Uncharted

Anyone here a fan of Uncharted?

There's going to be a movie based on it, and rather than being a retelling of the first game, it's going to be original. I know video game movies are generally bad, but I think this could work. After all, Uncharted itself is very movielike, and the story is actually pretty good.

There's also a company making an iPod/iPhone game similar to Uncharted, called Shadow Guardian. An article here details the game. I'm pretty excited. I hope they do a good job of transferring not only the gameplay, but the storytelling elements as well. Uncharted does a great job of making you feel like you're in a globetrotting adventure movie at times, though high production values are a big part of that. If Shadow Guardian only copies the gameplay, it'll still be a really good game.

And how about Uncharted 3? Some concept art has been leaked so far, showing India as a setting, but if the second game is any indication, it likely won't take place entirely in one location. The first game pretty much did, but it had a very different pacing to it.

Anyway, let's discuss Uncharted. It'll be a while before the movie or third game comes out, but we can speculate, or share our thoughts on the series.

Details of the third game were just released. It's largely set in the desert. I'm not a fan of desert settings, and much prefer the jungle or the snowy mountains of the previous games.

But anyway, from the article:

The next iteration of the series will see its hero, Nathan Drake, exploring the Arabian Peninsula and the Rub'al Khali Desert in search of a legendary lost city called Iram of the Pillars. The plot will draw upon the experiences of real-life historical figure, British Navy officer, and part-time pirate Sir Francis Drake, who is Nathan Drake's ancestor in the Uncharted canon. The story is also inspired by the pre-military days of T.E. Lawrence, who was an archaeologist before he was Lawrence of Arabia.

Partially based on history, like the previous games. The second game involved Marco Polo, and the first involved, well, Sir Francis Drake. Makes me wonder what other historical figures they'll be inspired by for future games.

Cooperative and competitive multiplayer are said to be getting some improvement as well. I liked the co-op objective mode in the second game, with its own separate campaign and cutscenes telling a different story, which was a great detail. I wish it didn't involve quite as much fighting, though.

Likewise, the mechanics of the game will be getting a few tweaks, such as enhanced backward climbing and the ability to fight multiple targets at one time.

Fighting multiple targets at once could be interesting. I like how the games don't require gun combat for every fight, and allow for hand-to-hand, so it'll be nice to see more improvement in that area.

Another article said the story will focus on Drake's relationship with his mentor, Sullivan.

edited 9th Dec '10 10:25:57 AM by BonsaiForest

Looks like the rumors of UC 3 taking place in a desert were true.

Nathan looks a bit older in the new screens.

I think that if at all possible, Uncharted 3 will be a must-pre-order the moment they start accepting them. For me, at least. I've always really loved Naughty Dog's stuff.

I'll say it already: Uncharted 2 might be the best game to ever touch a console. Ever.

I'm kinda split between the first and second Uncharted. Both have a different setting, and the second takes you to multiple locations while the first takes place almost entirely on this one island. You also revisit locations you'd been to previously, but under new conditions, in later chapters of the first game. There's a very different type of pacing to the two - in the first, chapters 2 and 3 are entirely exploration and no fighting, as you hadn't met the bad guys on the island yet, while in the second, there's only a few chapters that could be called that, and they're more spread out.

The enemies in the second game take a lot of hits to kill compared to the ones in the first. On the other hand, I like being able to sneak up on them more often in the sequel, and love the added move of being able to hang off a ledge and pull someone down with you, or just push someone off a cliff. And the grenade throwing was horrible in the first game.

The second game had a lot of "action movie"-like set pieces, like the hotel that's attacked by the copter while you're in it, causing the floor to tilt downwards while things slide around, or the chapter that involves jumping from moving car to moving car. The first game didn't have that "action movie" type of situations, but did have the jetski riding.

Storywise, it's neat seeing Drake and Elena meet each other for the first time in the first game, and their distrust of each other. In the second, the character interactions were still fun, but I just think the first one was better.

Gameplaywise, they're clearly two different experiences due to their pacing and which elements are emphasized and how. I think both are great to return to for different reasons.

I love this game. Drake has to be the best action/adventure protagonist ever, Yahtzee be damned.

edited 9th Dec '10 5:58:05 PM by KSPAM

I just bought the first one used and I'm not really liking it. The fighting is getting very tiring, I find it too difficult and relentless and repetitive, and the platforming aspect isn't that involving. Normally I can see the appeal of popular games but this seems so lacking to me. Should I turn it down to easy? Am I missing something?

If you don't care for the combat, can't get into the theme of the game (treasure hunt adventure in an exotic locale), and find its elements boring or annoying, and don't find the "playable adventure movie" feel endearing, then this game is probably not for you, I have to say. I personally love it for what it is, but it is something specific.

I like the theme. But the Plot isn't as important as the gameplay, and I've not been impressed, it seems like it's just a ton of fighting, a little bit of jumping about ledges, more fighting.....I'm not seeing much of a Platforming/Adventuring element. Just lots of tiresome fighting where baddies keep coming in droves.

If you've bought the game, I'd say try playing it the whole way through before you make a final judgement.

I can understand where you're coming from, though. Uncharted is a good game, but a little unrefined. I always felt that Uncharted 2 was where the series really hit its stride.

Or maybe the series just isn't for you. Take your pick.

