The Uncharted series is all about fun and adventure. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception does not disappoint. Whether you are playing it on a last-gen console or as a part of the Uncharted Collection for the current generation, the game delivers exactly what is expected of it. Though it’s not quite a retro game yet, it’s getting to be a bit older now. Here is my (Almost) Retro Review of it:
–For the purposes of this review, I played the game on the PlayStation 3.–
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is third person adventure game, developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony. It is a PlayStation 3-only game, which came out in 2011, and has been pretty successful both in critical acclaim, awards, and copies sold. The game was re-released in the Uncharted Collection for PlayStation 4 on October 7, 2015 with enhanced graphics and more power as it was rebuilt by Bluepoint Games for the current generation.
*Warning: Some Spoilers, but not many.*
I am going to admit that I have not played the first and second Uncharted games, so I’m not going to go into back-story, since I don’t know it. However, I will say that the story is actually pretty easy to follow, even without knowing much about the first two.
If you didn’t know already, the Uncharted games are adventure games similar in feel to Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider. Since I really like adventure-stuff, I am probably going to be biased on some of this (just letting you know). If that genre is not your cup of tea, you can actually stop reading now. But if you’re an arm-chair adventurer, like me, then you will probably love this game.
The particular plot of Uncharted 3 revolves around Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan attempting to bring Katherine Marlowe, but they end up digging up more than they bargained for. There are some flashbacks to a young Nate Drake and many locations to explore, including France and Syria, all in hopes of tracking down possible treasure/secrets Sir Francis Drake may have found in his journeys.
This game has a really fun story that definitely has some Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones qualities to it. There are also some twists and turns. The pacing was good as well, not too long or too short. Many of the characters have been developed throughout the series, but I was able to follow along pretty well without playing the first or second. Overall, it was a lot of fun to play, though the game is very cut-scene heavy. I am not sure if that is a good thing or not. Considering adventure games are supposed to be a bit cinematic, I suppose it’s a plus on Uncharted 3’s side.
*End spoilers.*
Like the other Uncharted games, 3 is also third person. When I first saw the franchise being advertised, I thought the gameplay would be a rip-off of the Tomb Raider games. BUT IT’S NOT. The closest thing I could relate it to would be The Last of Us meets Assassin’s Creed, but even then I don’t know if that’s an apt description, so I’m going to go into the four aspects of gameplay I noticed the most:
1.) Exploring
Tomb Raider (at least the older ones I’ve played) forces the gamer to line up jumps pretty much perfectly to solve jump puzzles. Uncharted seems to be more lax on this, though I’ve fallen off enough things in this game to say that you can’t push it too much. Instead, I feel that it focuses more on the fun of exploring but not making the controls and jumps super hard. This is a big plus.
2.) Puzzle-solving
I didn’t think that the puzzles were overly hard. Most of them I could figure out by myself without a walkthrough (and I suck at puzzles). They were fun, but not to the point of being stressful. There was only one or two that stumped me for a moment, but YouTube quickly solved that problem.
3.) Battles
To me, the gun-battles felt a lot of the Mass Effect franchise, where you employ the use of cover and shoot from there in most cases. I thought this game took it a step above by also using a really cool hand to hand fighting system that allows you to hit, block, and push in a battle with multiple people around. I thought it was quite unique and enjoyed it immensely.
4.) Racing
That’s the best description that I could give it. There are define times in the game where fighting isn’t the purpose; you must run. And the running involves jumping and dodging and all sorts of fun. I haven’t quite played a sequence like it, which is why I really liked playing. It’s high intensity and really cool.
The multiplayer is pretty standard, though it is a bit weird because it is in third person. It takes some getting used to. However, it is fairly fun for those who enjoy that type of thing. Unfortunately, I only had a chance to play it when it was free on PlayStation Plus, which excluded the co-op play. I do have the game for PlayStation 4 in the Uncharted Collection. When I get a chance to play it, I will update this review.
For 2011, the graphics were actually pretty darned good. The overall game play looked good, but the cut scenes also looked really polished. For a last-gen console game, I thought Naughty Dog did an amazing job. Yes, I can say that games like The Last of Us (also Naughty Dog) and BioShock Infinite do look better, but those came out two years later. Uncharted 3 still holds up very well and looks great in the process. If you are playing it in the Uncharted Collection, the graphics will be a lot more polished.
In conclusion, I have completely fallen in love with this game and will probably be playing it again. And again. And again. Once I get the time, I will be playing it on PS4 in the Uncharted Collection.