Uncharted 3: Drake's GOTY

Renzo

Just played the last two chapters with the new aiming. Previously I had changed the difficulty to very easy to pass the seemingly ridiculously difficult combat sections in those last two chapters. With the new aiming, it was pretty effortless. Now I want to replay the game to see how much it changes the game for me.

-Loki-

UnbreakableVow wrote:

Good on Naughty Dog for fixing the aiming, even though it's still disheartening that their original response was basically "The aiming is the same, you guys are crazy"

If you read the whole thing they went through with the aiming, that's literally what they thought. They know they tweaked the aiming, but from what they could tell, nothing significant changed, and their focus groups reported no issues with it. That's why they brought 4 guys in from GAF to focus test the aiming and help them fix it. The people in the studio had no idea what problems people were having with the aiming.

Nappuccino

-Loki- wrote:

Nappuccino wrote:

carmofin wrote:

It wasn't that bad in UC2 where they established the enemy as an actual army, but slaughtering hundreds of peopl ein UC1 definately made me feel strange.

I thought they were fairly well established as henchmen, pirates, and mercenaries.

Not to mention they always fire first if they see you.

There were quite a few situations in UC 1 where you get to shoot first. It's to your detriment not to as well. One less random bullet sponge.

Yes, but I said "if they see you." And if you choose not to, you know that they are bad guys because they shoot you. So, if you die, next time you can take them out guilt free.

Ah_Pook

aiming patch? sounds like a good time to start my crushing run!

Kyougu

Ah_Pook wrote:

aiming patch? sounds like a good time to start my crushing run!

Yeah, I got through hard with the regular controls without much trouble, so I'm curious how I'll do with the new aiming.

mastrius

Renzo wrote:

Just played the last two chapters with the new aiming. Previously I had changed the difficulty to very easy to pass the seemingly ridiculously difficult combat sections in those last two chapters. With the new aiming, it was pretty effortless. Now I want to replay the game to see how much it changes the game for me.

Dude seriously. It gave a totally different vibe or me. And as a matter of fact. It was the last two chapters I played like that. Well maybe 3.....I started at the sandstorm. It felt like good ol Uncharted 2 again and I was loving it. Much as I love 3 this change just bumped it up to epic for me again.

Mr_Grinch

Finished it, good game, but not my favourite in the series, in fact I'd place it behind the first.

Mr_Grinch

Darric wrote:

george-x wrote:

Just beat the game - great game but I liked 1 & 2 more.

Spoiler:

Lack of supernatural-esque twist was a little disappointing as I was pretty much waiting for it with eager anticipation this time around.

Spoiler:

Yeah yeah I know the hallucination ghost rider army kind of counts, but it wasn't the same as crazy yeti-men or nazi congo frightfest

Also the ending was a little mediocre, but it made sense so I can't really fault it.

Spoiler:

I don't agree that all the games need a crazy monster twist. The Djinn jar held in a magically preserved city protected by a sandstorm was no less supernatural than either of the previous entries.

Also, you ought to spoiler that bit about there being no supernatural twist, as that's sort of a spoiler for when things seem to start going crazy.

That spoilt me. From reading that I pretty much knew that

Spoiler:

Sully wasn't dead, and that the flaming head dudes were hallucinations.

Uselesswarrior

Just beat the game.

Spoiler:

Ending was pretty meh, which was extra disappointing because I wanted a big send off for these characters.

I really expected them to do more with Marlowe, you start to hate her and her toadie so much, but about half way through they disappear and show up the end just to give do their obligatory death scenes. This, along with Chloe and Cutter disappearing half way through, makes it feel like the second half of the story was written by different people then the first.

Also the Sully death fake out was just kind of shitty. Either kill him or don't, don't try and inject emotion in the story and then back down.

I do have to give them credit for never explicitly stating the Drake and Elena were married.

Unrelated aside. If you are going to ask someone to spoiler tag their post, don't quote that post with the unspoiled text, because then even if they correct their post you have the unspoiled tag in your post. Also if they don't correct it, now the unspoiled text is in two places, making it more likely that people will see it.

It's not a big deal, but I just see a lot of people do that in these forums and thought I'd mention it.

Uselesswarrior

Playing through this game I just assumed that the Uncharted combat system hadn't aged well. But after going back and playing bits of both earlier games and finding the combat still enjoyable I have to say that Naughty Dog really dropped the ball with the combat system in this game.

Uncharted 3's scenarios are full of bullet sponge enemies, waves of spawning enemies and enemies that can kill you in one hit. It's like they went out of their way to suck all the fun out of it. Perhaps they were trying to make the third game more challenging to appease veteran players, but by amping up the difficulty they just increased my levels of frustration. It's really striking how much of a step back it is from Uncharted 2.

Renzo

Did you use alternate aiming?

Uselesswarrior

Renzo wrote:

Did you use alternate aiming?

Yup, that made it way better but the tank enemies are still no fun.

