Uncharted 3 - drakes deception

[Alan Cross]

I know there's a few fans of this gaming franchise on the board. I was curious to know what everyone thought of the latest game? I finished it faster (playing on 'normal') than UC2. I thought Uncharted 2 was just brilliant. I thought Uncharted 3 was hit and miss. But it did have moments/sequences where I laughed out loud, really enjoyed them.

Talk about spoiler moments if you want but please indicate when you're about to do that. I've got two specific questions:

SPOILERS AHEAD:

In the last chapter "The Dreamers Of The Day" there's a point where Drake and Sully come across Marlowe and Talbot using a crank to raise some kind of ornamental THINGIE out of the water. My first question: WHAT WAS THAT THING AND WHY WAS IT IMPORTANT? I don't have a clue. Did I miss something?

My second question. In the same chapter, Drake an Sully come across a silver metal case. Drake opens the case and inside are what look like scuba diver OXYGEN TANKS and some kind of black taser gun? Sully takes the gun. But does he ever use it? I think Drake says something like, "We're definitely going into the water." BUT THEY NEVER DO. (aside from Drake diving in to rescue Sully later on) Did I miss a sequence or something? What was the point of finding that case?

EARLIER, during the caravan chapter, there was a weird glitch where, just as the chase begins, ALL THE TRUCKS BLOW UP, except for one. And no matter what I do, I can't stop the last remaining truck... and you're just driving through the desert forever... it was like a weird dream. I had to turn off the console and restart it to have the caravan chapter play correctly.

Anyway, did this happen to anyone else? What are your thoughts about the game over all?

 

[DARTH SABER]

Ive been a long time fan of the series and in my opinion, even though the newest game is one of the best action adventure games ever, i thought it fell just slightly short in comparison to the first two games.

SPOILER ALERT -

The first two games established a basic layout for the franchise - A treasure hunt that results in some kind of supernatural conclusion, much like the Indiana Jones franchise. There were several elements in the game which never really got resolved or seemed abandoned, which leads me to believe that Naughty Dog might have had a longer story to tell, with the same supernatural conclusion, but something (scheduling maybe?) might have caused them to do some rewrites resulting in abandoned elements and a slightly abrupt ending.

As you pointed out, near the end of the game Sully and Drake come across Marlow and Talbot using a winch to bring something up from the water. THis was supposedly the Djin (Genie) imprisoned inside the metal object. The winch is then damaged, and the object falls back into the depths forever.
However, the storlyine only goes as far as saying that the water was contaminated with hallucinogens which were responsible for the the belief that demons inhabited the city. THis didn't make much sense to me.
In keeping with the Uncharted formula I expected the container in the water to be opened revealing the supernatural element and Drake doing battle with the Djin. Instead it is quickly introduced and tossed aside.

THen there's also the hint that Talbot himself might have had supernatural powers (During the game theres a part where he is shot several times, and and one of the characters even comments on this)...But nothing more is ever said about this. At the end of the game Talbot doesn't seem to have any powers at all.

THen there's the issue of Marlow saying that Drake's name wasn't his real name...Once again, nothing more is said about the issue.

Another thing that bothered me was the part where the story gets completely side tracked when Nathan goes looking for Sully during that long sequence at the ship grave yard....It all turns out to be a wild goose chase and Sully isn't even there.

Aside from that, the game still delivered some of the most hair raising action sequences Ive ever seen, and great game play....Just those little issues mentioned above seemed to bother me.

BTW, I never had the weird glitch with the trucks blowing up.

DS

 

[Alan Cross]

Darth Saber, what a great critique. I agree with everything you said.

SPOILERS

I'd forgotten about the mention of the genie and, absolutely, I thought that would be the climax of the story. I imagined it would be Marlowe channeling the genie, transforming herself into some kind of supernatural titan. it's a double edged sword. That ending would have been familiar and predictable... but anticipated and potentially satisfying. THIS ending... I honestly got to the end sequence when you're racing up the tower... leaping across the moving slabs of concrete... and facing down Talbot... and I only died once or twice... it was remarkably easy. I finished the game and I thought 'well that couldn't be the REAL end of the game, right?' But then the last cut scene begins and I realized, wow. That WAS it. I suspected that somehow there was a game playing sequence that didn't work (an underwater pursuit?) and I'd gotten to the end sooner than I was supposed to. Nnnope!

RANDOM SPOILERISH THOUGHTS:

I didn't enjoy the drug-induced hallucinating sequences... interesting for five seconds, then kind of a slog to get through.

I thought Drake's odyssey across the desert was very well done... very cinematic... Im a fan of Lawrence Of Arabia and enjoyed the references... the idea that he was part of some super elite society... there's really no pay off to that either...

I didn't enjoy the repetitious cut scenes of Drake's friends questioning his motives. You've known this guy for years and NOW you're questioning why he's going after another lost city?

On one of the bonus gallery selections, "Storytelling" Anne Hennin (I'm mangling her last name) talks about how they think of the big set pieces they want to do first... and then try to build a story around those set pieces... and she says that's probably the best way to do it... I'm not sure I agree...

But putting aside my criticisms for a moment, I really did love playing the game. The vertical combat on the side of the cruise ship... the sloshing water in the cargo hold... and although you're right about the search for Sully in the graveyard of ships being ultimately pointless, the combat sequence where Drake swims around the small, floating ships, was really fun. One of my favorite chapters... I could go on.

I didn't play in 3D, but I'd love to see what that's like and if it's cool or it's a headache.

Thanks for writing.

Alan

 

[Hovito loincloth]

Not as good as UC 1 or 2. Some great setpieces glued together with dullsauce. The bobbing platforms and the cruise ship, tho' nothing to do with plot, were very impressive. The tepid quick time event thug combat and stick pushing levels I can live without and I actually thought the "amazing" graphics were really poor in some sections - the desert truck chase especially. Some cracking dialogue and acting balance out the whole thing. I'd say it's the "Jedi" of the three and could do with a judicious edit or two.

 

[Alan Cross]

You get points for using the term "dull sauce." That was awesome sauce. (Nah. Ruined it. Sorry.)

I wish the graphics had taken another major advance... but you're right... there were a few levels where I actually felt underwhelmed by the graphics. I still remember the beautiful panoramas in the train sequence in Uncharted 2. And the city where the building collapses was really pretty.

Maybe the next gen gaming console with offer a bridge to photo-realistic graphics. We have only to wait and see...