uncharted (sorry) territory, but it at least sticks to a winning formula. Through this, we're presented familiar, likable characters in an exciting, blockbuster story as good as any film out today. If you're itching for the next, great cinematic gaming experience, Uncharted 3 is invariably for you.