PixlBit

One last roundup, I decided to pick the Uncharted games. Overall, I like this series, but I feel it is a lot more hit or miss than people give it credit for. 

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

This is one of the most forgettable games I've ever played. Does it look fantastic? Yeah. But the gameplay was just meh the whole way through. The shooting works, but the enemy encounters were not that interestingly designed. There's not much enemy variety or options with the gunplay, which makes it get old quick. The weapons feel good, but it kept you firing the same ones most of the game game, which helped make the combat feel stale. And grenades need Sixaxis tilting to aim where you throw them, bleh.

The other gameplay elements are just okay. They're not horrible, it's just that there's little to them. Platforming has no challenge, it's just climbing to the next area. Puzzles meanwhile are obtuse and impossible to solve until you consult Nathan Drake's journal which gives the answer away. So in turn there's no real thinking to them.

And I got to be honest, save three scenes (two big ones with Sully, one with the treasure to not spoil anything), I don't remember anything about the story. And this isn't because I haven't played the game in four years, I forgot about pretty much everything a week after I beat it. The only reason I remember the villain Eddie is because he appeared in future games' multiplayer. And the only reason I remember the British villain is because Zero Punctuation made a joke about him. Everything else is so forgettable.

A lot of people say it's because I played 1 first, but I don't buy that. I played Going Commando after A Crack in Time and Tools of Destruction, but I still enjoyed that game. I think if this game really was that good, it would be worth playing still after 2. It's not. I say skip it, better games await.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Now this is what I'm talking about. After a year of hearing how good this game was, I finally broke down and bought a PS3 with Uncharted 2. And it was everything I hoped it would be and more. Uncharted 2 is how a sequel should be, everything about it is a huge improvement over the last game.

Let's start with the combat. One thing it did well, and I can't believe I'm saying this, was putting in stealth. Adding stealth to action games is normally a kiss of death, as it's just sneaking until someone inevitably spots you then a gunfight. Here, however, no. You get options to sneak around, enemies don't react as a hive mind, one guy seeing you can quickly be taken out then you can go back to hiding. Even better, while fighting you can still be sneaky and take out enemies from unknown locations.

The fights themselves were a lot more varied. There's a much better weapon flow and the fights take place in more interesting areas. The train sequence, for instance, allowed you to still climb or go through cars for the fight despite how narrow the arena was. And that was just the tip of the iceberg, as you'd have fights while fleeing a tank, jumping from truck to truck on a convoy, or just hanging from a sign flipping from one side to another and using it as cover.

Naughty Dog I feel just got a lot more creative with this game. This is especially true with the setpieces. These have become a cliche nowadays ever since Modern Warfare and Uncharted 2 popularized this, but Uncharted 2 is still the game that knew how to approach them. You're always in full control when shit hits the fan and the game guides you to what you need to do without holding your hand. I never felt like the game was playing itself for me to do neat looking stuff, I felt like I was always playing a game.

Platforming is not that much better as a whole, but three things do improve it. First is how it's incorporated with the combat so you can use a ledge as cover and the arenas are a lot more vertical than other shooters. Second is how ledges you can climb really pop out so you won't have deaths from a leap of faith like in 1. Finally, those setpieces mentioned above often involve jumping which at least makes it feel more exciting. The level Heart of Ice stands as the exception to most the platforming as it incorporated things like timing and problem solving to get to the next part of the game. I wish the series' platforming was always like that level.

Puzzles meanwhile are a vast improvement. They're not at Portal level genius, but Nate's journal mostly serves to give hints rather than spell them out and you do have to figure out most of it on your own. 

The story is much better too. Crammed full of wittier dialog, more memorable moments, and better characters than the original, it always kept me excited. It's not a masterpiece, just more of an Indiana Jones story: It keeps your attention and when it's over, you're left with a bunch of fun memories. The villain Lazarovic is also one of my favorites in any game. He's not deep, but his introduction lets you know he means business and shows how much of a sociopath he is. He's intimidating and has a clear motivation, which is all a villain really needs for a story like this.