I think it's just a case of trying to add some improvements and new wrinkles to an existing system and inadvertently pushing a gameplay system to it's breaking point. It's a pretty stark contrast to Arkham City, in which Rocksteady was able to expand on all their core systems in a pretty remarkable way.

I sound like I didn't enjoy the game at all, but it's still a good game, just a bit of a let down after my monstrously high expectations. Some of the technical stuff Naughty Dog pulled off were just absolutely amazing.

Mr_Grinch

Definitely too many bullet sponge enemies in UC3, I played it through on easy and still had trouble on some parts. I'd rather the shooting was kept to a minimum and the adventure/platforming/puzzling brought to the fore. I tended to just sigh when I got stuck in a long gun fight.

THat's a stark contrast to UC1 & 2 where I thoroughly enjoyed the gun fights and (after completing it on easy so my wife could watch without getting bored of me continually dying) played through them on hard/crushing. I doubt I'll go back through Uncharted 3 again.

That said, their new game looks fantastic:

Cantido

...Ellen Page?!

I actually thought UC1 was the worst about bullet sponge enemies, and for the longest time I hated UC. Fucking southeast asian pirates in wife-beaters just wouldn't die.

It grew on me after the second play-through. I'm currently playing the third one now that the Rumble is over.

Mr_Grinch

UC1 is a different kind of shooter, I really like it. It can be frustrating but there's a sort of elegance to it when you get a sequence down.

And it isn't Ellen Page, apparently. It just looks shockingly like her.

Uselesswarrior

Cantido wrote:

...Ellen Page?!

I actually thought UC1 was the worst about bullet sponge enemies, and for the longest time I hated UC. Fucking southeast asian pirates in wife-beaters just wouldn't die.

It grew on me after the second play-through. I'm currently playing the third one now that the Rumble is over.

I could be that I was playing a fairly early sequence of the game (well probably about 30 - 40% through) but I went back last night and was surprised on how less bullet spongey the enemies felt in Uncharted 1 compared to 3.

Nappuccino

So... the aiming patch is good, but I can't help but feel that i'm still fighting the controls a bit. It seems like there is too big a difference between your super fast movements and small precision and so I'm constantly over correcting or undercorrecting. This makes headshots all but impossible and I know I could get them with high regularity in 1 and 2.

Overall, I wish chapter 18 was designed a little differently (less fade outs)- they could have easily done it via some streaming tech... and I feel like some of the awesome moments didn't live up to the awesome ones of 2

Spoiler:

(like the convoy... needed more explosions.)

Also, wholy hell that difficulty spike towards the end is nuts. But, I think I enjoyed it more than 1.

So I'd say they go 2, 3, 1 at the moment.

Maybe replaying each game in the series would change my mind.

Unco-ordinated

Posted this in the Vita thread but figured you guys might want to read it too:

The SCEE PSN has a 10 minute walkthrough of Uncharted: Golden Abyss up. The visuals at 720p aren't exactly representative of what it'll look like on the Vita's much smaller and sharper screen but it still looks pretty great. The only real problem I saw was the animations. They are obviously using the same system Naughty Dog uses but the polish doesn't really seem to be up to the same level. Still WORLDS better than the animations in any other Sony Bend game though, it's not exactly their strong suit.

It also looks to me like it's a bit more open than the last two games in the series and, from what the narrator said, will be less combat focused. Apparently you'll be able to get through most encounters in the game with stealth.

Skull2185

So I got a PS3, and I'm catching up on the (supposed) gems I missed.

Right now that's Uncharted. Uncharted 1 is a pretty bad game... Its really pretty, and the animations are great. But the gunplay and platforming make me want to gouge my eyes out. I know that Uncharted 2 and 3 are held in high regard, so is it safe to assume that those two games are VASTLY improved from the first game?

I'm pretty sure I'm almost all the way through the first game, but I'm not going to bother with the other two if they're anything at all like the first game...

PolloDiablo

Yeah, kind of. 2 is a huge improvement in every way from the first one, you should probably play it. Then 3 is a big step down from 2, so I don't know if it's really worth it if you're not super into the series.

anoffday

PolloDiablo wrote:

Then 3 is a big step down from 2, so I don't know if it's really worth it if you're not super into the series.

Wait...what? I.....what?

Ah_Pook

id say at least try 2, its a lot better than the first one. plus its real cheap these days.

PolloDiablo

anoffday wrote:

PolloDiablo wrote:

Then 3 is a big step down from 2, so I don't know if it's really worth it if you're not super into the series.

Wait...what? I.....what?

Which part of that do you object to?

anoffday

PolloDiablo wrote:

anoffday wrote:

PolloDiablo wrote:

Then 3 is a big step down from 2, so I don't know if it's really worth it if you're not super into the series.

Wait...what? I.....what?

Which part of that do you object to?

All of it? How is 3 a step down from 2?

David_T

It's a clear step down in the amount of step up from the previous.

skeldare

David_T wrote:

It's a clear step down in the amount of step up from the previous.

