Uncharted, Bulletstorm and Oracle of Ages

On 05/05/2015 at 01:41 AM by KnightDriver

I was going to play some more Skyrim today, but I had a hankering for some Uncharted. I was going to play Uncharted 2, but I hadn't played the first one since I rented it around the time it came out; so, I started playing it figuring it would go pretty quickly. Surprise surprise. It took me all day to get to Chapter 17. It's a great game but not without some controller throwing.

I played it on the default difficulty setting "Normal". At this setting it really feels more like "Hard". The enemies take quite a bit of damage and really don't go down quickly unless you get a head shot or use the Magnum or shotgun at close range; however, you get precious little ammo for those two weapons, so you're best bet is to try and master the controls and stick to weapons with bigger magazines and which you find more frequently like the assault rifle and the pistol. I screamed my head off many times over t-shirt wearing enemies taking bullets like they were Robocop and ducking my head shots like they had telepathy. By the end of the day though, I was really focused and working these difficult enemies with skill. I still wasn't happy with the shooting and cover controls, but I was getting better at it.

I didn't get as frustrated over the platforming. It's all very well done. I didn't suffer too many cheap deaths falling off ledges and such.

Uncharted is still a beautiful game and full of interesting level design. It has an engaging story and interesting characters too. Trophies were added to this game. I was happy to see the notifications pop up every so often for numbers of head shots, hidden treasure finds, and numbers of successful melee takedowns.

My friend Mark was playing Bulletstorm on Xbox 360 and I watched from time to time. This game looks very much like Gears of War, but there's crazier weapons and over-the-top kills galore. I can see why People Can Fly were choosen to do Gears of War: Judgment. They have that Unreal Engine mastered. I'm guessing they may be working on a current gen Gears of War game right now. That should be good.

At home I'm working on Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages on 3DS virtual console. It's a Zelda game like the first one but more about solving puzzles. I just got the Power Bracelet that lets you pick up heavy things and throw them. By the way, what's with that Deku Tree? It says it wants to marry me. What's up with that? Don't tell me though. I fear that's probably a spoiler.

Next week at Mark's I'll finish Uncharted and maybe play some Bulletstorm with him because there is a kind of Hoard Mode in the game. We'll see though. I'd really like to get back to Skyrim and maybe start Uncharted 2. I have twelve games on my current list and I'm trying to stick to them until I finish them all.

Ranger1

05/05/2015 at 07:30 AM

Uncharted: I got so frustrated with the bullet sponge bad guys that I gave up. I really like the platforming parts and finding artifacts, though.

KnightDriver

05/05/2015 at 04:27 PM

Yea, the levels are incredibly beautiful and interesting to explore. I saw a toucan on a log and just watched it fly past my head. Cool! The platforming works just great too. No problems there.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

05/05/2015 at 05:45 PM

i hate that shit too! And he kills more dudes than Rambo! I wisht he combat was more fistfighting, there's too much gunplay for an Indy Jones clone.

05/08/2015 at 02:07 AM

You can do melee. I tried to get sneak attacks but they usually hear me approach. There's one combo you can do that gives you a take down. I got the timing down well enough to get some trophies for those.

Cary Woodham

05/05/2015 at 07:40 AM

Have you tried Link's Awakening? That's another Game Boy Zelda game and it's my favorite game in the series.

05/05/2015 at 04:28 PM

No, but I will. It might make it into my next list when I finish the one I'm on.

Jamie Alston Staff Writer

05/05/2015 at 10:24 AM

Speaking of Uncharted, I finally bit the bullet and pick up Among Thieves and Drake's Deception used at Game Stop. Just felt like now was the right time.

05/05/2015 at 04:35 PM

I have all three now too. I'm tempted to just run the whole series now that I've started 1 and will be playing 2 soon thereafter.

Machocruz

05/05/2015 at 10:42 AM

Bulletsponginess is not legit difficulty, meaning challenging. Saints Row 3 does the same thing, and that game doesn't require any skill, anyone can finish it easily. All it does is make the guns feel weak and not fun to use. Health bloat is the enemy of good shooter design. What developers who understand this do in their games is make the enemies more numerous and/or aggressive, while maintaining the damage relationship between them and your guns. The developers of Killing Floor 2 spoke to this once, and their games have some of the best weapon feedback around.

05/05/2015 at 04:40 PM

It definitely breaks the illusion of reality in the game. When I see a ripped shirt pirate take about four bursts to the chest from my assault rifle and dance it off, I wonder what strange laws of nature are at work. The Magnum though. One shot kill at almost any range, but very little ammo to be found. Same with the grenade launcher and sniper rifle. What's the point having these weapons if you can barely use them.

goaztecs

05/05/2015 at 10:50 AM

I enjoyed the Uncharted games but before I started a lot of folks told me about how the enemies will make you want to throw a controller, so I opted with the easy setting. The platforming and the "movie-like" qualities make this game a favorite of mine.

05/05/2015 at 04:50 PM

The first time I played it was with my friend Mark in '06. We switched on and off, if I remember right, and pretty quickly we turned it to "easy". On that setting it was just fine and we ran through the game pretty quickly. This time, in a way, I like the difficulty because I have to go slower and try and use stealth, which doesn't work very well in this game btw. The slower pace makes me take in the environments a little more and really pay attention to level design and cover spots.

"Movie-like" quality indeed. I remember this game was heralded as the begining of the cross-over between games and film. After playing GTA V, the cut scenes in Uncharted seem a little jarring as they switch from gameplay, but they are still in the same graphical style and so blend well. GTA V does it just a touch better as many times you aren't even sure you've transitioned to a noninteractive moment it's so seemless.

NSonic79

06/09/2015 at 02:10 PM

I get you with the Uncharted issue. I personally found it enjoying that i was able to empty so many rounds into bad guys till they died. It made their deaths all the more satisfying when I finally put them down.

I still have bulletstorm on my PS3 and I enjoyed what I played for the most part. too bad online multiplayer is gone.

I want to see about getting all the zelda games digitally on my Wii U once I learn if I can still buy vc titles off the Wii U's Wii mode once I do a file transfer from the Wii to the Wii U. still don't have an answer yet.

06/11/2015 at 03:09 AM

I thought Shangrila would be some kind of cool paradise and save me from having to shoot everything, but no, you get badder badasses that eat bullets for breakfast. DARN IT!

What?! No online for Bulletstorm? Can you still play online co-op at least?

06/12/2015 at 02:05 PM

Not sure about Xbox 360. It's dead on PS3 since their servers where run on gamespy. Plus you know how EA loves to kill games online features when they see them no longer being viable.

06/15/2015 at 01:39 AM

Yea, my friend told me it was done on Xbox 360 as well.

PixlBit