Uncharted was one of those games that really pushed the boundaries of next-generation gaming. The visuals were out of this world amazing, the acting was top-notch, and the character was memorable. The game has some flaws, for sure, but most of these were fixed later on in the series. I did notice that the first game consists of more shooting than climbing, which was not obvious when I first played it on PS3 back in 2009, but it’s still a lot of fun just for the dialog and action alone.
For fans of Uncharted, I will just say this: this is the definitive version of the game. It runs at 60FPS, which makes the gameplay so much smoother, and the textures and visuals are just smoothed over and given a polish to make them look clean. It doesn’t look nearly as good as the PS4 games or even Uncharted 2 or 3, but it’s impressive how well the game holds up today.
The shooting and cover mechanics work just fine as Nathan jumps around pillars and low-lying covers, but I never quite got used to Uncharted shooting mechanics; they just feel really slippery and somehow off. The jumping can get weird as Nathan does not catch ledges when you run off of them, like in later games, so he just falls off. There were times I restarted areas over a dozen times because I couldn’t figure out where to jump. The handholds and areas to go aren’t highlighted like in later games, so everything just blends in, and it makes it frustrating to progress and even explore because you don’t know what you can climb on.
While the story is decent enough and keeps you interested to the end, the Spaniards coming back to life as some sort of demon never sat well with me and was off-putting. Having this realistic treasure-hunting adventure turn into something from Hollywood was so weird, and I never liked that aspect. I also found the game extremely frustrating at times, with stupid difficulty spikes everywhere.
Despite all of this, Uncharted is not something I think I will ever go back to again, as so many things were fixed and improved in Uncharted 2 and beyond. The game isn’t really all that cinematic-like like later games, so there are no interesting things to re-explore. It feels more like an experiment at this point than the masterpieces the later games became.
The Uncharted series is really interesting because it was a skeptical Tomb Raider/Indiana Jones knock-off during E3 2005 when Sony showed it off as a new IP for the PS3, but everywhere just kind of blew it off and ignored it. Now we’re six years ahead, and Uncharted is one of the most respected and well-liked series in gaming history. Uncharted 3 is a solid roller coaster ride of action, suspense, and excellent voice acting that will really keep you sucked in.
After the events of Uncharted 2, Drake and Sully find themselves in a fight at a bar with a strange woman wanting Drake’s ring. What this ring does and how they get themselves into more trouble will be left for you to find out. The story gives us some history on how the two met as well as the most dangerous treasure hunt Drake has been on. These guys seriously want blood, and they are more vicious and violent than any of Drake’s other adversaries. The story isn’t anything to balk at because there are some extremely harrowing scripted events, and the characters are just perfect, and you get attached to them even more because Naughty Dog brought out a new level for each character (especially Drake) for this big finale.
The game is mostly the same combat-wise, with cover, lots of guns, and explosions. There is a great variety of guns that we love in the series as well as a few new ones, but combat still has a few issues, like snapping into cover doesn’t always work, and the game is extremely hard with way too many enemies like in the previous games, so this has never been addressed. You will die dozens of times during certain scenes, and I really wish they would have fixed this and made it more reasonable and not so difficult. The stealth sections are still poorly designed because you have no idea where to go, and there are too many enemies to sneak past or take out silently. One area will be choked up with enemies, and if you kill one, the next will see you because he’s just a few feet away.
Despite the combat being the same, the hand-to-hand is improved and is a blast to use thanks to great animations and quick counters to knock these guys flat. The platforming and climbing are the same, and that’s a really good thing. Cleverly laid-out levels are really fun to explore because you never really get lost. But what is special about Uncharted are the unique puzzles that span entire levels and are even bigger in this game. They are a little easier to figure out only in the sense that the clues you get can actually be used like they should, unlike in the last game, where the puzzles were almost impossible to figure out. Each puzzle is completely different from the last, but there aren’t as many as in previous games because this one is cutscene-heavy, and there is a better balance of shooting, puzzle-solving, adventuring, and cutscenes, so the overall flow is more natural.
Of course, the best part about Uncharted is the scripted scenes, and these go way over the top with horseback riding, combat in the air while trying to get on a plane, a battle on a sinking ship, and just a whole bunch more that make the game feel like a blockbuster movie. This was my favorite part of the whole game because it just sucked you into the experience like most games can’t, and I really felt the situations and the danger Drake was in thanks to clever camera work. The visuals are probably the best the PS3 has seen (better than Killzone 3, Resistance 3, and I daresay may be better than God of War III). The huge open landscapes are just riddled with ridiculous detail that I didn’t think the PS3 could even do. Beautiful lighting, high-resolution textures, and the animations are so detailed, with Drake tripping over himself and putting his hands on stair rails, so this makes the entire game feel organic and fluid.
Uncharted 3’s multiplayer is also a blast, with unlockable characters, guns, and other goodies to keep you playing. I really like the multiplayer, and the style works great, but of course, it’s nothing to break the ground for online shooters. Co-op single-player is a welcome blast, so the whole multiplayer suite involved helps sweeten the already great package. Uncharted will be remembered by myself and most gamers who appreciate an excellent game. The third entry is the perfect ending to an amazing trilogy.