I'd say 3 is on the same level as 2. Not a huge improvement/change, but certainly not any worse.

anoffday

David_T wrote:

It's a clear step down in the amount of step up from the previous.

o_O

David_T

skeldare wrote:

David_T wrote:

It's a clear step down in the amount of step up from the previous.

I'd say 3 is on the same level as 2. Not a huge improvement/change, but certainly not any worse.

Well, the shooting ended up being worse, but the patch should hopefully fix that. But with it not being as much better than 2 as 2 was better than 1, people were always going to be disappointed.

anoffday

I'm not disappointed with it.

I just got it for Christmas so I'm not aware of any issues yet. What exactly is wrong with the shooting? Too slow?

skeldare

anoffday wrote:

I'm not disappointed with it.

I just got it for Christmas so I'm not aware of any issues yet. What exactly is wrong with the shooting? Too slow?

It was but they patched it already.

Darth_Mogs

The shooting was fine before they patched it, so I don't know where people are getting that. At least, I had no problems with it whatsoever and Uncharted is pretty much the only TPS I play (In recent to semi-recent times) that I can think of.

cooljammer00

Hooooooly shit, the pirate ship sequence. Now I know why everyone was bitching about it. Do these enemies just infinitely respawn?

Unco-ordinated

I have no idea how anyone could call Uncharted 1 bad. I can understand it not being peoples thing but bad? Just no.

skeldare

Unco-ordinated wrote:

I have no idea how anyone could call Uncharted 1 bad. I can understand it not being peoples thing but bad? Just no.

No idea, especially if you've never played the sequels.

Skull2185

Uncharted 1 just isnt that much fun to play. Gunplay is awful, platforming is mediocre.

I really like the characters though, and the story is decent.

klemming

A problem with the Uncharted games in general is that there's a right way to do areas and a wrong way.
Do it right, and it's relatively easy. The game flows, combat works, and things get really cinematic.
Do it wrong, and fights become harder, and for many sequences, it's like watching the actions scenes from films, including all the failed takes.

I think 2 dealt with this best of the three, but still frustrating when you got things wrong.
Most of the time, when the helicopter was chasing you it was clear where to go. But if you tried to run for it when the game wanted you to take cover, bang. Black and white screen, do it over. Try to run when you're supposed to stay and fight, instant death (one time I snuck past the guys looking for me in the snow. Trying to climb out of there, a shotgun guy spawned right behind me and shot me dead)
Most of the fights could be stealthed, but failing to deal with them in the right order got you spotted, and then you were onto the massive number of spawning reinforcements that happened in all the games.
The difference in 2 was that the enemies were soldiers. It would make sense that they'd have reinforcements in the area, and they'd converge on you when a fight broke out. (It also made sense that they could take half a clip to the chest without dying). A bunch of guys in t-shirts or suits just didn't feel right, considering what they were doing.

OceanExtorting38

Such an overrated trilogy. Cliche treasure hunting stories with set piece put together. 100% linear as well. Average TPS gameplay with non-innovative mechanics. The linear by necessity wall climbing breaks all the immersion along with the absolute worst endings in any trilogy I've played, especially Uncharted 2. Characters were great. Top notch voice acting/casting. And the cinematic action "scenes" were great. The stories were meh IMO, but it's just my opinion. They aren't "bad" games, but I just find them to be completely overrated.

klemming wrote:

A problem with the Uncharted games in general is that there's a right way to do areas and a wrong way.
Do it right, and it's relatively easy. The game flows, combat works, and things get really cinematic.
Do it wrong, and fights become harder, and for many sequences, it's like watching the actions scenes from films, including all the failed takes.

I think 2 dealt with this best of the three, but still frustrating when you got things wrong.
Most of the time, when the helicopter was chasing you it was clear where to go. But if you tried to run for it when the game wanted you to take cover, bang. Black and white screen, do it over. Try to run when you're supposed to stay and fight, instant death (one time I snuck past the guys looking for me in the snow. Trying to climb out of there, a shotgun guy spawned right behind me and shot me dead)
Most of the fights could be stealthed, but failing to deal with them in the right order got you spotted, and then you were onto the massive number of spawning reinforcements that happened in all the games.
The difference in 2 was that the enemies were soldiers. It would make sense that they'd have reinforcements in the area, and they'd converge on you when a fight broke out. (It also made sense that they could take half a clip to the chest without dying). A bunch of guys in t-shirts or suits just didn't feel right, considering what they were doing.

I completely agree. Never really looked at it that way either.

OceanExtorting38

Double post


/accident

Skull2185

The complete 180 from Uncharted 1 to 2 is redonkulous. I cant believe how good it is! Maybe I appreciate it more because I forced my way through the first game, but the gunplay and platforming are way more polished.

Tons more exciting shit going too, i played through to CH.9(the temple in Nepal) and my mouth just hung open the whole time. I mean... what a way to open a game, amirite?!

cooljammer00

That um, certainly was an ending of a video game.

Just beat uncharted 3. Wells and Balestra were right, maybe next time (not that there necessarily should be a next time) they shouldn't announce a release date before they're ready.