Genre: Action Adventure, Third-Person Shooter
Platform: PlayStation 3
Release Date: November 1, 2011
Developer/Publisher: Naughty Dog / Sony Computer Entertainment
Naughty Dog is known for:
- Crash Bandicoot
- Jak and Daxter: The precursor Legacy
- Jak II
Sony Computer Entertainment is known for:
- God of War
- Killzone
- Little Big Planet
Following Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is no easy task. And since one of the things that makes a sequel truly great is improving upon past games, I was suspicious if Naughty Dog could pull it off. So lets find out if they deliver the goods.
Gameplay: 8/10
They haven't strayed very far from the path on this aspect aside from the melee finishers, these are animations Nathan performs such as pulling the pin on a grenade attached to an enemy, kicking him toward another opponent and kaboom! The controls are all the same as previous games and still work considerably well. Gunplay is a lot of fun and has a very good cover system, although sometimes you'll stick to a wall you didn't intend. This can sometimes lead to death. And that brings me to my next point, you'll most likely die a lot. Trial and error is a big part of this game, so it's a good thing they have an amazing auto save feature. The guns feel great and there are a ton of them; they range from pistols to shotguns to grenade launchers. And although you're led by the nose through the entire game, it's not so bad, because it leads up to the best set piece moments I've ever seen in a game. Some of these action sequences completely blew my mind. Naughty Dog has introduced some concepts that I've never seen in a game before and it's left me wanting more.
Story:10/10
For those who don't already know, you play as Nathan Drake. He's a descendant of the famous explorer Sir Francis Drake. Thrill seeking is in his blood and he does plenty of it. The story starts off quickly and the antagonist is introduced, a woman named Kathrine Marlowe that Sully and Nathan have had encounters with in the past. In a scheme to obtain an ancient item from Kathrine, Nathan and his friends come across a map of a secret voyage led by Sir Francis Drake. The voyage was commissioned by Queen Elizabeth I and the purpose was to find the lost city of Ubar. In their journey, they come across a secret order that Kathrine is part of. The purpose of this order is to find the secrets of the lost city and use it to gain power. Nathan is constantly impeding their progress and they do everything they can to try and stop him. It becomes a race to Ubar.
This game is very story driven, and it does it better than most other games out there. It really digs deep into Nathan's life. Because of certain plot developments you'll find yourself wondering why Nathan is doing the things he's doing. Is his addiction of treasure hunting going to get himself and his loyal friends killed? This is a question Nathan asks himself throughout the game and it inevitably leads to inner conflict he needs to deal with. Is it all worth it in the end? There are some heart wrenching moments, this adds to the fantastic character development that takes place. The character interaction is amazing to watch. You meet plenty of characters from Nathan's past and it's interesting to see how he reacts to them. There's definitively drama to be had, but comedy relief is added at just the right moments.
Graphics: 10/10
Can you say stunning? I can, and I did like infinity times while playing this. The graphics are so good and the cutscene to real time transition is so seamless, that I was utterly confused the first time it occurred; I was supposed to be fighting people but I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor. The detail is amazing, just taking a moment to look at your surroundings is awe-inspiring. You can even see little particles of dust floating around. One thing that blew my mind wide open is the shadow detail. When your holding a torch with flickering fire the shadows are spot on the whole time. Facial animation isn't the best I've ever seen but it's still very good. The water effects are top notch. One other thing that made me very happy to be a gamer is the real time character animation. As you walk or run, Nathan will grab onto objects nearby to balance himself; he'll even do a little foot-shuffle hop thing when you turn around quickly.
Now onto the negligible negatives. There's some minor pixelation every once in a while. The physics engine is somewhat lacking; don't bother shooting objects in the world because they won't budge and you'll only waste ammo. Like I said, these are very easy to get past and they won't even come close to hindering the experience.
Sound: 10/10
The main menu music, at least for me, has become classic since it's basically the same in every one. And I can't help but think of Indiana Jones when I hear it. The music in general ranges from slow to heart swelling symphony and sets the mood appropriately. As always, Nolan North does a superb job as Nathan Drake. The dialogue that goes on between characters is insanely realistic. They did a great job of making the conversations sound real, you don't find that very often in games. I was impressed with the sound of footsteps; it changes according to the surface your walking on. You're dealing with a lot of ancient objects and structures; they've made theses objects sound old when handling them. The fact that this is something I noticed tells me that Naughty Dog takes great pride in what they do. The only downside is, you'll die a lot and get sick of the death music, but other than that the sound in general is fantastic.
Replay Value: High
In the campaign, there are five difficulty levels, the last one is grayed out until you beat the game. You can also find treasures scattered throughout each level; there's no real incentive to finding these other than to obtain trophies to show off to your friends.
