Uncharted 3 is a blockbuster game of epic proportions.

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Developer: Naughty Dog

Console: PS3

Other Platforms: None

Release Date: November 1st, 2011

GamerFitNation’s Uncharted 3 review is here. Will this game be a Goty contender or will it succumb to the Dark Knight and his city of villains. Read this spoiler free review.

Single Player:

You play the game as Nathan Drake our protagonist from Uncharted 1 and 2. The storyline goes as followed and I’ll try to keep it spoiler free for you. Your goal in the game is to continue on finding the answers that Sir Francis Drake was looking for in his quest for the Atlantis of the sands. You go on an adventure that includes all your friends Chole, Sully, Elena, and others to try and find Iram of the Pillars , or commonly called the Atlantis of the Sands. Its an ancient legend and like most treasure hunting or adventure games there is no real proof that this Atlantis of sands exist. That means its up to you find out the truth.

Your quest will be derailed by the evil witch as I like to call her Katherine Marlowe, who is also looking for Atlantis of the sands. She will stand in your way and make sure that you will not succeed no matter what the cost. She has henchmen by her side so its in your best interest to tread carefully with her.

The game features some of the greatest action packed sequences that I have ever seen in a 3rd person game. I’m honestly being truthful when I say this. Uncharted 3 is better than most movies that are out now. The story-telling really brings out the emotion of the characters and the cut scenes let you get inside their heads and find out what is going on. Uncharted is known for bring out certain elements and showing them vividly in the game. In Uncharted it was the jungle and water environment, Among thieves its was the snow and ice environments and now in Drake’s Deception its fire and Sand. Everything looks vibrate and true to scale as you would imagine in the Sahara desert. I really can’t explain in detail how this game put me in awe from the look of the textures and level design.

There are some very epic moments in the game that you will not want to miss out on. I would mentioned them here but, I don’t want to ruin the surprise for any of you here.

Gameplay:

The Uncharted series is known for its fluid gameplay and action packed sequences. I know people tend to like the run and gun mentality and that is a pretty fun way to play when playing multiplayer, however the introduction of this new improved recoil mechanic brings in a more tactical approach to defeating enemies. The combat in the game has also evolved tremendously it feels like every fight is choreographed to make it seem like it has been practiced before hand bringing in a movie feel to the game.

Everything plays great and has a wonderful feel to it. Everything you know and love about the game is here and is much more improved. I have to say that Naughty Dog did a wonderful job of improving on an already well made gameplay design. New gameplay elements have also been added like shooting while sliding down a zip line and new forms of stealth kills. Everything is great and I really enjoyed my time I spent creeping up on bad guys and taking them out!

Presentation and Sound:

Uncharted 3 takes graphics to another level. It out does every game before it and that will come in the future. The reason why I added the presentation and sound together is because in this game, it goes hand and hand. The voice acting in this game is truly amazing. Nolan North and company have truly outdone themselves again. The voices really help to flesh out the characters in the story and also bring to life the trouble and trails that await you.

The sound of this game, which I might add is absolutely outstanding. It’s the best I’ve heard yet in any game. The game sounds great from the voice acting, gunfire, explosions. Its really on par with any action adventure blockbuster that Hollywood could put out. The music is great and every bit as enjoyable as all the other games.

The characters models and levels displays are also well done. The animations have been vastly improved to be more realistic than I thought would be possible. I noticed something different about these levels in the game from a technical aspect as opposed to the levels in Uncharted 2 and Drake’s fortune. A lot of these levels are more vertical and closed in which will have you doing a lot more hand combat if you wish. I mean its not all bad just more of a reason to compare Nathan Drake to Indiana Jones.

Controls:

Uncharted 3 has a few new tweaks to the control system that fans may want to know about. New to the game is sprinting. You can now trigger a sprint if you click in the L3 button which will allow you to run away from gunfire. The stealth mechanic is back and although I like it at times I don’t feel much has changed in it since U2. The game plays and controls wonderfully and also with some of the new features that they added to the game such as more realistic recoil, it feels very well done.

The buttons are all of the same that you can assume from an Uncharted game. There really isn’t much I can say about them except, they are pretty good and I have no complaints on how the game plays with them.

Online:

Uncharted 2 had a great online component to it and this years iteration is now improved. Fans have been able to play the full multiplayer experience due to a subway promotion. Now that I have gotten a chance to play the full length version of the online experience, I have to say that it is even better than you could have hoped. There are a ton of new unlocks for you to get and the characters that you can play as are really fun and well done.

Competitive has the modes you loved in U2. Plunder, Team deathmatch and Team Objective are back and are really fun to play. One tip that I can give you to be successful right out of the gate in uncharted 3 is to work together and get a buddy in the beginning. The buddy system is crucial to becoming a better player in Uncharted 3. This will help save you from various deaths and better your overall experience. Also new are power plays. Uncharted 2 at times had matches where the games would get lopsided pretty quickly with no way of coming back. Power plays have changed this and now give you a fighting chance.

The customization in the game is great. Many people at the end of Uncharted might have had tons of cash left over from plunder, co-op, or competitive matches. The items you can buy to upgrade your custom character will rectify that. You can create whatever icon you want, put the clothes on the villain or hero you create in any type of manner you want.

Fans of Uncharted 2 loved the Co-op levels that were in the second game. Well I’m here to say that these have been vastly improved. There are newer and harder missions that you can now play. I really enjoyed the co-op more in this game than I did in Uncharted 2. They are more dynamic and the team work is really great.

Cons:

Uncharted 3′s only fault is that the game ends too soon. This doesn’t effect the overall score of the game but, it does make this fan sad because I really wanted this game and story to last a little longer than it did.

The game at times feels very linear and that may turn off some gamers to the series, but it makes up for it in the story-telling and action sequences that you will experience throughout the game.

Pros:

Nathan Drake and company are back and the story is better than ever. The game has a lot of jaw dropping moments that will make sit still in awe wondering how was it possible that they could have done that.

Multiplayer is back and better than ever, much of what fans loved from Uncharted 2 makes a return with tons of new things like kickbacks, character customization, and weapon mods upgrades. Its truly an experience that you can get lost in.

The graphics are the best yet on any PS3 game and the lighting helps to show the graphical capabilities of the PS3.

There is a ton of replay value in the game from multiplayer, trophies and co-op which is absolutely gorgeous and fun to play with your friends. Final Thoughts:

Uncharted 3 is a blockbuster game of epic proportions. The single player as you would expect is great. Especially in the earlier chapters, I won’t give any spoilers except say this. You are really in for some surprises when this game launches on November 1st.

Final Score: I give Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception a 10 out of 10. I’ve been reviewing a lot of good games lately! Lucky ME!

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