Collector’s Edition: If you want to spend the extra $40, then you will be treated with everything coming in a beautiful chest (it’s heavy cardboard, unfortunately), as well as a replica of the ring, a belt buckle, and a 6″ figure of Drake, plus special packaging for the game case. The whole collection is beautiful and very well designed, but this is strictly for collectors, and people who aren’t really hardcore fans of the series should probably pass this up.
Ever since the first God of War, the action/adventure genre has been all about cinematic set pieces, pounding soundtracks, and adrenaline-inducing combat, and Uncharted 2 pulls out all the stops. You play Nathan Drake once again, and this time you are trying to find the Cintamani Stone that Marco Polo died trying to find. Along the way, you meet old friends and make new enemies, but the story is as human and satisfying as ever, with amazing, snappy, and witty dialog and voice acting.
The best part about Uncharted 2 is the cinematic set pieces. These complete 1-up the original game when it comes to this. The game starts out with Drake hanging from a train, but to add extra tension, the train is slowly falling apart as you climb it. This method of getting your blood flowing is done throughout the game and really helps add to the excitement. The game is made like a Hollywood blockbuster movie, with tons of explosions and guns galore.
The gunplay is also a step up from the last game, along with a more balanced and better-scaled difficulty. Before, the game was a pain from the start, but now the game slowly gets harder. With a ton of weapons at your disposal and with each one packing a good punch, mowing down baddies has never been so fun. Along with the gun, play is on rail shooting sections that are pulse-increasing mayhem and a ton of fun, but Uncharted isn’t just about the action.
The adventure part is well implemented and just as exciting thanks to the clever level design and the puzzles are a little easier to figure out this time around. You really feel like you can do the impossible thanks to the game making you feel like a tiny person in a small world scaling mountains and giant temples, and this is also in part due to the camera angles. Naughty Dog learned what worked in the first game and built tenfold on top of it, and it does show really well.
While the controls and animations feel smoother, the game still has its issues. Despite the difficulty being scaled better, the game gets overly difficult and unbalanced towards the end of the game. The engine just isn’t built for a ton of super-tough enemies at once. Dying over and over again just isn’t fun, and this really detracts from the excitement of the story. There are some minor control issues that carry over, such as Nate moving to cover when you direct him the wrong way if the camera is turned just the right way. He’ll get stuck on small ledges, and this could lead to frustrating, cheap deaths, but other than that, the game is fine. The game seems to balance gunplay and adventuring a little better now as well, which makes the pacing spot on.
You can still collect treasures and unlock new bonuses, and the multiplayer is pretty fun, but it’s no Modern Warfare in terms of depth and strategy. If you love cinematics and stories at their finest, picking up Uncharted 2, with its beautiful visuals, will keep you pleased.
The action/adventure genre seems to be the only genre right now trying to push games forward in terms of gameplay, graphics, and story. Uncharted is one of these, and while it is two years old now and was developed way before the PS3 was announced, it was ahead of its time and still is. On the surface, Uncharted may look like a male version of Tomb Raider, but you are completely wrong. Not only are the visuals some of the best in the industry, but the voice acting and characters are what’s so believable. The people in Uncharted are everyday people who are trying to do heroic deeds and, in turn, show their imperfections, which makes the game much more believable. Searching around for El Dorado and Sir Francis Drake’s footsteps has never been so fun.
There are two main elements to Uncharted: shooting and platforming. There isn’t much in the way of puzzle-solving (the ones that are there are too easy). The shooting mechanics are great since they give you a great sense of desperation thanks to the wonderful animation of Nathan Drake and the way he interacts with the environment. You can see him breathing heavily in panic, ducking with different animations while running, and actually vocally expressing how he is feeling. Third-person shooter mechanics do not need explaining, but you do get a good variety of weapons that you are allowed to carry, including one pistol and one heavy weapon. Grenades can be thrown by changing the arc of the throw with SixAxis, but as far as this is concerned, SixAxis is used very lightly and not very often. The only flaw in the shooting is the number of enemies you are given, which can be way too many in certain situations, so the difficulty is unbalanced.
In terms of platforming, this is the best part of the game. Jumping around is pretty easy, but you can pretty much jump on anything you want, and part of Nathan’s imperfections show in this since he’ll slip off edges or just barely make jumps. Swinging on vines and walking through a U-boat submarine could never have felt better. A lot of the gameplay is broken up nicely with vehicle sections. These include a jeep and a jet ski from which you are shooting. The Jeep sections are heart-pounding, and the beautiful jungle scenery flying by adds to the cinematic experience. When you aren’t monkeying around, you can look for up to 60 relics to unlock trophies.
One thing that I can’t express enough is how beautiful the game is. With such high-resolution graphics, beautiful HDR lighting, highly detailed textures, and realistic water, Naughty Dog really created their second-best franchise with this masterpiece. There isn’t much to complain about in Uncharted, except maybe its length. With 22 chapters, the game can be beaten in 8–10 hours, depending on your playstyle. The replay value is good since you will want to go back and collect more relics to unlock trophies.
If I had to really nitpick the game, all I can say is that I wish there would have been more SixAxis integration, a more balanced difficulty, more challenging puzzles, and the game could have been a good 5 hours long, but other than this, it is pretty much flawless. If you are getting a PS3 this holiday, start with Uncharted because it will make you love your PS3 that much more.
thebinarymessiah.com 
Yep! The fact that I forgot about this game until you made a comment proves that.