Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception Review

Uncharted 2 garnered countless critical acclaim when it wowed all gamers alike with its innovative and blockbuster style of gameplay. Now all eyes are on Uncharted 3 to blow all its competitors out of the water to provide a true Hollywood-like experience to the video game industry. For the third time in the award winning series, Nathan Drake is back in another epic adventure that may very well be the best one to date.

Is there much difference between Among Thieves and Drake’s Deception? Is the opportunity to best Uncharted 2 a noble one? Or has Naughty Dog aimed just short of the mark? Let’s take a look on what’s HOT and what’s NOT.

HOT

Compelling Storyline
Uncharted 3 – just like other Uncharted games – once again succeeds in crafting a great storyline that topples the even great Indiana Jones movies. In Uncharted 3, players will follow the footsteps of Nathan Drake once again as he continues what Sir Francis Drake had started in search of the mythical city known as the Atlantis of the Sand, that is supposedly hidden somewhere in the sands of the Arabia.

In the past two games, we’ve seen Nathan Drake pursue his interest in mythical artifacts and exploring exotic dungeons. This time, everything will be personal and fans will be pleased to know that they can finally unlock the secrets to Nathan’s childhood past and the history between him and Sully. Along with Nathan and Sully, there are two more returning characters that fans will be happy to see – Chloe Frazer and Elena Fisher. As for the new character, be introduced to Katherine Marlowe; the first female villain in the Uncharted series. How is this jezebel connected to Drake and Sully?

Impressive Visuals
Along with a compelling storyline, Uncharted 3 excels in having one of the best graphics this generation. For those who are familiar with Uncharted series, they know that Drake Deception once again will provide everyone scenery and visuals that are truly out of this world. There are so many exotic locations in Uncharted 3 where everything is well drawn and carefully crafted, creating an atmosphere that a player may feel like they’re watching a big budget Hollywood movie. This time, you will have to go from London all the way to the east where the sandy country of Saudi Arabia awaits.

What makes the Uncharted series stand out from the rest of videogames out there is how the developer, Naughty Dog, seamlessly blends the gameplay into cutscenes. Synonymously with the two games, you will not notice that what you’re playing is actually a cutscene. Yes, there are no pre-rendered or CG graphics in Uncharted 3 as they’re all rendered. Basically, what you see is what you get, especially in 3D.

Gameplay is the same but still good
When it comes to gameplay, Drake’s Deception may fall in the category of Uncharted 2.5. Nothing has changed compeltely when it comes to how the game plays. It’s the same third person action-shooter that we’re all become accustomed to. Fire fights are still the same and the only thing that is notable are the melee fights. Instead of having a monotonous execution of combos from Nathan, he now has some new ones that doesn’t get too old. Whenever he sees something on the floor and is near to an enemy, he may use that item to take that opponent down.

Aside from the gameplay, you can expect some challenging puzzles once again. Compared to the first two games, Drake Deception has puzzles that are more challenging than the first two. They are pretty diverse and you can pretty much expect it at every two chapters you go through

Multiplayer Becomes More Addictive
Just because you finish the single player mode doesn’t mean that the fun Uncharted 3 has to offer is over as there’s a highly enjoyable multiplayer mode for you to experience. The multiplayer mode was first introduced in Among Thieves and back then, there are things that it lacks that are now added in Drake’s Deception. One bonus that players can expect is the Boosters and Kickbacks.

The Boosters in the multiplayer portion is like an augmentation where you can pick abilities that your character can have. It can make them climb faster or any other abilities that may benefit you when competing with other people. The character customization has well expanded making leveling up your character and trying different kind of abilities and perks may seems like an RPG game. It works and as soon as you dive into the multiplayer section, you’ll get addicted. It’s far from Call of Duty or Battlefield but it caters enough fun and excitement for fans of the series.

NOT

Bad AI
If you’ve been annoyed on the bad A.I. in Among Thieves, you will be frustrated to find out that Drake’s Deception has the same problem. When fighting an enemy, one of the things I noticed is that they just go back and forth without taking any initiative. They’re dumb and their action isn’t balanced enough to make the fire fight a challenging one.

Eh.. Uncharted 2.5?
When Among Thieves was released a couple of years ago, it has a lot of improvements that Drake’s Fortune didn’t have. With Drake’s Deception, I have still yet to find what dramatically changed between two and three. Is there a change? No, as everything from the gameplay and the multiplayer are pretty much the same. While you may call the boosters and customizations the multiplayer has to offer as new, I still feel that I’m playing Uncharted 2.

VERDICT

Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is nothing short of a masterpiece when it comes to having a great and compelling story equipped with high-quality presentation and visuals. Uncharted 3 is the pinnacle of storytelling in videogames and no other game out there can come close to the Uncharted 3’s perfect narrative story. While the gameplay may not have changed since the second game, except for some new moves in melee combat, Uncharted 3 makes up for it with its charming characters and story that will make you play nonstop from start to finish.

[Editor’s Note: Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception was reviewed on the PlayStation 3 hardware. The game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.]