They've completely upgraded the multiplayer. You can play on a LAN or over PSN. There's a ranking system and you earn money to buy things you unlock. You can buy things like new characters, new guns, gun enhancements and attachments, boosters, and medal kickbacks. All these, plus more, allow you to customize your load out to suit your play style. There are a few different game modes, standard team deathmatch being my favorite.
They also have co-op. This is by far my favorite. You can play arena, where you try to survive as many waves of enemies as possible. Or there's hunter arena. In this mode there are two teams, the heroes and the bad dudes. The heroes run around maps collecting treasures while the bad guys try to stop them. You can also play adventure mode. In adventure mode you play with up to two other people in campaign scenarios that are different than the single-player campaign.
This game is definitely worth your time, especially if you were a fan of the first two. And although the basic gameplay hasn't improved a ton, they've added some very innovative stuff that I've never seen in a video game before. The story is astounding, it's very much like playing a witty action comedy movie. The campaign is about eight hours in length, making it the shortest of the three; but when you're done with that, head over to the multiplayer and co-op, it's great!
If you like this game you might also enjoy:
This game is very story driven, and it does it better than most other games out there. It really digs deep into Nathan's life. Because of certain plot developments you'll find yourself wondering why Nathan is doing the things he's doing. Is his addiction of treasure hunting going to get himself and his loyal friends killed? This is a question Nathan asks himself throughout the game and it inevitably leads to inner conflict he needs to deal with. Is it all worth it in the end? There are some heart wrenching moments, this adds to the fantastic character development that takes place. The character interaction is amazing to watch. You meet plenty of characters from Nathan's past and it's interesting to see how he reacts to them. There's definitively drama to be had, but comedy relief is added at just the right moments.
Graphics: 10/10
Can you say stunning? I can, and I did like infinity times while playing this. The graphics are so good and the cutscene to real time transition is so seamless, that I was utterly confused the first time it occurred; I was supposed to be fighting people but I was too busy picking my jaw up off the floor. The detail is amazing, just taking a moment to look at your surroundings is awe-inspiring. You can even see little particles of dust floating around. One thing that blew my mind wide open is the shadow detail. When your holding a torch with flickering fire the shadows are spot on the whole time. Facial animation isn't the best I've ever seen but it's still very good. The water effects are top notch. One other thing that made me very happy to be a gamer is the real time character animation. As you walk or run, Nathan will grab onto objects nearby to balance himself; he'll even do a little foot-shuffle hop thing when you turn around quickly.
Now onto the negligible negatives. There's some minor pixelation every once in a while. The physics engine is somewhat lacking; don't bother shooting objects in the world because they won't budge and you'll only waste ammo. Like I said, these are very easy to get past and they won't even come close to hindering the experience.
Sound: 10/10
The main menu music, at least for me, has become classic since it's basically the same in every one. And I can't help but think of Indiana Jones when I hear it. The music in general ranges from slow to heart swelling symphony and sets the mood appropriately. As always, Nolan North does a superb job as Nathan Drake. The dialogue that goes on between characters is insanely realistic. They did a great job of making the conversations sound real, you don't find that very often in games. I was impressed with the sound of footsteps; it changes according to the surface your walking on. You're dealing with a lot of ancient objects and structures; they've made theses objects sound old when handling them. The fact that this is something I noticed tells me that Naughty Dog takes great pride in what they do. The only downside is, you'll die a lot and get sick of the death music, but other than that the sound in general is fantastic.
Replay Value: High
In the campaign, there are five difficulty levels, the last one is grayed out until you beat the game. You can also find treasures scattered throughout each level; there's no real incentive to finding these other than to obtain trophies to show off to your friends.
They've completely upgraded the multiplayer. You can play on a LAN or over PSN. There's a ranking system and you earn money to buy things you unlock. You can buy things like new characters, new guns, gun enhancements and attachments, boosters, and medal kickbacks. All these, plus more, allow you to customize your load out to suit your play style. There are a few different game modes, standard team deathmatch being my favorite.
They also have co-op. This is by far my favorite. You can play arena, where you try to survive as many waves of enemies as possible. Or there's hunter arena. In this mode there are two teams, the heroes and the bad dudes. The heroes run around maps collecting treasures while the bad guys try to stop them. You can also play adventure mode. In adventure mode you play with up to two other people in campaign scenarios that are different than the single-player campaign.
This game is definitely worth your time, especially if you were a fan of the first two. And although the basic gameplay hasn't improved a ton, they've added some very innovative stuff that I've never seen in a video game before. The story is astounding, it's very much like playing a witty action comedy movie. The campaign is about eight hours in length, making it the shortest of the three; but when you're done with that, head over to the multiplayer and co-op, it's great!
If you like this game you might also enjoy:
- Assassin's Creed II
- God of War III
- Resident Evil 5
video credit: machinima
video credit: RajmanGamingHD
all photo credit: Gamespot
