Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Review

Written by Cole Burton Monday, 07 November 2011 13:00

Nathan Drake is back for yet another crazy adventure in Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception.  If you are a PS3 gamer, chances are this is one of those gems that you have been waiting all year to get a hold of.  Well, now that the wait is finally over, let’s explore this new territory.

Uncharted 3 took me to a place I haven’t found myself in for quite some time.  When you play games as much as I do, it becomes more than just a hobby.  Gaming is something I feel I have to do.  I feel like I must get games, beat them, platinum them, and dominate online.  Well, Uncharted 3 reminded me why I do all of this.  By the second chapter of the game, I found myself staring at my TV with an unshakable smile, and said out loud, “This is what I’ve been waiting so long for.”

Needless to say, I have been an Uncharted fan from the beginning.  In fact, it is my favorite series this generation.  That being said, I had a great time playing the campaign, co op, and multiplayer.  And, while the experience is a great one, there are a few missing features I must nitpick about.

First off, if you’re an Uncharted fan, chances are you love the story.  After all, online play didn’t arrive until Uncharted 2.  Well, if you love the plot, don’t you love going back and watching those cutscenes?  Well, the cinematic theater has been removed.  Also, you can only have 10 different game saves.  So, you may want to bookmark some of those great scenes with saves, although you don’t have many saves to spare.  On the bright side, the campaign of Uncharted 3 is great, and completing a mission for cutscenes is no daunting task.

The other missing feature is the in-game bonuses.  Remember in Uncharted 2 how you could earn cash to spend in the campaign?  You could get different skins, cheat codes, and much more to experience the campaign in far different ways than each time before it.  That does cut down some replayability for the campaign, but given the co op and multiplayer, replayability isn’t a huge concern.

Uncharted 3 brings back familiar faces, building greatly on the relationship of Drake and Sully, while still making some room for Chloe and Elena, and new characters to be introduced.  Drake and Sully will be together throughout most of the campaign, but the other three main heroes: Chloe, Elena, and the new Charlie Cutter, get somewhat shafted.  While they do get their time in the spotlight, it does seem like its cut short.  But, the relationship development between Drake and Sully makes this a more than fair exchange.

Moving on from the campaign, Uncharted 3 features three different co op modes online.  The adventure mode is a kind of co op campaign with some dazzling twists.  I won’t go into any details here because I want the same shock and awe I got from the fifth and final chapter to set in on you as well.  Also, there is a co op arena, which is Uncharted’s take on horde mode.  Then, there’s hunter arena.  Hunter arena is arena, but with two human-controlled heroes fighting two human-controlled villains and their army of grunts.

The multiplayer takes the great introductory multiplayer of Uncharted 2 and betters it.  New features are added, amazing maps are included, and it looks like a bright future of DLC is planned.  Not to mention, character customization is all over the place.  You will find yourself caring more about the rewards of ranking up than you will about actually ranking up.  My Call of Duty side wants rank 70 to be rank 70, not to get whatever I unlock at that rank.  Uncharted on the other hand, makes you care about the cash you earn, and spend it on all sorts of different weapons, boosters, and kickbacks to have many effective and fun, experiments online.

When comparing Uncharted 2: Among Thieves to Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, it becomes a fairly close call.  While I may have enjoyed the campaign of Uncharted 2 slightly more than Uncharted 3, the co op and multiplayer of Uncharted 3 makes Uncharted 2’s feel so outdated.  And, I’ll say it again, the history revelations between Drake and Sully are so enlightening.  If I were to give Uncharted 2 a 10, I would say Uncharted 3 deserves at least a 9.75.  It is not every day I rate a game so high, but with the hard work of Naughty Dog comes great things to their fans.