Uncharted 2 is always referred to as one of the best games of last gen and I have to agree completely with that. It's worth getting a PS3 for, it's just that good.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Nothing sums up this game better than Yahtzee's Extra Punctutation article "Uncharted 3 Should Have Tried Harder." Because in addition to many other problems, that's the feeling I get every time I look back on it. This is especially true for the writing, where we're just supposed to accept things. Nathan Drake is on a boat in the middle of the sea that gets shipwrecked and he just happens to float on the shore where Elena is. And this happens pretty often, the characters will be in danger and just happen to end up where they need to be just by chance. 

To be fair, this did happen in 2. He collapsed with a bullet wound in the mountains then was saved by a nearby villager. But this was just one instance which really was not as bad as 3's worst. I can buy that he collapses only to be found soon after. It's not perfect writing, but one nitpick won't ruin a game. I can't buy that he randomly turns up where he was looking for after fleeing pursuers, washes on the shore near where he needs to be alive and well, and collapses from dehydration after wandering the desert for days, then gets back up like nothing's wrong because there's bad guys near. That's just lazy writing. 

Meanwhile the villains are just not good. Every Uncharted has a big bad guy and henchman setup. 2's was my favorite because the big guy was the most threatening and the henchman was a traitor slimeball you wanted to punch so bad. It's a great setup. Here they tried to give more to them, but it just didn't work.

The big bad is actually a woman trying to be psychologically threatening even though she doesn't really do anything of that sort. She just acts like she does. For instance, she starts going on about how Nathan Drake isn't related to Sir Francis Drake and is just lying, then just drops it. There's no leverage used from it or her getting Nate off his game. She just acts like she does and we're supposed to buy it. Her henchman meanwhile just drugs people every now and then and has no personality traits whatsoever. He is just bad. 

Their motivation doesn't work either. 2 it was simple: Lazarovic wanted immortality and believed its secret would be in the lost city of Shambhala. Here, it's that there was a djinn that made people hallucinate and in the lost city in this game, his secret is in the water supply and they just want it. No reason why or what their plan is, they just want it. 

Gunplay meanwhile is a huge step down, feeling like little more than whack a mole in higher difficulties. If you don't shoot the right enemies at the right time, you will die. It's not about skill or thinking, it's about memorization. There's also way too much emphasis on being cinematic, where large portions of the game will have nothing good from a gameplay standpoint, they just look good if someone's watching. 

So is there anything I like? Yeah, the puzzles are actually a step up from 2's in my opinion, there are quite a few great setpieces in this game (the chateau being my favorite), and the game has more from Nate's friend Sully than 1 or 2, who gives great one liners and has fantastic chemistry with Nate. But as a whole, the game is kind of a mess. Worth playing once for what's good, but nowhere near 2's quality.

Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Golden Abyss is basically what I wanted the first Uncharted to be. I didn't expect that game to have all of 2's epic setpieces or the same variety between locations. I just expected a fun shooter in a jungle and eventually a lost city. And that's exactly what I got from Golden Abyss. 

Part of what keeps it fun is the variety between each chapter. The game feels like you're doing something new and fun each time you see the chapter number and title, and it gives the game some great pacing. There's a few setpieces like falling down a river, but it's mostly focused on a smaller scale than being as epic as 2. 

The Vita features, however, are pretty hit or miss. Some are downright awful like moving your finger in the right direction to use a melee finisher. This is especially awful for the final boss fight which asks you to move across some really crazy patterns and is so annoying. Some, however, are pretty fun and creative. There's one part where you paddle a canoe with the rear touchpad, yet are still shooting in a firefight with the normal controls. It's really fun and the highlight of the game to me.

The story is just decent. There's some great banter between Nate, his female companion Chase, and Sully. But the villain and his sidekick are super forgettable. But I'm pretty glad they didn't give me more Elena. Don't get me wrong, she's a good character. But not good enough that she needed to be in three games. And while I'm on it, kudos for finally figuring out that not every treasure needs a supernatural element. There's still a twist, but it's actually a pretty neat and clever one.

Overall, I'd say this is a really good, but not quite great game. Worth having if you own a Vita, not worth getting a Vita for. 

And that's me and Uncharted. I'm still excited for 4, but have my doubts. The gameplay trailer, however, did convince that they're on the right direction with approaching combat. Here's hoping it's closer to 2 in terms of quality than any other games.