Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

11/1/11 has come and the middle of this epic gaming season has been marked by the release of Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. What seems like ages ago, Naughty Dog began work on their magnum opus, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, a game that would combine realistic physics with an engrossing story and fuse them together to make the most movie-like experience ever seen in a video game. Needless to say, it was a success, and now Uncharted 3 is getting all sorts of accolades, including claims that it is the greatest game since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Grand Theft Auto III.


I'm here to say that all those accolades are very well merited. Everything about this game is in a word: perfect. The facial-graphics are nothing mind-blowing, but they are an improvement over even the previous iteration. What is impressive graphically, is that the programmers managed to program an entire ocean and desert that will never be experienced twice when played on multiple playthroughs or even multiple continues. Drake walks differently in every single location, depending on where in the story you are, how Drake is feeling, and whether he is alone or with companions. To say that the animations are ground-breaking is the tip of the iceberg. The game looks even better in 3D, something I could not say with confidence about Gran Turismo 5 and Batman: Arkham City.


Everything wrong with melee combat has been fixed in this 2nd sequel. Drake can now counter melee attacks (though not as freely as Batman), he can throw enemies, and he can set off enemies' grenades. The entire opening chapter serves as a way to teach how melee combat has changed to fantastic new levels and its actually quite common to get into a fistfight with heavily armored foes in the middle of a firefight. Gun controls are as great as ever and there's even more guns to use now. The thing that made me say "wow" most though, was how frequently Drake uses the entirely collapsible environment to attack enemies, whether is with glass bottles, curtain rods, or even fish.


This is a game that cannot simply be played through twice. While Uncharted was infamous for its incredibly slow third act (after finding Sully alive and before finding Francis Drake's skeleton) and Uncharted 2 was notably slow in the final act, only redeemed by the incredibly visuals of Shambala. Uncharted 3 has no such problems, having chapter after chapter that absolutely must be played through twice. Besides that, the multiplayer component has been improved to levels that could only have been dreamed of in Uncharted 2. Uncharted 3's multiplayer mimics what a real level could look like, pitting Drake and friends against the bad guys.


The story... Wow. Naughty Dog has somehow outdone itself even after featuring El Dorado's true form, and finding the lost city of Shambala. There is much more at stake this time, but the biggest shock of the entire game comes right at Chapter 2, which details how it is that Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan met 20 years before the events of Uncharted 3. I can't spoil anymore than that, but basically, when Francis Drake finds something and gives multiple warnings not to seek something, you should probably not seek it.


Story: 10/10
Gameplay: 10/10
Presentation: 10/10
Replay Value: 10/10


Average Score: 10/10


Perfect. Masterpiece. Flawless. Unrivaled. Game of the Year. Game of the Decade. It's going to be incredibly difficult to top Uncharted 3 by any game or even some movies. As much as I'm looking forward to The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, I'm not confident that it will as good as Uncharted 3 was. As far as when or if Uncharted 4 will come? I have no idea, but if they can somehow top even this, I'd like Naughty Dog to wait it out for the next console generation.