Alright, I'll stick with it, I know it got a good reception. It was only 12 euro so not a huge loss if it doesn't grow on me. Thanks.

edited 25th May '11 5:12:52 PM by occono

I might pick this up. What is this like? Compare it to another game.

Compare it to another game? See, I lost interest in most shooters when they started adding gameplay elements I didn't care for, so it's a little hard for me to know what to compare it to.

But I'll describe the whole package as best I can.

The series tries to feel like a playable action/adventure movie series with a "treasure hunting" or "Indiana Jones" theme. As in, the music is "movie-like" (but a lot of games do that), there's a fair amount of Dialog During Gameplay with the characters talking to each other with well-written dialog, and the progression switches between shooting, exploring, and traversing to the next area, with the occasional puzzle, to try to give it more movie-like pacing as well.

Shooting

As for the gameplay, it's in third-person, but it's also largely a shooter. It uses regenerating health, you carry only two weapons (one of each size - a small weapon in the holster and a large one on your back) and weapons are dropped everywhere so finding more ammo or replacement weapons isn't a problem (the first game has more of an ammo problem than the second, but if you get better at it, you can deal with it). The fighting emphasizes cover. You have a "hide" button that you push when standing near cover to get into a "hiding" pose where you kneel down or hide behind a wall and can poke your gun out. You can both fire while in "aim" mode (which is more FPS-like) or "blindfire" while running normally. There's grenades - useless in the first game (due to poor controls with aiming and throwing them), better in the sceond controls were totally reworked).

Teammates

You oftentimes have a teammate by your side depending on where you are in the story, so you may be fighting alongside best friend Victor Sullivan, Intrepid Reporter Elena Fisher, or others. Sometimes two teammates. They naturally don't fight as well as you do, but they do genuinely help, drawing fire away from you, being invincible (except in a small handful of set "rescue them in time" moments), and doing much less damage than you, but damage nonetheless. There was one moment in the first game where I, out of ammo and not wanting to deal with a guy with a rocket launcher, let Elena take him out. While it took much longer for her to do so, she did.

Traversal and exploration

Between the shooting aspects are "traversal" segments where you have to run, jump, and climb to make your way to the next area. There's also hidden treasures if you're willing to go out of your way and do things like climb a telephone pole or go to an alcove that you'd otherwise ignore. There's lots of those treasures to find, and they're more well-hidden in the second game (and there's more of them too). There's also the occasional puzzle to solve, which I don't really care for too much.

Moments

In addition to this, there's little "moments" that occur and change up gameplay a bit. These moments are "movie-like", I guess you could say, but they do make you play differently. Like having to escort an injured man to safety while he's holding onto your shoulder and barely able to walk, and your teammates are covering you. Or holding onto a signpost and fighting off enemies while waiting for your teammate to lower a bridge to you once they're gone. Or holding off a number of enemies while waiting for a teammate to show up with a car to drive you out of there. These little moments make up maybe 10% of the total gameplay, but there's a lot of them.

So, check out some gameplay videos on You Tube (not multiplayer ones, as the cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes in the second game are something very different). See if it looks like something you'd like to play.

Some things to know though:

• The first game is harder than the second. "Easy" is roughly equivalent to "Normal" in the second. That's probably why they rebalanced difficulty levels in the sequel (and added "Very Easy", which the first game doesn't have). Ammo is much more common in the second.
• The second game begins with two chapters that play differently from the rest of the game, and are there for story reasons. Don't judge the game on the basis of those two chapters, or you'll come to dislike it like I originally did (I was introduced to the series by way of Uncharted 2, so I initially had a negative impression).
• You can change difficulty any time the game is paused, if you have to. Remember, the first game is harder than the second by a significant amount.
• Saving is instant and based on checkpoints, not chapters, so losing your progress isn't a concern. You can also chapter warp to any chapter you reached and start a new savegame from there.

If you try it out, I hope you like it.

edited 26th May '11 6:29:31 AM by BonsaiForest

I found number two to be okay, but Nathan just really needs to SHUT UP.

edited 26th May '11 6:45:33 AM by Usht

Well, I did like Gun, so I'm sure I'll like this.

Nah, the banter's the best.

Pre-order bonuses revealed for Uncharted 3. Also a slick-lookin' Collector's Edition.

Even though I like the single player mode, with its movie-like feel and exploratory elements, more than the multiplayer, I'm very interested in playing that multiplayer beta when it comes out.

As a Play Station Plus subscriber, I get it I think a week early. June 28 if I recall, instead of July 5.

I'm not a Plus subscriber, so it's a good thing I'm gettin' inFAMOUS 2 at launch. Hopefully the balance problems and lag found in the second game's multiplayer were fixed.

...PSN's still down where I'm at. -_-

I really enjoyed Among Thieves. I like Drake and his tendency for banter. I still don't understand Yahtzee's hatred for Nolan North. Dude gets shoved into standard roles but he's got more range than people give him credit for.

Necroing this thread.

Apparently the Uncharted series was supposed to be more fantasy oriented, but Sony wanted the game to be more realistic.

Also, some new gameplay for Uncharted 3

edited 26th Sep '11 6:57:19 PM by dmysta3000

While I disagree with Sony's reason for making the game's theme more realistic ("gritty shooters sell well"), I am still glad they did it. I like the real life setting a lot, and consider it one of the things that gives the series its personality.

Already got a pre-order.