Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Uncharted 3 is a bit of a controversial experience. Probably the most argued about game in the series. Especially considering that it was hot off the heels of the epic "game of the year" winning Uncharted 2. It takes the series into a direction that a lot of people didn't like, that being a more cinematic and set piece driven direction. With that said, Uncharted 3 is actually my favourite game from the original Uncharted trilogy and I'll try to make a case for it in this review, just be advised that this is almost entirely due to personal preferences. ;)

Let's talk about the narrative, because this is the only area of the game where my major complaints lie. I think that it's a competent narrative overall, with a premise as interesting as following sir Francis Drake's bread crumb trail to the lost city of Ubar hidden somewhere in the middle east, along the way Nathan and pals discover some disturbing secrets as to what Francis Drake had found along the way and desperately battle against a nefarious English secret society to uncover the secrets first! I love not only the premise and setting of this adventure, but also how they tried to put the focus on the personal relationship between Nathan Drake and Sully (especially since Sully had gotten totally forgotten about in the last game! :P). There's a really nice flash back chapter that actually shows how Nathan met Sully and it's pretty charming, plus it also sets up the game's back story and establishes the villains fairly well. Them being Marlowe and Talbot of that secret British organisation.

They were pretty weak villains to be terribly honest, Mostly because they weren't really all that well developed, their voice actors did a pretty commendable job with what they had. I feel like they really missed an opportunity to flesh out the relationship between Sully and Marlowe since they were sort of hinting at a romantic connection early in the game. Another complaint I'd bring up is that Chloe and Cutter - two entertaining and wonderfully performed characters - are totally forgotten about a little under half-way into the game, The writing and dialog here is still pretty entertaining and above average for it's time. And once again the settings are very intricate; from London catacombs to French ruins and Syrian tombs to the arid deserts of Yemen, this game takes you places! :D

And that's actually something that many people didn't like about this game. Unlike the previous two Uncharted games, Uncharted 3 is sectioned off into various different acts and locations, rather than taking place all in one continuous area. It supposedly takes away from the game's sense of scale, but I couldn't be bothered. To me this game is very much like a James Bond film that takes you all over the world in the interest of keeping the film feeling fresh and varied, which is precisely why I prefer this in Uncharted 3. I had gotten pretty tired of some of the locations in Uncharted 2 to be brutally honest. The set pieces in this game are not only some of the grandest in the series but some of the most glorious moments in any video game I've ever played. Escaping from the cap-sizing ship, fist fighting on a doomed aircraft, the epic car chase on friggin horse-back!!! And that's leaving out a few! :P This game was giving me chills left and right, and I actually appreciated that this more cinematic approach distracted from the boring third person shooter tropes that the last two games fell back on a bit too often.

Uncharted 2 devoted entire chapters to locking you in a room and throwing waves of enemies at you, but Uncharted 3 is constantly trying to move you into the next area alleviating that sense of tediousness. I absolutely hated the sections in Uncharted 2 where you were forced to take on tanks and armoured aircrafts single highhandedly which was really silly; but there's nothing of the sort here! I also appreciated this game's emphasis on puzzle solving, sure the puzzles aren't exactly rocket science but they were certainly a step up from previous games. The stealth in this game was pretty negligible but worked pretty well in a few areas. I didn't have any issues with the game's core combat mechanics, be it with guns or fists, though I still struggled with the cover mechanics just a tad bit :S ...

I'd also like to note that I'd played a bit of the multiplayer in this game with friends, while it's nothing too special they did put a lot of work into the maps and supported it generously with tons of DLC. I think overall it was a pretty good excuse to just dink around in the Uncharted universe with some buds and it only added to the game's value! x3 I really loved this game what can I say! It has some of the most memorable Uncharted moments! There's just so much care and detail poured into this adventure. <3